It's crazy to think that we've been here for about 10 days already! While I'm writing this, Meaghen, Shelby, Maggie, and I are on our way to Munich and Salzburg for our first free weekend! I'm sitting here on the fast train late at night trying to think about what to write so I'll have to lay it out by places I've been so it's easier to follow. I'm not really sure if I'm supposed to include my personal trip before the program started but it affected my transition into Bonn so I feel like it's important!
Berlin (personal trip):
My mom and I flew out on June 22 to Berlin and got it at 7:30 am. By 10 we were re-showered and finding some food in the city. My first encounter with something different from home was when we showed up to a restaurant and walked inside expecting to be seated or order at the counter. The waiters looked at us like we were crazy and started speaking rapid-fire German and my mom and I just stood there like deer in headlights. Eventually a waitress helped us out and I learned a good lesson on how restaurants work here in Europe! We were in Berlin for less than 36 hours and we saw the Berlin Wall, the terror museum, checkpoint Charlie, and slept for a few hours in between.
Paris (personal trip):
After Berlin we caught a flight to Paris and arrived there around 3 or so. We stayed in a small little hotel close to Gare de l'est so it wasn't the best part of town. This forced us to really use the subway system and that pushed me out of my comfort zone a lot. In Paris we saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame cathedral, and the pantheon. We had a Paris Pass and it saved our lives! We were able to ride any subway in zone 1-3 and skip all the lines at the museums (which saved SO MUCH time).
I really liked Paris but after Berlin it was almost a let-down. It was way dirtier than I expected and the people weren't near as friendly! What I did learn from Paris is that the American education system does us a disservice in the foreign language department. Even people in Europe with a low level of education can speak more than one language and we are able to communicate (given, crudely) with almost anyone. I feel uneducated and silly when I can't have a basic conversation with someone in their own language and they're able to have one with me in mine.
So all in all, I enjoyed Paris but we squeezed a week worth of activity and walking (12 miles in one day) into about 48 hours so it was super busy. But Paris is BEAUTIFUL and the Eiffel Tower is incredible (we had a tour and went to the very top) so I had an awesome time and I'm super excited to come back on one of the free weekends!
Amsterdam (personal trip):
Last stop for my mom & I's trip! We got into Amsterdam in the evening on Sunday so we just planned on going to the hotel, finding some dinner, and getting a good nights-rest before the last few days before my program started. The real hiccup here in Amsterdam was the transportation from the train station to the hotel - the tram system is very confusing and my mom refused to take a cab so we ran around the train station for an hour trying to find a tram to take us to the hotel and ended up grabbing a taxi in the end hahaha but it worked out - we got a lot of exercise! Amsterdam was very calm compared to the other cities we'd been. We had about 2 1/2 days here and not much to do so I was finally about to get the sleep I'd been missing! Here, we went to mass at a Dutch cathedral and we had no idea what they were saying but since we're Catholic so we had a pretty good idea of what was going on at every point! The cathedral was just gorgeous (pics attached) and that was a great experience.
The best part of my entire personal trip was Bloemendaal. We took a regional train out there from Amsterdam and rented bikes to bike up to the North Sea shore! We picked the day were it was POURING so we had an 8 mile ride in a downpour but it was so fun. The sea was amazing and no one else was there because of the rain so we had it all to ourselves and it was great. Bloemendaal itself is one of the highest income areas in all of the Netherlands and it's easy to tell. It's the cutest town I've ever seen.
Within Amsterdam we went to the rijks museum, Van Gogh museum, and did a canal cruise. Amsterdam was by far my favorite place id been but I was ready for vacation to end and the program to start!
The personal trip I took was very important for me. Because it was more of a vacation and I was able to be with my mom it really eased my transition. The only down side is that I'm away from home for an extra week but I really think this trip is going to fly by.
Bonn:
Finally made it to Bonn!! Mom and I took a train from Amsterdam to Frankfurt the day before we met the group and then we met in the airport on the 30th!
Shelby and I are staying together in Bonn and thank GOODNESS for that. I love our host family and stuff but the culture is so different we've already seen how much disparity there is between how we were raised and how her kids are raised. They're so hospitable & kind and I think we got a great deal. Our host mom is very sassy and very Portuguese and it's hard to tell if she's saying something nice or something sarcastic so I usually just smile and laugh because I'm not really sure lol. She has three kids all around our age, one other exchange student from another program at A&M, and a cute Irish setter so it's a full house!
History of Medicine is even more interesting than I thought it would be so I'm really excited to be continuing with that. Dr. Wasser teaches with a super high energy so it's easy to be engaged and I wish I new more about history in general.
The culture shock/homesickness hasn't really hit yet here in Bonn but for some reason I knew it was coming. I think because we're with the group all the time and then shelby and I come home together it really doesn't feel like we're in another country other than the language barrier. Another thing that surprised me was Bonn itself. It was nothing like I imagined. In my mind I had this gorgeous, pristine European city and Bonn is very industrial looking. Once you get out of the city center it's exactly like I imagined but where I am the majority of the time is definitely different from expectations but I'm starting to like it more and more as I get comfortable.
Hannover:
First excursion to Hannover on Tuesday! Visited the axolotl lab where we learned about regenerative medicine and research and we also learned about spidersilk and how it can be used as a scaffold to help form nerve tissue and maybe in the future even larger organs! After the research lab we went to the Hannover medical school and talked with a cardiothoracic surgery resident about artificial heart techniques for the left ventricle and we saw a patient! He must be very used to students because he just whipped up his shirt to show us the electrical tube coming out of him and even had pictures in his wallet of himself right after the procedure. It's crazy to think these patients live a fairly normal life while having to carry this external battery around to make sure their heart continues to work.
Norderney:
Norderney was definitely great! It was so fun and really cold - which I know I'll be wishing I could have once were in the 90 degree weather in Munich & Vienna!
The bade haus was really nice...it was great to relax and enjoy each other's company without having to think about anything too serious or worrying about school, classes, etc. I came out feeling so relaxed and that has definitely my been my favorite part of the excursion so far! I also enjoyed the lectures from the guest speaker and dr. Wasser! I learned a lot and it helped me understand the whole experience!
The mud walk was fun too! It was cool to get to use a little bit of my bio 112 knowledge when it came to the aquatic animals (but I
didn't remember much lol)
Munich (free weekend):
For our first free weekend we went to Munich and Salzburg! We didn't plan anything for Munich so we just got a good sleep Friday to Saturday once we got in from the train!
We saw a bunch of nice cathedrals and walked around. The Pride weekend was happening while we were there so the city was packed but it was really cool to see all that was going on and there were a bunch of performances on stages all around the city center! The English gardens are beautiful and I wish we had more time in munich!
Salzburg (free weekend):
In Salzburg we went on a sound of music tour! It was so cool - we saw the places they shot the movie & learned all about the history of the Von Trapp family and everything so it was really interesting! Salzburg is beautiful and I've already made a list of everything I have to do when I come back to Salzburg in the future!
Tomorrow we head to Austria and then Barcelona for the long weekend!!
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