After a sleepless night at the backpacker’s hostel, I set off for my new home: Wuppertal. Wuppertal is only a short distance from both Köln and Dusseldorf. The three cities kind of form an upside-down triangle, where Köln is at the bottom, Dusseldorf is top left, and Wuppertal is top right. It only took me about half an hour by train to reach the Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof, where I was greeted by one of my co-workers Inka. I’d like to take a moment and really give a hearty thank you to Inka. If it weren’t for her kindness I’d be even more alone and even more freaked out right now. Inka is letting me stay with her for a week or so until I find a permanent apartment of my own. I seriously don’t know what I would do without this woman. She’s been so nice. And she’s also been speaking only German to me, which, as difficult as it is, is exactly what I need.
My first impressions of Wuppertal have been mixed. It’s very different from Köln in many ways. Köln is the 4th largest city in Germany with a little over 1 million people whereas Wuppertal has about 350,000 inhabitants. Also, the terrain and layout of the cities are very different. Köln is relatively flat and the city has a nucleus (the Dom, obviously) and it sprawls out in a circular fashion. Wuppertal on the other hand is in a valley, so it is very hilly and the city spreads longwise along the bottom of the valley. I arrived to Wuppertal Hbf on a rainy morning, which made it look even more dreary in comparison to the Köln Hbf. Other differences I noticed right away were not the greatest. Wuppertal appears to be dirtier and less biker friendly than Köln, but this can be attributed to the fact it is less tourist oriented and the terrain is quite different. I’m very intrigued to learn more about Wuppertal, and to form deeper opinions other than just my first impressions.
I’m also very excited to make some German friends my age! I think my first step in achieving this will be moving into a permanent apartment. I think I found an apartment through WG-Gesucht with two German students, a 21 year old girl and 27 year old guy. I visited their apartment on Friday shortly after arriving to Wuppertal. Luckily for my sleep deprived self it was only a short walk from Inka’s house. They both seem really nice and willing to help me with my German. I’m hoping to hear back from them within the next few days! I’ve been feeling pretty lonely ever since I left everyone in Köln, and I’m really excited to make new friends!
Speaking of new friends… I suppose I’ve already made a couple acquaintances. Inka plays volleyball on Fridays with a mixed group of men and women from their late 20’s to 50’s and she was nice enough to invite me along. I was truly amazed at how athletic everyone was. Not only was everyone in really great shape, but they all really knew how to play volleyball. Everyone was setting up plays and having great rallies! We played for a little over 2 hours, changing up teams and taking water breaks in between sets. After playing for that long my forearms were KILLING me. Then, after everyone was all volleyball-ed out, we went to a cool Irish pub and I had myself a Guinness.
Saturday Inka’s brother Jens was coming for a visit, so we had to go to the grocery store. Remember how I said Wuppertal isn’t really that bike friendly? Well Inka defies that statement! I borrowed a bike from a neighbor and yes, Inka and I biked through the hills of Wuppertal to a sweet little organic grocery. I told you this lady was cool. Then Inka, Jens, and I went to an old coal mine that has been re-vamped into an architecture museum. Very cool. After that, we went home and cooked dinner together. Both Inka and Jens are vegetarians and I was really excited to eat some healthy, home-cooked food after all the bread and meat-heavy take-out I’d been eating.
Today, I slept in then wandered by myself around the city a little bit. I tried to find the University… but I got lost. I really had a rough time being alone today. I’m feeling very homesick and I had a big “what-have-I-got-myself-into” freak out. I’m also really nervous about starting work tomorrow because I still don’t really know what I’m going to be doing. I know that things are only going to get better from here. Soon I’ll be in an apartment of my own, making new friends, and my German is only going to get better with practice. I actually just learned that three UC DAAP students are going to be studying abroad in Wuppertal as well! So we can be Bearcat transplants together and maybe form some sort of support system. I just have to keep practicing my German and just keep smiling.
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