So... where to begin?! I have been on the go since 4am this morning, and only got left to my own devices at about half 8 this evening, talk about long day!!
"Let's start at the very beginning, for it's a very good place to start..."
4am alarm - that's never good, but my horribly early morning flight went pretty much without mishap, as long as you ignore the fact it left half an hour late and that queuing and waiting seem to be compulsory activities at an airport. Arrived in Düsseldorf to a not so warm welcome from the 'Bundespolizei', but at least the guy checking my passport thanked me in English. I then proceeded to establish that most of the female loos in arrivals were out of order, that your baggage appears really quickly and that navigating your way around an airport you don't know, with 3 bags, is no mean feat. Still I found the escalator thingys down to the 'S-bahn', sorted my ticket, and then discovered that despite my belief, I apparently didn't look as English and stupid as I thought. That or the girl who fired a question auf Deutsch at me at the speed of light was getting desperate! Still after asking her twice to repeat what she said, I decided it was time to play the "Ich bin Englisch" card. Turns out she had been on a work placement in Sweden, but despite living in Düsseldorf and speaking fluent German, she seemed to be as clueless (if not more so!) than me.
Anyho, best part of 2 hours later I arrived in Bergisch Gladbach station, and found myself smiling at any old pensioner until I finally found the one I was meant to be meeting! Long story short, Wilfried is still überly helpful, but perhaps a little too much so. There's only so long you can nod, smile and utter the occasional "ja" before they cotton on that you have no idea what they have been talking about! As for lunch? God only knows what I ate, I fear it was veal and baked beans / peas in some kind of tomato sauce that was presented as soup with rice or bread... Who knows. But they did seem very keen on taking me to this Turkish restaurant just so that I could eat this dish. Anyhow, after many circulations of the town I now have a German phone, bank account (I think, not sure how that one works when I haven't managed to 'anmelden' yet) and not to mention a free bottle of wine. These Germans like their alcohol. This evening Wilfried, his partially sighted wife, and I seemed to be invited to / gate crashed my landlord's house, where he opened some champagne, which I was told was high quality, seemingly just because he could.... I've left them to continue drinking, as I had spent less than a mere 5 minutes in my flat. I dread to think about his drive home - I had forgotten just how care-free German drivers are! Wilfried holds firm the belief that a good piece of dark chocolate is all you need to hide the smell of alcohol from your breath, and hence keeps a stash of them in his car!
I think that is all to report from day one... Apparently the street I live on is perceived to be quite a classy one "it's no Soho" according to Wilfried's wife! Oh, and I have been loaned a bike too - think that may have to be ridden at some point purely to be polite. The flat is really quite nice though, and quite big too with a TV and everything. This is no student accommodation!
Tomorrow entails a meeting with the deputy head... but before that, sleep is muchly required!
(Wednesday 8th September 2010)
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