CHAPTER IV

Circuits and currents
Peak into Germany's past
Go Leverkusen!

Classes picked up this past week. Consequently, I have been solving lots of circuits, and I no longer like the word "node". The history of medicine course is starting to get interesting; I think I am really going to enjoy it! The initial beliefs and theories of doctors are so strange, and I find it fascinating that they were accepted as the standard. Besides classes, there were lots of fun things throughout the week and over the weekend!

The highlight of the school week was the Haus der Geschichte (House of History) located in Bonn. The museum was established by the German government and covers history from after World War 2 until now. There was so much to see! (I had really expected the “House of History” to be a literal house and not a nicely-sized museum). Dr. Wasser led us on a personal tour throughout the exhibits, pointing out the most notable artifacts and supplying us with important background and context. Since the museum is free, I’m hoping to go back another time to take a closer look at somethings, but the tour gave a nice overview of what there is.

It is rather interesting to imagine Germany’s state right after the war ended compared to the country it is now. The museum was laid out sequentially, so it started showing the post-war destruction. Children were missing their parents. There was a shortage a working age men. The infrastructure was significant destroyed. In a sense, Germany was almost a third-world country. There was a lot of debate post-war as to if the German’s deserved any help in their restoration, since they had been the main cause of the war and for fear that they could start another one, adding to the full picture of what Germany must have been like to live in during those days.

A few exhibits dove into the Berlin Wall and the different countries occupying Germany. It is weird for me to think about how recent in history all those events took place. It seems so different from how Europe is currently. I got to go through a mock border checkpoint and listen to some stories of attempted escapes. I watched a few documentaries about the Berlin Wall in high school, but I still learn something new every time it comes up. 

We stayed around Bonn during the weekend. On Saturday we probably the clearest weather we’ve had since arriving, so Lois and I decided against going to Cologne or a museum. We got Darby and Deanna to join us on a hike, or that is what we intended. We first stop was going to be this small grocery store in Gielgen. We got there ten minutes after they close. The next closest grocery store was a little over a mile away, so I decided we should go there. The catch is that it is in another village, and there is not a nice path to get there, but I didn’t know that ahead of time. We ended up trekking through a field next to the main road to get between the two villages. It’s so fun to be in the hills and see the smaller villages from afar. That walk ended up being our hike for the day. The grocery store had plenty of options for lunch. I was expecting to find a park/bench around the area. All we found though was the bus stop benches, so a bus stop picnic it was!

For the evening, we visited the Drachenfels Schloss (“Dragon Palace”). It was so very neat. An artist has currently designed special light displays that are put on during the evenings. The atmosphere was delightful with the castle decorated and vendors with warm drinks and snacks. Not only was the castle cool to see, I was also in awe of the view of city lights from above the Rhine. I’d say it was a successful outing combining two of my favorites: castles and things that light up!

***Bonus (kinda): Since the castle name is about a dragon, there is a complementary reptile zoo, and I saw plenty of giant snakes. I usually prefer to forget about their existence.

As a big group, we went to the Leverkusen vs. Mainz soccer game. The fan sections are kept separate from each other with quite a bit of security. Apparently, the games can get a bit out of hand sometimes. I was cheering for the home team, Leverkusen, and they won even after a first half of 0-0. 

Random Takeaways

I wonder what will be put in the museums about the current time. For some reason, that is one of my favorite things to ponder when looking at history exhibits. 

Make more concrete plans and check to see when things close (just in case the grocery store on the top of the hill closes at an absurd 2 pm). 

Döner and crepes make for a delicious and semi-well-rounded meal for only 4 Euro.