Week 1

Blog Post of Week 1: Lessons Learned

January 16, 2018

By now, I have been in Germany for 7 days. A few notable things have happened thus far:

1.      I got lost at the airport.  I was wondering around for about an hour before I found someone else in the program (thank you Lawrence for finding me).

2.      I got lost on the u-train. I made it all the way to Sieburg before realizing I was riding the tram in the wrong direction. I stayed on until the last stop, then the tram made its way back toward Bad Honnef. It took me an extra hour to get home.

3.      I got lost walking to the new AIB. I took route 62 to Stadhaus thinking it would drop me off at the same location as route 66, but they are a street apart. I walked around aimlessly for a while and I will never know how I eventually made my way to the correct destination.

During each of these unfortunate occurrences, it is important to note the few valuable lessons that have been achieved:

1.      I now know how the u-trains work. I believe that I can make my way home from any stop on either line (the 66 or 62) and be confident that I am going the right direction, something I would not be able to say had I not made that tragic mistake on the first day going home. J

2.      Also, I now know that although stops may be labeled as the same stop on either line, they will not necessary drop you off at the exact same place as each other, and I think this is extremely important to know. I was confident that I could find my way because I knew where route 66 dropped off, but when I took the 62, I felt completely blindsided. Definitely give yourself extra time to figure these sorts of things out before a big meeting or class so you won’t be late.

Getting lost has been my greatest lesson this first week, and not having a working phone or WiFi (although making the situation a little more frightening) has already made me more independent. I feel like I can rely on myself to figure out where to go, no matter how frightened I may be at the time, and I trust myself to get to where I need to be- something I have not been able to say before. So I guess after writing this post, I am feeling a bit empowered and a whole lot more excited for the rest of my time here- probably getting lost some more and learning more each time!

Blog Post of Week 1: Activities, Life, and Class: Outside of Getting Lost

January 16^th, 2018

Although getting lost sums up most of my first week in Bonn, I feel that it is important to mention a few other things outside of the realm of my own terrible directional orientation. We went wine tasting as our first excursion, and although I felt sophisticated and classy, I frickin hate wine. The tour guide was great though, and I thought he was very knowledgeable about the vineyards and a right fashionista.

On our first Saturday here in Germany, we did a scavenger hunt type thing at the Rheinaue park and I had a lot of fun. It was nice meeting people from other programs and comparing our living situations (we stay with a host family through the Texas A&M program, others live in apartments). Together, we went around the huge park answering questions and taking pictures, and I thought it was a great way to spend the day. I have only one complaint and it’s that there should have been another drink option besides hot WINE after the hike. I’m going to be severely dehydrated if this wine trend continues.

For Monday, we had our visa meeting then took a tour around Bonn. So far, this day has been my favorite because I made new friends in the program that I hadn’t gotten the chance to really talk with yet. It’s funny, because we are all still getting to know each other, but I feel like I’ve known some of these people for years already!

The last place I wanted to document was the trip to Aachen. I absolutely love the city; I think it’s gorgeous. We had our engineering meeting there where our project was disclosed. Since I cannot speak about it for 5 years, you will just have to use your imagination to guess what it is. Also, we took a tour of the Aachen Cathedral and learned so many cool facts about its history. Apparently all the rulers in the 18^th century liked to steal things from each other and Charlemagne caused a lot of ruckus with the church.

Lastly, the host family situation should be mentioned. I think it is quite awkward being an outsider in someone else’s family, especially when they start having German conversations at the dinner table, but it does make the moments when we have good long conversations together feel special. I like the family that I am staying with and I feel confident that our bond will grow stronger over time.

Anyways, we have our first day of class tomorrow so it’s time for me to sleep.

Bis Spater!

*Update on the classes: So far, I have enjoyed all my classes! History of Medicine reminds me of my Great Diseases of the World class, my favorite class I have ever taken at A&M. It goes less in depth but the diseases are very well-known and interesting to learn about and I enjoy the quotes and pictures used in the slides. Apparently mosquitoes pee on you while sucking your blood. Rude. German class was extremely fun, too. Hilde is very outgoing and makes you speak in class, which I find entertaining. I learned some valuable information on what not to say and how to pronounce certain letters. Lastly, I had pharmacology class which was odd. It was taught via webstream which I am not used to, but it is still a great way to have a class and I can tell I am going to learn a lot of interesting things about drugs.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll write again next week.

Tschüss!