Tag Swei

Day 2 and we are hitting the ground running. We went to the SWAP office today. When we walked in, we were expecting a front desk, multiple computers with other SWAP participants gathered around but it was on the fifth floor, two room office that reeked of cigarette smoke. The coordinator was very friendly and had lots of advice. We told us that German is not just one language that everyone speaks and that there are different dialects. For instance, someone from Southern Germany cannot understand the German of someone from Northern Germany and again from Switzerland and it continues. He said we should have no troubles finding a job even if you don't speak German. He told us about the different taxes and Social Security Numbers we will get and it seems simple enough. We then found our way to the Shopping Center after getting lost from the Google maps. Apparently, the Alexanderplatz we typed into Google was the subway station, not the mall so an hour on our feet later and two very nice Germans, we saw the sign for H&M and we were on our way. Stephanie tried to order her favourite Starbucks drink and  thank goodness for English speaking Starbucks workers. Stephanie's straightener also blew up this morning even though we have the converter...it was a very sad day. We went shopping for a new one and we bought one for 14 euros and they ranged from 20 to 50 Euros which was different from Canada. After the mall, we got lost again on the way back but eventually found our way. Hopefully tomorrow will prove to be a better day ;)