nach potsdam

Claudia took me to the Frankfurt airport early Monday morning and stayed to see me off through security. Luckily, I crammed most of the heavy things into my carry-ons and Claudia asked that my 21.5 kilogram suitcase be accepted as normal weight.

The flight was fine and I was greeted in Berlin-Tegel airport by my German tandem partner, Mandy, right outside of baggage claim. We have only spoken by email (rather, the German equivalent of Facebook) so it was really nice to meet her in person. From Berlin, we took public transportation for another hour to Potsdam. I was happy to find out that with my student card, I can travel freely through Berlin and Potsdam by train/bus/street car. That should make for some nice sightseeing and convenience picking up visiting friends at the Berlin airport. Mandy also bought me a detailed map of Berlin as a welcome gift, which I thought was quite sweet of her.

Mandy came with me to my dorm where I checked in, bought bedding, and went up to check out my place for the next 4 months. I have my own, furnished room in an apartment with 3 other German girls on the 4th floor. The place was messy (for a German house - clean compared to Isla Vista living), but had a homey feel with collages on the walls etc. Although furnished, I was left without bedding, so Mandy brought me to the Potsdam central trian station (Potsdam Hbf), which has a large shopping area with supermarkets, restaurants, electronic stores, almost like a mall. I bought some food, bedding, and other basics and packed it all up to take home with me when Mandy headed off to work.

Public transportation only took me so far, so after a few blocks of carting my goods, I realized that buying two bottles of wine along with my groceries was perhaps not such a good idea. At home, I was greeted by Katja, one of my roommates, who told me that the other 2 girls will not be around until school starts up in a week or so. Katja will only speak German with me, so I am hoping 1. that I will learn a lot from conversing with her and 2. that I don't misunderstand important housing information she tries to share with me.

After Katja left, I spent the night alone, organizing my things, reading about Berlin, and studying German. I went to bed early, as Mandy and I planned to meet around 9 in the morning for some further paperwork.

I was up and ready by 7, so I decided to walk around the area and find a bus stop a little further towards town. It turns out that my dorm is right next to Sanscoussi Park, an expansive, gorgeous park with multiple Italian style palaces and amazing landscape art. I walked through the park, caught a bus, and rode it around town, hoping to see more of Potsdam and become more acquainted, knowing that the bus would eventually take me to the main station to meet Mandy.

Once near the middle of town, the bus stopped and the driver asked everyone to get off, with more information in German that I didn't understand. I got off, lost, and eventually figured out the general direction I should head in to meet Mandy. Then I receieved a text from her, saying that there was a bomb threat in the main station and we would not be able to meet. Hmm... wonderful, right?

With nowhere particular to be, ignoring my fear of a possible explosion, I headed away from the central station where everyone seemed to be enjoying the sunshine and going along with their day pleasantly. I found the historical city center, bought a Potsdam city guide in English, enjoyed a coffee at a local cafe, and cruised around town. Potsdam is gorgeous!

I stopped at various sites mentioned in the guidebook, which lead me back through Sanscoussi Park and around the palaces. Just as I was reflecting on what a nice day it was, reaching to take a picture of the palace grounds, I realized that my camera was stolen. - Slight panic - I was in the middle of a tourist area of the park and had taken a picture only ten minutes beforehand. Frantically, I sat down at a bench checking for everything else important in my purse, but being alone in a crowded area, there was really nothing else I could do to get it back. It kind of ruined my day, as I thought back about all the pictures from my week in Hanau and my first sights of Potsdam... and then about how many € it would take to buy a new one... So I called Michelle (or Noodle as we call her, my friend from high school who is studying in Konstanz) to speak with a friend and calm down a little.

And then I was really alone. I saw so many beautiful things that I will have to keep only by memory - and that's okay. While sitting on a bench on a bridge watching an Italian couple throw bits of bread to fish and ducks in a river underneath... Sanscoussi Palace to my right, an old wooden windmill spinning on the hill in front of me, a warm sun overhead... I had to let go of the grief over my camera, knowing that it's only material, and be appreciative for all the fortune that was right in front of me.

I kept walking through the park's winding paths and finally, when I started getting hungry for dinner, made my way home. I ended up wakling over 10km in total throughout the day, so I definitely needed to rest and ended up going to bed early.

Mandy and I met this morning on campus, which is on the end of Sanscoussi park near my dorm. I checked in with the program manager, who gave me an orientation schedule and some phone numbers of students who are already here. I plan to call them after writing this entry.

This picture is of Neues Palais, which has some historical parts and certain areas converted for University classrooms. Pretty cool, I think.

Mandy and I had brunch in the middle of town at a French cafe. We took the bus, and I was thrilled that after my long day yesterday, I was better able to navigate through the city center and give directions. She told me that the bomb threat had cleared and that the American WWII bomb, uncovered during some sort of excavation, turned out to be inactive. I was quite relieved because a bomb threat, to me, implies some sort of threat of attack. I must admit that the night before I was a little bit worried about my new city of residence, with theft and bomb threats surfacing within 2 days.

After brunch, we walked by the Nauen Gate......and over to the Dutch Quarter to check it out. It started to rain, so our time in the Dutch Quarter was cut short and we hopped back on the bus to the main station. And here I am in the Potsdam main station internet cafe...

More to come...