Things I've learned so far... regarding traffic

10. I find it extremely difficult to figure out when a sidewalk is a sidewalk and when it is acutally ment to be a sideride. I also find it almost impossible to determine when a bike path is a bike path, when it's a kind of parking lane and when it's just a generously drawn sideline.
11. My internal navigation system has kicked it. Yes, this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it doesn't ake into account that while sometimes a highway is the only way to get somewhere they shouldn't be used by bikes (don't worry, dear parental units. I didn't try to go anywhere on the highway!). Also, I think I may have accidently rollerbladed onto the roof of the student union. Should that be a bad thing, they really shouldn't have made it accessible by rollerblades.
12. I always thought the traffic light system in Konstanz was the worst I had ever encountered. I was wrong. I appologize. The worst/oddest system of traffic light cycles is definitely on Long Island. There a lights for people on foot, but they will only go on if you push the button (and then they might not even if you do push the button, but they definitely won't work if you just stand there). I think there should be rules on how close these buttons have to be to the actual crosswalk, how visible they are (e.g. hidden in a tree is not okay), etc.
13. Signs. There seems to be signs for everything. And they are very specific. Some of them look like somebody just decided to put on a sign one day, so he went out to buy some paint and a piece of metal. I came up to a junction and read the following signs: "Right lane must turn right", "Left lane must turn left", "No turn on red light". Now what about the people in the middle lane? Do they get to do whatever they please? And then there was this one - what does that even mean?!

More things I have learned so far

5. I need to work on my "I'm a mature woman now"-image. Starting with getting past the point where everyone seems to think I'm a teenager. The taxi driver who gave me a ride from the airport was trying to be friendly when he said: "So, you're here for school, huh? You'll be going to Stony Brook Prep?". Really?! I am waaay past high school - in SO MANY ways!
6. It's really, really hot here. And humind. Fortunately, this is the United States - most buildings have air-con. Unfortunately, the stairways do not. Even more unfortunately it seems that a high percentage of elevators are currently broken. In almost every office building of sorts I have had to find somebody the elevators (or stairs for that matter) where a) hard to find and b) broken, being repaired, out of commission - possibly they eloped. Who knows. Anyway, pretty much every office I had to go to was up several floors - I'm the kind of person who never showers directly after heavy excercise, because usually I don't REALLY start sweating until I'm finished. On the long run, showing up at every air-conditioned office and breaking out in a full sweat and having to make sure I don't drip on whatever form I was filling out: NOT cool (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!). Fortunately...
7. There are now ground floors. Okay, yes there are ground floors, but in contrast to Germany nobody calls them the ground floor. The ground floor is the first floor. So, for example though I live on the 2nd floor, I'm actually on the first floor you reach when taking the stairs. So everytime I figured out where I had to be (the probability of the elevator not running was exponential to the "largeness" of the number) and started up all those flight of stairs, I realized it was never as far as I'd initially assumed!
8. I am only short by comparison. In Germany, there was friendly teasing in some of my circles of friends, regarding my (lack of) size - German woman are usually about 10cm (make that 4 inches) taller than I am and, for example, I was the shortest player on my rugby team for some time. I always tell people that since American woman are 164cm tall on average and I am just a bit shorter than that I am only statistically short. And let's be honest, I am rather short than average. But here,... why I practically tower over people!
9. The bugs here are nasty. I just got back from rugby practice and my feet are a mound of HUGE bumps resulting from the five minutes between the time I took off my cleats, put on sandles and took off in the direction of home!

How did they know?

How could they know? How can there be a sign telling you that you are going the wrong way? Isn't every way somehow also a right way?


Okay... now I get it! They come in pairs on campus. After every "Do not enter" sign there is a sign for those who did enter a one way road the wrong way to tell them they are going the wrong way.
Except - Now I'm still trying to figure out how this goes together with the whole "the brightest minds in the world"-thingie.

see what I mean?

This one reads - Welcome to Stony Brook and the beginning of an incredible journey.

Things I've learned so far...

