Monday, January 14, 2008
12:39 AM

Getting Orientated

The moment I kissed goodbye to my parents was the first time I felt a tinge of homesickness. It was a mixed feeling of excitement of what was awaiting me at the end of the flight, as well as dread of the loooong 8 + 7 hours of high-altitude journey.

The first flight to Doha was disappointing. It was Airbus A330, but the old version without personal screens. So you can just imagine how restless I was. I took care not to kick the passenger in front of me as I placed my legs beside his seats, and at other times I slept hugging my legs. This is my first long-haul flight and I was just not used to it, but this restlessness couldn’t beat Xinyu’s motion sickness. She slept through the whole journey without eating, while I attempted to sleep but woke up intermittently to stare out of the window to see the Indian Ocean. The pilot’s flying skill kinda sucks as I felt that the ride was not as smooth as other carriers I took before.

The second flight from Doha to Frankfurt was much better, with a newer A330 and personal screens, which I were to watch Ratatouille, Secret and The Man Behind the Iron Mask. The view from the top of the alpine area, European towns and winter sunset was just so uber-awesome.

Frankfurt Airport did not have the impressive infrastructure that Changi Airport had. But then again, we always take what we have in Singapore for granted and expect the same everywhere - the variety of food, the weather, the greenery, the language of communication. We waited and roamed around looking for the driver who was to pick us up at the airport. When we were about to call Yinghao for help, I noticed a guy holding a placard saying “European Business School”. The ride was so smooth at about 140km/h. This speed seemed normal on the road, though it’s not the highway and the road was just two-laned.

At 8pm, we finally reached this country-looking brick house in a villagey place called Hattenheim. Our house was on the 3rd floor, so you can just imagine us carrying 2 backpacks, 1 in front and 1 behind, scrambling our way up the stairs. To our delight, our flatmate, Mathilde, can speak English pretty well for a French, and seems like a really nice girl. She actually cleaned the house before we came, and even cooked pasta for us for dinner.

To our horror, the wireless network for the whole block has some problem and apparently, the whole block is pissed off with the housing coordinator as the houses were so dirty, the heaters and many other equipment were not working, the water was too cold, etc. Our neighbour’s house does not have pots and pans, while the heater in our toilet is not working. The water in the kitchen and wash basin in the toilet is too cold for washing and will only be hot when you use the hot shower. Screwed up right.

the view from my room!

the estate

Aside from the expectations of the cleanliness and facilities in the flat, we had a pretty good location. We are closer to Frankfurt and Wiesbaden than other parts, had a view of the Rhine river where we could do our jogs, and need only 5 min to walk to the Schloss Campus where we are going to have most classes. We have a pretty big kitchen with a table and chairs, so it makes a good gathering place for the exchange students in the flat. My room is pretty spacious with a TV that screens only CNN in English and the rest in German.

On Fri, we joined in the last day of orientation where we had a boring city tour of Frankfurt and a visit to the Anne Frank museum. Frankfurt does not exude so much of the charisma of a financial hub, but more of a city juggling change and history. My stereotype of a German? Prim and proper, hates people to interrupt when they talk, hates people who are late, does not like to smile, straightforward, does not crack jokes/ have a different sense of humour, carry themselves well, and bogged down by an unglorious past. So when I go for lesson next week, I gotta be early, switch off my phone and shut up.

an overexposed pic taken in Frankfurt

in Paulsplatz

From Frankfurt, to get back to Hattenheim, we had to take a train to Wiesbaden and then change to Koblenz line, to get to Hattenheim station. It takes about 1 hour or slightly more.

The next day we took a bus to Wiesbaden which was free of charge for ISIC card holders. The temperature here at about 2 to 7ºC was really not as bad I expected, but bus 171 comes every hour, so we had to wait about half an hour in the cold. My thick woolen clothes really came in useful, so it was just my fingers and my nose when the wind came blowing in our faces. Wiesbaden is a beautiful town, and we were lucky to find the streetmarket that opens every Wed and Sat till 2pm. Mathilde was super happy to see McDonald’s and so we ate there where I had the super ex €6 Big Rosti meal!

on the bendy bus with my flatmate, Mathilde

the street market at wiesbaden

the buildings here look more or less like that - so fairytale!

buskers here play harps or violins. no accordions or electric organs!

the camwhore!

try climbing the wall!

All shops are forbidden from opening on Sundays, so there’s really nothing much we can do on Sundays. Xinyu and I decided to go on a short run in the winter cold, by the Rhine River. The first 10 min was rather unbearable as my fingers turned red; should have worn my gloves. Thereafter, I could feel the sweat underneath my thermals and the heat emanating from the blood under my skin. Feels shiok!