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!