So much
studying; so little sleep. After I got back from Budapest, I slept/pulled all
nighters at the AIB for 3 nights until I was done with all of my exams! I
honestly can’t believe I did that haha. It was was crazy. I left the building 3
times that entire week. I even washed my hair in the bathroom sink one of the
nights; I know, it’s ratchet af. This last week of school was full of L’s. No
matter how much I studied, every exam proved to be extremely difficult.
Honestly, it was quite demoralizing. Especially after last week, I now
seriously questioned the purpose of working hard, but I kept grinding. My last
exam was for differential equations on Thursday night. We opened the test
booklet, and as usual, every snickered a little bit because of the fact that
nothing on the exam was even remotely similar to what we had been taught in
class before. 20 minutes into the exam, I started feeling drowsy; I reached
down and cranked out an energy drink in order to stay awake. The next thing I
knew, I heard Maggie yell my name out loud and everyone laughing. I guess I had
fallen asleep after all! It was somewhat embarrassing, but I don’t blame anyone
for laughing. I would’ve laughed at myself too! Most importantly though, thank
you classmates for waking me up!! Afterwards, we stayed a little longer at the
AIB to work on the take home portion of the differential equations exam; we
left around midnight to get some sleep. FINALLY! I never would have imagined
myself to look forward to sleep as much as I did. I slept like a baby until my
alarm woke me up at 7:30AM. Today, we had a group excursion to Remagen to visit
the Peace Museum at the Bridge of Remagen. The tram actually broke down on our
way to the Hauptbahnhof…just like the first day. Things are coming full circle!
Mr. Kürten was our tour guide at the museum; he had served at the bridge during
WWII! He was a lovely tour guide, and his experiences were just so interesting
to listen to. Afterwards, we strolled along the Rhine and relaxed. Remagen was
another little, beautiful German town. I could’ve sat there and watched the
boats cruise by on the Rhine all day. Later that night, Kyle, Raju, and I ate
at an Indian restaurant (Raju was very happy); surprisingly, it was very good,
almost better than the Indian food I get back in Texas!! I wish we had found
this place earlier in the semester. We ended our Friday at N8schicht, our favorite
club! It was Latin night, and it was FUN! We partied on all night until about 3
in the morning; I mean, why not? We just finished finals and hell week! Afterwards,
we stopped by one of our classmate’s apartment before heading home; the only
problem was, the key to door wasn’t in her pocket anymore. At some point in the
night, she had lost it. We thought maybe she had lost it in the club or maybe
it was still inside of the apartment sitting in the keyhole. In either case,
she wasn’t able to get in. CRAP. We stood there for about 30 minutes trying to
recall where the key might be. One of our great friends (and TA), Nathan, disappeared
for about 15 minutes. The next thing I knew, the door to the apartment opened
and out he came! We found out that he had hopped several fences, roofs, and
backyards; sure enough though, he made it to our friend’s apartment and opened
the door for us! Nathan, we love you! We woke up the next morning around 10 and
headed over to the Hauptbahnhof. The feeling of “I’m gonna miss Bonn so much”
was really starting to hit; we only had 5 more days in Europe! We bussed over
to one of the theaters in Bonn to watch the Loyola Marymount University theater
students’ performance! There were several times during the semester that World
War III almost erupted between Texas A&M and Loyola Marymount, but at the
end of it all, they had been rehearsing all semester! It would have been terrible
for them to have no audience to perform for. Plus, I enjoy plays and musicals! The
show was titled “Virago Alala,” and it was about women of masculine strength
and spirit all over the world who are each given the choice of accepting a life
of pain and suffering for the greater good to save others, help the weak, freeing
the oppressed, etc. The LMU students did a great job! The singing was on point,
and all of the choreography/acting in the play was not easy to master either!
