it's already been a week???

Hallo again! It's hard to believe that we have already been here for a whole week. This trip is going by waaay too fast. Although my first week was amazing, I have come to discover that studying abroad is exhausting. Communication barriers, jet lag, walking 9 miles a day, being in class, and meeting everyone took finally took its toll. But all of the exhaustion and struggles is so worth it.

I am thankful that my flight from Houston to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. It was easy finding my way around and catching my connecting flights. I had an image in my head of what Bonn would look like, but it looked completely different driving in on the bus. After arriving at the AIB, me and Suji's host mom picked us up to take us to our new home for the next six weeks. We are situated in the cute community of Oberdollendorf, which is a 20 minute train ride from Bonn Central Station. Our host parents, Carmen and Wolfram, are the coolest. They have shown us such a warm welcome and I am so grateful that I chose to stay with a host family. Carmen is an excellent cook, and we have all had such great conversations during dinner and breakfast. 

The view from my room

View from the fort at Koblenz

This past week has consisted of attending orientation, going to class, doing tai chi with Dr. Wasser in the courtyard, eating dank food, and making friends with 30 fellow Aggies. I am really enjoying my classes, and Dr. Wasser and Professor Waltz make the lectures so interesting. We went to the Haus der Geschichte on Wednesday, where Dr. Wasser gave us a lecture on Germany history post World War II. Suji and I also took a quick trip to Cologne after class, where we stumbled upon a wine festival. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in a town square with wine bottles scattered everywhere. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. We enjoyed a glass or two and then headed to the Rhine to get a beautiful view of the city. The best way to describe the relative sizes of Cologne and Bonn is that Cologne is Houston and Bonn is College Station. I am looking forward to visiting Cologne again this Wednesday and discovering more about the city.

Lock Bridge in Cologne
so romantic :')

The prettiest cathedral I have ever seen

This past weekend, a group of seven of us traveled to Amsterdam. This city was unlike anything I have ever seen. The complex canal system, flowers everywhere, abundant stroopwafels, and thousands of all different kinds people make this city beautiful and easy to explore. I am not sure I have ever walked so much in two days, but I felt like I didn't even see half of the city. We went on the Hieneken Experience tour, walked around the Van Gogh museum, sat in a park, and ate some good food. I really wanted to go see the Anne Frank House, but tickets were sold out. Oh well, that gives me a reason to visit Amsterdam again! 

So many canals...

Girls girls girls

We learned an important lesson on the way home from Amsterdam. One of our connecting trains got cancelled, so our group was stuck in Arnhem, Netherlands. After talking to the information desk, we were able to take another route back to Bonn, but it added another hour and a half to hour trip. We ended up getting home at 1 AM then had to wake up for our 8:45 AM class! For the future, I will definitely try to come back from weekend trips earlier just in case we run into any hiccups. Overall, this past week has been A M A Z I N G. Everyday I get more comfortable being here in a foreign country, and I feel like I am finally getting the hang of things. But, there is still much to learn and I can't wait for more adventures! Ciao!