Day One

Alas, I must make this quick as I am tired beyond all belief. Today was my first full day in Luxembourg and it was a full one at that.

This morning I was awaken at approximately 0700 by what sounded like construction work. It ceased at 0720, but by then I was already ready to get up. So, I got out of bed, met Norby downstairs, then I took a shower, ate a Berliner (which is a donut with a sweet filling) and some milk. Oh, that reminds me - cultural difference to note: Norby explained to me that I could heat my milk up in the microwave. I was confused by this, since I (and I think most Americans) prefer milk chilled. He told me that since his early years he had been raised to drink milk warm. Strange, this country is.

So then Norby went to work, leaving me alone to get to the train station. Do you have any idea how scary that was? I probably thought about the route I had to take 100 times last night, just so I made sure I knew exactly where it was. So I got to the train station about 5 minutes before the train was scheduled to stop in Esch. When the train wasn't there at exactly 0828, I became worried. Then, a voice came on over the PA, and announced something to the effect of, "The train is running five minutes late." So I hung out, which was ok, but there was like no one getting on the train. I was worried. So I got on the train, near the front, and took a seat. I expected someone to walk around and check to see my Jumbo Pass (which is our unlimited free travel card for Luxembourg), but when the conductor walked by, I barely flashed my card and he just kept going. I actually stopped him later, and in broken French tried to convey that I wanted to make sure I was on the right train. He told me I was, and I was less scared. I managed to get off the train, find my way up the street back to the Chateau, and get to the sessions on time.

Today, I heard mini-lectures about IT and Library stuff, possible options for discovery tours, and how to go about everyday business at Miami University Dolibois European Campus (here on out referred to as "MUDEC"). After these lectures, it was grub time. So we got in a huge line, and grabbed our plates, and then sat and ate.  Lunch consisted of chicken in a pineapple curry sause, French fries, yogurt, salad, and soup with bread. All of it was rather tasty, which gives me high hopes for the rest of the semester.

After lunch we were placed into groups to work on a scavenger hunt around the city of Differdange to "discover" the city. Now, there was no real supervision, and that translated to most of my group deciding to "discover" Das Boot, which is a small bar in Differdange near the train station. I ended up walking around the city with just three other people, and we really didn't find all that we needed to, but whatever. Then, I returned to the Chateau, did some administrative b.s. and picked up my textbooks. It was cool that even though I had like 8 heavy textbooks, it only cost $187, which is much less than my usual semester costs in Oxford.

Then I took the 1630 train from Differdange back to Esch. While there were many other Miami students on the train with me, none of them got off at Esch, as most of them live farther away - either in Luxembourg City, or in Bettembourg.

So I came home, sat around for a while. Norby called the internet company because his wifi is still down, and he wanted to fix it. Unfortunately, it seems as though there is a serious problem, so somebody from the internet company is coming to check on it (Monday at the earliest). Thus, I will have to keep writing my posts on Word at night, and then copying them into my blog when I get wifi at the Chateau.

Ok, so funny cultural things I noticed. First of all, I have a new and tremendous appreciation for foreigners who speak English in America. It is just plain scary to speak a foreign language in a foreign town. I'm trying to be cool about it, but it is just not easy to get over that immense fear of failure and embarrassment that comes with trying not to butcher someone else's language. Also, I remarked as I was walking home from the train station - people in Luxembourg are not all that different from those in the United States. I realized this because I saw a guy standing behind a parking spot, trying to get his mother to parallel park. I, of course, laughed to myself at this familiar and comical sight.

Tonight, Norby invited me out to dinner with him, and we went to a lovely little Chinese place. Norby is very generous, as he paid for my dinner yet again. Then, after dinner we went to a small bar called "Pitcher." It was actually quite American and reminded me of something like a T.G.I. Friday's. I mean, there was the hood of a Cadillac on the wall. Now, the reason we went to Pitcher was to meet two of Norby's friends who are my age, Pol and Gilles. Norby has already told several stories about Pol and Gilles, and how they corrupted the last Miami students who lived with Norby. So we decided to have one drink. Norby got us some Battin, which is actually a local beer made in Esch. It was good, but I do not think I liked it as much as the Diekirch I had yesterday. The bar was really cool, very crowded inside, and we stood outside with a ton of other people. It was fascinating to me, because there were so many kids younger than I who were just drinking openly in the streets.

Now, Pol and Gilles arrived, and drank. And they drank. After showing up later than Norby and I, Pol had two beers and then went to get drinks for us all. I had told Norby I only wanted to drink one beer and that was it (I mean, I have to get up tomorrow early and get to my orientation activities). So when Pol brought out what appeared to be some sort of orange juice, I was concerned. I asked him about it, and he said it was just orange juice, soda, and grenadine. Now, I did by no means take him at his word, but I did decide to taste it. Turns out it was very alcoholic, or at least it tasted so to me. Norby then informed me that it also contained Campari, which is some French aperatif. So, throughout the next hour or so, I drank my Campari / orange juice / grenadine. It did not taste good, but I wanted to look cool (boy is that a lame excuse). I still felt, and feel, fine, but I was definitely not going to have any more. What can I say, when you don't drink like the rest of the sailors in Oxford, you can't be expected to perform as well over here. Pol and Gilles seemed to have the whole drinking thing down, as they were a couple of rounds ahead of Norby and I. After we finished our drinks, Norby and I walked home in the pouring rain. Now, I am soaked, cold, and exhausted. I will try to write more tomorrow.