New Friends and Blending Right In – Week 2

Last week, I was completely enamored with all things Germany. I was, as they say at the study abroad office, in the honeymoon stage. There is nothing wrong with that! However, this week, I am starting to feel more normal. Don't misunderstand me! I am still thoroughly enjoying my time here and my new experiences. I just think I am viewing my experiences without rose-colored glasses.

There is something delightfully normal about stopping to get coffee on my way to class. It is so comfortable that I can confidently walk in and order in German. Thankfully, they always reply “here or to go” in English, as I do not think I would recognize those words. Maybe I can practice with my host mother.

            On my very first day in Bonn, I missed my bus stop. I rode to the end of the line where I was kicked off the bus. I ran to catch the tram back to Bonn central station, but I missed it. Then, hungry, tired, jet-lagged, lost, and scared, not to mention wet from the rain, I began to cry. I walked up to a group of women to ask for help. One woman tried to call my host mother for me. Then she explained that I could get back on the bus and rode all the way back with me to my house. It was so kind. She went above and beyond the norm to help me. I think that she could see herself in my shoes. She told me that she had come to Germany from East Africa seven years ago. On the bus ride, she introduced herself as Esmeret and told me about her children. Her thirteen-year-old daughter is going to England for a couple of weeks this summer. This was probably another reason that she helped me. By the end of the bus ride, she said that she would like me to meet her family and gave me her phone number. After discussing it with my host mother and my parents, I decided to accept her invitation. On Tuesday night, I went to her house for dinner. The visit was delightful! We had dinner and chatted for several hours. Esmeret kept putting more food on my plate. The daughter was very excited to talk to me! She asked me everything from my favorite hairstyle to my political opinions. I found out that Esmeret studied to be a nurse in East Africa. She showed me her transcript, and her classes are very similar to my own. I am so thankful for this unique experience and that I got to meet such kind people here.

On Wednesday, we went to Cologne! It was less than an hour away by train. Cologne is the 4th largest city in Germany, and was very important in the Roman Empire. It was named for an Emperor’s wife. She eventually killed her husband, so that her son could be Emperor. And who was her son? Nero. Who else? Nero later killed his mother. What a happy family.

We did a city tour. For the first stop, we went down into a parking garage. Where we saw… a 2000 year old wall from the old Roman city. It is so surreal that something like that would just be in a parking garage. It really impressed upon me how old the city truly was. I hope to go back to Cologne to visit the Roman museum. The cathedral was stunning. The detailed stained glass and architecture were beautiful. The cathedral has the bones of the three Magi in an ornate golden structure. I learned that the cathedral was built from the 1200s to the 1500s. Then, they had to stop construction for 300 years due to lack of funding. It was finished quickly in the 1800s. We had lunch at a famous brewery. I had a massive plate of white asparagus and potatoes. I was a very happy camper, as white asparagus is my second favorite veritable, behind green asparagus. After lunch, my half of the group went to the Cologne museum. It was very green and not too busy. They had a raccoon exhibit. They made the exhibit after WWII, when raccoons were spreading across Europe, because they wanted go show people this foreign animal. Now though, the raccoons are considered pests. The zoo also had very nice sun bear, cheetah, and giraffe exhibits. The zoo had farm animal exhibits for educational purposes. I got to pet a goat there. The best exhibit was the elephant one. They had three babies. The exhibit was very spacious and the animals were clearly very happy there. I absolutely loved watching the babies play. I stayed in Cologne for dinner. We went to a 700-year-old brewery. It was really neat even if I could only drink coca cola.

Cologne Cathedral

Colored facades in Cologne. Newly constructed buildings in Cologne are required to have the same number of roof tops as the original buildings did. This means the city looks the same from above as it did before WWII.

Love locks in Cologne

Tony and Squinty in Cologne

Roman wall segment in a parking garage

Baby elephant from the Cologne Zoo

On Thursday, I learned how to ride a bike!!! Because we will be biking on an island next week, I needed to learn. Dr. Wasser met me before class, and he taught me in the courtyard. He explained the mechanics of riding very clearly, which made learning simpler. By the end of the hour, I was riding across the courtyard with ease, and the whole class cheered for me. It was really encouraging, especially since I felt silly for not knowing how to ride.

