Week 1ish

        It still hasn’t hit me that I am not in America anymore. I don’t think it will ever fully hit me because I can’t believe I actually get to have this opportunity. That might also be the reason I haven’t felt any homesickness since I’ve been here. It feels like I’ve been here for a lot longer than 11 days. I wake up every morning excited to see what the day has in store for me. Even getting to AIB is a little adventure of its own because of the bus ride and walk to AIB. The main thing I have enjoyed the most so far is meeting everyone. I didn’t know a single person on this trip which was a little daunting but everyone has been absolutely amazing. The AIB student workers are great as are all the adults involved in the program. And I really hit the jackpot with my host family, Edith and Egbert. I felt welcomed into their home from day one and I love getting to know them. We talk a lot about American politics and they always slide into the conversation the idea that I stay here for the next four years. Last Sunday they took me to Drachenfels which was gorgeous. They have traveled all over the world so hearing their views on what to see while I am here is a great tool.

              

Edith and Egbert
Enthusiastically agreed to having their

picture placed on my blog

             I did encounter some challenges when this trip first began and know there could be more ahead. Last Friday night was the first night I had to get home by myself using the bus transportation system. I got on the right bus but it was going in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to be going. I had misread the sign at the location where I had gotten on earlier so I thought I was supposed to get off at a place called Bechlinghoven. So I got off and was walking around for 20 minutes before I admitted to myself that I was lost. I didn’t have the numbers of my host family, had no signal on my phone, and my pride wouldn’t let me call Dr. Wasser or Kristin. I gave myself 10 minutes to decide on a plan of action and eventually just went back to the stop I had gotten off on to catch the next bus. To make things worse it had started to snow so that wasn’t fun. I wasn’t scared of being lost in a city I had never been to, I was just really exasperated with myself because I’m usually very good at navigating and finding my way. Of course if things had gotten bad I would have definitely found a way to call Kristin or Dr. Wasser. Thankfully it all worked out and I eventually got back home at around 22:30. That was pretty much the only time I’ve gotten lost and lessons were learned.

               Because of all this excitement it’s easy to forget I’m here for school. It hasn’t gotten too bad since it was just the first week but I know things will start to buildup and I really hope I stay on top of things. I love the small class sizes! I’ve never had such a small class in college and I’m really excited to see how that affects the learning environment and relationships made with the other students and teachers. The class I am most excited about is History of Medicine. I’ve always loved history thanks to my father who took me to museums and watched documentaries with me when I was little. Combine that with medicine and it’s the perfect class. I’m also pretty excited about our big project. I feel like I’m not very creative so it’ll be interesting to see how I deal with this challenge.

               It’s a real privilege being here in Bonn. I have already had amazing experiences, from touching a door that was about 1,200 years old to going out with other students in the program, and I’m excited to see what else is in store.