Rather than attempting a complete summary of the last month, I will simply begin writing about those experiences which are most important and stand out most distinctly in my memory. Before I can even begin to talk about my impressions of Germany, its culture, and my assimilation into the local way of life, I MUST introduce you to my “roommate”, Luka. I say “roommate”, but actually he is more of a flat mate. Together, we share a common area, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. We, fortunately, have separate rooms. How can I begin? During move-in day, which took place one week after my arrival in Mainz, Charlotte and I took a trip to IKEA (the coolest store ever) to buy all of the necessities for a new room. Dragging everything up to the fifth floor was a bit exhausting, but we were sufficiently rewarded upon our entrance into my room. Passing through the common area to my little piece of heaven, it is impossible to avoid seeing Luka’s room. This sunny afternoon, he was asleep in his room, door ajar, naked and with a Playboy by his bed! So much for first impressions ;) Later on, after he was fully clothed, I learned that he is a student from Switzerland (the French speaking region).Other experiences with Luka include the following:
1.) Him catching me in the kitchen and unhesitatingly asking me whether I had any “Unterhose” (underwear) and if so, could he borrow a pair. He claimed he had none that were clean, but after I for some unknown reason acquiesced and gave him a pair- my least favorite pair- he discovered one remaining clean pair of his own. But do you think he wore those? No, that’d make too much sense. To that he replied, “Oh, I found a pair, but I like yours more” and proceeded to his room to try on my chic boxers.
2.) After doing his laundry one Sunday, he opted for a more natural approach to drying his clothes. Since the weather was gorgeous, who could blame him? Since hanging one’s clothes up to dry is quite a strenuous activity, Luka decided to lay his on display in the grass between our building and the next. They remained there for the rest of the day.
3.) One afternoon, as I was cooking in the kitchen, I heard an annoying French accent somewhere in the distance yelling, “Eric, kannst du meinen Senf werfen?” Simply, he wanted his mustard. But where was he?? Five stories below, asking me to throw his mustard out of the window. I did. And, though I haven’t played baseball for a few years, I still have pretty accurate aim and chuckled as he dodged the tube from hitting him in the head =)
4.) A few weeks ago, I was a bit tired and fell asleep around midnight. As I dreamt whatever people dream, gradually a sound intruded on my slumber. Groggily, my eyes opened and strained for the clock- it read 2 a.m. Still half asleep I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. Only a few seconds later did I realize that the noise that aroused me from my sleep was the unsettling voice of Luka and a friend speaking in French. Never have a found the language so detestable! Hoping the conversation would soon end, I sat in my bed patiently. After twenty minutes, however, I decided to find out what was going on. Of course what I found was the only logical thing one would expect. My roommate was frying a traditional Swiss dish for his hungry friend at 2 in the morning. He apologized for the noise, not realizing that I was home. Returning to my room, I felt assured he would soon quiet, but he continued frying and chatting until 3.
5.) I almost forgot this one: one day I came in after a walk around the city with some friends. Somehow, during the course of the day, I mistakenly bought a ticket to a party that I didn’t plan to attend.
Hoping to sell it to get my money back, I thought I’d ask my roommate if he was interested. So, later in the afternoon, I called out his name to see if he was home. He answered, door shut, and I explained to him the situation. I guess he couldn’t hear me through the closed door, so he politely opened it to talk with me. However, in his haste, he forgot one tiny detail: namely, that of pulling his boxers down so his “jewels” weren’t hanging out…
So, that pretty much summarizes the more memorable of experiences I’ve so far had with Luka, my Swiss flat mate. While quite nice, he lacks something in sanitary competence. And somehow, he manages to shed more hair in the shower than I have on my body. This has led to the water backing up during showers, which I frankly find a bit disgusting. Hoping to rectify the situation, I borrowed his fork (he only has one after six months of living here) and dutifully cleaned out the drain. A nasty, but necessary task.
