Well, I’m finally in Freiburg. I can’t tell you how long it took me to get here. Wait, yes I can and yes I will. It took me too long. My flight from Chicago to Dublin was cancelled and I had to wait another 24 hours for the next flight to take off. By the time I landed in Dublin I was exhausted from lugging my luggage around and took a nap while I waited to check in. Finally got on a plane to Frankfurt and landed around 7 o’clock. Got a Bahn 50 card at the Hauptbahnhof there, which gives me a 50% discount on all ticket purchases. 103 Euro, but worth it.

Train pulled into Freiburg at 11 o’clock. Picked up by one of the program co-ordinators and taken to my dorm. It doesn’t compare to the “Brodjects” at MSU, to say the least, but it’s pretty neat and really not that bad when it comes down to it. There’s lots of renovations going on, so it’s a bit dusty and noisy. I’ve met a few people on the floor, but I’ve been so busy getting tours of the city, creating a bank account, and all that good stuff that I haven’t had much time to really talk to anyone.

I have Internet access thanks to a couple of guys that live upstairs. A few of us chipped in to pay for a private Internet provider, rather than relying on the University’s apparently unreliable service. Internet access isn’t at all what it’s like at MSU. At MSU you’ve got a computer lab in every dorm complex without restrictions on surfing, wireless in the library and the Union, and more labs in Wells Hall, the Union, library, and various other locations. It’s very easy to get online. At the library here there’s about eight computers with which you are allowed to check only your mail – as long as it’s on a list they provide. So it was impossible to check my MSU mail. The only other computers there with Internet access were only for research and also did not allow me to check my MSU mail. So I was Internet-less for several days and I didn’t know if I would ever have it.

We went to IKEA yesterday and I got a neat area rug, a pillow, a lavender plant, a shopping bag, some dishes, and some plastic storage bowls.

I still really need to do my shopping for the week and hopefully I’ll have enough time between signing papers and signing more papers.
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It's evening now and I'm leaving for a cheesy historical tour of Freiburg. Bis spaeter!