Blending with the group..

The last few days have been really strenuous with the work but also very great as I bond more with my german colleagues and get to know them better. It has been a time of helping out each other and coming closer.

I got hold of a complete set of used furniture for a fair price from one of the Professors in the linguistics department who was shifting to another city and giving away his furniture. For moving them into my new house, I needed help. My colleagues at the lab suggested me to hire a wagon from the University which was quite a cheap and sensible option – about 5 euros per hour and a small security deposit fee of 10 euros.

lars, me, daniel and philip

Then we (myself, Philip, Daniel and Lars) got on the job one Friday evening after finishing work at the lab. Philip offered to drive and the wagon was really huge and just about enough to fit in all the stuff. The moving was a really a back breaking job. I thanked them a lot and felt very grateful to have got such helpful colleagues.

The next week Philip had 2 things to worry about – an impending quarterly report on his work and a literature seminar. He asked me if I could help and I was glad to help him back in some way and we exchanged our seminars and so I had to do mine in short notice but I managed, since I had to present my Masters thesis project and I was quite confident about it. This took some pressure off Philip and he was quite thankful.

Over the next 3 years I would be needing help in many instances from different people and also helping others and working together, since there is nothing that could be achieved by someone all by himself and without depending on help from different people and more so for a PhD..

The end of the week was celebrated with a small party at Maurice’s WG where we made burgers and also had a deep discussion of vegetarianism, religious beliefs etc. since I don’t eat meat and they had got particularly for me, a vegetable-based burger filling. That was quite thoughtful of them!

I still had a few more things to buy and bedding material was one of them. At IKEA (where household goods are normally bought) I learnt many new words while trying to shop for bedding.

Last Friday, I made a sudden plan to go to the Schüco Arena here in Bielefeld with my colleague Thomas to watch a match between Bielefeld and Duisburg. I was looking forward to a personal first time experience of the german passion for football in the Stehplätze among the cheering crowds, where most of the action takes place, as informed by Thomas, who has no interest to sit quietly in the Sitzplätze seats.. It was a great experience to cheer among the fan crowds of the home team, and although sadly we lost the match 1:2, it was a wonderful experience overall

Both the teams were equally good and were trying to reclaim their positions in the first Bundesliga, as informed by Thomas.

thomas with his daughters and friend

I am looking forward to more fun as I get absorbed into this Arbeitsgruppe and work together as one with the people here.

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