Friday, Sept 4---Paperwork Day!

I again had some trouble sleeping; trying to change my body to 6 hours earlier isn't quite working! I woke up about 8, and got ready for my student assistant, Stefanie Schattschneider (how Deutsch is that!!) came at 10. We passed each other on the sidewalk, and she told me later she thought I must be German because I said "Hallo" so well!! Hurray---I can say one German word well!! We had several chores to do, and when all was said and done, I was very thankful that she had gone along to assist me. Stefanie had spent a semester in Nova Scotia, Canada, as an exchange student, and her English is quite good.

We walked about 20 minutes in a direction I had not yet gone, and I discovered that we are about that far from a main part of the city, as far as shopping goes. We went to the Rathaus, City Hall, where Stefanie translated and I was "registered" so they know I have an address in the city and am legal, basically. Henrich had written a note about it, and I had my invitation from Bielefeld University, plus my passport. The next step was the visa office, where we were not as successful. We had to wait for a private hearing in an office (red light on the door when occupied) and the young woman assigned to my part of the alphabet had never encountered a situation like mine before. She and Stefanie had quite the conversation, and Stefanie told me later she was concerned at one point about what was going to happen. The young woman went to ask her superior what to do, and evidently they decided I should be called a scientist, not a lecturer, and somehow, that makes things easier. I need a "contract" letter from the university, somehow also verifying that I have health insurance, and a "biometric" photo for the visa. So, we were handed the form that I need to complete (all in German, good ol' Henrich will help me!), and off we went. The young woman told Stefanie to please come back early on Tuesday morning because it will be very busy later. At least we now knew what we needed.

Then, off to the bank. The university needs me to have my own bank account so that they can reimburse me for my travel expenses, etc. This became very funny. Form after form, all in German, and I was basically signing where they told me to, though this young woman very kindly explained quickly what each form was about. I chose to get a bankcard that costs 5 euros a month in service fees, but it is usable in almost every store and this bank, Sparbank I believe, has offices and automatic machines throughout Germany. This way, I won't have to pay MasterCard the 3% exchange fee all the time, nor my bank in Marquette a fee for withdrawing euros on my ATM. All 3 of us laughed when this young woman had to give me an entire booklet of rules and so forth, in German, which we all knew I couldn't read. Anyway, my PIN number will come early next week, and the card later. Hurray!!

Then, to the u-bahn system. Stefanie says all the university students get free transportation with their stuent IDs, though they have paid for it upfront whether they use it or not. So, she had no idea how much it cost for me to get a monthly pass, a trip ticket, or anything else. It was going to be almost 60 euros a month for a pass, and if I'm going to be gone part of September, that didn't make sense. A short (kurz) trip is going 4 stops or less. From where we were, it was 6 stops to the university. We bought a pass for me for 2,40, and got on the next train. Sure enough, here was a little fellow who checked my ticket and Stefanie's pass. She said she's raely seen this done. We later discovered that from my flat to the university is only 4 stops, and I can get 4 short tickets for 4,90 (4 euros and 90 cents). Henrich always rode his bike to campus and says it's a 25 minute walk (Stefanie thinks it is much farther than that), so I'll probably take the train. Ulli teaches school, and although it isn't far, she drives their car (her hair, says Henrich!!)

We went to the university where I was about overwhelmed. I didn't think to take my camera with me on Friday, but I'll be sure to send pictures of the university buildings later. There is a walkway over the road to get to the main building I'll be in, a huge lobby area with 3 or 4 eating areas, a couple shops and so forth, and then we went to the 2nd floor which is where I'll be teaching and where I have an office. I was pleased to find I have an office, though I am sharing space with extra flipcharts!! There is a very wide desk, and windows---whohoooo!! Stefanie then took me to Thomas somebody, the head of the IT area, with whom Henrich had spoken about my computer problem. Evidently the first thought had been that I could get the wireless gizmo that would give me service everywhere, but later people realized that I'd have to have a 2 year contract for that service. So, Thomas told me that he had set up a wireless acount for me at Henrich's, and gave me a user id and password. This wasn't quite making sense to me; Henrich did not have wireless in his house. Also, they're setting up a university account for me which I'll get next week. I also met the dean and the important secretary-types. Stefanie had parked her car here, so we came back to the neighborhood. I treated Stefanie to pizza at the nearby pizza place (she ordered mushroom and pineapple; I've had more pineapple in the last few days that I've had in months!), and I came home.

At that point, Henrich told me he'd gotten wireless service, and he told me my password is BrandiBrandi. He came up to the apartment with me, we tried it, and it worked!! I did a quick errand to a shop Stefanie and I had passed. I got an ice cube tray, some plastic food storage dishes, a fleece piece and a dog brush for Brandi, and an umbrella. It has rained often lately and now I'll have my own umbrella!

As those of you who know me well can imagine, I then spent the next several hours getting caught up on e-mails. I also got last week's "Army Wives" up on the computer and started a Hummel cross-stitch piece. I purposely stayed up late in order to see if that would help me sleep. Brandi and I went to bed about 11. For the 2nd time here, I fell asleep while reading my mystery, which hit the floor. I've never had books hit the floor in the US, but here it's happened twice already.