Chapter 5

This week we had a lot of classes -- specifically physiology! It was interesting, and even though I am taking physiology abroad, I was working on the same concepts and textbooks figures and graphs as my friends back in College Station, Texas! I even helped clarify something for a friend back in the US, as their test was pretty recent. I don't have my test until March 1, which makes me a bit nervous because then there would be a lot of content so each question would have a lot of weight. As someone who always has a borderline grade in a class by a question, that's quite scary. Additionally, we also got to work on our enmodes project this week with out groups.

For my online writing class, we got to meet our professor! The meeting was done through a video conference, and she was interested in our lives, goals, and interests that could somehow influence our writings. She also mentioned that one of our writing assignments would involve interviewing someone who has our career goal, but as we are currently in Germany, that would be a tad difficult to do so, and instead interview someone with an interesting profession. I would love to interview someone in the dental field here. I am living with a new roommate who is currently working as an emergency doctor, so maybe one of my classmates could interview him. It is definitely an intriguing career, as he has already told me many stories of his recent work shifts. Additionally, my host sister moved out when I was in Vienna! She mentioned that she was moving out soon, but I didn't realize that soon! And I also have another new roommate, a masters student working as an intern from Pakistan! I'm living with such accomplished and fascinating people.

On Thursday, February 8th, the Beaul Carnival parade happened. I went to AIB as everyone was gathering there to get ready with face paint while eating berliners, so I met up with my classmates and friends there. Everyone dresses up for Karnvel in costumes -- a bit less spooky like Halloween, and more cheery colorful costumes were the dress code. I managed to snag an Alice in Wonderland costume for a bargain of 10 euros, which was a steal. I almost got a bee costume that came with wings and a tutu, but it was 20 euros in total (so double the price!) but they had so many of those costumes I felt like someone else might have picked it as well, and might not be a good sport if we had cute matching outfits, as sometimes it could be embarrassing to show up with the exact same outfit. The parade had many live bands playing along with cheer teams, floats, and impressive designs. Candies, flowers, napkins, drinks, and popcorn were thrown out of the floats and into the crowd so I had quite a bag full of sweets. When the parade ended, a free outdoor concert was playing nearby where a bunch of people were celebrating! During the dancing and singing, a guy with a mask as part of his costume tried to kiss me, but instead he just hugged me until his friends dragged him away as he was a bit too tipsy. I was warned about this during my german lesson about this cultural aspect! Later that night, I went out and one of my friends host mom dropped my friend off and took a group picture of us! That was sweet of them. I also attended the Bad Godesberg parade later in the weekend, which is where I live, and it was so cute and wholesome! Several families were dressed up according to a theme, and many floats also handed out little toys such as bouncy balls and frisbees. They also threw necklaces, bracelets, chips, whole candy bars, cell phone cases, canvas purses, cloth bags, and buckets to the crowd! My friends host family was a part of the parade and we got to wave when they passed us. I did not see any political parade floats, however, which was something I was really looking forward to.

Dressed up for Karneval!

A Star Trek Inspired Float

Karnvel Parade Shenanigans

Over the weekend I also visited Wildlife Park Venusberg. There was still a little bit of snow around, and the entrance to the nature portion of the park had a playground. Inside the actual park, there were fallen trees, little huts made out of logs and wood, and areas with wild animals. I got to see deer, pigs, does, birds, and dogs! The dogs were not an actual part of the park, as they were the visitor's pets. There were vending machines where we could put in euro coins in to get animal food out to feed the animals, and a few of my friends did that. 

 

There was a man who came prepared though -- he had a whole knapsack of seed, corn, and vegetable peels that he let us use to feed the wildlife. He also had a patient and wise looking border collie with him that I could tell was ready to leave their "usual morning walking route," as it was a bit chilly and wet all around. Apparently I live about a 40 minutes brisk walking pace away from the park, and my host mom said that in the Spring, horses will be out munching on the grass in the park!