Released..

I am out of the Dungeon! Saved by a generous Singaporean friend who provided me with a shelter over my head for the first 2 weeks. Damn that dungeon lady tried to extort me. Paid the full month rent in the beginning of my stay and having only stayed for 2 weeks, she suggested that we meet halfway, that is i pay for 3 weeks. Didn't want to argue with her so agreed initially. But after spending some time thinking about it, i realised that i had to pay 240 bucks for a 2 weeks stay, thats 480 a month for that crappy dungeon stay. That was totally unacceptable. Told her that i wasn't comfortable with that rate and suggested that i'd pay her 12 bucks a day, which amounts to 180 bucks (a rate which she suggested on the first day). Oh did i mention that she claimed that she didn't have to return me a single buck by law? Anyway, haven't gotten back that money yet. She is still waiting for her internet bill to arrive to check if my little aluminium reflector caused any increase in her bill. Sigh...

So glad that i am finally out of that gloomy hole. Haven't done much other than watching worldcup and surfing the net nowadays. Been rainy for the past 3 days and will continue to be for the next 3. As a result my plan of buying the bicycle and cycling back is put on hold at the moment. Need to start searching for an apartment in Karlsruhe before i fly back to Singapore, otherwise it will be yet another nightmare and a hell lot of money gone. So planning a short trip to Karlsruhe to check out the surrounding, the university and most importantly, secure a room during that short 4 days window. Nothing much to update lately..

Will upload some pictures later... am using the computer of my landlady.

Welcome to my Dungeon

Was thinking for quite a while, whether i should start another blog to pen down the wonderful memories of my second trip to Germany. Well, wondering why it took me 4 weeks to start the first post? I tell you why, because it has been rather terrible all along since my arrival 4 weeks ago. So no wonderful memories worth remembering. And my camera has hardly seen the daylight. Number of photos i took in this month? 20? Thats less than what i took in 1 hour during my last trip!

Anyway, this time round i am here on a mission. Yes. This one is purely business. My mission, to conquer TESTDAF language exam. I shall spare you the details why i flew here specially for an exam and why i will be flying back to Singapore and then back to Germany again. Wasting of money is just the biggest sin in the world. Long story short, i am here to take a Language exam which is a requirement for my University course. Brought forward my plans by two weeks because of some change in the bloody language policy of a particular university, thus couldn't apply visa in time. No visa thus must fly home in 3 months. There, 3 sweet sentences to sum up the agony that has been plaguing me since April.

So enough of the background, back to my story in Europe. Where were we? Ah yes, terrible since day 1. Ok maybe it wasn't that bad, but it got worse especially over the last 2 weeks . I guess it was mainly due to the immense stress from my impending TESTDAF exam. Took it last year, didn't quite meet the criteria although i would't call it fail. Speaking part was hard. The lack of opportunities to speak german in Singapore certainly didn't help in the situation. After 9 months of stagnation, i really couldn't speak german anymore. Writing yes, reading yes, listening ok, but speaking no. Amount of time i have in Germany before my exam, 3 weeks. Yes i have 3 weeks to get back my German, to the standard where i am expected to describe graphs, give advices to friends who are planning to quit school because of certain reasons, have to weigh the pros and cons of the situation etc.

And then theres the weather, as i am writing right now, its 32 degrees outside. Last week was 12 degrees. The week before, 7 degrees. 20 degrees change in just 3 days. It was raining and raining and raining, grey skies for the entire week. Today is hot as hell. And where i am living now (been here for 2 weeks) is a freaking dungeon. I am not kidding you. The only thing missing are the fire sticks along the corridor. To prove my point, i have taken a picture of this place. And the landlady of the dungeon isn't too friendly either. So it was just me, my notes, in my 19th century room, not forgetting the gloomy skies and the cold. To make the matters worst, the internet connection is crappy.

A little digression, because of the crappy W-Lan, i built a small aluminium reflector to direct as much signal from the modem towards my room. It worked amazingly. Signal strength increased significantly, video streaming was good. And this dungeon landlady, uncomfortable with my idea decided to go ask her equally dungeon friends if what i did was illegal (so she claimed). Needless to say they all said its not legal. I seriously doubt if she even asked. So i took it away and now back to crappy internet connection. Sigh..

Also, this dungeon has an oven that runs on gas and matchsticks. Seriously? I mean seriously??? So again shes not comfortable with me lighting up that ancient piece of metal ( i wouldn't even call it machine). Meaning i can't bake pizzas whenever i want! Or fries for that matters. I can't afford to whip up meals that take me 1 and a half hours.

And the worst part, i have to wait for her to have a certain amount of clothes, OF DIFFERENT COLOUR summore before i can wash my clothes. I have underwear for 7 days. I don't know how many underwears i will have to flip over before the next washing appointment. 2 weeks and i have had enough.

Having only 3 weeks to brush up my german skill and having to worry about all that crap, it was shitty. Speaking of which, the bloody toilet bowl just makes my day. Every single time i do my business, i will have to spend the next 5 minutes unclogging it. I shall not go into details but this toilet bowl is built for hamsters man. Not humans. You know what, this toilet bowl is separated from the bath, so no basin. Meaning everytime you shit or pee, you got to walk to the other side of the apartment where the bath is to wash you hands. How nice after you spend 5 minutes trying to pump your shit through the pipes.... Sorry about the language. ok enough ranting. Just got to get it off my chest.

So now, 4 weeks later, my exam is finally over. Whats next? No idea. haha. I have 6 more weeks here, not too many friends, no bicycle, no television, crappy internet and the list goes on. So as you might have guessed, one of the reasons that i am writing this again is because i have so much time. Have some university matters to settle, but shouldn't take up 6 weeks. Is there a Princess in a Lamborghini to save me from the evil Dungeon lady?? Anyway, off to cooking my Wursts and mash potato. Till the next time...`