I was sitting at my desk this morning waiting for class to start, and suddenly, I heard everyone start singing happy birthday. I looked over and saw Mats, our program coordinator, bringing a birthday cake over to my desk. So many nice surprises in such little time! During class, we discussed more details about the biotechnology project we will be working on. So far, our task will be to come up with problems regarding the current technology. My genetics class got cancelled, so I got to go home pretty early. 😁
Tuesday 1/22:
What a day! The program scheduled a visit to Cologne, Germany today. Knowing I had to meet the group early, I made sure to get to my stop with time to spare. I got to my stop on time only to realize that the tram itself was not on time. It was about 20 minutes late! By the time I got to Central Station, I couldn't find my peers. I had to borrow someone's phone to call Mats, and he said "if you run to terminal 2 you might make our train." When I finally arrived to the terminal, I was about 1 minute too late. Calling from someone else's phone, Mats said they held the doors as long as they could. At this point, I was very upset, especially because my tardiness was out of my control. After asking Mats if I should even go to Cologne anymore, his voice changed and said "what?! YES of course," and proceeded to give me instructions on how to buy my ticket, where to get off the train, etc.
Once I sat on the train to head toward Cologne by myself, I couldn't help but still be a bit upset. Looking out the window and admiring the beauty of Germany, I realized there was no need to be sad. I was on my way to Cologne to see the Cathedral, walk around the town, and have fun with my friends. In fact, I related my experience to the challenges portion of the Hero's Journey.
Once I met up with my group, I found out that I had only missed 5 minutes of the city tour and that was all! We walked around Cologne meanwhile hearing its history.
~~~One of my favorite parts was the story told about this fountain. As seen to the left, right, and on the steps, there are tiny dwarves. These little people were believed to have done all the work for the people of Cologne during the night so that the residents could be lazy during the day. As no one had ever seen the little people, the woman on the top of the steps wanted to. She left peas on the steps in hopes of seeing them. The dwarves did not see the peas, slipped and fell, and never returned to work. Afterwards, the people of Cologne had to do their own work.
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| Heinzelmännchen of Cologne |
In addition to the city tour, we visited a museum that used to be a jail during Nazi Germany. There were translated writings on the walls of the cells, including those related to torture and interrogation. In addition, there was a story on one of the doors that described how one of the inmates was able to escape from the jail. Another part of the jail read "Path to the courtyard where more than 400 inmates were executed..." It felt crazy being in the exact location where such horror occurred.
Lastly, we visited the Cologne Cathedral. Although it was FREEZING cold, in all honesty, this was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We not only saw the insides of the church, but we rode an elevator to multiple levels of the Cathedral! It was crazy (and a little scary at times) to be walking on the edges of one of the world's most tallest churches. Eventually, we made it to the second tallest point of the Cathedral, which was 147 m (about 482 feet) high! From there, I saw the entire city of Cologne and more. Truly a breathtaking view.
The rest of the week was a normal school week. I enjoyed that classes really started, though I have so much to do. My hardest class so far is German Language -- after all, I am a beginner! My host family continues to encourage me by saying that my pronunciations are really good and helping me speak it.
That's all for now! :)✌
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