First week in Germany!

My time in Germany has been filled with excitement from th moment i arrived. It was a little unnerving to walk off the airplane and see no familar faces or language for that matter. And just for a moment i wanted to get back on that airplane and go back home. Luckily, Florien, drew's host brother, found us at the airport and made us feel right at home.

My host mother could not be more wonderful. She speaks English fairly good and seems to be getting better the longer i am here. She fixes me musili every morning from fresh fruit she gets at a local market, granola, and something similar to yoguart. I am getting very spoiled.

The first weekend I got to know Florien and some of his friends in the altstadt. They were very charming and enjoyed talking to us about the differences between American and German culture. The first difference i learned was that the bars do not close at 2 am here. I remember walking out of the bar and being in disbelief because it was light outside. I did not make it home till 7 am.

Because Florien was very nice and always came with me where ever i went, i decided on Sunday i was going to be brave and venture out on my own. I am very poor with directions and it did not work out so well. My plan was to meet Drew in front of the pink castle at 3. Since Drew knows how well i am with directions he said he would pick me up at the bus stop. Somehow i did not make it to the bus stop till almost 3 hours after the set time. Needless to say, Drew had gone on by then. Although i never made it to the pink castle, I was content with my first real adventure.

Monday and Tuesday were all about getting adjusted to Dusseldorf which i thoroughly enjoyed but Wednesday in Cologne was my favorite by far. I will never forget walking out of the train stop and being in awe of the dome. It was an unbelieveable feeling. This day brought a mixture of feelings for me. Visiting the elde haus was very enlightening. Standing in the memorial and looking at messages left from the prisoners who were tortured here was unbelievabley sad. I think it is good that the Germans do not try to repress or forget what happened. I think it is important to learn from your mistakes and teach others what you have learned.

I am looking forward to a fun filled weekend with good friends! Tschau!