Finally a place to call home!

Yes, as the title of this post indicates, after two weeks in Hamburg I am finally feeling truly at home in my living space here in the student res Paul Sudeck Haus. This morning I went grocery shopping and boy was it an experience. I first went to the 55c-Shop - better and cheaper than €1 or Crazy Store - to pick up things like a sharp knife, drying cloths and a pair of scissors amongst other things. Then after a couple of other stops I went into the supermarket to finally acquire some of the lovely stuff on offer there.

The first thing I put into my basket was half a Schwarzbrot, I've been dreaming about this bread ever since I heard I was going to Germany. I acquired the taste for this wholewheat bread with a pronounced yeasty taste the last time I was here. There's nothing like two slices of Schwarzbrot with Philedelphia cream cheese on it. Then I proceeded onto the cold meat section, there was such a great variety, I couldn't make up my mind as to what I was going to take. After much deliberation and a promise that I would sample everything over the next couple of months, I finally decided on some ham with a peppery rind. Then it was onto the cheese section, which was easier since I'd decided beforehand that I was going to get me some Philadelphia. However, the temptation to buy more than that was great. There were so many wonderful cheeses to try and again I promised myself that I would sample everything at least once. Next were the spreads, for want of a better word. They have these lovely mayonnaise-based spreads here. My favourite are the ones with the cold meats and the ones with the vegetables. I decided on the vegetable spread (Gemüsesalat is something like coleslaw only much better with more carrots than cabbage) b/c I knew that next time I was going to get the meat spread (Fleischsalat). Then I to decide which yoghurt I was going to buy. Of course it had to be low fat because and inventory of what I'd already bought indicates a lot of stuff with a high fat content:-( I very smugly walked past the chocolate desserts/mousses b/c they didn't have the power to entice me since I'm not really into dessert. Then it was off to the till. Of course there were many more things I could've bought, but I had to take into consideration the limited space I have in the fridge and the fact that I'm buying fresh produce that might go off if I leave it for too long.

You see my plan is to have cereal and juice for breakfast. Lunch would be the main meal and then I'll grab me something hot from the Uni-Caf. Evenings I'll have bread and cheese/ham/spread - like a true Western European. This works out lovely since I wouldn't have to cook at all - such bliss! Shopping is also kept to a minimum each week:)))

Upon my return to the res, I proceeded to the kitchen. There I cleaned all the crockery and cutlery I bought almost a week ago. I also cleaned my cupboard as well as the fridge I'm sharing with Alexander. These minor chores gave me a lot of satisfaction and I really felt as if I was carving out a nice little niche for myself on my floor. In my room I also hung up the photos of some of my loved ones cause now I had sellotape and scissors to do the job. As I look up now from my laptop now I look into their lovely smiling faces and I think, "Ah, life doesn't get any better than this".

I've also moved around the furniture in my room. So tomorrow when there's natural light again, I'll be taking pictures and doing a before and after take on my room.

Until then.
Ciao