My Past Weekend

I honestly don't know where the time has gone, but just thinking that we only have one more full day left of our Vienna excursion amazes me. This past weekend, I had the opportunity to explore the vast city of Munich. We started off the trip with a bang, being stranded in the middle of a city we did not know. Long story short, 4 of us took a taxi from the central station in Munich and were taken to the wrong place 3 times before being dropped off at the wrong place with a 40 minute walk to our destination. All in all, it was a story I will look back on for a lifetime and remember, however I would not do it again. On the bright side, once we arrived at our AirBNB, we were treated with some amazing pizza so that was a plus. The next day, we started off by going to the concentration camp memorial site in Dachau. Words can't explain the impact it had on me; just standing there gave me chills realizing that thousands of people were brutally imprisoned and even killed exactly where my feet lied.  It was an experience to remember and it really makes me realize that I take my life for granted way too often. Next, we travelled to the city where the math and science museum was. I forget the exact same of the museum but it was probably one of the coolest places I have ever been. With exhibits ranging from shipbuilding to pharmaceutics to astronomy, it was a very educating experience. Lastly, we finished off our day with the famous beer-gardens such as Hofbrauhauss. The beer was fantastic, the company was great, and the experience was one to remember. All of this felt like a blur being that we are currently in Vienna, Austria nearing the conclusion of week 2 of our trip. I can already tell leaving this place and leaving these people will be hard.

And this is only week one

We are one week into our stay in Germany and I can hardly believe it. It feels like I have been here for a month. My host family is very nice, but I do not get to see them as much as I had hoped because I am living in their rent home across the street. My host mom, To Giang, is originally from Vietnam and makes incredible food from many parts of the world, so my taste buds have been experiencing a lot of change and lot of wonderful new flavors. I do not see my host dad, Michael, very much because he leaves for work in Düsseldorf early and comes home late. Their 2 daughters, Vita and Vivi, are eleven and seven. They are so cute and full of energy. Vita loves school and likes to show me all of her schoolwork and new things she has learned in class. Vivi finds it especially funny to change Siri on my phone to speak in German and make Siri repeat sentences and answer questions. She says it will help me learn German faster. They also have two other students living with them. Lily, who is their family friend’s daughter, has been so great to talk to. She translates dinner conversations and teaches me new phrases in German. The first day of class Lily was my lifesaver. I had no idea how to figure out the public transportation but because she also has classes, she walked with me to the bus stop and rode the bus until it was time for me to get off, even when she had to keep riding. Judy is also studying abroad. She doesn’t speak any German either, so her and I have a good laugh when we don’t understand what is being said while trying to pick up what we can. Class has been very interesting so far even though we have only gone through introductions and the beginning of each subject.

 Bonn is beautiful. Wow. The architecture is astounding everywhere you look. It is especially amazing when I begin thinking of how old a lot of the buildings are, the reasons for being built, what people have experienced while visiting them and all the stories that each of them must hold. Even when you are eating, you can just look up to see a beautiful historical building right before you to adore. On Thursday, our day off, a group of us went to Seven Hills to see Schloss Drachenburg. Even though the trek up the mountain (yes, we googled to see if the elevation of the castle was considered a mountain) was more than what I was anticipating, it was absolutely worth it. The castle was sumptuous and full of gorgeous detail. However, the view was what really caught my eye. It was breath taking. I even got to end this day by enjoying Wiener schnitzel for the first time. Overall, it has been an incredible week and I cannot wait to see what adventures Vienna holds!

                                                                                                                                 

Wie war München?

So, as I said earlier I would need to make an entirely separate post to try to discuss our first weekend in Germany. On the whole, it was exactly what I had hoped my first excursion would be like when trying to travel without the guidance of my host mom, Dr. Wasser, or the rest of AIB. Things started off innocently enough, with our train ride to Munich being relatively uneventful, if not kind of long. However, as soon as we got to Munich, things started to get interesting. It was really too late to get food anywhere by the time we got into town at around 10 or so, and after we had wandered for a bit we decided to just make our way by taxi back to the hotel. Now, if you've read anyone else's blog you know this is where part of our group got to have their first unplanned "adventure". While my taxi and the third taxi made it to the hotel quickly (and very, very, very awkwardly silent in the case of my taxi), the first taxi that left did  not. After driving them to the wrong destination a couple of times and turning off the fare since he had messed up so much, the taxi driver dropped them off at the wrong location, forcing them to walk about 40 minutes in the middle of the night to the hotel. Now, from our point of view things were pretty cheery. In the meantime, the wonderfully nice woman who owned the hotel had told us where to go get pizza so we could eat, and we wandered to the small hole in the wall, ordered 3 pizzas and a bottle of wine, and proceeded to sit and wait for our food, part of the group content with the bottle of wine to share. After getting our pizzas (partially a welcome gift since we knew the others were having trouble) we went back to the hotel and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally Dae texts to let us know that they have to walk 40 minutes still, and of course we start to panic just a little bit on whether or not we need to call Dr. Wasser (doing great in the whole not needing help area right). Luckily they show up, eat pizza and end up with a story to share.

