Day 1:
The plane ride was fairly exhaustive. I spent $12 on inflight wifi only to find the connection to be too weak to stream HBOgo. Shame. This forced me to have actual human to human conversation with the people sitting around me. Despite ordering and consuming straight tomato juice on the flight, the man sitting to my left was actually quite cool. He was a doctor from New Orleans, and I came to find out his wife is a graduate of Texas A&M. Upon landing, I was thrilled. My roommate Connor and I decided to indulge in German culture right away by going straight to the McDonald’s in the airport. Here is where we encountered our first taste of the struggles that come along with being an outsider in a foreign country. When ordering, I asked for “water.” She replied “dïštillēd or mïnêrål,” (the characters used to type that are solely to convey the enormity of her German accent when speaking English). Once arrived at the AIB, we were met by Leon, a member of our host family. His English was great, and he was super friendly. We accompanied him to the store and he cooked us a great dinner. Soon later we met Leon’s parents, Mandy and Wolfgang (while his name is quite awesome, he will henceforth be referred to as Wally). Despite the delirium being imposed by the 30+ hours of no sleep, I was able to understand that these were some of the nicest people I had ever met, and that I was going to enjoy living in their household.
Day 2:
This was my first true day in Bonn. We had an orientation meeting, followed by a tour of Bonn. This was awesome. Bonn is a beautiful city! We stopped to eat lunch at the food trucks in front of Bonn’s City Hall (my favorite of all the buildings we saw). Here I ate currywurst and oh. my. gawd. It was very good. It melted in my mouth. We then came back to our house, drank some Kölsch with Wally, and had a great time.
Day 3:
This was a fun day. We first had a short lesson in the German language from Mats. I learned a little, but have been practicing in order to improve. Then came the Hero’s Journey lecture, in which comparisons were drawn between Luke Skywalker and I (which is extremely flattering). We then went on a tour of a museum that focused on the history of Germany post WWII. This, I enjoyed very much. Dr. Wasser led the tour and gave us an abundance of information. Much of what was featured in the museum was centered around East / West Germany and their occupations, a subject that I knew a little bit about prior, but really got to expand my knowledge on. Brian then took us to a Biergarten. It was here that I went from being classmates with the other guys on the trip, to truly being friends. We had a great time ‘prost’ing with each other. Also, the beer garden was right on the banks of the Rhine and was immaculate, if you are reading this and you haven’t been, highly recommend.
Day 4:
Class really started here. Fortunately, the lecture subjects were interesting. Being a science guy, I actually enjoy physics and Dr. Waltz’s talks on sound waves did much more than keep me awake. He seems like a great professor and a great guy, and I am very much looking forward to learning from him. Dr. Wasser’s lecture followed a long lunch. This was a holiday in Germany, so much of the restaurants in Bonn were closed, and made this break sort of boring. The following lecture was very engaging, as it broadly dealt with all of the different ways medicine has been approached throughout history. Super interesting. Once we returned to the house, we had a great conversation with Mandy and Wally to cap off the night.
Day 5:
We had a lot of time with Dr. Wasser lecturing scheduled on the itinerary. Initially, I looked at this schedule and thought it would be dreadful as I hadn’t been in class that long in one day since high school, but Dr. Wasser and tai chi kept everything moving and fun. Connor and I went on a run, and then counteracted it by going back to the Biergarten. This was a fun, beautiful time. I enjoyed the company of all my new friends, and watching the sunset was beautiful.
Day 6:
Connor and I woke up early and boarded a train to Ahrbrück. This was a tiny village of maybe 200 people. Once we got here, we were slightly lost, as buses were not running for some odd reason no one was really able to explain to us. In search of help, I first went a bank. This bank consisted of nothing but a single atm, no one to talk to. I then ventured over to THE restaurant. It’s doors were closed and locked. Slightly defeated, Connor and I walked back to the train station (a DB machine and a bench) where we found a lovely couple who said they spoke a little English. They were able to call us a taxi, which took us to the Nürburgring, and oh boy. This was the best day of the trip (and possibly my life). Since I was a kid I have been a huge petrolhead, and an avid fan of motorsport. This track has been on the top of my bucket list for many many years. I got to drive 6 laps around the “Green Hell”. It was exhilarating, and an experience I will never forget.
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