Willkommen in Hamburg

It has now been two weeks since I first left England behind and flew out to Hamburg ahead of four months of living, breathing, eating and drinking German culture, as part of a semester abroad through the Erasmus program. Although it’s been hectic so far the experience has been so much more than I imagined, and definitely one of the best decisions I have made whilst at uni.

After arriving in Hamburg I made my way to my accommodation for the first few nights, a great hostel in the middle of the city. These first few days I treated as a holiday, and headed out to explore the city. Whilst Hamburg (or the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg to give it its full name) is Germany’s second city and has its tourist attractions, it definitely has the feel of somewhere to go either for a city break or for a long period of time.

Following a pretty relaxed few days the time came for me to lug my belongings halfway across the city and move into what would be my accommodation for the term, a small halls in a quiet suburb of the city. Despite being in the suburbs, the journey to uni is only 45 minutes by S-Bahn, although I’m sure it’ll seem a lot longer when I have to get in for my 7.45am lecture on Wednesdays.

After finally getting my room I spent much of last week out of it, rushing around the city and the university. The welcome events put on the university have been excellent, and the ability to meet other international students in the department was great, as they were all going through the same as I was. The evening event organised by PIASTA (the international society) also provided a great way to meet both some German and some international people in a relaxed atmosphere.  The second part of the week was slightly less exciting, filled with all the practical things I had to do, such as register my residence, open a bank account and get a local SIM card.

As I said the whole experience has so far been incredible, but there are some things that have happened that have I have really noticed:

• Everyone waits for the green man, always.
• Brezels are the best fast food snack
• Apfelschorle (pre-mixed sparkling water and apple juice) is a fantastic idea
• Germans often assume if you are not fluent in German, then you know no German- there is no middle point
• It’s amazing the sense of satisfaction that can be had from translating a push/pull door and getting it right