Germany - Week 1 (Oct 7-13)

Let's see how fully I can maintain my travelogue online. This is mostly an extract from what I have been writing to friends.

My first week in Cologne (or Koln) was mostly spent in the orientation week being organised for the incoming exchange students. There are over a hundred exchange students from many corners of the world this semester in the University of Koln - including about 60-70 of us in the Business and Social Science School.

I reached Koln on Oct 7, abroad the Thalys from Brussels, after reaching Brussels on the Eurostar. After after having not spoken any German for over a year and a quarter, I was not too sure if I would be able to remember anything of the language that I had learnt over the years. But luckily, at the U-Bahn (underground train/tram) at the central station itself, it all came back. And I was really pleased to be able to make atleast some conversation in the local language, howsoever broken and poor my German is.

I live in a small room in a house about 20 minutes by U-Bahn to the city centre (And also the university). It is a small room, but quite cosy. My classmate from WIMWI, Thussu, also lives in the same house, in the neighbouring room.

The Orientation Week lasted from the 9th to the 16th and included parties almost every night and excursions to Bonn and Aachen on the 15th and 16th (to be covered in a later entry). I went to a place called the Purple Club on Monday (Oct 9) night.

The morning and afternoon of the next day, Tuesday, was spent registering for classes, opening a bank account, getting a cell number, etc. I ended up taking 8 courses! I remained faithful to my vow of only taking classes on Mondays and Tuesdays though, so that I focus on travelling!

On Tuesday evening, they organised a 'pub-crawl' for us. This involved teams of 7-8 going from one 'stop' to another and performing various tasks (each involving drinking as the main event or sideshow). Among the tasks we had to perform were limbo dancing, singing, staging of plays, etc.
The game was quite fun, even though I did not drink, obviously. Reached home at 1:30 that night - the only time I have taken a cab in this trip so far.

On Wednesday, Thussu and I went sightseeing for the first time in Koln. We went to the famous Koln cathedral and an art gallery/museum (Wallraf-Richardz Museum). The cathedral has a nice collection of religious objects from centuries past and the view from the top of the cathedral after climbing over 500 steps is quite nice (not as spectacular as that from the St. Paul's Cathedral in London though). The museum is basically an art gallery housing collections of paintings from the 13-15th centuries, the 17th century and the 18-19 th century on its three floors. I liked the 'realist' paintings of the 18-19th century and also the Baroque art of the 17th century.

On Thursday, Thussu and I headed to the Romisch-Germanisches Museum. Koln was the frontier city of the Roman Empire since the 1st century BC. Hence, there are many ruins of that period underneath the city, and many of the dug up artefacts have been exhibited in this museum. Most of the museum info is in German though, and hence the visit was not as informative as it could have been. The square in front of the Cathedral and the Museum is a rather pleasing place. Teenagers and others skateboard and rollerblade there, and that makes for entertaining viewing. Many of them are really good and their 'tricks' are spectacular. The backdrop of the Cathedral adds to the charm of the square. I can only imagine how bustling with crowds this square is in summer.

Did not do much on Friday, as far as I now remember. Think I spent it writing the blog on the UK, in fact :)