Happy Day Off!
Oh, sorry. You mean you don't have All-Souls Days off? I do! That's one of the beautiful things about living in Europe. You get lots of days off. Here's a list of other things you can do in the comfort of your own home to get used to european living:
-figure out your height in metric
-figure out your weight in kilos
-start writing your 7's with a line across the middle and your 1's like upside down V's (no exaggeration)
-figure out the current temperature in Celcius
-convert your shoe, pant, shirt or dress size to european sizes
-listen to German radio through the Internet
-use graph paper for taking notes instead of lined
-use a pen with replaceable ink cartriges instead of a ball-point (this practice isn't as widespread as it once was, i suppose, as i've seen people use both)
-stay 2 hours in a restaurant (if you can without getting kicked out) instead of the typical 35 minutes
-read a lot (Germans seem to)
-go to Hillers or an international grocery store and try european food (highly recommended). german beer tasting is a much (but perhaps better on tap) but you can also try their Vollkorn (whole wheat) bread as well as Nutella. don't come to Europe without trying Nutella first! unless you don't like chocolate; the greatest sadness. if you can buy mustard in a toothpaste container, so much the better! also, get used to a variety of european cheeses; don't expect to find American cheese here!
-recycle
-try taking your dog for a walk without a leash. if it follows obediently in your footsteps without even looking to the side and completely ignores strangers, then it will blend in with the dogs here.
-know everything about American pop culture; they do
-try taking public transportation everywhere and see how far you can get. this is highly, highly recommended because if you're not familar with taking the bus when everything's in English, try doing it all in German! a lot of people don't even own cars. (at the same time Germans are completely obsessed with cars, but they can't necessarily afford them)
-buy an adapter for your electronics; their outlets (die Steckdose)look kind of like smiley faces without the smile. They're round with two small cyclindrical holes that look like they could be eyes.
-say "Quatsch" (rubbish) in completely different contexts to confuse the Americans trying to figure out what it means. (somehow quatschen=to chat but quatsch=rubbish, but they also use it for "oh, i mean..." when they say something wrong and realize it (equiv. to Sp. "Digo") yeah, i don't get it either.
-sleep with no middle sheet (you know, the one btw the fitted sheet and the blanket). just sleep with a non-fitted sheet as your fitted sheet and a duvet cover over your thick blanket. yeah, if you're accostumed to destroying your bed at night (like a certain private eye that i know) give up now. they don't even use fitted sheets here.
-drink tea constantly or coffee. one or the other but definitely tea; from one of those ceramic teapots.
If you do all of those things, you'll pretty much be prepared for life here. Except for the language thing, of course. Good luck!
-figure out your height in metric
-figure out your weight in kilos
-start writing your 7's with a line across the middle and your 1's like upside down V's (no exaggeration)
-figure out the current temperature in Celcius
-convert your shoe, pant, shirt or dress size to european sizes
-listen to German radio through the Internet
-use graph paper for taking notes instead of lined
-use a pen with replaceable ink cartriges instead of a ball-point (this practice isn't as widespread as it once was, i suppose, as i've seen people use both)
-stay 2 hours in a restaurant (if you can without getting kicked out) instead of the typical 35 minutes
-read a lot (Germans seem to)
-go to Hillers or an international grocery store and try european food (highly recommended). german beer tasting is a much (but perhaps better on tap) but you can also try their Vollkorn (whole wheat) bread as well as Nutella. don't come to Europe without trying Nutella first! unless you don't like chocolate; the greatest sadness. if you can buy mustard in a toothpaste container, so much the better! also, get used to a variety of european cheeses; don't expect to find American cheese here!
-recycle
-try taking your dog for a walk without a leash. if it follows obediently in your footsteps without even looking to the side and completely ignores strangers, then it will blend in with the dogs here.
-know everything about American pop culture; they do
-try taking public transportation everywhere and see how far you can get. this is highly, highly recommended because if you're not familar with taking the bus when everything's in English, try doing it all in German! a lot of people don't even own cars. (at the same time Germans are completely obsessed with cars, but they can't necessarily afford them)
-buy an adapter for your electronics; their outlets (die Steckdose)look kind of like smiley faces without the smile. They're round with two small cyclindrical holes that look like they could be eyes.
-say "Quatsch" (rubbish) in completely different contexts to confuse the Americans trying to figure out what it means. (somehow quatschen=to chat but quatsch=rubbish, but they also use it for "oh, i mean..." when they say something wrong and realize it (equiv. to Sp. "Digo") yeah, i don't get it either.
-sleep with no middle sheet (you know, the one btw the fitted sheet and the blanket). just sleep with a non-fitted sheet as your fitted sheet and a duvet cover over your thick blanket. yeah, if you're accostumed to destroying your bed at night (like a certain private eye that i know) give up now. they don't even use fitted sheets here.
-drink tea constantly or coffee. one or the other but definitely tea; from one of those ceramic teapots.
If you do all of those things, you'll pretty much be prepared for life here. Except for the language thing, of course. Good luck!