VIER

HALLOOOOO!!! Welcome to my fourth blog post for my Germany study abroad!! 

Fun fact: the number 4 in German is vier (hence the title) and is pronounced "fear".

Last Monday was a holiday, and I was invited to a BBQ with another students family. But BBQ in Germany is VERY different than in the states.  It's not just cheap hotdogs and hamburgers thrown on the grill, complemented with basic buns, mustard, and ketchup. Oh no, German BBQ is high quality home cooked meals with too many options to count followed by the best pudding of your life. The meal prepared for us started with wine, fresh cut melons, and homemade bread. Then they brought out a delicious variety of German sausages, potato salad, and more homemade dinner rolls as well as many other side plates. Just when I thought my stomach would rupture, they brought out the most amazing pudding with strawberries and cream. I don't know the flavor of the pudding, but I had three bowls. Needless to say I probably could have survived without eating for the next week.

On Wednesday AIB took us to Cologne, a bigger city about 20 minutes from Bonn. We got to see the colossal Cologne Cathedral that survived the bombings of WWII which is too massive to even put into words. I believe I put a picture of this in another blog, but no pictures do justice to the size. We also had the chance to go to a history museum there which had a plethora of roman artifacts. There were many old mosaics and tomb stones. One artifact that I found interesting was a clay tablet that was used by children to practice their ABC's. It's kinda strange how we can find so many differences between now and then, but in the end we are all human and need to practice our ABC's! Here's a picture of that:

One thing I can confirm about Germans is that they are EXTREMELY rule oriented. For example, they are really responsible about paying for bus passes even though no one really checks. I've even heard some people go to the front of the bus to pay because they forgot their ticket, and I've never even had to show mine to get on. While this is a good thing for many situations, it can also be a bad thing because they tend to be less forgiving. I went to eat at a restaurant this past week where you are given a card when you walk in that you can use to scan and pay at the end. My boyfriend matt and I just decided we would use one card to pay for everything, so my card was left blank. After finishing our (extremely delicious) Italian meal, someone came to pick up our trays of dishes, and I left my card on the tray since it was empty. We made our way to the front to pay. As matt was scanning his card to pay, the cashier woman looked at me and said "I need your card too", and the rest of the conversation went something like this:

Me: "oh I don't have my card, we scanned both meals on that one"

Lady: "well I need your card"

Me: "oh shoot, I don't have it. I left it on the tray, and some man took it to the trash"

Lady: "well I need your card, you must give me your card"

Me: "I don't know what to tell you I don't have it"

Lady: "I NEED your card"

Me: "..."

Lady: "you cannot leave unless you have a card"

Me: "a man took it away, I accidentally left it"

Lady: "Well I need your card, everyone must turn in a card"

I went upstairs to "look" for my card even though I knew it wouldn't be there. I talked to  a worker and told him the situation; he gave me a look that told me this was a very bad situation. He took us too a back area where he proceeded to dig through two garbage cans looking for my empty card and asking all of the bus boys if they saw my card. We spent the next 20 minutes looking everywhere for this empty card and it was nowhere to be found. All I could think was "this is the worst system in existence. Surely this has happened before," but I started to realize German people are too responsible to make those sorts of mistakes. They told us we would need to pay €50 before we leave to cover the limit of the card. I started to tear up, and my friends started trying to reason with the manager. He eventually decided to let us go because it was obvious that we had scanned both meals on Matt's card which we paid. I was so shook, and I definitely will not make that mistake twice!

On Friday our program coordinator, Henning Münch, had a concert. He plays in a German rock band called Karbholz, and it's pretty wild to say the least. We walked in and instantly received stares from people dressed in all black with long crazy hair (or often no hair at all). You could say we didn't fit in, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves. Henning is the drummer of the band, and we loved watching him perform with crazy eyes as we tried to survive the intense "mosh pit" while pretending to sing along to the German lyrics. 

On Saturday a small group headed to Brussels, Belgium. When we first arrived by train, I got to taste the best omelette of my life. It was crispy and had a unique seasoning that gave it such an amazing flavor. Among the other tasty foods were waffles, fries, and powdered donuts. Brussels definitely had the best food by far (but keep in mind I have not been to paris yet). The city was absolutely beautiful.  A lot of the old architecture had gorgeous gold accents, especially in the main square. Being completely honest, if I could return to one city from this trip, it would definitely be Brussels because of how beautiful and clean it was and because of the French vibes that filled the air. Here's some pictures from that:

I fell in love when I walked off the train, but we'll see if Brussels can compete with Norderney, Berlin, Zurich, and Paris!! Till then, tschuss!!