Welcome Day (02/01/2007)

We arrived at Johannesburg airport some flying from Cape Town, PE, East London and Durban. A lot of anticipation and excitement was to be found on the faces of us all, no one really knew what to expect and finding the group was an accomplishment in itself. With nerves in the air, uncertainty and at the same time anticipation we went to the Intercontinental Hotel to a conference and felt a little important. We had snacks and we were introduced to Mr. Dzonzi from Daimler Chrysler, our sponsor. He sent us off with words of encouragement to make the most of the trip.

Remembering names was a challenging task after a month or so long holiday. Soon we were booked in and boarding our flight to Frankfurt, energized for the month long adventure that lay ahead.

January 1st seemed to last quite some time, with the flight and not so much sleeping involved, January 2nd evolved. After a three hour bus trip, mostly along the Autobahn highway, in the early hours of the morning through the dark hours of a rainy morning we arrived in Tübingen. We were welcomed with open arms and hugs from our hosts: Barbara and Marion.

We got some lunch packs and moved into our dorms, some as high as 13 stories, overlooking the whole town of Tübingen. We had a few hours to unpack and get settled and then off to what they call the Studo for more introductions and a scope into our program here in Tübingen. We met what some of us like to call our 'Big Brothers', our camera crew. We were surrounded with German chocolates and biscuits, tea and coffee! It was like a second Christmas: spending money, month long bus ticket, stationary and a bag was handed to us. Then we entered a room of warm clothing to choose whatever we would like to have or borrow.

The end of our funtastabulous 'first' day we were treated to an all u can eat pasta meal at Alt Tübingen restaurant in town, with a choice of beverage. It was an enjoyable evening and already by this point our group had gelled quite well together.

(Kelly-Ann Campbell)