A lot of the other international students are starting to make fun of the fact that the only place they ever see me is in the train station. This really isn’t surprising as I was in Paris and Lille from January 15-20 then in Poland from the 22-25 and yet again I’m leaving Oestrich-Winkel to go to another city from 28-31. At least this time I was staying in Germany.
The original plan was to meet Nicole Schöneich, a family friend, at the Düsseldorf main train station on Friday. Being a very consistent person, I somehow managed to make another mistake when purchasing my train ticket. On Wednesday, I had myself convinced that it was Thursday. I was probably mixed up as I was trying so hard to organize myself and plan my daily schedules. It only occurred to me after purchasing my ticket and riding home that I had said “I need a ticket to Düsseldorf for tomorrow please.” I looked at my ticket and sure enough I had bought a ticket for a day earlier than I had actually intended to buy. As soon as I got back home in Oestrich-Winkel, I contacted Nicole. Previously, she had mentioned that it may be a bit of a problem if I was to come on Thursday; as she had to work late. I told her it was my mistake and that I would definitely be able to occupy myself for the day but if she could still provide me with a place to sleep that would be awesome. I wasn’t looking forward to a repeat of my night in Paris. Luckily, Nicole laughed and then said that it wouldn’t be a problem, provided I could find something to do until 10-10:30.
After receiving the good news from Nicole, I quickly sent an email to Olivia Hornung. Olivia is the current holder of the contract for the flat I’m occupying. I told her that I would be in her home town and that I would like to meet up with her and her mom to pay my rent. Olivia said this wouldn’t be a problem and met me at the main train station.
Along the Rhine with the Rheinturm in the background. Anyone got the time?
Once I arrived, Olivia took me on a tour of the city. We walked along Königsalle, a very popular luxury shopping street also known as the Kö. It is like Whyte Avenue on fashion and jewellery steroids comparatively on European standards it is the Champs-Elysees (a very famous and expensive shopping street in Paris, France) of Germany. So we all know that I was just there to look and perhaps one day, if I have copious amounts of money that I just don’t know what to do with, I will be back. From there we continued the tour through the Altstadt (the old center of the city) to the Rhine. The wind was cold but nothing worse than what I have experienced in Edmonton. I could still feel my face and my eyes weren’t frozen shut; just a bit of a runny nose. Anyhow, we made it to the Rheinturm (television tower- 240.5m/789 feet) to take a look at the city from above. The Rheinturm is also the world largest digital clock. I was told this but nobody really seems to understand how it works. Still cool though.
We had sufficiently killed enough time and I was able to try an Altbier from Schlüssel, one of the local brewers of Altbier, as well as pick up some Killerpitsch. Killerpitsch is similar to Jägermeister but with a local touch to it. Nicole picked me up from Olivia’s house after I enjoyed some dinner with her family and as usual, I was ready to crash from all the information and traveling.
Nicole proudly wearing her Oilers T-shirt
Nicole works in customer retention for E-plus, a German telecom company, and she also goes to school. So once again, different city but same country this time, I was attending school while traveling. I don’t want that last statement to sound like a complaint either. I think it is really interesting to see how the schooling system works here. As I had stated in my first blog, I want to learn more about how things are run here. Anyhow, this time the class was in German and proved to really test my skills. I was able to participate as it was a lecture on culture and business. Very interesting as Düsseldorf is one of the most multicultural cities in Germany.
Movie ticket - Reihe (row): 15, Platz (seat): 16
From the lecture we went to Friendship!, a German film about two guys who go to America after the fall of the Berlin wall. Highly recommend it if you understand German or can find a version with subtitles. I don’t want to take away from how great the movie was but the theatre was far better than anything I have ever been to in Canada. It was more like we were going to an Oiler game than a movie. There was a full cocktail bar, ice cream/ cafe bar, and a restaurant. Furthermore, when you buy a ticket you get a seat number and pay according to where you want to sit in the theatre; so no breaking your neck to watch a movie that you paid $21.00 to see. I shouldn’t forget to mention that there are screens that show you how many tickets are available as well. This way you don’t stand in line for an hour and then end up not getting a ticket. I was totally taken back by this experience. Talking with the other international students, it seems common in large cities but perhaps not in Canada. The rest of the weekend was spent checking out Schloss Benrath (Benrath Palace), a collector car museum, a karaoke bar and a few night clubs. Overall, another amazing trip that I won’t forget!