Day two was a trip to the Dachau concentration camp, an experience you cannot afford to miss if you are here. There is something indescribable about being in that place, and the weight it leaves you with is something that history books can never convey. It's a somber day, and you have to anticipate the aforementioned weight and gravity of the complex and the effect it has on your mood. It's not a place for much laughter. That being said, it was my second time to go and it was probably even more impactful than the first. Don't miss it if you go to Munich. That occupied most of our day on the first day, and we had late lunch at this random spot we found because things close here a little after lunch time as if they need a siesta or something... anyways it was delicious as usual and afterwards we wandered back towards town to meet the rest of our group at a beer garden for dinner and a classic giant beer. The atmosphere was excellent, an all-outdoor area with trees creating a canopy over everything, and people were vibrant and jovial to put it lightly. We stayed there for maybe 2 hours where I had a single beer because why are they so big, then we took the journey back home for the night.

Day 2 we said goodbye to the hotel owner who took photos because I wasn't joking when I said she's the nicest woman ever, then we went back to Munich to use our few hours before the train came. We reserved seats (quite the ordeal because they were all full) then our small group went to the Olympic park in Munich. I had never been to an Olympic area and it did not disappoint. Rolling hills and green grass throughout, with amazing architecture even by today's standards, all capped off with a great climb to the top of a hill for one hell of a view. Eventually we made our way back to the station, got on board the train and started the trip back. Of course that couldn't be met with no issues, so our train was delayed 51 minutes for a really nondescript fire (we don't know where it was or if it was an issue, they just kinda said fire). But after the "fire" was gone we got moving again, and I ended up at home at around 11:15, closing the night with my first long call home to update everyone. That's a long post so sorry world, but it's kinda hard to condense such a packed in trip. Basically go to Munich if you can because it's super cool. So wie war München? München war super.

Slightly Afraid of Taxis Now

For our first free weekend a group of other students and I decided to travel to Munich.  We boarded the train at 4:00 on Friday and then we were off to Munich.  Everything was going smoothly until it came time to get off the train and find our way to our Airbnb.  We all decided that since it was late our best bet would be to get taxis.  Four of us hopped into a taxi and then proceeded to what we though was our Airbnb.  Unfortunately this was not the case.  We ended up at the wrong location but after a minute it seemed as though we had cleared it up with our driver.  After about 20 minutes of driving it became apparent that we had not cleared up the confusion... Stop #2 was also not where we were trying to go.  As it turns out it is important to make it very apparent to the driver that you are trying to go to an address in Dachau, not in Munich.  One might think that would be the end of all of this but the struggle was not over yet.  Our driver pulled over on the correct street this time, but about a mile and a half away from where we were trying to go.  At this point we were so stressed out over the whole ordeal that we decided to just get out and walk from there.  On our walk there we saw some sort of strange European rodent and got to look at the stars.  Upon finally reaching the Airbnb the rest of our group had pizza waiting for us which we ate with pure bliss.  Looking back the taxi ordeal was extremely frustrating, but all in all it makes for a pretty funny story.  After eating we went to finally get some sleep for the night.  This is also when we realized that our room had a James Bond theme to it, which was pretty dang kool.  The next morning we woke up early and had a great breakfast to start our first day in Munich.  

Our Airbnb was beautiful and the breakfast put us in a great mood to start our day.  After breakfast we went to the Dachau concentration camp.  This was the main thing that I wanted to do while in Munich and I am very glad that I got to go and learn more about the monstrosities that occurred there.  Going to Dachau was extremely impactful.  Walking through Dachau it was hard to imagine that such horrible things could have occurred there.  Massive poplar trees line an entry to the camp and in a way they offer a feeling of safety and security.  Upon stepping past the trees though one can see site after site where buildings used to stand and where terrible acts occurred.  After leaving Dachau we were all in a very sullen mood.  The knowledge we had just taken in was obviously weighing heavily on all of us.  As we headed back to town though we began to get more lively.  We ended our day with dinner at the augustiner biergarten.  The next day we were all exhausted but we managed to see the glockenspiel and Olympic Park befor boarding our train home.  Once again we were faced with some difficulty in transit though because apparently there was a fire on the tracks.  This put us getting back late but again added to our story of how bad our luck was with transportation.  Our first free weekend was all over the map but I am still filled with excitement for all of the weekends to come.  Next stop, Vienna!

