Contacts in Germany and Apartment Floorplan

A question I get asked a lot is if I know anyone in Germany. Well, since I've been "in the biz" for quite some time now, I have a little network of contacts over there. Firstly, I have some familiy members. They live just outside of Munich in a little city called Ingolstadt. I visited once when I was 12.

When I was 16 I had an exchange student, Nina, from Moenchengladbach. The next summer I went to visit her. I also know the exchange student from Uni Koblenz that came to UCF last semester. We've been in contact through email since I decided to participate in the program. I have been in extensive touch with the coordinators at the university as well and four assistants have been assigned to me. Their names are Julia, Chantal, Verena, and Sonja. So I have quite a little bubble, I guess. I do intend to break out of it, but I've got a couple of free places to stay, I guess! Ha, ha...

Soon I am going to be making some purchases online for items I will be needing while I am abroad. The following items will be purchased:

• foreign outlet surge protectors (so I can bring my own appliances)
  
• TSA-approved luggage locks
• canvas shopping bags (believe it or not, you have to buy your "paper or plastic" there
• packing cubes

The list will grow I am sure... I just plan to bring as much of home with me as I possibly can so I can get as comfortable as possible as quickly as possible! I wish I could bring my own bed with me!! Something tells me I'm not going to have a lot of room... in fact, here's a floor plan of my apartment...
It seems like it would be pretty cozy... I'm a little concerned about the kitchen, though... I know its more like a kitchenette, but I'm hoping I'll be able to fit a microwave in there or something, and that it is functional... I don't know how I'm going to cook with just a two-burner stove and nothing else... should be interesting.

Until next time,
Caitlin