Kudos! Afterwards, we had an AIB Farewell Party at the old AIB building. It was
another bittersweet time. I talked to many of the students that I had met over
the course of the semester; some of them, I might never see again because of
the fact that they attended another school such as LMU or Penn State. We ended
the party with a little karaoke of classic songs sung by the LMU students and finished
the night once again at N8schicht! No crazy roof climbing, fence hopping
stories tonight! We got back to the apartment around 6:30AM? We slept until
about noon before getting up and starting the next day. A few days ago, I
remembered that we had never gone back to visit Daniela Arleff, the Germany
lady that we had met in one of the German restaurants in Münsterplatz one of
the Sundays earlier in the semester. I felt that it was only right for us to
find her one last time before we left Germany. She had told us that she always
had lunch in that exact restaurant every single Sunday, so we knew exactly
where to find her (at least we hoped she would be there). There was actually a
flea market in Münsterplatz that weekend, so the entire square was filled with
vendors and customers. The restaurant was just as busy, so Kyle and I walked
around it slowly, looking around to see if we could see Daniela. She wasn’t
having lunch outside (the weather was really nice that day), so we wandered
inside the restaurant hoping to see her. We saw a lady that could have been
her, but she had sunglasses on, so we weren’t 100% sure if it was her. However,
when we passed her, Kyle saw her purse (a very uniquely designed one) and knew
that it was Daniela! We spoke to her for a little bit, trying to tell her all
of our wild adventures that we had been on this semester. She was very
interested, but from what I could see, she was more impressed with the fact
that we actually came back to see her before finally leaving Europe. She said
that she would never forget this moment and that she was so happy to have been
able to see us one more time! Afterwards, we met up with Amran and took a train
over to Cologne to attend the boat party that we had gotten tickets for. The
theme for the boat party was “Tanz in den Mai,” which means “Dance into May.” This
was going to be a great time and a great way to have one last hurrah in
Germany! We needed to get on the boat before 7:30 because that was when we had
read that the boat would depart, so we had planned on meeting Nathan and
Kenneth in Cologne and hopping on board together. However, they said that the
boat departed at 10:30 that night; in either case, we decided just to get on
the boat anyways since we hadn’t planned to do anything else in Cologne; there
weren’t many teenagers/young adults on the boat. Instead, most people were in
their early to late 30s! BUT, the music was great, and it was a nice
environment to be in. We explored the boat a little bit. All of a sudden, the
boat departed. This was terrible! Kenneth and Nathan weren’t even on yet. I
texted Nathan immediately, and they said that they would just hang around and
party in Cologne instead of the boat party and meet up with us afterwards. UGH!
This didn’t go as planned at all!! Once the boat started moving though, the
music played even louder and people started dancing; we joined in and had a
good time. Every time the boat passed under a bridge, the DJ would turn the
music up and fog up the dance floor. The boat returned to the dock around
midnight. Nathan and Kenneth said that they would hang around Cologne for a
couple more hours before heading back and that we should go on without them. We
failed to make it to the correct platform for the train several times. We ended
up having to wait for about another hour for the next train, so we decided to
get a snack and chill at McDonald’s while we waited. There was actually a
famous European celebrity in line. I had on idea who he was, but everyone else
seemed to be trying to get photos with him! I wish I had decided to get a photo
with him just for the heck of it! We made sure to get to the correct platform
at least 20 minutes before the departure time this time around. The train
arrived, and all of a sudden, I hear Amran yell “DUDE. THAT’S NATHAN AND
KENNETH!” Then, he sprints along the train to catch up to the front of it. I
don’t know why, but Kyle and I followed him to chase the train; it definitely
wasn’t the safest thing to do at all because at certain points, I was tiptoeing
less than a foot away from the train! Amran caught up to the front and tapped
the window to get Nathan and Kenneth’s attention. He got their attention
successfully, but he also got the attention of one of the train conductors. She
came out and lectured Amran about how unsafe it was for him to be running
alongside the train, which she was very right about. He apologized, and we got
on the train. We got back to Bonn and called it a night. That next morning
(Monday), I started packing and trying to stuff everything in my 3 suitcases
(yeah, I know..why so many suitcases right??). I got everything to fit into the
suitcase and zipped it shut. Kyle and I met up with everyone else at the AIB;
they were either working on their blog posts or finishing up the enmodes
booklet for one of their classes. Kyle and I decided to get some pöm doner for
the last time (I KNOW!! SO SAD!) before leaving Bonn, and of course, what’s a
meal without gelato??! We went ahead and got some spaghetti eis! SUPER LECKER
LECKER LECKER! Kyle and I were extremely stuffed at this point, but we decided
to go and see if the currywurst stand was open today. Luckily for our stomachs
and unluckily for our taste buds, the currywurst stand wasn’t open *cries a
little* because of the fact that
it was Labor Day. I went to Starbucks for the first time this entire semester
and got the infamous pink drink. I have no idea what it was or what was in it.