ZWEI

YOU MEAN OUR FIRST WEEK IS OVER?! I think I've made more good memories in this first week than I have all year. Europe is absolutely everything I imagined and more. On top of that, I am surrounded by the most amazing people ever; I'm really feeling blessed.

By the time I left the Frankfurt airport I had already encountered so many things that I had never experienced before. For example, the paper towels at the airport were ...strange. I guess you could call them reused? I forgot to take a pic but the dispenser looked something like this:

Looks normal, right? Until you realize the bottom feeds back into the dispenser! Where does it go?? I'll never know..

My host mom is the best. She is so sweet and really makes sure that I am comfortable (and NEVER hungry). On the first day when I first found out that my "host family" consisted of just a host mom, I was a little nervous that I would get lonely without any kids my age around. But I quickly began to socialize, and now I have 24 amazing new friends. 

Commute into town was a nightmare to learn, but luckily I haven't made any huge mistakes yet except I did miss one train (we'll get to that soon). Besides that it has been fairly easy to adjust. I am learning a litttttttle bit a of German which is interesting because sometimes I walk around the town practicing the things I have learned. I'm sure I sound insane saying things like "Was ist das? Das ist eine Katze!" (What is this? This is a cat!).

Thursday was a holiday which some friends and I spent hiking in Königswinter. The hike was SO steep; probably the steepest hike of my life. The only reason I didn't turn around and give up was because nobody else was, and I didn't want to suffer the embarrassment (LOL). Here are some pictures from that adventure:

This past weekend was one I'll never forget. Nine of the people in the program, including I, went to Amsterdam. It was the most foreign experience I've ever had. First of all, as I addressed earlier, we missed our train connection in Köln because we were on the wrong platform. While we were frustrated at first, we decided to really take the time to enjoy Köln. We grabbed some Kölsch beer (which is a local beer in the Köln-Bonn area), and we enjoyed the weather. The best part about this plot twist was that we had the chance to see the Köln Dom (Cologne Cathedral) which was absolutely breathtaking. It has so much history and is absolutely stunning, so it turned out to be a blessing that we missed our train. I'll insert a sub-par picture here but it won't tell you anything about how big it is; it's something you have to see in person. 

So we eventually got back on another train and headed to Amsterdam that same night. We hung out, ate dinner, explored the Red Light District, and went to bed. The following day we had an interesting time trying to navigate the beautiful city on bicycles. We took many scenic detours, none of them intentional, but nonetheless it was an excellent time. We bought some fries with mayonnaise, which, in America, is something I wouldn't even give my worst enemy, but in Amsterdam the mayo was verrry tasty and sweet. The fries were delectable as well; 10/10 would recommend Amsterdam food. But before this turns into a food blog, I'll just sum up the rest of our Saturday night by saying that we enjoyed our night in Amsterdam so much that before we knew it it was 4:00 AM and the sun was nearly rising!

Now I am really hoping the rest of the trip does not go as fast as this first week, and I'm looking forward to my travels to Vienna and Prague this week! But for now I must pack... Auf Wiedersehen!!

The First Week

This first week has been an absolute whirlwind. It feels like I've done enough things to last a month--and all of them have been amazing. My host mother is so sweet and accommodating and has made some incredibly good food. Our first night she was very excited to make spargel, which ended up being basically white asparagus. Apparently it's very big during this time in Germany, although I'm not sure she realized we have something very similar in America. I was expecting lots of meat but she really enjoys cooking with vegetables, which is great because I don't think the tomato sauce on the pizzas I'm eating outside of the house is counting much towards my daily vegetable serving (don't worry, I've also eaten lots of authentic German food). She loves hearing about what we're learning in German class and helps us out so much with recommendations and advice we need.

The city of Bonn is not quite like I expected. I initially envisioned Bonn to be a small town, and all of our host houses to be within walking distance of each other and the AIB. Instead, we're all spread out around Bonn and during the day the city is bustling with people and their dogs. However, it seems like at night all of the commotion stops right when it gets dark. We tried going out a couple times and it was definitely fun inside the pubs but outside it looks almost like an abandoned town or a movie set. Regardless, I like Bonn as a home base for us, especially because most of our excursions and weekend trips are to bigger and more crowded cities.

Our academic portion is also very unique, and I like it a lot. I learned pretty early on that Dr. Wasser is incredibly knowledgeable about just about anything you throw his way, and it's always hilarious starting off a lecture to a loud rock song. I really enjoy his teaching style and I feel very engaged and interested. The same is true for Neurophysiology of Music. I never realized how much thought goes in to planning things like concert venues but it's absolutely fascinating, and I love all the hilarious comments he throws in to his lectures. Lastly, German class is something else. Hilde's teaching style initially intimidated the crap out of me because I hate being quizzed on the spot for things I haven't had the chance to study, but after the first day I just learned to embrace it. It also helped me learn about people's names and where they're from, not to mention all the help it's given me while attempting to communicate with the locals.

