Fourteenth Day in Dortmund

Sept. 14th, 2012

It was another early day. Chris and I met at 6:45 AM to prepare hashbrowns for the international breakfast. We did it without a potato ricer too! I think I used up half a roll of paper towels, squeezing out the water from the potatoes, so I guess that will probably be noted on my trash manifesto.

I also had to give Chris a pair of socks. I showed him where the laundry room was yesterday, but when he went to take out his clothes, there was half an inch of water left in the drum. They were soaking wet when they went into the dryer, and these “energy-efficient” European dryers are not very effective. Even after two hours, his clothes were still wet. When he came over to my apartment this morning, I asked how he dried his clothes. He said he just hung them up all over his room, but the socks he was wearing were still wet. I thought this was hilarious, but really crappy as well, so I offered him a pair of mine. I probably shouldn’t laugh at him, I’m going to have to do laundry soon enough, and will be lucky if I don’t flood the entire basement with my hapless attempt to work the washing machine. The instructions are, of course, all in German and involve several steps. There are clotheslines, and I don’t mind hanging my stuff up to dry, but jeans take forever to dry. I may have to chance the dryers.

After we made the hashbrowns, we toted everything to the International Building. The other American group brought Poptarts and Pigs in a Blanket. I was super-excited to eat a multicultural breakfast. The group did not disappoint. I had Hungarian eggs, Turkish wraps, French croissants, and Japanese pickles. However, the Italians blew it out of the water. I had filled my plate and was sampling everything. I took a bite of a crepe-looking thing I had gotten from their table and stopped. I turned to everyone at my table and said “Oh. My. God.” They asked “What? What?!” The crepe was filled with Nutella! I immediately cut it into sections for everyone to try and we all agreed that they were the winners. They also had wine at their table! However, I didn’t get to sample that. Everything that I did try was delicious, and I think it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time.

After everyone had eaten, we started the presentations. They were in German, so I followed along as best I could. The French group put on a skit that was hilarious. It involved Alex dressed up as a tourist, complete with tube socks and Birkenstocks. I also enjoyed Japan’s presentation, where they explained the relation of the angle of bowing to respect. 

Basically the one on the far right is to say excuse me, or respect if you meet someone really powerful, like the President or  someone who works at the DMV. 

After this was done, I went to the library to study for a while.  I had a boring Friday night, (no Mario Kart this time) but I did attempt to do laundry. That was significantly less fun than Mario Kart.

I put in coins and figured out how to use the machines. At least, I thought I did, but the settings were all in German, so I just turned the knob to a random word. This was probably not the best choice.

 When my two hours were up, I went to take out my clothes. The first machine was fine, my clothes were slightly damp, but clean. When I went to the next one, my clothes were still swimming in water. There was at least two inches of water left in the drum, just like when Chris did his laundry. I knew I shouldn’t have laughed at him! I had to transform into a washerwoman of the days of old and wring out all my clothes over the tiny sink in the corner of the room. It was not a fun experience and one I don’t hope to repeat. Either the washer is broken, or I chose the wrong setting. I did what I could, and put my socks, underwear, and jeans in the dryer.  I could hang up everything else, but I knew jeans would take a month to air dry. I should have noted that none of the other students were using the dryers and must have known that setting a tea candle next to your clothes would have gotten them drier than the appliances in the laundry room. After my two hours were up, everything was still wet and I had to hang up all of my clothes anyway. Luckily, I still had some spare socks and underwear and did not have to go around wearing the same pair for two days. I discovered that doing laundry over here requires days of planning and mental preparation. I am not looking forward to my next load, but maybe the machines will be fixed by then. Good night all!

German Word of the Day: Wäsche-"laundry" If I can't figure out how the machines work, I might have to do my Wäsche in the river.