All I know is that it was diabetes in a grande-sized cup! We watched the “sneak
preview” that Woki, the movie theater in Bonn, had every Monday. Essentially, a
film that will be released in about two weeks will be shown! We were hoping to
see Wonder Woman or Pirates of the Caribbean; it ended up being Before I Fall,
which was a movie that had released back in March. Afterwards, we headed home.
I sort of, kind of, did pull an all-nighter to watch the Houston Rockets
WRECKKK SHOP against the San Antonio Spurs! Game 1 goes to the Rockets! Okay. Last
day in Germany!! We had one last group excursion today. We visited the
Marksburg Castle in the German town of Braubach; it was one of Dr. Wasser’s
favorite castles of all times. He knew every twist and turn of the castle haha!
We had lunch in that town (Braubach) and embarked on a Rheincruise afterwards!
The Rheincruise lasted 3 hours; there wasn’t too much to do, but it was a nice
way to end our semester abroad. We landed in wine-tasted that night. I guess it
really is coming full circle! Our first and last group activity abroad was wine-tasting!!
We danced and sang a little bit on the way back to Bonn, but soon enough,
everyone passed out. I remember waking up at the Hofgarten parking lot. We all
got off, and everyone just started staying bye to one another. It was such an
abrupt goodbye! *cries a lot bit!!* It was truly the end of the semester. Saying
goodbye to all of the great friends that I’ve made over the course of this
semester was difficult, but as my good friend Raju said, “It’s not goodbye,
it’s see you later!” Kyle and I stayed up all night until 4, which was when our
taxi came to bring us to the Hofgarten. We said our farewells to Brungsgasse
16, and our taxi took us to the bus. We all fell at some point on the ride;
when we woke up, we had arrived at the Frankfurt Airport. Several hours later,
we were on the United Airlines airplane and headed back to Texas. 10.5 hours
and 4 movies later (Hacksaw Ridge, Passengers, Manchester by the Sea, and Why
Him?), we arrived in Houston. I said thank you to the flight attendants (I KNOW!
WE WERE BACK IN THE LAND OF “THANK YOU”), and the next thing I know, Houston
humidity cut right through my pants and hit my legs. JOY! We picked up our
luggages and made our way to the exit; I thought to myself “Maybe I should
record my exit from the terminal in case my parents did something for me”…and
then I thought to myself “nah, they’re not THAT extra.” WELP. My mom was
holding a piece of cardboard, 5 feet across, that said “Welcome Home
Kendrick!!!” with 2 of my Instagram photos and 1 of a Snapchat selfie with my
favorite filter of all time! I was wrong. I guess they are extra, but I love my
parents for that! I guess it’s where I get it from hahaa! Europe, it’s been
fun, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.
^^^true story
R.I.P.
Remagen, Germany
workin' on them dance moves for N8schicht
I'm gonna miss this so much.
LMU Theater Performance
Much love to this group of people!
Silly picture time!
AIB Farewell Party
Daniela Arleff, the nicest Germany lady! I'm so glad you asked to speak w/ us 3 months ago while we were sitting at this cafe. What a sentimental time to be able to find you again today!
Beautiful day in Bonn w some beautiful people
:D
Boat PARTAYYYYY!
Tanz in den Mai!!
The Dom at night
Braubach, Germany
Rhein Cruise!
die drei Freunde
What others think of BMEN Abroad
What we're really like
Weinprobe!
byeeeee :(
Texas heat comin' at us real quick
Back in the H!!!!!!
The best roomie :)
My parents are so extra, but I love them for it!
