15. Nearing the end

Finals finished up this week, I have officially taken my last test of my undergrad career. That’s a little terrifying and exciting. I am ready to move on. In other news, I have completely forgotten that graduation is two weeks away and I need to do grad pictures! Wednesday night we went out to celebrate being done. The plan was chill drinking but we ended up in the club, our favorite hang-out N8, it’s kind of a shitty club but it’s our shitty club. Anyway, we were the only ones there in the beginning. And we got the party going, it was a fun night!

Spring is here in Bonn, it’s nice to experience a full change of seasons instead of the week of spring Texas gets before it’s back to being unbearably hot. Thursday, we got more euro per scoop gelato (my heart is going to miss the gelato shops that seem to be on every other street corner, but I’d probably die of diabetes if I stayed) and went to the botanical gardens. It was amazing, everything was in bloom and so colorful compared to Texas. The gardens also have a giant greenhouse with tropical plants and succulents, and we found a turtle just chilling inside. Friday we took a train out to Remagen and walked along the Rhine to the bridge-turned peace museum and learned about how it was the last bridge over the Rhine its roll in WWII and how it helped end the war 4 weeks early.  Saturday, Austin and I went in to finish up our enmodes booklet work and of course made a stop at Eis Labor for, you guessed it, more gelato. It is a necessity anytime you go into Bonn proper. And that evening we had the farewell party at the old AIB with all the programs and the host parents. It was fun to meet some of the other parents I had heard about. The party was in the backyard at the old AIB and the weather and the food was incredible. There was a live band and unlimited beer, soon everyone loosened up and started dancing. We ended up meeting Claudia’s host brother and his friends. Sunday we went to the biergarten one last time and relaxed by the Rhine. I am really going to miss days like these.  

One of the things I am going to miss the most about Bonn is the forest that is right behind my host parents house, every day after dinner and some mornings when we don’t have to be at the AIB for classes to early, I go walk through the woods.  It’s really relaxing and I always end up running into deer or some other creatures, which brings me to Leopold. I was out walking when I heard this crashing noise through the brush, I looked to my left and the head of some creature popped up over the grass. All of a sudden a badger (I named him Leopold) came running right past me, for a pretty hefty guy he can move pretty fast. This is actually the third time I’ve run into Leopold our neighborhood badger/and or one of his friends. The other two times we’ve crossed paths have been when I am walking home late from the bus stop. Leopold and I have a love hate relationship because I’m pretty sure we both equally scare the shit out of each other every time we run into each other.