This Thursday was Ascension Day, so we had a public holiday and chose to spend it climbing Drachenfels in Seven Hills. Eiffel was beautiful and it was another opportunity for all of us in the group to bond. So far I really like everyone in the program and climbing this massive, and very vertical, hill definitely brought us together. I like that we're so close to places like this magnificent castle that make taking little day trips so fun.

This weekend was our first experience traveling alone around Europe. The train from Bonn to Cologne was much different than I expected because we sat by a soccer team that played loud music and sang along the entire way while drinking beer. I actually thought it was hilarious and loved it, but I was a little glad they weren't coming on our next train because I don't think I would've been quite as charmed after hearing them for four hours. Things definitely didn't go quite as planned around the time we tried to board our train from Cologne to Amsterdam because, even though there were about seven of us traveling together, we still somehow went to the wrong area and missed our train. Fortunately there was another one set to come three hours later, so we had a great time exploring Cologne and bonding over a couple beers. Although it was stressful in the moment it ended up turning into a really great afternoon and we made 1000% sure we were ready at the right platform for the next train.

Amsterdam was absolutely amazing and I ended up loving it even more than I thought I would. There were people everywhere and it was refreshing to hear English. Surprisingly we met lots of people from Britain and enjoyed taking in all the sights and culture. It actually reminded me a lot of a cleaner and more beautiful version of New Orleans because there were plenty of bars and rowdy bachelor and bachelorette parties going on all around us. One of my favorite things we did was visit the Heineken Experience, which was basically a brewery tour plus plenty of added special effects, like an interactive video where you get "brewed", and a big theater room playing all of their advertisements. At the end of the tour they give you a wristband for two free beers to be enjoyed at their rooftop bar. I'm glad we did this early in the trip because it made it easy to see the whole city from the top of the building and point out some landmarks for later. I also really liked just walking along the river and stopping in on little shops--although I definitely saw my life flash before my eyes a few times as bikes flew past me seemingly unbothered by my frantic leaps out of their way. I'm pretty certain that had I been there more than two days I'd have to add "visiting the ER" to my list of activities done in Amsterdam.

Overall it's been an incredible first week and with each day it gets more exciting. I'm already calling Bonn home and becoming very comfortable and familiar with the town and the things to do in it. With that said, I'm ecstatic to see what Vienna has in store and equally as excited for all of the pizza and gelato I'll be scarfing down next weekend when I visit Florence.

Let the Adventures Continue!

It has officially been one week since I arrived in Germany and this country has yet to fall short of my expectations. I have really enjoyed spending one-on-one time with my host family. My host sister is 10 years old and I love sitting down with her as she helps me with my German homework, and I help her with her English homework. My favorite part about this week was going to visit Siebengebirge Castle in the 7 Hills outside of Bonn. The steep hike up to the top of the hill kindly reminded me how out of shape I am. Although the trek was a little rough, once we made it to the top, it was 100% worth it. The castle was gorgeous. It was filled with magnificent rooms and the views were breathtaking. Our journey almost stopped there, however, we made the decision to continue on the trek higher up the top of the hill where some ancient ruins stood. I almost turned around before we made it up the hill because I wanted to grab some food in the city, but I couldn't have been happier that I decided to continue the hike. The view from the top of the hill was remarkable—hills, cities, and rivers could be seen from miles away. When I pictured myself in Germany before the trip, I pictured myself on top of a hill or mountain somewhere just enjoying the views, so this really was my perfect cup of tea. 

This past weekend, we traveled to Amsterdam. This is where I learned how important it is to remain flexible while traveling. We had to change trains one time in Cologne, and when we arrived we were so confident in ourselves and thought we would make it to our next train just in time. Well it turns out we were right in thinking this, because we showed up to our train and stared at it for about 5-10 minutes thinking it was the wrong train before watching it roll away. We decided to make the most of the couple hours we had to wait around for the next train by going to a restaurant next to the Cologne Cathedral. Although our travels were delayed a couple of hours, I still had the best time spending time with friends and enjoying Cologne.

I was taught another lesson about flexibility the next day in Amsterdam. We had an entire list of plans written out, determined to squeeze as much as we could into this weekend. We ended up crossing only a couple things off our list, but it was in the small changes of plans that I made the best memories. We went on the Heineken Experience tour on Saturday, and visited the Rijks Museum yesterday. The Heineken tour completely blew away my expectations and everything in the Rijks Museum was absolutely gorgeous. I would like to return to the Rijks one day; it was so massive that I don’t think we even put a dent in one corner of the museum.  I was a little bummed about not being able to see the Anne Frank house, but that just gives me another reason to plan a trip back to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.

