WEEK ONE
The "Hero's Journey" of mine started out with the absolute terrifying fear of traveling in an airplane leaving the Chicago airport en route to Dublin. Thankfully another Aggie was on the same plane, and little did we know at the time what we would be bonding over. Lots of prayers were said and I was extremely reluctant to get on that flight and leave the safe, normal life I had.
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| Sav & I pre-luggage Fiasco |
That was the first time I had ever been in an international terminal, and it had an interesting... diverse (?) smell to it. There was a sunroof that made the entire terminal steamy, and it smelled like BO and curry. Unique place, truly. Finally I met my fellow Aggie, Savana, and got on the flight. I saw her again when we landed in Dublin, and it finally hit me that I was in another country. I was more giddy than little Agnus in Despicable Me "ITS SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!!!" But "OH MY GOSH I'M NOT IN AMERICA. OH MY GOSH LISTEN TO HOW THEY TALK. HIS HAIR IS SO RED!" I was ecstatic to the point of tears, Savana can confirm. Shortly thereafter we got on our connecting flight to Frankfurt. She and I were so pumped and excited as we got off the flight and walked to baggage claim. Well we stood waiting with the rest of the passengers and never saw our bags... so we kept waiting. Then we spent a long time circling through talking with airport staff, and getting no where. Finally we just went to meet our group so we could meet our coordinator, Henning, who could help.
Now, I've read a lot of fiction books, and Henning is a name that makes me think of a frail, pompous old man, with "spectacles" not glasses, and a British accent.
Little did I know that he would be a German Heavy-metal-drummer-rockstar-tattoo-collector-pierced-up-big-Irish-bodyguard-looking-swaggy-funny-dude. He helped us contact the airline and we worked on getting our luggage. I was lucky because I packed several outfits in my carry-on. Overall, I think that I emotionally handled the crisis very well, but Thursday night I hit a low and was really sad almost to the point of tears about not having my stuff and losing money etc. But I held it together. Friday morning Henning told me that my stuff was finally at AIB and I started jumping around and doing a happy (I guess we can call it a dance) dance. It is the little things in life, but it is also the ginormous suitcases also.
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| Obviously Henning |
Bonn was strangely American/normal looking. I guess it was because we were in the city. However, everything is in German, there are enchanting street cafes all over the place, nobody has AC (that's why we eat outside, because inside is stuffy...), people pay with cash, they have bakeries, and a farmers market everyday (my dad is so totally jealous). I definitely fan-girled over the white spargel (asparagus) which I had learned about in my favorite cookbook at home. The Germans eat small portions and bike or walk everywhere. For the most part they are so fit and healthy that it blew my mind.
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| Mi casa |
The house I am living in is just outside of the city. It's a quaint little neighborhood with tons of green everywhere. Everyone has their own little gardens too. It's an enchanting place, and I enjoy running around the area. My host family is so sweet, proper, and except at dinner time- hands off. They have 4 kids, but all are grown up. Our Mom and Dad are both English professors, so I have learned very little German so far. I love my "blue room" with the huge window covered in plants overlooking the garden and forest in our backyard. I love the birds that serenade me everyday too.
If Germany didn't have such a great public transportation system, then I feel like most German drivers would have car accidents involving a castle. There is a castle about every half mile when driving along the Rhein. And this is a normal thing...? Germans are so spoiled I swear.
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| Schloss Drachenburg |
I was convinced that I wanted to stay in town for the first weekend to acclimate, but I guess I thought wrong. If I learn nothing else from this trip other than bold spontaneity is a necessity, then I will be content. Friday evening I made the last minute decision to get on a train to Switzerland with a few people at midnight. I finally had my luggage, but I didn't have a way to communicate off of wifi. I scrambled to get everything packed and ran to the store to get a SIM card but it was closed. I had my passport, money, a semi-useful phone, clothes, and my train ticket. And we went. I walked to my bus stop in pitch black and it honestly was a little sketchy and got on the bus to the train station. Alone. I got there just fine, but worried to death because I wasn't used to the bus system just yet. I met our group of six and off we went. The train ride there and back was.. interesting... at first we kept getting yelled at for laughing too much and being loud, and on the way back we lost one of our own for a bit... but that's a whole other story. Pro-tip, trains have no mercy, don't take your time getting off.
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| "Are we there yet?" |
I woke up that morning to this tear-jerkingly unreal, magical place of Switzerland. I cannot describe in words the way it felt to ride past luscious green farms on the sides of hills that peacefully laid at the feet of ginormous snow capped mountains overlooking the teal crystal glacier lakes. Surreal. And to think that I thought twice about making the trip. un-be-lie-vable. We got to our Airbnb and walked around town. It was a fairy tale. Every place we ate was amazing with amazing views. Eventually we made our way to the lake and kayak shop.
On the way we passed this cute area with a farmer's market which was flooded with the sound of a windup music box. The musician even played the chicken dance, and for the first time this rendition sounded like chickens. Kayaking in Interlaken was the most unreal thing I have ever done. You should do it, because I cannot truly share with you how that felt. The next day I wish we could have had time to hike, but what we did do was take this tram up the side of the mountain at a 50 degree angle to a restaurant with a million dollar view. I convinced some of the group to hike up a tiny bit where there were no people around and we just sat on a wooden bench looking at the mountains, mesmerized by the grandeur of the Swiss Alps.
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| Bryan has cooties |
I miss it already. I will be back.
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