Week 4

Blog Post of Week 4: Performances, Exams, and Karneval !!!

February 12, 2018

Hallo again!

I’ve been in Germany for over 4 weeks now and I am feeling exhausted but still happy happy happy!

The week began with some much needed host family bonding time. After being gone for about a week, I felt like I needed to spend some time with my favorite German family. On Tuesday, we went out to dinner at an Asian restaurant just around the corner of Sonja’s (my 17 year old host sister) high school. Margarita, my host mother, and Ingrid, my 20 year old host sister who I had not previously met before, came too. It was so lovely to sit and eat together at the restaurant and I felt very happy to be spending time with all of them. Sonja ordered edamame because her friends were raving about how good it is, but it was very overrated and we both agree to disagree with them. After dinner, we went to Sonja’s school performance where we watched her and her classmates perform in a fairytale-themed talent show. All of the students sang songs in English, by artists like Adele and Coldplay (which I very much appreciated), and many others played instruments like guitar and piano. One pair even did a Magic Mike dance tribute and I could tell some of the parents were not pleased... lol. It was a very entertaining performance and I decided that if I live in Germany when I’m older, I will send my children to that school so I can go to more performances like this one!

On Wednesday, I had my first exam for genetics. I’m not sure how I did but when I asked Artavia, the other student in the class, what she thought of it, she said “25 true/false was childish” which I thought was hilarious and needed to be mentioned. I second guess myself on true or false questions, and even though they are technically a 50/50 chance you’ll get it right, I see it as a 99% chance I’ll get it wrong. 

The rest of the week consisted of Karneval activities, hiking, and then more Karneval activites. We went to the parade in Beuel on Thursday which was the day that the ladies are in charge. Apparently on this day many years ago, the washer women decided they were tired of washing clothes, so they marched across the river to the town hall and cut of the Mayor’s tie. Now on this day, we can cut off any man’s tie if he is wearing one and do whatever we want (even kiss a boy if you want to)! There are many floats that hand out flowers and candy and tissues, you name it, and we basically get a lot of free things and have fun outside together. 

Side note: A costume is a must at Karneval. I dressed up as a bee. I would recommend to any future study abroad students on this trip to buy a costume, because you will get good use out of it and if you don’t, you will stick out! 

On Sunday, I went to the parade in Ramersdorf, which is where I live. Margarita let me have some friends over and we all stood outside the house shouting “Camelle” which I’m pretty sure means “candy” at this point.  We also yelled "Alaaf" and I'm still not sure what that means... It was really fun going to that parade because Margarita was out there with us and I love spending time with her and she met a few of my crazy friends.

Today is now Monday and I decided not to go to Cologne for Rose Monday. I am pretty tired from all of the activities I’ve been participating in and I felt like I needed a day to just rest. Next weekend, I will go hiking some more and I just hope I don’t get too tired and it doesn’t rain. I’ve made friends with these very active and outdoorsy people and I’ll either have to become one with nature like they are, or change friend groups. I guess we will see what happens! lol

Now I must do some online homework for my VIBS 311 class. Sigh. I hope I can do it because the WiFi is pretty poor over here. If not, I will take a nap, which also doesn’t sound like a bad idea either.

Bis Spater!