After spending a
week in Germany it seems that it is high time to actually start my blog, and
begin as I intend to go on. Despite my wish to make this as witty and
nonconformist as possible, I am inevitably going to begin where it started, not
so much Norwich bus station at 5am, but rather the idea of my departure. Departures
are usually synonymous with loss, whatever form they might take. Having arrived
in Bonn as the sole Bristol student taking up an Erasmus place at the Rheinische
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität it is easy to understand this. For a start, my
first excursion to a supermarket was a melancholic affair due to the lack of
cheddar being sold (and the consequential dread of a year of cheese-deprivation
induced calcium deficiency). But despite the initial realisation of the culinary
limitations of my new home, it has certainly become clear that departure might
actually mean something entirely different. That is to say, arrival. So rather than thinking about all that I’ve
left behind, my friends, comfort, and blocks of mature cheddar, I’m going to
focus on the things I’ve gained in my first week abroad and the promise of what
lies ahead.
Good friends will know that I’m starting with what is most
important i.e. a pair of roller blades. After arriving and meeting one of my
new housemates – a German computer scientist who goes by the name of Volker – I
quickly became overwhelmed by the hospitable nature of my new home, and excited
at my apparent possession of some wheel-embellished shoes. I am living in a WG,
which is kind of a flat, but also kind of not. It is a flat building where
tenants drop in and out all of the time. Some WGs are just quite places to
stay, but Rosenstrasse has more of a quirky, homely fee (as epitomised by the
vase full of kinder egg toys on the communal bookshelf). From the moment I
arrived it was clear that I got lucky with this place. Overlooking the perfection
that is my room, my arrival here has been unreal, beginning with my housemate taking
me round town, giving me some rollerblades that had been left in the WG, and facilitating
a trip to the Seibengebirge (nearby mountain/hill type things). After a
suitably tiring walk up the Drachanfels peak, I was presented with a view of
the Rhine with Bonn merging into Cologne in the valley below. I can’t express
how it felt to see my new home sprawled out along the Rhine, but all I can say
is that there was tranquillity about it I’ve never really felt before. What a
way to begin, kudos to you Volker.
And since the initial success of acquiring roller blades
(which I had always dreamed of owning to skate down the Rhine) my departure has
continued to be about my arrival. Since being here I have met some lovely
people also on the Erasmus course (and been joined by a good friend from home),
sat on the Rhine’s river beach at night, marvelled at the Cologne cathedral and
so much more that I can’t even remember. What’s more, the loss of cheddar pales
in comparison to the additional foodstuffs I have encountered, with good bread
and Federweisser being among the most notable additions to my diet. So I have
not only gained many new experiences, but also some weight I am guessing. Don’t
be surprised if I come home obese…
So on the eve of the commencement of my new university life,
I sit in my room writing to an audience back at home where everyone I love is,
and rather than feeling daunted of what is to come, I'm glad that I persevered
and allowed myself that initial loss of comfort for the trade-off of the
arrival at some place new and different. I am trying to keep this short enough
that it isn't boring or a chore to read, but simultaneously I don’t want my
point to be overlooked. So if you want to know more, check out my Facebook for
future blogposts and photos, and I’ll leave you with an anecdote from a good
friend of mine: Adele once told me that one goodbye is another hello, and she
was right. So to conclude, hello Bonn, I'm ready and waiting.
