I asked a friend at work about how to pay rent, and they said that it was automatically taken out of the bank account. So, when I went to the ATM to check my balance and on around the 8th of September and I was surprised they hadn't taken out the money from my checking account yet. Later that day, I got a not so nice e-mail about my rent being late. No one told me that I had to go to the bank and set up an online bank account and get an automatic transfer to the rent company. When I went to the bank I asked about checks. They said that no one uses checks except for big businesses. The bank only sees 1 or 2 checks per day. It seems that everything - paying for all bills like cell phone service, rent, insurance, and even school lunches - are paid through a bank transfer. So, I went to the bank where they speak English thank heaven and set up my online banking, an automatic draft to pay rent, and a transfer to pay rent the next day. I am getting all these official letters, some of them with dollar amounts and I have no idea what it is or what they are saying. I take them to school and have someone translate for me! Thank heaven I have people who speak German! Hopefully I'm not late with other bills and hopefully I can read the screen for my online banking!! Wish me luck!!!
Stuttgart and a Free Bike
Today instead of having regular church in Ulm, several congregations (called a stake) met in Stuttgart to have a stake conference. I was debating on going because it is an 1 1/2 hour train ride, but I talked to my friend Bianca about it and we decided to go together because it would cost 1/2 the price if we were together. She was also willing to stay after and show me around the town. As I was waiting for Bianca while she talked with her friends from the stake (she is moving in 3 weeks), I saw some people from my congregation (called a ward) and they spoke English, so I started to talk with them. I told them that I was going to buy a bike tomorrow probably. They said, "We have his bike in our cellar. I am sure you can use it." So, I asked the bike's owner if I could use it. He said, "I have a bike in your cellar? Really? Wow. Yes, you can use it. I didn't even know I had it!" So, I have a free bike. They said it probably needs fixing up a little since it has been in there for a long time, but it is mine and it would be cheaper than buying one. So, I got blessings for going to church! Also, I got to meet a few people from the Stuttgart International Ward. It has about 200 people attending and they all speak English! I am thinking about going there a few times just to meet people!
Touring around Stuttgart
It is Sunday, so no stores were open, not that I would go shopping anyway, but we walked around and saw this beautiful plaza in the middle of downtown with great music playing. There were fountains everywhere and some great buildings with fun architecture.
I love fountains. There were all types of interesting and beautiful fountains all over Stuttgart. I look forward to going back and discovering even more!
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| This little courtyard had several museums attached to it. They all looked interesting and I think I'll go back another weekend to take a look inside. |
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| I love these clocks they have everywhere. If you are late in Germany there must be something wrong. Not only are they extremely visible, they also chime every 15 minutes. |
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| My super cute and fun friend Bianca who was nice enough to join my on my excursion! |
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| A map of Stuttgart and all the fun places to see. |
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| This was a palace where royalty lived. |
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| Stuttgart's main square has several very cool fountains. |
The best part about today was hanging out with someone and chatting about life. It's too bad she is moving soon, but I'm looking forward to visiting her in Dresden. (Woo hoo! Another place to visit!)
I Hate Shopping
If you know me well at all, you will know that I hate shopping. I once gave my roommate a credit card and said, I need a dress, please go buy it for me. I have a gay friend that works with me at school, he said that he knew where some second hand shops are in Ulm. I figured if anyone could help me with shopping, it would be him. He dresses really well. So, on Monday he took me to one. I tried several things on, but nothing fit me - it was all too small. I decided that if everything was too small there, I would go to a big girls shop and there, everything was too big. UGH! Luckily my friend told me where to go (She used to live in Germany). So on Tuesday, I went shopping again, I found things that fit me! Woo hoo what a relief, I won't freeze during the winter! The weather had been pretty chilly for a few days and then luckily it warmed up for the weekend. On Friday, I went to the beer garden with a lot of teachers from school and they mentioned they were going to go dirndl shopping. Dirndls are the traditional German dress. They invited me to go along and I said no because I already tortured myself twice already during the week. Friday night a friend and I were chatting on WhatApp and said it sounded like fun, so I messaged them and said that I would like to join them. At first nothing fit, then I finally discovered the correct size and wala! It not only fit, it looked good! So, now I want to wear nothing but the dirndl every day so I can look cute! Where I am, I see people wearing them on a regular basis, but I think I'll stick with special occasions. It also looks a little like Jane Austen age, so we may have a dirndl/Jane Austen party just so we can wear them! Lol!
The one on the left is the traditional dirndl, the one on the right is me trying to make it a Jane Austen dress (minus the apron). The one on the bottom is one I tried on, but I didn't keep.
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