Singing in the rain

(Dr. Wasser, this post is for the week of April 15 – April 21)

We only have one more week of classes left…WHAT?!?  Where did all of the time go?  It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting nervously at the AIB waiting to meet my host mom. Now I feel like a part of the family.  I’ve even met the sister-in-law, father, godfather, family friends, and grandparents.  I am starting to be able to understand the German conversations at the dinner table, just in time to go back to the states and forget all of the German I have learned.   I know a semester seemed like a really long time when I signed up for the trip, but in the grand scheme of things it feels like no time at all.

Part of the reason the semester has flown by is because we are so busy.  Not that it hasn’t been enjoyable, but I almost wish I could pause the clock and rewind to get more time.  This week was no exception to the busy rule.  We had guest web lectures on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a group excursion and Rhine cruise to Bingen on Thursday, a biomechanics test on Friday, the Köln vs Stuttgart soccer game on Saturday, and then the Bonn marathon today (Sunday).  Next week we have the device design project due, the last few classes of biomechanics, and then it’s finals, turning in my 485 paper, Berlin, some traveling around Europe, and then home.  The semester is wrapping up and it is scaring me.

Despite the pressure of fast-approaching deadlines and random downpours of rain, the Thursday excursion was one of my favorites so far.  We visited the Hildegard von Bingen museum which was educational as well as the perfect length of time for my dwindling attention span (I really need to get more sleep).  I really enjoyed learning about Hildegard as a person and seeing the old roman medical instruments that the museum also housed.  Lunch was fabulous, and I got my first taste of the white asparagus that the Germans love so much.  That and the Reisling wine made the lunch super scrumptious.  Next we hopped on the boat upriver to visit St. Goar and the Rhinefelds castle.  Of course it chose this moment to start pouring rain, so the boat ride was a little damp at first, but the sun came out giving me some much needed warmth.  Exploring the castle was, as expected, awesome.  Most of the group immediately engaged in a group of capture the flag and hide-and-go-seek, but due to my propensity to fall and hurt myself at the most inconvenient time and my sore knee, I decided it was wiser for me to not play.  I still had a lot of fun exploring the tunnels and passageways in the castle and admiring the picturesque views.

Finally we headed home, again in a downpour of rain, and I arrived super tired back at my host family’s house to eat dinner fast and then headed over to Katie’s house to have a pajama study party for biomechanics.  It was a good day, and I would do it over again if given the opportunity, but perhaps without a test the very next day.