Student Blues

When we first arrived in Memphis, Whitney Jacks (president of the German Club) and other American students  picked us up at the airport and gave us a very warm welcome. They drove us to our dorms and went to have dinner with us at “Tracks”, a typical American Bar and Restaurant near Campus. All the German exchange students live on Carpenter Complex, the most expensive but also the nicest and safest place to stay at on Campus. Each house contains twelve apartments, where three to four people stay in. In contrast to Wilder Tower, another dorm on Campus, every student has an own room. There is a kitchen, two bathrooms and a living room in the apartments.  But in order to live in Carpenter Complex, you have to buy everything from scratch: Bed sheets and pillows, clothes hangers, toilet paper, pans, pots, plates, trashcans…just EVERYTHING. That’s the reason why we slept on plain mattress covered with cloths and towels the very first night we stayed here. Thank god the study abroad office organized a huge bus to take us to Wal-Mart the day after we arrived. I think I spent almost $450 on my first trip to the shopping center, which, by the way, is a cultural experience itself.

Due to the shopping flash on one side, and the contrasting feeling of the jetlag on the other side, I bought all the decoration items for my room in the color blue. I only realized back home that I must have been in some kind of bad depression while I put everything blue I could find in my huge Wal-Mart buggy. But now I kind of got used to it and really enjoy staying in the blue hell that I decorated. But the main reasons why I enjoy living here so much are my roommates. Lindsey is a 19-year-old freshman from Ripley, Tennessee, whereas Lorraine (21) is originally from Kenya and a sophomore with a Nursing major. We get along really well and staying with them is like staying with old friends. One of my first weekends in Memphis I spent at Lorraine’s house and had a BBQ with her family, and even Lindsey’s mom asked me to stay in Memphis longer, so she can have two daughters to take care of.

                                                        

                                      


Speaking of my first days in Memphis there is one huge part that needs to be mentioned: The German Club. From the very first day the students in the German Club took care of us. Everyone has his or her own buddy, that helped us organize the first few weeks, took us to the shops, invited us to parties, and explained all the American habits that occurred strange to us in the first place. Due to these efforts, the Germans were pushed gently in their first college experiences, such as beer pong, house parties, and sorority and fraternity events. Without them, organizing life 7000 kilometers away from home would have been so much harder and less fun. I am really glad we had the opportunity to meet these guys and become friends with them.