I landed in Germany yesterday. It was a good trip, apart from the scalding. (Lufthansa in Frankfurt offered complimentary coffee and tea dispensed from some very poorly designed machines. As I was filling my cup the hot water splashed up on me, causing me to drop the cup, and as a result dump a cupful of scalding water all over my hand. That was fun, and gives relevance to the Comparative Tort Law course I will be taking this semester...)
I was met then in Hamburg by my buddy, who didn't bring a sign but was easy to find anyway. He was very helpful, carrying my monstrous bags on a bus and subway and then down the street to my apartment.
The apartment is very nice. It's in an old building that appears to predate WWII. Which is somewhat surprising because Hamburg was so heavily destroyed during the war. It has hardwood floors and raised detail on the ceilings, but it also looks like it was recently redone with a modern kitchen and (very tiny) bathroom (which does have a nice shower!). It's well located and has everything we need except a microwave, which we will buy on Friday, and Internet. The Internet is a problem and we're not sure what to do about it. Purportedly there's wireless at school, but I hate having to go out to use it. I really like having Internet at home and am not sure how I will get by without it. Meanwhile, there's been no Internet at school either (it's currently down) so I've been cut off for quite a few days. I think I'm going through withdrawal...
Due to the aforementioned lack of Internet, this was not posted until 9/2/05.