Some of my best memories from this week were made in the little moments. When things don't go as planned, that's when the adventures begin. Sometimes it is great to forget about all the plans, and stop rushing from one location to the other. As much as I would love to see every inch of the places I travel, I realize that is not possible. I want to fully dive into every experience I have on this journey and immerse myself in the moment. I am going to make it my goal to keep my eyes open to everything around me and ask myself, “What would Da Vinci say?”

We've Survived One Week.

So, we've managed to get through the first week of this adventure. There were some difficulties, a lot of confusion, and even more great times and laughs. It turns out I remember more German than I thought I did which has helped quite a bit, although as soon as someone tries to start a conversation things start to go downhill real quick. To open my first day, I got to ride on the back of my host mom's bike because we were going to be late for my first tram ride. On top of being fairly awkward, I also missed the entire trip so I had no idea how to walk the streets, which certainly came into play again later as I tried to make my way home. Google maps has become my best friend when I'm lost, but I can say that I have now mastered the journey back and forth between my host home and AIB. That being said, I can also say that I've become more confident in just hopping on a train and hoping for the best until I know that I'm going the right way. On a side note, everything is pretty expensive and I'm quickly running out of Euros since nobody here wants to take a credit card in this strange non-American place. But the food is also delicious so I guess it's worth it. On the host family: Aenne is incredibly nice, and she loves to talk every morning over breakfast. She doesn't like for me to help with the dishes which is really hard to do since I think my mom would kill me if she knew I wasn't helping clean up everything. Andreas is quiet, but is also a nice man. He seems to be busy with work most of the time, leaving earlier than me usually and getting home somewhat late each night. I also now have another student, Dan from Texas (specifically A&M actually) who is living with us now. It's been nice to have somebody else to talk to in english when we're at the house, even though we don't overlap too much. So far class has been mostly introduction and background so I feel like it hasn't gotten to the difficult parts just yet. I'm sure next week it'll ramp up and I'll wish that I was back to this week and nice introductions.

As you might expect, everything is beautiful here. the grass is green, the trees are lush, the buildings all seem more historical than anything America has to offer, and I feel like there is some visual overload and I'm sure I'm missing parts of it. You sit at sidewalk cafes and look up at buildings that must be hundreds of years old with histories as vibrant as the town itself. I'm glad we'll be here for a while, because I don't know that there will be enough time to see everything in Bonn alone no matter how long I was here. I especially love the University and the garden that is in front of it, a massive open expanse of grass that is full of people and games and laughter. Pretty much everything you hope for in a great park, so I expect to spend a great deal of time there. Not to mention the University itself is beautiful considering it's an old palace (because that's what you make universities out of in Germany), so I'm a little spoiled with the riches of this town. The first weekend has been a fun one, but that's a whole other post with plenty of laughs, so more to come later today probably. There's still so much to explore, and it feels like there will never be enough time! Until next time.

-Gabe

A Great First Week

Today marks one week since our arrival to Germany. It definitely felt much longer than that, mostly because of how much I've been able to do during my time here. The first few days were really exciting, I was able to explore some of Bonn's stores and restaurants as well as the Hofgarten located outside the University of Bonn which was very enjoyable. By now I've managed to become fairly familiar with the central area of Bonn as well as the bus and tram systems. I also traveled by train for the first time and have learned how that system works as well. For my first free weekend here I traveled to Brussels, Belgium on Friday and then Amsterdam in the Netherlands on Saturday and returned to Bonn on Sunday night. Traveling between countries is surprisingly cheap and simple although train delays and transitions can be a bit stressful. Both Brussels and Amsterdam had so much to offer and I wish I would've had more time to explore the two cities.

We arrived to Brussels at around 6pm and headed to the Grand Place/Grot Markt shortly after checking in to our hotel. I was truly amazed by the architecture and culture diversity at the Grand Place. There were street performers, concerts, tons of shops and restaurants, and people from many different backgrounds that we got to meet. At night the buildings light up very beautifully which was quite an amazing sight. We had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and and then spent the remainder of the night walking around the Grand Place, exploring various bars and finishing up at a festival which we unfortunately had to leave since it was getting pretty late and we had to be up early the next day for our train to Amsterdam.

At Amsterdam we stayed at a hostel, which was a new experience for me and we even made a friend there that joined us later that night when we went out to the downtown area of the city. We also went on a cruise around the canals during the day and got to visit the Rijksmuseum the following morning which was amazing, although a bit too large for the time we had available so we were unable to fully get through it all.

