First Week; House of History and moving into my new home for 6 weeks!

After making it to the airport, I met my first friend in the group (Miss Taylor!) and was very excited to start my journey abroad with a new friend! As someone who is not in a primarily pre-med major, it was refreshing to talk to someone who had the same goals and ambition as I did and hear her story on how and why she was pursuing medicine. The plane ride was quite long, and I first experienced a communication barrier with a little Turkish girl on the plane. I was happy to see that she still wanted to communicate with me and teach me a little of her language which really kind of highlights the thread of humanity that links us all. Our descent in Frankfurt was insane, and I was shocked at how green and humid it was! I then realized that my navigational skills were subpar and proceeded to get lost in an airport with English translations, but eventually made it to the meeting point with Taylor. We finally met the rest of the group in the cafe and started to get to know one another despite our mutual exhaustion from the flight. The trip to the AIB was for the most part quiet, but I saw a lot more American brands and what I guess to be the German equivalent of small country towns like Hempstead. It was absolutely gorgeous and I realized that people here seemed to be quite more environmentally conscious than in the USA. Upon arriving at the AIB I was shocked to find out that I was placed with a roommate Alyssa, but come to find out she's absolutely awesome and hilarious and someone I hope to continue to be close to after this trip. Traveling around Bonn, I was incredibly ecstatic to see the immense cultural shifts (like not smiling at people who you don't know and iced coffee being offensive and the fact that most people were quite friendly and ready to help us once they realized we were not german). The food here is probably the best I have ever had..., especially the fruit! We went to the House of History on Wednesday, which I found quite interesting on the amount of turmoil and reconstruction that Germany has been through since the end of the WW2 (American history seems slow in comparison) and it really gave me a new perspective on what it was like to be German citizen directly after the war. I guess due to the rhetoric it was taught to us in the states, I never really fully understood the pain that a lot of German citizens went through and it is quite heartbreaking for everyone involved. I was also shocked and impressed at how Dr. Wasser was able to give a 2-hour impromptu lecture. I tried my first german beer and wine on the weekend and had some great conversations with new german friends and new American friends. All in all, a very successful week and I look forward to the next!