Das Abenteur fängt an [the adventure begins]

I'm going to survive!! I found Diet Coke (or Coca Cola Light, as it's named here) at the grocery store for a reasonable price just a couple minutes away from my WG [apartment, if you haven't read my other posts].

Now that I got that out of my system, I MADE IT! The transit from Billings to Potsdam was probably as painless as it could have been. I left in the afternoon (Billings time) and arrived in the afternoon (Berlin time). I made all my flights and got a lot of sleep in (and a lot of food in thanks to Delta! Seriously, I was expecting nothing, but I couldn't eat all the food they were giving out). The only obstacle I encountered was the transport of the my microphone that I use to record my podcast/ do voiceovers for my reality shows. It kind of looks like a mini spaceship, with a large sphere supported by a tripod of sorts. I didn't even realize how suspicious it looked in my carry-on bag, all wrapped up in clothing at the bottom of the bag. The security team at the Billings airport took a good five minutes and several scannings to identify the object. Once I told the lady what it was, she got quite a kick out of it and made the others guess what they thought it was. I encountered this problem again going through customs in Amsterdam--although it was much funnier. The security man dude (what's the proper name for those workers?) opened my bag, picked it up and started singing into it in Dutch. Then yelled his coworker's name and yelled "Microfoon! Microfoon!" No worries, though; my mic made it to Germany, too. 

I was lucky enough to have my super-nice roommate Pit come pick me up at the airport in Berlin, which relieved a ton of stress. My WG is really nice. I have my own room and share a bathroom, kitchen, living room and dining room with my 2.5 roommates: Pit, Frederike (whom I have not met yet, but from all our internet interactions, I can tell she's great) and Missi, who is the cutest and most well-trained little German shepherd I've ever met. 

I've been here for a little over a day now and am absolutely loving it, despite the fact that I haven't really done anything, haha. I've made it over to the grocery store a couple times, where prices are much cheaper than the stores in Montana; the store kind of reminds me of little IGA or something--quite the opposite of Walmart Supercenter. And I totally forgot to bring my own bag to the store. If you want a plastic bag, you have to pay for it. Everyone just shows up with their own bags (or even just a purse).

I've also discovered the cutest thing on earth: little kids speaking German. On my way home from the store, there were many little kids running around, (school had just been let out nearby) and this little girl wandered up to me and asked, "Ist es schon halb vier?" or "is it already 3:30?" It was so cute, I think my heart melted a little bit. Unfortunately, I don't yet have a phone, so I had to tell her I didn't know. 

Other than my outings to the store, I've been in my room adjusting to the time difference. I bought my three favorite shows on iTunes--The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model and, of course, Survivor--and spent some time catching up. Tomorrow I head to Leipzig to stay with my friend Julia and then onward we will go to Dresden, Prague and Vienna. I won't make it back to Potsdam until the end of the month, but I am so glad I have a comfortable home to come back to.