We're now back in Bonn and oddly enough it feels like I've come back "home" just because of how quickly I've managed to familiarize myself with the city. The few lectures we've had on the Neurophysiology of Music, History of Medicine, and German language have been quite enjoyable. Dr. Wasser has done a great job picking these specific classes for the program as they all relate to each other and make the content easier to understand for us. Although I can't say I speak any significant amount of German, I've been able to pick up a few phrases to help me get through shops and restaurants which has been very rewarding. I look forward to our upcoming excursions in Vienna, Austria where we'll be visiting several museums and other sites, including the Sigmund Freud Museum which I'm particularly excited for.

One week in the books

The first week abroad has been nothing short of incredible.  The amount of new things that I've seen and done these past few days is almost overwhelming considering what I knew sitting on the plane over.  The anxiety from being in a new place has gone down exponentially as I now feel like I can confidently get anywhere in the city by train or bus.  My host parents Carmen and Wolfram have been great with getting us acquainted to the new atmosphere.  Although they've been great it's been tough acclimating to the whole no AC anywhere thing.  I love the culture and I've learned so much about how the Germans live already I can't imagine what I'll know by the end.  One thing I've learned not to do is smile at people in passing. Its not like College Station and for some reason they'll look back at you as if you have some type of mental illness.  Once the first school week was over I took a weekend trip to Amsterdam with a big group from our program.  During which we came across our first, may I say optimistically "learning experience", when we missed our first train from Cologne to Amsterdam.  It literally drove away right in front of our eyes while we stood there thinking all was good.  Looking back I'm glad it happened because it made for an awesome bonding experience and a nice short trip in Cologne with friends until we finally made the later train.  Once we got to Amsterdam it was beautiful, weather and all.  Also it was a very refreshing to find most people spoke English along with Dutch so communicating was much easier all weekend long.  On Saturday we went to visit the "Heineken experience" which was quite literally an experience and not just your everyday tour.  At one point we literally got "brewed" like a Heineken beer does and got to witness the full process in how the dutch beer is made.  The train ride home went more smoothly than the way there and we're officially back for our second week of class.  It's been amazing how well everyone hit it off during this first week.  It already seems like we've known each other for much longer than a week so I'm that much for excited for the weeks to come.

Weekend in Brussels and Amsterdam

This weekend me, Kalea, Karen and Miguel all went to both Brussels and Amsterdam! We booked everything last minute so it was kind of stressed figuring it out for the first time. Although we had so much fun it was exhausting doing two countries in one weekend. Both places were so amazing I'm glad we got the chance to do them. Brussels was probably my favorite place because the incredible architecture and sights. We got there a little late so we could only eat dinner and go out. We ate in the central square at this little Italian restaurant with a great view. As soon as we got into the square there was a jazz concert going on with all these lights and amazing music, It was truly breathtaking. We decided to do a pub crawl to save money and because we weren't sure where to go at night. The pub crawl was so much fun and we met some really cool people! Everyone we talked to was from somewhere different and we got to compare cultures. Which was interesting to see how foreigners view Americans, even though they mostly asked about the negative aspects.
After a long morning of train delays, we arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday. We spent the day walking around, eating and checking into our hostel. We met up with two other groups in the program and we all went out together. In the morning we got up and went to the Rijk museum which was so interesting! We only got to walk around for a couple of hours before we had to make our train. The train ride was a little tricky because we got on the wrong train but we fixed it and made it home okay.
Overall this been an exciting and eye opening week, even though I'm exhausted it all has been worth it!

Expections vs reality

When anticipating being in a foreign country, I was nervous about getting lost, pick pocketing and negative attitudes towards Americans. I am happy to say none of this has been an issue for me! Bonn has a very safe and home like feel to it. I was surprised how clean the streets and buildings are, also how much they recycle. Which is something I think the US could learn from! The people are one of the biggest surprises, they're so friendly! I was expecting attitudes because we cant speak the language but almost everyone speaks English. They also love when you attempt to speak the language. Navigating I'm still figuring out right now but its nice to have my roommate, Marissa, so I'm never alone. I never really worry about getting lost anymore because people are usually pretty helpful!
I was anticipating staying with a random family would be a little awkward and uncomfortable. But I already love my host family so much! They have 2 little girls who call Marissa and I "big sister", they are the sweetest! The parents are also very sweet and funny. They have really made us feel like family. They are truly interested in our culture and getting to know us. We are staying in their side apartment which is super convenient because we have our own little kitchen and we don't have to worry about ever wake the kids up. I'm loving everything so far! :)

It has officially been one week since we first landed in Germany. We have done so many things since then, it feels like we've been here for a month. Getting to Bonn was and interesting adventure in itself as our bus ended up taking 4 hours rather than two due to a wreck on the autobahn. On the plus side of this, we were able to travel through the German country side and up along the bank of the Rhine. The first few days here were pretty hard to be honest. The culture shock was more than I expected, itt was frustrating and stressful to do just about anything due to the fact none of us spoke German. Things which were easy back home were next to impossible here, for example, trying to decipher the tram schedule/map.