1. People used to ask my parents why their children sound like they're from New York. I don't. I really, really don't.
2. When I was about 14 I was told not to worry that people said I dressed - differently. Supposedly I already at that age I dressed like a college kid: shorty, t-shirts, hoodies. So, not to worry, by the time I would make it to college, everyone would have caught up with me. By the time I made it to college, students in Germany still don't dress that way. And while my T-Shirts have become a bit more "cut" and my shorts a bit shorter - it seems as if anything more than halfway down your thighs is still quite long. And maybe I should start wearing flip-flops as well. Then finally I'll fit in.
3. Americans should do what pretty much every other country does: Each type of bill should have a different color. It makes life SO MUCH MORE SIMPLE. Really. Trust me.
4. For all the "let's go green" - there are some fatal flaws in the whole concept. For example: "Ride your bike, it's greener, it's healthier, it will make you fitter" is a good idea. And yet there are some small details which haven't been observed that would make it more easy, e.g. bike racks in front of shops.
More to follow...

The "I got my Mom for help"-effect

So, sports being a big deal does come with benefits. For example, a pool to be used when no team practice is going on. Currently, my ears a still full of water from testing this priviledge yesterday.
It didn't go exactly as planned - that is the swimming part did, it was the part after that made for one of those "I can't believe this is happening"-moments.
I returned quite wet and ready to get changed to realize that I had somehow managed to jam my locker which contained all my clothes.
Not good.
I put quite a bit of effort into getting it open.
To no avail.
I went back into the pool ask the lifeguard-dude for help (or where to find help) and he directed me to the front desk. Which I had sort of expected, but had been secretly hoping there would be an alternative to walking out in the lobby in my bathing suit.
So I wandered out in my bathing suit only to find -
noboy.
Considering my options would have been wandering the entire Indoor Sports Complex in my bathing suit I opted for hanging out in the lobby looking lost and confused hoping somebody would show up who could help me.
Somebody (a female somebody, which was even more convenient) did show up. Opened the door to "building maintenance" went in and just when I was about to knock came back out again, saw me still standing in the front lobby in my bathing suit and said: "Do you need some help?".
I almost said: "Yeah, do I look like I usually run around lobbies in my bathing suit?!" - because a) I don't (hang around in lobbies in my bathing suit) and b) I really don't look like I run around in my bathing suit. Or anywhere for that matter. And if you've seen my in a bathing suit lately, it becomes quite obvious. I have tan lines from my shorts, tan lines from my t-shirt(s) and tan lines from the one day I did run around in my bathing suit.
Instead I said: "Yeah, I jammed my locker..." and we went back into the women's changing room she said: "Which one." and I said: "This one." And she grabbed the handle and -
It opened. No problem. Great.
This is the "I got my Mom for help"-effect as in you can't find something in your room and the moment you get your Mom she walks into your room and -
There it is.

You are following some of the brightest minds in the world

Here on campus there are several bus routes with big buses and little buses and some in between buses. The bigger buses have an "inscription": You are follwing some of the brightest minds in the world.
Actually there are signs all over campus with "statistics" reminding us how amazing this university is. How many inventions and patents have sprung from these bright minds, which ranking we are included in etc. I wonder - do these signs stay up all year, or just during the first few weeks of the semester in order to make sure everyone is properly brainwashed.
I few years ago, my previous university was chosen to be a part of this new program in Germany where they were picking "Eliteuniversitäten", which were supposed to be the top universities in Germany which were then endorsed with all kinds of money. And so a new one-liner became popular among the student body: "Konstanz, here studieth the Elite. And me".
What we don't have in Germany is University Sports. At least not the same way as here. The campus is almost empty but there are already signs everywhere. "You are in seawolves country". What does that mean anyway? Apparently, for one, I shall have to start wearing red if I want to fit in (at least on "Red Friday"). I get the whole, if we identify with our team we identify with our university and then we are united and united we stand and ... well I guess it makes everything better.
But really, do we have to turn everything into a "wolfie" this or that thing? The wireless net is "WolfieNet", there's a restaurant named after the Seawolves (apparently it serves extra large pasta portions), the convenvience store is the WolvesMarket or something, there's a hugh "Seawolves quilt" hanging in the middle of one of the lounges (Tradition's Lounge I think...) - I'm sure you get the picture.
Shame I never looked good in red.