Week zwei

     This week we started up all of our classes. I was ready to get back into the swing of things and I am happy to say that I have been loving all of the classes I’m taking so far. I feel like I’ve found such a good rhythm of life in Bonn. Public transportation has gotten a lot easier thankfully. This past week we also had our first intercultural workshop. I really enjoyed it. We were split into groups and given instructions on how to play a card game without speaking to each other, but we didn’t know that each group had different instructions. The winners of each group had to rotate to a different group. It was so interesting to see how everyone responded to this. I was very confused at first and even found myself getting frustrated. It was such a good representation of how people from different cultures are thrown into new situations and have to find a way to adapt. I have found myself having to adapt in many ways since I’ve come to Germany. For example, a lot of places won’t accept credit cards, I also have to make sure I’m not talking too load on the bus and other public places, and I have to be comfortable sometimes ordering at a restaurant where they do not speak English. 

     As far as my personal travel time this weekend I had the opportunity to go to Maastricht, Netherlands. It was such a fun time. I was definitely nervous to take my first weekend trip to another country but everything went very smoothly. The city was beautiful and I really appreciated having everything walking distance because public transportation is a bit intimidating for me. We walked around so much; on the second day we did almost 9 miles. We saw churches, went to a history museum, and went on an underground tour of caves below the city. Other than the gloomy weather, I thoroughly enjoyed the city. After the two and a half days I was really tired so I hope that I have enough energy to make it through the whole semester! Next week I’m headed to ROMA and I can’t wait. We have a three day weekend so I took the opportunity to travel somewhere a bit further. Can’t wait to keep exploring!