It took a few days to acclimate but now, my little village of Oberdollendorf feels like home. Our house mom Carmen showed us a few hiking trails that lead up into the hills surrounding Bonn and on Ascension of Christ Day, Nick and I went hiking and discovered multiple vineyards.

This past weekend, a group of about 8 of us traveled to Amsterdam. We took off from Bonn and missed our second train. We ended up spending the day in Köln walking around and sight seeing. Finally, 4 hours after we were supposed to arrive we boarded the train to Amsterdam. Amsterdam was another culture shock in itself but this time we were ready. Although everything was in Dutch, it was easier to figure out the metro map and train schedule. We went through the Red Light District and toured the original Heineken brewery. Yesterday, we made our way back to Bonn and although I never thought I would say it, I was so happy to be back in my village.

The first week of class set the tone for the semester. I didn't realize that the history of medicine was related to music however, Dr. Waltz has convinced me otherwise. This upcoming week we are traveling to Vienna. We are going to see many of the famous concert halls, churches, and landmarks. After Vienna, a group of 12 of us are going to Prague. I'm looking forward to what this week has in store for us.

One Down

It's been one week since we began our adventure to Europe and it has been quite a week. There are so many things that I have learned and gotten the chance to experience that I never even thought about before departing. I didn't realize how much practice it actually takes to get used to the public transportation system here in Germany, and I can say that I am far from a master in the art of getting on the right train/bus/tram/etc. I have also learned how useful the phrase "I'm sorry" in German is with all the mistakes and misunderstandings I have had between locals here. As well as how fun it is to say "Danke!" everywhere and to everyone. Here's a picture from our spontaneous castle excursion on a free holiday our first week:

There has definitely been a learning curve so far in my experience abroad. Whether it's missing a train headed to Amsterdam for the weekend or getting lost every time I venture somewhere new, it has still been a blast. I'm so thrilled to get an opportunity like this to be taking classes that I'm very interested in and getting to explore Europe at the same time, a place I have dreamed about going for as long as I can remember. So far this trek has been such an adventure. With each day that passes, I feel like I have become closer to so many people in the program with me. A big group of us were able to survive and have a blast in Amsterdam this weekend, even though there were some difficulties along the way. I have gotten the opportunity to get a little closer and more comfortable with my host family each day, and feel more at home than I did from the start. It still is going to take some getting used to, but I am hoping by the end of the program they will be like a second family to me.

Here are some pictures from Amsterdam!

I am so lucky that the two professors leading the program Dr. Wasser and Dr. Waltz have such a passion for the subjects they are teaching and have transferred that excitement and eagerness to learn to all of us students. I can't wait to visit the research facilities, hospitals, operas, and everything else that we have planned in the program and get to see what we are learning applied first hand.

This is the first of many more weeks to come and I can't wait to see what this place has for me next.

Update: Never trust taxi drivers.

It's hard to believe that I've already been here for just a week. Time is flying by, and this week has felt like so much longer than that. I feel as if I have been here for weeks! I was surprised at how quickly I adjusted to using public transportation and learned a little bit of German. Also, I quickly realized I have to use cash to pay for literally everything I buy. I guess Europe hasn't figured out yet that credit cards really are the greatest method of payment ever created. Maybe they'll get there someday. Class has been quite interesting so far, and the coolest part about it is that even though it is class, it doesn't really feel like class. This is most likely due to the fact that I'm in a beautiful foreign country. All in all, this week has been a relatively successful one. I now know how to say excuse me in German, which comes in handy a lot, as well as thank you. Everything else is still a little rusty at this point, but I have faith that by the time Hilde is done with us, we will know far more than that. 

