First days in Chemnitz

Jeg vil skrive på engelsk, da det også kan være interessant for andre å lese. Så håper jeg de fleste norske forstår likevel.

After packing down everything in boxes, leaving only a backpack and a suitcase with everything needed for 3 months, I left Oslo early on Wednesday. Full of excitement of what was going to happen. Free to explore something new, not bound to the old habits. Luckily I hadn't forgotten too much of my german, as I chatted with a girl on the bus. The Saxon dialect, said to be horrible to understand, turned out not to be that hard. Or probably people are just being polite, suppressing it, so that it is easier for me to understand.

Half an hour late, at the train station, Silvana from IAESTE is waiting. Actually I was never worried that something that should go wrong, as I had had contact with her and IAESTE Chemnitz weeks in advance.

First of all, we went to the dorm where I was to live. As I was tired after the journey (and the packing late the previous night), I decided to rest here. Soon I realized that the email server IAESTE Norway is using had broken down. Being the IT responsible for IAESTE Norway, it didn't leave much time for rest. Luckily, others were to blame, and I could only wait for the problem to be fixed.


Which meant that I could go to the dinner I was invited to instead! IAESTE has a tradition of international dinners. This way, both trainees like me and local IAESTE members can try out exciting new food, while socializing with the others. It was a great way to get to know all the others, already the first day. And the brazilian food was also delicious. I don't remember the name, but it was some kind of stew with rice and crispy potatoes. And Caipirinha and brigadeiro for dessert.


The student dorms where we live are very cheap. I only pay 150€/months, and its two neighbouring buildings are my workplace and the mensa (student canteen). The room is also quite ok, with a fridge, sink, wardrobe, desk and bed. I also got some cutlery and pots to borrow from IAESTE. However, I doubt I will be needing it very much. The kitchen was a huge disappointment. It is shared with around 20 others, and all it contains is a sink, a bench and four cooking plates, that's all. No oven, no table, nothing. Luckily, the mensa is cheap (1,30€-2€ for a decent meal), as well as the food in our regular pub, the Irish pub Imagine, compared to Norway. Also the toilets doesn't contain either soap or toilet paper, which has to be brought every time. So I make an experiment, I bring toilet paper and soap to the toilet, and see how long it lasts. So far, I've lost 2 rolls of paper, but there's still one there, and even someone else who have left their paper in the window. And the soap is still almost full (is this a good or a bad sign? Also in the Mensa, there is 27 toilets/urinals and only 3 sinks...)

On Thursday, Silvana showed me around in different offices. It only took 1-2 hours, but I would have needed the whole day, at least, if I were to do it by myself. So I could pay the rent, get a bus card, 35€ for all 4 months(!), get a new sim card (New phone number: +49 176 2789 1752) with mobile internet for my new Galaxy S smartphone, and student card for the Mensa. So the IAESTE is really doing a great service to the new trainees.

Through IAESTE I've also been invited to several pub evenings, climbing, frisbee, ska concert and tomorrow I'll hopefully go to Dresden. Later I will go to Berlin, and hopefully also an IAESTE convention in Austria.


In order to give something back, I brought with me norwegian food. Brown cheese of course, but also salmon, potetkaker (potato tortillas) and reindeer meat. I was a bit sceptical to the flight, that it would get too warm, but it's 2 days ago, and nobody got sick. We use a slightly less primitive kitchen than mine, and though I was still missing much from my kitchen in Oslo, I managed to make a simple stew with the reindeer meat (+ onion, mushrooms and creme fraische). And the salmon rolls (smoked salmon, cream cheese and potetkaker) was also popular. The aquavit however, is still quite full. What a surprise :)

I'll see if I can give an update on my work as well :)