Kiwi in Konstanz: Hallo von Konstanz!

Wow I can't believe I've only been in Europe for one week, because I've done so much in that time! Saying goodbye at the airport was even harder than I thought, but I seem to be doing okay so far, probably because I've been so busy! I'm really happy here. First impressions of Konstanz have been super so I reckon I'm in for an amazing time!

Dubai Airport

My flights here weren't too bad, I managed to get a total of 5 hours sleep so that's better than nothing.
Arriving in Zurich and getting to my hotel with my luggage (which was quite heavy for me) was a little tricky. Especially trying to figure out what tram to get and which stop to get off as there were no English instructions! But I just went old-school and asked someone for help. A tip I've learnt is if they're under 30 they will most likely speak perfect English.

I was quite tired once I reached my hotel but I wanted to make the most of my time in Zurich, so I had a shower and went out to explore for a couple of hours. However I have quite a bad sense of direction and had no map or internet so unfortunately I didn't find the main city hub, which is quite embarrassing! I managed to walk right around it I suppose. In my defence it was raining and dark by the time I got there. I did stop and ask two people on the street where the centre was but neither spoke English. So that was a shame I didn't get to see the city properly, but never mind. I'm sure I will be back heaps as I live so close now. (Hopefully my sense of direction improves during my time here...)

I took the train to Konstanz the next day from Zurich Airport. Not without a delicious pretzel for breakfast and the most expensive Starbucks I've ever had (8 Swiss Francs!)

Beautiful Swiss countryside with
the alps in the background

The journey is only one hour by train and it was a lovely day with a great view of the Swiss alps. Thank goodness I had a buddy- Lukas that met me at the train station because I had absolutely no idea where anything was and getting to my apartment would have been pretty difficult otherwise!
After we collected the keys to my place and dropped my luggage off, we did a walk around the town centre, and had a coffee.
He showed me where the stores were to buy things. I needed quite a lot for my place, like a towel, kitchen things like cutlery, plates etc and then groceries. After that I went home, unpacked my suitcase and set up a bit before heading out to the international student meet n greet at the pub. It was great to meet so many people from all over the world. It's quite difficult remembering everybody's names though... (there's about 100 of us). I only had a couple of beers but I was there until midnight just chatting to everyone and had a really nice time.

We were straight into our March Course the next day at the university. We took a German language test to be put in classes of our level. There are nine classes, so quite a range among us. We had a tour around the university (which is enormous) and filled out A LOT of forms in the afternoon, such as applying for a bank account, residence permit, health insurance and registering with the city of Konstanz. These are all requirements in order to be officially enrolled with the university. We got a LOT of information that day and it was a very long one for me as I was running on 2 hours sleep that night (jet lag).
One highlight though was that it randomly started snowing! It made the Europeans groan but for us non-Europeans we all squealed with delight and marvelled at it! Quite a funny difference I guess!

We finished at 5 pm and I went to Kaufland (shopping centre) to buy more groceries and stopped by Döner Kebab on the way home for what I was told were THE best kebabs in town... and why yes, yes it was the best I've ever had!
Absolutely stuff-your-face-need-a-bib-delicious.
And then I went to bed very happy.

Droooool

Thursday and Friday our proper language classes started which go from 9 am - 12:30 pm every day. We aren't allowed to miss more than 1.5 classes or we won't get our full ECTS credits, even if we are sick! In the afternoons we finished off applying for everything and getting copies of passports, letters of admission etc.
I was very much looking forward to Friday night as we had a huge pub crawl organised by the LEI (student organisation). We split into five groups as there's so many of us and we went to maybe five or six different places throughout the night. My drinks ranged from beer to bourbon, to a fruity cocktail to a 'Gollum' shot. I was out until 2:30 am so needless to say I had a great night! Luckily for me I felt pretty okay the next day considering, and I didn't have to do anything until 2 pm, so I could sleep in.

Saturday was an organised historical walking tour of Konstanz. It went for 3 hours around the city and it was so amazing to hear how much history the city has, with civilization starting from the Stone Age- BC. Afterwards a group of us went to the pub for dinner and had a beer. It was nice to warm up as it was a pretty chilly day. I had pork knuckle and sauerkraut which I was SO happy about.
We had another excursion on Sunday to the small town of Meersburg to visit the castle. We caught the ferry over, only a 15 minute ride away. The town is also very old and gorgeous, a popular tourist destination in Summer. It's easy to see why- for the wonderful views of Bodensee (Lake Constance) and also their vineyards which I am told have excellent white wines!

The castle of Meersburg dates back to the 5th Century and the tour was pretty cool. I am easily impressed by anything older than my country (which is most things over here really!).
Afterwards we had some free time to explore the town. A new friend Terese from Norway and I went in search of food and we had schnitzel und pommes and of course beer (mandatory). If you can't tell I adore German food so I'm in heaven!

It was back into classes today which are going okay but quite a challenge. It will be interesting to see how much I've learnt when the month is up as the classes are so intense- four hours a day and the teacher speaks only in German. There's no English allowed whatsoever, so it's quite hard sometimes to understand and can easily miss half the instructions, but I'm sure it's an effective method. In the afternoon we had a lecture on German academic culture, and that has been my time here so far! Sorry for the mega long post. I promise they won't all be this long- I probably won't have the time!

So to sum up, I'm really enjoying myself and making friends from all over. It's a great city and I cannot wait to explore more places at every opportunity I get! I'll leave a few pictures below from my first week. Feel free to comment or ask any questions if you have them. If you've sat and read this whole thing you're a legend!

Bis bald!