Biosciences Bonn: Last full day in Deutschland // B O N N

Can't believe it almost over. Tomorrow, I won't be in Germany, I would be in the US. I really can't believe this is it. I woke up this morning, partly acknowledging the fact that this is my last full day in Bonn because I had a final exam to write that I needed to focus on. I walked down the street of putzchen with Lexie in silence, admiring for the last time Bonn in daylight. The bus ride to the AIB was emotional for me. I stared as we went across the Rhine, realizing how much I will miss going over the Rhine. I will try to leave on a happy note, and not make this blog very sad. Speaking of happy, On our way to the AIB, we saw lots of decorated trees, a German tradition which Camella told Lexie and I was called Mayboom (might be misspelled). The decorating was basically done by guys, who would put the trees they decorated next to the windows of the girls they liked. And on leap year, the roles is reversed with the girls doing the decorating. It was so cute to see. Some of the trees had the girls name on it on a heart, and the beautiful sunny weather complimented the trees.

When we got to the AIB, there was a lot to do. Those who didn't have a differential equations or genetics final, were working on evaluations, and the exit interviews. Those who had exams were studying and getting ready for their exams. It was finally time to take my math exam. The exam took about 2 hours. It was pretty challenging, but not impossible. I did my best on it and I hope I did good enough to get an A in the class. After my exam, I did my exit interview and I did the evaluations. After this, I said goodbye to those I would not see the next day on the bus to Frankfurt. After this, Izzie invited Lexie and I over for lunch at her host home. Lunch was delicious and it was really nice to see Izzie's host family. They were so nice and very welcoming. After lunch, I decided to come home quickly to drop my carry on bag that I lend to Joseph after his surgery, and to pick up some things I would need for the group picnic. Lexie decided to stay at Izzie's.

After grabbing all the stuff I needed for the picnic, I left the house. I got to the Hoftgarden and I found Katie and Joseph. We chose a spot and set up for the picnic. Izzie and Lexie joined soon after I got there and we took lots of pictures together. After a while many other people started joining in. I was very happy with the turnout. It was pretty nice to see everyone together again in Bonn one last time. We enjoyed the views, talked and just hung out for a little while. It was time for Izzie to leave as she needed to get something from Cologne before she left. She said her goodbye to everyone else and Lexie and I walked her to the Hbf. On our way there, we stopped by the castle wall, which was Lexie's favorite thing in Bonn. We took pictures by the wall. I also wanted to get one last spinach wrap from back werk (a bakery), but they didn't have it at the back werk in Friedensplatz, so we headed toward the Hbf. Lexie and I said our goodbyes to Izzie. We went back to the Hofgarten, trying our hardest not to cry, but to stay happy and think happy thoughts. On our way back, we got crepes, and I got my spinach wrap. When we got back, more people had joined the picnic. After a long while, Alexa, Romi and Harrison came by. It was great to see them all and it was also sad because it was time to say goodbye to Harrison and Romi, as they were not coming on the bus to Frankfurt with the majority of us. After they left, we all also said goodbye to the Katie and Mitchell, who also were not coming with us on the bus. At the point, I also had to leave to pack and finish up some of my blogs. Saying goodbye to the remaining people left was not too bad as I was going to see them the next day. Lexie and I left hoftgarten for the hbf. We took our bus 609 for the very last time. It was a special moment haha.

We got back home to another surprise-going-away present from our host parents, which was so sweet. We had dinner and went to our rooms to continue packing our stuffs. After hours of packing, we went back upstairs with the letter and flowers we got our host parents. We gave it to them and we all share a glass of wine together. We stayed upstairs with them for a while, and printed off some travel documents, and after this, we gave them a hug goodbye as they told us we were welcome back to visit anytime we ever come back to Germany.

Lexie and I went back down and continued packing. At 3 am in the morning, we took out the trash and got ready to catch the cab our host mom called for us to get to the hoftgarten. Living the house, knowing I would not going back for a while, was very emotional for me. We got to the hofgarten and after everyone got there, we headed out for Frankfurt. We got to Frankfurt at like 6 am and my flight that day was at 8:35 am. Nick said his goodbye to us as he dropped us off and Austen and I had to say our goodbyes. At this point, I could not hold back the tears anymore as I said goodbye to everyone, and I was sad that I also didn't get to say goodbye to Alexa. But we have already said this just means we have to see each other again soon haha. Austen and I got on our first flight heading to New York, and then we took our connecting flight to Houston.

These 4 months have seriously been so much fun! I love and will miss Bonn so much, but I do have every intention of coming back to visit. Thank you for coming on this adventure with me, I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I still have a final reflection blog to write, watch out for that.

Bis spater,

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