The Start

It’s my first week in Bonn, Germany, and it’s hard to explain how overwhelming this has been. It began with anticipation, expectations, and nerves. It has since turned into awe for my amazing surroundings, confusion about how to use public transportation, and gratitude for all of this. I live in the village Kessenich with my host mom, Astrid, and her two kids Leon (17) and Naja (14). Her 2 older girls, Anna and Nina, are currently away for college, but I think I should meet them soon. I quickly adapted to the crazy transportation system in order to get to class, a 35 minute ordeal that involves a tram and 25 minutes of walking. Our professor, Dr. Wasser, claims that no student has ever gained a pound on this trip and that we can eat whatever we want, because the amount of walking is extreme. I hope he’s right; there are bakeries EVERYWHERE. Luckily, my family cooks pretty healthy meals. Waiting for me at every breakfast is a fresh bowl of fruit full of apples, pears, grapes, pomegranate seeds, oranges, bananas, and pineapples. For dinner, I’ve been feed lots of soup, salad, sausage and chicken, and even spaghetti. It’s all so delicious! Part of the German culture that has stood out to me so far is the environmental initiative. There are pretty much 7 types of garbage bins (paper, plastic, organic, bottles, “other”…)  It’s pretty intimidating at first, but also pretty impressive! My mom also drives a tiny electric car, but I don’t think those are too common. There are mostly BMWs, Volkswagens, and a few Mini Coopers and Porches on the streets. NO TRUCKS. Ford doesn’t exist here, but I don’t think the streets could handle it anyways. The weather is pretty good! It mostly hangs around freezing, but I stay pretty warm! (Shoutout to Aunt Karen’s coat). I don’t stay inside too much though, there’s too much to see! We’ve already been on more than 4 field trips (I promise that we do actually go to class), so I’m living the dream right now.

Our first class excursion was to a vineyard in Mayschoss, a town near Bonn. This “Winzergenossenschaft” is the oldest wine cooperative in the world, with about 48 winemakers and 150 acres behind it. We hiked up though a tiny bit of snow to a “castle” (stone ruins on top of a hill), and taste tested a few wines from the grapes harvested from that very hill. The Rheinland is known for its white wine, but we also tasted a Pinot Noir that had just beaten out France’s grapes for an award, leading to some wine-drama. I don’t remember the names of the wines, but not because I had too many samples… I simply couldn’t understand the German guide very well.

On Saturday, we all gathered together in the cold to hike around Bonn. Although it was absolutely beautiful, like everything we see, it was not what we expected. I’m lucky to like nature, because we trekked about 10 miles through muddy and snowy woods and up a mountain-hill to see a local monastery.

All of the students had this last Sunday to ourselves, so 7 of us decided to visit Düsseldorf, Germany. We started out with a short visit to a small church that was somehow connected to the church of one of the girls with us. I didn’t quite understand how she knew them or what their sermon was about, but I’m very thankful that we went. One of the local girls there, Melody, took us on a tour of the pink castle below, Schloss (‘Palace’) Benrath. Benrath was built in 1770 for the Elector Palatine (Ruler of the Rhine). With a large bird-filled pond in the front and a long “mirror pond” right behind it, the Baroque palace is surrounded by about 150 acres of gardens that are filled with families walking their dogs and tourists exploring the nature reserve. It was undeniably a wonderful day spent with new friends that was well worth the short train ride.