A Little Late...

This is a late blog post. What's new? I think I've been late to everything else, so it kind of fits. Well week two has come and gone, and its honestly so weird how fast/slow time passes. So really quick update on my week two:

Monday
Classes have started to pick up a bit-- we're really into the material now. I'm loving our German class, Hilde Koch is honestly amazing. And its nice to actually learn a bit about Germany and how to speak basic sentences. I definitely feel like a kindergartener, we sort of repeat every word Hilde says, over and over again, with horrible pronunciation-- on my part at least.

Tuesday
More classes! History of Medicine is definitely one of my favorites, as it is about my favorite subject and is taught in the form of a story. Physiology is still one of my favorites from last year (again, my favorite subject). Math on the other hand is quite rough. It's hard to learn a difficult subject over a FaceTime sort of classroom setting. The tutor here is amazing though, he can really teach. The BMEN classes, on the other hand, are quite rough. I'm really questioning my decision to become an engineer- I really seem to dislike all the engineering aspects and really enjoy all the biomedical aspect of my major. But this was a reason I wanted to come on this 'journey.' I'm hoping it will help me decide what I want to do with my life.
Tuesday was also my dad's birthday, and I missed being home for his birthday. I think this was first taste of true homesickness, because it was hard to even wish him a happy birthday because he was busy at work and I'm here at school and in bed before he's home. It's hard being away, but I'm used to that because I'm usually away in College Station anyway. The time difference is what makes it more difficult.

Wednesday
BMEN 211 for the third time this week. Not a fan yet. Physics 208 was the worst class I've ever taken, and so far 211 has been an expansion on the same concepts. On a lighter note at least we're all in this together. And Romie is pretty awesome. Also on Wednesday we had a Hero's Journey seminar, which sort of brightened the day, and reminded me why I was here and what I was looking for out of this trip.

Thursday
Excursion day! We went the House of History just a short train ride away. Lauren and I actually weren't late for once. We made it with a minute to spare. The museum was pretty cool, I would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling or staying in Bonn. It was interesting to consider what Germany was like after the war, and what people thought and how they behaved, and how they survived. World War II seems like forever ago when talking about it in history classes back in the United States. Here its much more present, and more realistic in a way. Its hard to gage how sensitive Germans are about World War II. I definitely want to ask, but haven't found the right time with the host family.

Friday
Friday was rough, and a long day. Lauren and I woke up so late that we missed class completely. We did get to start the enmodes project though, and I'm super excited for that. I'm not sure how much detail I can get into, so I'm just going to say its pretty cool and involves a lot of engineering and medicine. Friday night Lauren and I watched the first Harry Potter movie with our host family, which was a lot of fun. They're huge fans, which is nice because my family at home isn't that big of a fan.

Saturday and Sunday
Both were fairly uneventful, which was nice. Finally had a break to slow down and watch netflix and sort of just hang at home. We watched the second Harry Potter that night with our host family again. We also went on a walk with our host mom through the forest near our house. It was absolutely beautiful. They have some fenced in areas with deer and pigs that you can feed. There were a ton of people out with their kids all hanging around on Sunday since the rest of the city is pretty much closed. It was nice to get out in the fresh air.

I will say that having this slow weekend at home made me more homesick. Or maybe its just the fact that its been over two weeks now. It's not that I'm ready to go home or want to go home, I'm just tiring out. Its like a super long vacation thats become more of a reality now that homework and day to day routines have set in. I miss American food, and cooking for myself. I never thought I would tire from bread but I think I am (almost) tired of it.

Also learned this week is time management. I've been putting off homework because it still barely feels like we're in school, and it kind of caught up to me. So I'm making a promise to myself to stay on top of it all. We'll see how that goes, especially because we are going to Vienna (then Budapest!!) this week/weekend. Next week's blog should be much more eventful. More to come! Tschuss!