Well, we made it to Germany. The flight was uneventful, as was the train trip. We even managed to get our Bahn Cards successfully (cards that let us ride the trains for a discount. The senior rate makes it well worth it.) We are settled in our new apartment, which is less than a block from Mr. R-T's office (he's not going to get much exercise this month. I, on the other hand...). Now come the challenges:
Internet connections. Everyone at this end believed that we would be able to use the university wireless network. Afterall, it's "everywhere" on campus. Turns out that our guesthouse has wired connections, but not wireless, and both of us have computers that only accept wireless connections. I started the day by calling the university IT support, who asked me to bring my computer to the e-desk in the library. They set me up so that both my chromebook and my phone work on the wireless, but when I returned to my apartment -- no go. That led to a number of phone calls by our host's admin to discover that the wireless really doesn't work there. I spent several hours in the library catching up on email and related things, but am feeling very frustrated that I might only have internet after a morning stroll.
The current plan is for our host to find a wireless accesspoint lying around unused, and we will connect that to the wire. My fingers are crossed that this will work.
Laundry: we have a communal washer and dryer (and hanging rack). However, looking at the size of the washer, I'm going to be doing laundry every 3-4 days, not once a week as I expected. One more way to fill my time (how do working people find time to get all their housework done in this country?)
I'll talk more about the challenges of grocery shopping. how Germans furnish apartments. and cooking in a minimally furnished apartment in later posts. Tomorrow I hope to find time to visit a bit of the area.
Oh, we did find a lovely wine shop that even lets you sample the wine before you buy. Anyone experience something similar in the U-S- ?
1 comment:
Only at wine bars, where there's generally a selection to be tasted before buying.
That is weird about the lack of wireless! They can't hang a wireless router off the Ethernet?
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