Quick Update!

Just before I go to bed I want to write down what I've done for the past two days in Frankfurt so I don't forget. So far my impression of Frankfurt: kind of a European Vancouver. I really like it and can't wait to spend more time exploring.

Day 1:
My first day in Frankfurt started at 4am, as that was when I was fully awake. At 4:30 I decided I couldn't stay in bed any longer so got up and read, had a shower, organized my hotel room, etc. When it finally got light I went for a walk past the city campus of the school I will be at. The area is SO nice. There seem to be parks everywhere, one big one (with a castle somewhere I think! Will have to find it some day) right beside the school. Useful since the school doesn't have a yard. Then back to the hotel for breakfast.

Later in the morning I set off with a new friend to explore the city. We walked down to the main shopping street, Zeil, and then down to the river. There is a walking/cycling path all along the river which we wandered along for a while. We crossed a pedestrian bridge, but left the south side of the river to explore another day. After leaving the river we walked through the Römerberg. (for more info/pictures see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_am_Main#R.C3.B6mer)

At 2 we had to meet at the city campus to do paperwork with someone from HR. The school there is being renovated, so we sat in a half empty classroom and filled in papers for registering with immigration, bank accounts, health insurance. The last thing for the day was to hike to the immigration office and register our addresses. Unfortunately for me, my address was in a different area... the nice HR lady had to go register me the next day.

A group of us went out for dinner and drinks in the evening. We tried Turkish because one of the guys has spent the past year teaching in Turkey. It was impressive how much Turkish he speaks - I hope I will be able to converse that well in German in a year!

Day 2 (today):
Got up early (ok I was only up at 6 instead of 4) to meet up at 7:30 with some of the other Canadians. We headed to Starbucks (I know, so German) to use their free internet and start our apartment search. We continued this at school later in the morning with the help of the secretary and lady from HR. Today I say two places - one in Bockenheim and one in the Westend. I was a bit dissapointed with Bockenheim and the apartment wasn't what I'm looking for. The Westend area is so nice, but the apartment is small. It has one 20 m2 room, a kitchenette in the hall and a very nice bathroom. Luckily I have two appointments tomorrow - hopefully something will work out!

After checking out the apartments we met up for dinner. This time we had Korean, because two of the guys had spend 2/3 years together teaching in Korea. Soo yummy! We then walked down to the river and back up  and around to our hotel. Unfortunately we don't know Frankfurt too well and ended up having to walk through a lovely red light district which turned into something like East Hastings...well now we know.

Tomorrow's agenda: more apartment hunting!