Flowers at AIB, my school

More flowers from AIB

On to classes: We started the week by learning about da Vinci. He studied the heart through human dissection and experimenting on oxen hearts. He found that has did not go directly from the lungs to the heart. He also postulated that blood makes a small vortex after passing through the aortic valve and that this was what made the valve close. And, as it turns out, we think he was right! We have seen the vortex with fMRI. I think that is amazing, and somewhat freaky, that he knew that was occurring so long ago. Next, we learned about different healthcare systems. The system in the US is significantly different from those in other developed nations. The lecture definitely gave me some food for thought. I was particularly surprised that the US has for profit health insurance companies and that the US spends a significantly greater portion of its GDP on healthcare than do other developed nations. In preparation for our visit to Norderney, we learned about the history and physiology of sauna. On Thursday, we started pharmacology. We discussed the different definitions and general classifications of drugs. On Friday, we discussed the differences in medication availability in the US and in Germany. In Germany, OTC medications can only be purchased after speaking to a pharmacist and come in much smaller quantities. We think this is because people here would go to the doctor if they needed a longer course of medication so that the medication would be paid for by insurance. We also discussed the differences in how medication is approved in the US and in the EU. In general, the steps are the same; however, it seems like it is slightly easier to get a new drug approved for use in the EU since it is less centralized.

Mary-Cate and I's tea party

Remains from a Roman bath in Bonn

This weekend, I went to Dublin! On Friday evening, we went to the airport to fly to Dublin. Our train got delayed, so we had less than an hour to get through security. We ended up running through the airport only to find out our plane had been delayed. The delay was convenient because it allowed us to get dinner. This weekend trip is probably the craziest thing I have ever done, but in the end, we got to our apartment, which may or may not be student housing for the university.

We decided to go the Howth on Saturday. Howth is a fishing town on a peninsula near Dublin. We had delicious fresh fish for lunch and then walked around a bit. At the pier, we saw a man throwing fish to seals. We also saw a man playing the Ulnar horn. The pier was beautiful.

We walked up to the cliffs and hiked around. It was amazing. It was a clear, cool, and sunny day. We walked down some steep, rock stairs to a rocky beach. The water there was amazingly clear. It was like something off of a tropical island. We went back to Dublin in the evening. On the train back, a group of high schoolers was partying on the bus. They were playing loud music, dancing, and drinking vodka. One guy was whistling loudly with the beat. It was interesting. They eventually got kicked off, and guards had to prevent them from getting back on. There was a lot of yelling, and I think the driver refused to drive until the teens left. We stopped at a pub called “The ginger man.” The bar keeper was really friendly, and I enjoyed chatting with him and my friends.

On Sunday, we attended a service at St Patrick's Cathedral. It was beautiful, and the choir was amazing! They had a boys’ choir, and the majority of the members were under 10 years old. We saw them running around after the service without their robes. It was nice because we got to see them as real children not just superb singers. After grabbing some food, we hurried over to the Guinness factory for our tour. It ended up being a self-guided tour, but I really enjoyed it. My favorite part was learning how people used to make casks.  They didn't use any adhesive or screws. It was actually fairly similar to the first part of bassoon reed making. Everyone got to try a Guinness and have a drink at the end. I smelled all of the different beers. The citrus Guinness released for this summer smelled the best; however, none of them smelled particularly appetizing. They mostly smelled like sour apple juice. German beer smells marginally better, by the way, but I really have no desire to try any of them, which is good considering that they aren't gluten free. After the tour, we were exhausted and starving. We stumbled upon a little pub that served the best seafood chowder I have ever had. I was so hungry that I ate all of my chowder and finished everyone else's Shepard pie. Then, I still had room for gelato! We visited the iconic Temple Bar where we heard some traditional Irish jigs performed by an ensemble of guitar, fiddle, and accordion. I am very glad we heard some traditional music. After wandering for a while, Andrea and I ended up heading back early. We had a great time chatting before going to sleep.

The best seafood chowder ever

Our visit to Ireland was refreshing. It was nice to be in a country where we understand the language, and it was nice to be given free water at restaurants. It was even nicer to be surrounded by the Irish, who are less reserved than the Germans. I enjoyed greeting people in the street. I also enjoyed blending right in with my red hair. Someday, I want to go back to Ireland to see the historical museums in Dublin and the beautiful country side. However, I am very glad that our program is based in Bonn. All of the people I have met there have been very friendly. And I feel confident in getting around a city of that size. Also, at least in my experience, the German people are very frank and genuine. They aren't trying to hide themselves behind an idealized facade like so many people from home do.

Mile count for the week: 43.37 miles (11.4 of which were from the day we hiked in Ireland)