getting settled in

i apologize for the poor grammer and spelling. i am using my roommates computer and it is much different and the shift key does not make letter capitlized.

upon my arrival to dortmund i was exhausted after a long trip. i had a hard time finding hella and mattias my german contacts at the station. i walked right past them. mattias is over seven feet tall and i though that looks like mattias but i had no idea he was that tall and i thought what are the odds that is him. i got here safe. i have two roommates so far both have been here 6 months and plan of finishing up school here. one is chinese not sure on his name he is strange and yells in his sleep, and is a little anti social. the other one mahmut is from turkey he is great. we talk a lot but in poor english and in poor german. his english is not great and my german is not good either so we have made up our own little language. once i got here i thought things were a little different at first sight than i expected and i lived with two people who couldnt speak english very well etc. so i felt alone. then mahmut gave me a beer and i decided that would be the last time i would feel that way. because to feel that way i feel is an insult to those that helped me get here and also to myself for all the work i put in to get here. i call mahmut hedo turkolou because he looks almost identical to the turkish basketball player or i call him jedi because he is absolutly obsessed with star wars which i find funny o he also loves nickel back i rag on him for that a lot.

on my way back from the grocery store which is very close to my room my debit card fell out of my pocket, there was a hole that i did not know about in one of my jacket pockets. i have no idea where it is but i have no money what so ever besides one american dollar as i already used up the euros i brought. in a weird way its nice. it helps you realize how lucky you are for the small things. my friend jordan gave me some chocolate and i ration them and its like a litte treat each time i get to eat one. i will have money on monday i worked things out with german bank here so i should get money on monday. i have depended on the kindness of others to survive which i feel unbelievably thankful for. hella doge paid for my 200 euro semmester fees, mahmut took me grocery shopping again for more food, cambridge bought me my first legal beer at a bar, matthias bought me lunch. i have not asked for help but they have all offered and insisted and no amount of money can repay them for their kindness. i am very excited to repay them though and pay for my own meals.

today i went to downtown dortmund and there was a soccer match today. bvb dortmund is the name of the dortmunds team and i followed a group of soccer holligans to the game they tought me the songs and riot police were here making sure nothing would happen. i looked up and laughed and thought now i am in germany. it snowed quite a bit last night about 4 or 5 inches. so things look different. o i live in the student village which is basically its own typical german village. its for students only and most students live in a-frame houses just like the typical german village. it is very fun to walk to campus through this. i do not live in a frame house i live ina regular dorm room. i am going to try to visit cologne or dusseldorf tomorrow with a friend. as a student of dortmund university i ride all the trains in state of north westphalia for free so the trip wont cost me anything which is fantastic. i am trying to plan trip to spain or brussels soon. i would like to start travleing as soon as i get my money.anyways i gotta go i am going to try to watch the game some where. sorry for the spelling and grammar.


until next time, sieze the day.

nathan