When I came to Germany, my brother drove us to Hemer, Southeast of Dortmund. That's the town where all my german relatives live. I slept all the way to Hemer. It's a nice town and I stayed there 10 days. We had some family reunions, etc and went many times shopping to Iserlohn, which is near Hemer. We also visited some glider airflields, but there was no flying. I activated my father's Google Phone G1 in Telecom. It is so cool! It has many applications like Google Maps, games, it has camera, video recorder, automatic gmail alerts, etc. My brother and I went to the ADAC-Fahrsicherheitstraining. It's a course where you learn how to drive and brake in wet surfaces. They also explain many many things about driving safely. It was fun!
One day we went to a football match in VELTINS-Arena, Schalke 04 Stadium in Gelsenkirchen. It was Bayern-München vs. Schalke 04 and it was very cool. After those 10 days, we drove to Münster to stay with other german relatives in Einen, near Telgte. One day we drove to Münster-Telgte airfield. It is small, but nice and you can see lots of light and sport planes. Another day I rode with my bicycle to Münster-Telgte airfield, but when I arrived, no one was there. Quite an experience and very nice landscapes.
After staying 4 days in Einen, we drove to my final destination: Hamburg!Hamburg is very nice :) when we arrived, we left our bags in the hotel and went to the city centre. There's a lake in Hamburg, the Alstersee. It is very nice and you can sail there. We ate in Alsterpavillon and then we walked around the Alster. Then, we drove to the student-building Paul-Sudeck-Haus and we took a look at it. The area is very nice, lots of trees and not too much traffic. We also drove to the airport and to my future school, the Studienkolleg. It was a good first day in Hamburg.
Some days later, I said goodbye to my mom and sister and stayed with my brother's friend in a student-building or residence, whatever... One day I took my bike and rode to the airport. Sometimes I don't know which way to go and I just take my google phone and check what streets to take. Very handy! At the airport, the views are incredible! You can see the takeoffs and landings pretty good! I enjoy being at the airport and hear the airplanes roaring on the runway. The Emirates 777 flies from and to Dubai and it's a cool experience to watch it land and take off. Many airlines operate from and to Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel airport and it's a Lufthansa Base there (Lufthansa Technik too).
I tested the public transport system on my first days in Hamburg. The HVV or Hamburger Verkehrsverbund has excellent transport routes. You can take your bike with you when traveling in the U-Bahn or S-Bahn or the boats in the Elbe that take you to different stations in the river. You can get a bit confused when traveling for the first time in the U- or S-Bahn, but there are many route maps and notice boards in the stations. If you don't know what subway/route to take, check the boards.I changed here in Paul-Sudeck-Haus on the 1st of August. It's a good student building and my floormates are cool. I'm on the fourth floor (or third in German) and in each floor, there is a kitchen, living-room, showers and toilets for everyone. Each student has it's own dormitory and I think it has good space.
The supermarket is just three blocks away, the subway station is only one block away. Near the subway station there are lots of grocery stores, restaurants, etc. The nearest bank is several more blocks away, but it's ok with the bike. The Stadtpark is also near here and the airport is just 6.5km away. Heck, you don't need a car in here! Well, if you have a family and/or must go shopping, you definitely need one.
I also decided to build a new desktop computer. It's a lot of fun to build a new PC. I compared prices in two PC stores and made a list. It's a good PC :) but the case will arrive in 4 days or so. I've been waiting more than a week for the case and when I had all the necessary stuff for the PC, I built it without the case. It ran ok and I could install Windows Vista and the motherboard/video card drivers, but I stupidly put the motherboard on the antistatic plastic and I don't know if that was the reason why the monitor doesn't shows anything. Strange, but I'll wait for the case to arrive and then resolve the problem.
One day I went to Finkenwerder. Hamburg-Finkenwerder is where Airbus Deutschland is. They build the A318s, A319s and A321s there. They also build parts for the other widebody planes and send them in the Beluga. When I arrived there, an Airbus A380 was being prepared for its delivery flight for Qantas. It is an experience to see that airplane. The takeoff was awesome! First time I saw an A380 and flying too!
Enough for this post. I'll write about my first gliding experience in the next one. Adios.
