Week 1: What Not To Do

Thursday
We made it! The plane ride wasn't bad at all, it flew by (hah). I didn't feel too exhausted, mainly excited to finally be in Europe. Lauren and I decided to celebrate our first day in a new country with a German lunch at a small restaurant in the airport. While possibly one of the best meals I've ever had, we missed the meeting time with the AIB coordinators and nearly missed the bus back to Bonn. We had to nearly run to make it, and when you're carrying 100 lbs of luggage you really start to regret packing those three extra pairs of shoes. Once we arrived in Bonn we were brought to the old AIB, where Lauren and I met Astrid, our super awesome host mom. She packed our stuff in her car and we drove off to Langwartweg 58, our new home for the next four months. Once we were there we got a tour of the house and met Jamie, the most regal poodle I've ever seen. We then went on a walk around the neighborhood, and then came home, unpacked and went to bed.

Friday
Possibly my favorite day so far, it was our first excursion. Surprise, surprise, Lauren and I were about 30 minutes late meeting the group. I can't remember much of the morning, but I remember getting off the bus in the cutest little town. Mayschoss is the wine country of Germany, snuggled between a few mountains, with a small river running alongside. It was extremely foggy, and rather cold, but it felt good to be outside after spending so much time on a plane. Our tour guide met us and took us up a mountain, explaining the grape growing and perfecting process and the history of the winery. At the top of the mountain was an old castle ruin, where we stopped and had a glass of wine (and took pictures). We then went back down and had dinner, followed by a tour of the winery. Once back in Bonn, a few of us went out to look around the city. We ended up at Session, where some people who work at AIB were playing. They played old jazz type music of all things.

Saturday
Ya girl is 20!
On Saturday we had a scavenger hunt/race thing with AIB and the other groups attending school this semester here in Germany. No surprise here, but Lauren and I were, again, about 30 minutes late. Even more embarrassing because we were with the other groups too. There's a visualization group from TAMU here, along with a landscape architecture group from Penn State, and a mixed major group from California. We were split into teams and given a flyer with questions about the Rhine park. While it would've been really cool to spend time in the park, it was cold. AIB did give us this amazing stuff called gluhwein, which is basically hot red wine with a bunch of spices in it. I'd pay to go to Germany just for a cup of gluhwein. But anyway the race was fun because the park was beautiful and we got to hang out with the other groups.

That night Lauren, Emily, Mitchell, Corey and I went out for my birthday, which was super fun because it was our first night out in Bonn. We ended up meeting Eric, Clara and Kiki from the Penn State group. We ended up at Billa-Bonn, an Australian bar, where they have Mexicana's. I'll let you find out what that is. We stayed out until about 5 in the morning, then walked Emily home. Lauren and I made it home around 6 am, when Astrid was just getting back from work. She was working night shifts at the time because she was close to cracking a case (she's a detective). Best 20th birthday I've ever had.

Sunday
Best brunch ever with our host family. The Buergers have a tradition of waking up late and eating breakfast at noon on Sunday's. We ate a ton of bread with different things spread on top. I'm a big fan of the double chocolate spread, which is white and dark chocolate mixed together. Lauren and I also met Leon, the 18 year old son of Astrid. He is on the national quidditch team of Germany. Naja is Astrid's 16 year old daughter, who we met briefly on Friday, and are quickly getting to know better. Their grandmother also joined us.

Monday
School was supposed to start, but we only had a visa meeting and then a tour of the city. I'm liking Bonn a lot so far, because it still feels like a city but it isn't so packed and so busy all the time. It's really pretty here, and you have newer parts right alongside the old buildings.

Tuesday
Aachen trip! As I've already written a ton I'm going to make this relatively short. We saw the beautiful cathedral there built under Charlemagne. The dome is absolutely incredible. These massive churches are always something you have to see to really appreciate, as words or pictures do not do them any sort of justice. Lauren, Emily, Katie and I had to actually order some chocolate in German, which was a challenge for us all. I'm really excited for our German class, so that I can stop feeling so ignorant. Everyone here (at least almost everyone) can speak more than one language, and often can speak 3 or 4 languages. The American school system has really failed in that department. But we also toured the treasury, which held some of Charlemagne's bones within golden cases. There was also an incredible painting (mural?) of parts of the story of Jesus's crucifixion. Interestingly, there were certain conditions that could be detected in the painting, including an autistic person and someone with syphilis. Overall it was a fun and busy day.