What little German we know was however enough to get us through our first weekend trip. Navigating the Eurail system and getting around in yet another foreign city was interesting. Apparently there is a significant difference between saying Dachau, like a normal human being, and Dacccchhhhhau *insert excessive phlegm*. There are also about 4 different versions of the street name Brucker Strasse. Those of us who traveled to Munich took taxis from the airport to our Airbnb in Dachau, and four of us were blessed with our first terrible experience that turned into a great story. We approached our taxi driver and showed him the address where we needed to go, adding that it was in Dachau (which is about 30 minutes away), and politely asked if he could take us there. He says yes. We say awesome, thanks! After driving for approximately 11 minutes he says we are here! We were not there. We were on Brükerstrasse in Munich. So we re-evaluate the address and head off for round two. Things were looking good until we ended up in a very small seemingly residential area lacking street lights and any sign of human life. Once again he says, we are here! We were not there. We were on Brückestrasse. We said, no this isn't it, it's in Dachau! He looked very confused. So once again we re-evaluate, and the guy starts yelling at us saying NEIN EN MÜNCHEN??? EN DACCCCHHHAU *insert excessive phlegm*. Finally he understood and got very upset claiming we told him it was in Munich. I guess the phlegm really does make all the difference in the world. After some awkward rambling, we were off again, to 16 Brucker Strasse, our destination. Finally he drops us off at 18 Brucker Strasse and we figured this is fine, we can walk the rest of the way. After getting out of the car I thought, this doesn't look like the pictures at all....and that's because we were in the wrong place. Again. Unfortunately though, this time, the taxi driver was long gone. So we googled how far it was to walk, and it was 37 minutes away, a little over 1.5 miles. Seeing as we had no other option, we walked, luggage and all, 37 minutes down the road to our hotel, in the dark, on back country roads, past some corn fields that weren't actually corn fields and a very strange looking unidentifiable large rodent. I must say the view of the stars was quite fabulous though. Luckily we survived, and there was pizza at the end of our journey which made everything okay. 

The rest of the weekend was really a great experience. Getting to go set foot onto the concentration camp that set the example for all others during the Nazi regime was an experience that cannot be put into words. I have such a greater respect for the lives lost there and a better understanding of the monstrosities that occurred. There's something different about being able to actually go witness it yourself as opposed to being taught about it in history class. It's an experience I'll surely never forget and one that I hope everyone has a chance to have. We also got a chance to go visit the Olympic Park in Munich which was actually quite cool. The architecture of all the buildings was unlike anything I've ever seen before. There were also some beautiful park areas which provided a 360 degree view of the city. It made for some excellent panoramic pictures. Of course, since nothing can be easy with us, our already 6 hour train ride was delayed 51 minutes due to a fire on the tracks. It was astonishing how many people just got off the train, in the middle of nowhere as we were stopped, to smoke some cigarettes. I don't have that amount of trust in the conductor to not leave me stranded. Good for them though, that's awesome. Sadly, we didn't receive anymore information on the fire situation. All I know is we sat on a train for almost 7 and a half hours, and that's a super long time to go not super far. We're back though, ready to head to Vienna in about 36 hours. Overall, our first trip was largely a success, but the moral of the story is, German is hard, and never trust your taxi driver. 

What a week!

Tomorrow will mark my first week in Germany. I feel like so much has happened in this week. Getting to Germany was fairly simple, getting to Bonn was not. The two hour bus ride took an extra hour due to traffic. Being late due to unpredictable circumstances happens more often than I like this week. I met my host family and they are wonderful. The mother is so caring, nice, and friendly. The daughter is younger than me but is very mature and we have very similar interests. They showed me the different ways to get to the HBF and I tried public transportation for my first time. I took the bus and a train to get to AIB the first day of class. I soon realized that a different bus was the easiest way to get around. Charlie, my host sister's dog, has kept me from getting homesick. He is a playful puppy that reminds me of my dog back home. He is always happy to see me and has taught me some German; we are working on his English. Later in the week I got to try my first German beer. It is really strange to me to be able to sit at a restaurant and order an alcoholic beverage. Kölsch beer is my favorite. I cannot pronounce it, but I somehow manage to order it. I learned very quickly that if you mispronounce a German word, the Germans do not understand it at all. It is almost easier to try to find the few English words a person knows than trying to correctly pronounce a German word. This does not help me learn a new language but very much helps me get around. I have liked my classes so far. The pace is very fast but manageable. I used to go to sleep listening to classical music up until I was about 10. I find this doesn't help my school work because I want to go to sleep whenever I listen to my homework assignments. I fell asleep listening to the assignments and had to re-listen to them in order to be prepared for class the next day. I went to the opera to support my host sister and found it kinda hard to stay awake during the parts where no singing occurred.I made my way through my first opera and would not mind if it counted as extra credit. For the first weekend in Germany, I went to Munich with some classmates. The journey to the hotel was long and costly, but the pizza there was amazing. We got to go to the Dachau concentration camp. It exceeded my expectations. I was amazed at all the number of people who had been to the camp: prisoners, visitors, and SS officers. The rest of the Munich trip was much more lighthearted. We went to the Deutshe museum. This museum is somewhere I could spend days in. There was so much information on the history and production of different technologies. I also got to try Bavarian beer. I wish I could have tried it in smaller portion sizes, but they only sold the beer in a liter. Munich is a beautiful city but is very large and expensive. The journey back to Bonn took more hours than we planned due to unforeseen circumstances. I am just glad that I made it back to my wonderful host family survived my first week in Germany!