The Beginning

 Monday, 6th Aug. - A long journey with happy end

6.30 am - waked up by the alarm I made my last breakfast at my "German place". I thought one hour might be enough time to set up everything left for my departure. I was sooo wrong. After recognizing the minutes slipping trough my fingers I really got into a hurry and got myself shaved, showered and dressed for the journey, leaving every other thing like the dirty dishes behind me. (Thanks to Anton they will be cleaned when I return from the US, thanks a lot!)

Once I catch the bus to the station the rest of my trip was very unspectacular. The flights where on time, the luggage made it through all changes and the entry into the US at Minneapolis was uncomplicated. 
After fetching my rental car I drove to my new residence and met Carla the Manager. She advised me in everything I have to do / mustn't do and after that I went with Jan to Walmart to buy some basic stuff for the apartment. 

 
We shopped trough the shelves and got a bill of $140. Then we went back home and the only thing I wanted was a bed an some rest. Because of the heat, I slept just on the mattress in the living room where the AC had cooled down the temperature to at least a tolerable level...

Good night Omaha.


T = - 10 hours: All my bags are packed,  I'm ready to go...

Finally the last evening before my biggest adventure so far has come. I'm leaving with very mixed feelings: on one hand I'm so excited about what might happen during the next 5 months, on the other I really gonna miss all my friends and family here.

The experiment "how to get as much stuff into just one suitcase" has ended with the exact weight of 23 KG and I hope the scale at the check-in desk will not surprise me.

See you guys next time when I can report about so called service on board, my first time (at Walmart) and hopefully some positive first impressions of Omaha.

Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

T: - 7 Days

After finishing the general arrangements there is just a single week left for the missing details in preparation. During the last few months I was busy with so many different things like

• getting a visa (wow, I never thought that there is anything worse than German bureaucracy)
• finding a more or less  cheap flight to Omaha (in this case LESS)
• and booking a rental car for the first few days 

Thanks to Jan and his great work (he really used so much hours of his rare time for me) I already have a one bedroom apartment. Counterpart of a small castle he found a nice residence for me. I'm already so excited to see it. 

The plan for the next days?

1.  preparing for the last exam at the TU for this semester
2. first try to pack everything into my new suitcase (I fear it would get too heavy)
3. cleaning up the left mess in my "old" apartment

So, see you next time when I can tell you more about my last few days in Germany and my trip to Omaha. 

 Tu, 7th Aug – Let’s get started

Good Morning Omaha! It was a restorative night; I really needed some sleep after being awake for at least 25 hours. Once we’ve had breakfast, Jan and I started over to get the missing items from my shopping card. You couldn’t imagine how many things are need to be bought just to make a simple life possible if you have never done this before.

For example we bought: dishes, pillows, rags, hangers, speakers, broomstick, trash bags, microwave, knives, forks, spoons, cookware, toilet brush, bath rug, … And don’t forget about something to eat and drink. I really thought my credit card would melt. But 6 different stores and $ 420 later the financial punishment came to an end for at least the next few days I guess. It was just like in the commercial: “Dishes: $36… the first Rent: $444… Having the own place ready to stay for the next time: unaffordable.”

The apartment is now in a state of which I can say it is ready for living. Of course there are some things that make life even more comfortable missing like some posters and pictures on the wall or some plants and other decorations. But due to my stay is just for nearly 5 months I won’t spend so much on that. If you are interested in making my apartment a real home, click here.

Now have an exclusive look at my residence:

In the afternoon we went to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, especially to the places where I am goanna study the next months. And all I can say is “WOW!” Mammel Hall was just opened in 2011 and I don’t know any rooms at the TUBS in Germany that can even think about competing with it.  The classrooms have comfortable chairs and tables, on the floors there are touchscreens on every door with information about the upcoming lectures in this room, a map for orientation and general information about what’s going on on campus. There are a lot of areas for the students with couch and armchair, the tables have socket for charging mobile phones, laptops, tablets and so on. But you have to see it on your own:

I think it will be very nice working here.