First Impressions in Germany

Well, here it is. We finally started the blog. I will probably have time to write every day, which is new for me. However, feel free to only read as often as you like. There's no pressure to keep up with every little thing we're doing. I guess I should start with our trip to Germany. Our flight out of Salt Lake was delayed about an hour because of the remnants of Hurricane Ike in Chicago. Unfortunately, because we left so late, we missed our connecting flight to Frankfurt in Chicago. So, we were sent through London, and then to Frankfurt. We missed all of the festivities associated with the conference that first day (Monday, September 15) because we arrived at our hotel at 9pm. I was pretty disappointed. They went on a walking tour of Göttingen and out to dinner. We missed both of those events. Fortunately for Stewart, we did not miss any of the informational pieces of the Fulbright orientation. However, three out of our four suitcases did not arrive in Frankfurt with us. We didn't receive them until the following day. British Airways was kind enough to give us some toiletry bags to help us out.

Here are some pictures of Göttingen, where we stayed during the orientation.

This is the train station in Frankfurt.

This is a common sight in Europe...especially at train stations. In German, it's called die Taube.

The Best Western Hotel where we stayed in Göttingen.

One of the many churches we saw in Göttingen. It was pretty cool, but it was getting dark, so it’s hard to see it.

The theater.

The train station. (Don't let those palm trees fool you. It was pretty chilly there).

Here are a couple of pictures from the train ride to Berlin. (I apologize for the poor quality).
After arriving in Berlin, we dropped our luggage off at our landlady's pharmacy and went to get döners for lunch/dinner. We took a couple pictures at a church/cemetery nearby.
I should also comment on our apartment. We live on the top floor of a townhouse. I expected it to be small, so I'm not too surprised at how small it is, but I was a little shocked to walk in and find a bathroom, a tiny kitchen (with a toaster oven/hot plate, tiny fridge, and tiny sink), and a living room/bedroom (with an IKEA-type couch that sort of turns into a bed). Surprisingly, I slept pretty well on that couch. I guess we'll see how it goes for 5 months. It requires setup and takedown every evening and morning. This ought to be fun. Anyway, here are a few pictures of our tiny "apartment"?.

The bed during the day.

The couch during the night.

The living room/bedroom. This is a wood stove for the winter.

The IKEA chair and our "dresser".

The hall from the living room/bedroom to the bathroom.

The narrow stairs that spiral down two (maybe three) floors.

Our tiny kitchen table. (It’s kind of cute, but I wouldn’t want it in a permanent home).

Our tiny fridge, and the shelves for our dishes. We have no pantry or place to put food. We may have to do some rearranging.

Our sink and toaster oven/hot plate.

Our closet (across from the kitchen, next to the bathroom, down the hall from the living room/bedroom).

The bathroom.

Our tiny shower.

Yes, it’s just a toilet.

The hallway from the bathroom to the living room/bedroom.