Wednesday-Thursday
School actually started, which is exciting and unfortunate at the same time. On Wednesday it actually snowed pretty heavily, although it wasn't sticking and it didn't fall for very long. Lauren and I were late to class yet again, but its ok because we got some pretty incredible pictures of the snow. Classes this semester are all going to be really interesting. I'm exciting for our history of medicine class, which includes a lot of history of Europe and several excursions. It was mainly syllabus week, so we didn't get too much into the material, but we got to meet all of our profs. More to come on this when school starts to kick in.

Friday
Cologne excursion! We went on a tour of the beautiful Cologne Cathedral, which again cannot be justified by a mere description. Google some pictures because its absolutely incredible how massive this church is and yet it is still so detailed. We went inside to listen to the organ, which again cannot be described. I did get yelled at, in German, by a very angry German priest for taking pictures while we were walking in. It was terrifying. We then ate a bomb lunch at Gaffel, a restaurant to the right when walking out of the cathedral. We also went on a tour of the city. Our tour guide knew the most interesting and random things about Cologne, and the main thing I took away from it all is that 1. Cologne people have a sense of humor, and 2. they really dislike(d) their neighbors across the river.

Friday-Sunday
Lauren, Emily, Katie and I ended up staying in Cologne, which was the best and worst decision. We booked an Airbnb that was 12 miles from the city center (not really, it just felt like it). And because we are college students in Europe we decided to walk everywhere to save some money. Not the best idea when you don't have comfortable shoes to walk around in. I don't think any of us will ever walk right again. We did have a good weekend though. We went to a pizzeria right next to our Airbnb after walking around for an hour looking for a more 'German' style restaurant. Turns out the pizzeria was the best decision we could've made, as the chef was from Italy and made the best pizza I've ever tasted, and the people in the restaurant were some of the most fun. Our new chef friend ended up giving us a licorice shot (gross), and putting some of his red wine in a coke bottle for us to take home (yum). On Saturday we slept in, and then walked the 12 miles to the city center to find breakfast. We did the Kolsch brewery crawl that so many people recommended, and tried all the different Kolsch brews. We ended the night with some Gluhwein at another restaurant, then hiked back to the Airbnb. Sunday we woke up, hopped on a train, and limped our way home. All in all in was a good weekend, and a good first week. I learned a lot in such a short amount of time, so I'd like to share a bit on what not to do...

Don't try and have a feast when you have to meet the AIB people in less than an hour to take the bus over to Bonn!! No matter how good the Rose is.
Don't pack pointless things. You do not need every pair of shoes that you own. I've worn the same pair every day.
Don't be late to the first excursion!! It's stressful enough being in a new country. Wake up extra early, go get yourself some bread (German's love bread), be on time.
Don't waste time! You can watch Netflix in the states. You can sleep when you're dead. Go out, meet people, make some memories.
Don't be late to your first little fun day event walking around the Rhine. All the AIB groups are waiting, not just your BMEN/BIMS ppl.
Don't not get the gluhwein. Always get the gluhwein.
Don't go to Bonn and not get a Mexicana. Try the Mexicana.
Maybe don't stay in a German club until 5 am. Or do, whatever floats your boat.
Don't spend Sunday holed up in your room. Hang out with the host fam, life is more interesting that way.
Don't stress about getting lost. If anything it'll help you learn better direction.
Don't take pictures the entire time you're touring a city/cathedral. Actually appreciate it in real time.
Don't expect everyone to understand you just because most people speak english here.
Don't be late to your first day of school. Also don't forget you're technically here for school :-)
Don't just book the cheapest Airbnb because its the cheapest. Location matters, especially if you plan on walking everywhere.
Don't walk everywhere.
Don't expect travels to go 100% smooth. Don't expect your first adventure to go smooth at all.
And last of all, don't wait till the last minute to write your blog posts unless you enjoy writing books.

You live, you learn,
Madeline