Initial Frustrations

Upon arriving to Germany we were rushed out of the airport and on a bus for a two hour bus ride to Bonn. I didn't get any sleep on the plane and tried to sleep on the bus but I was way too excited to start my new adventure. We arrived at the AIB and were told to leave our belongings in the yard (what?) while we went inside. This was shocking at first because I was told to never ever leave my stuff alone in Europe, and I won't leave my stuff alone again, but I have came to learn that Bonn is a very safe and trusting city. We waited at the AIB and my house mate Alyssa and I were confused to find out that our host mom was on vacation. So many thoughts went through my mind, I'm in a new city that speaks a completely different language, miles away from anyone I know. I was scared out of my mind. Alyssa and I were dropped off and the lady that brought us to our home in Bonn gave us a five minute tour and then left. I am extremely grateful that I have a house mate to share my frustrations with, and I'm so glad I didn't have to go through that scary first day on my own.
Alyssa and I's rooms are on the fourth floor, and of course Bonn is having record breaking heat right when we arrive. I didn't know how I was going to survive on the fourth floor with the sun beaming into our rooms every day. We have found that it gets cooler when the sun goes down, but we also found out we only get around 6 hours of darkness before the sun rises again to warm everything up. On the first full day here Alyssa and I were supposed to be picked up and dropped off at the Hauptbahnhof. The lady that we thought was supposed to pick us up never showed up and we assumed there was some massive miscommunication. Five minutes before we were supposed to meet at central station we realized no one was coming for us and started to frantically call our program coordinator Helen. This is when we found out that her number was wrong on our emergency contact sheet. Anxiety started to set in as I called the emergency AIB number and thankfully someone answered and said they would call Helen for us. We finally got it figured out and got directions to the AIB, which wasn't very far after all. Thank goodness.
There were so many emotions that I experienced on those first two days including anxiety, exhaustion, confusion, and fear. I told myself it was all going to work out though and I needed to relax and go with the flow. Being in a new country where you don't speak the language really teaches you to stay calm and just take everything one step at a time. Regardless of how scary it was I would never trade this experience in for anything. Bonn is a beautiful city and I've came to really admire the people and the way things work around here.