After lunch that day, we had the choice of either biking back or taking the tram. Me being the "active" overachiever, I decided to bike back as I didn't think it would be that bad... I should have taken the hint from my knees when we were going up the stairs in the tower because after a 14 mile bike ride they were screaming. To make it WORSE, since my legs were so dead, I wasn't able to stop when Dr. Wasser stopped to pick up a plastic bag off of the path and I ran into him... He was fine, but he was obviously a little annoyed.
On Tuesday, we had our second physiology test of the semester. we had been reviewing for the past few days and all of us were a little scared that we weren't prepared enough for the test. As we were going through it, most of us were thinking that he wasn't going into as much detail as we though he would and that it was actually much easier then we expected. When I went back through my answers though, I had lost all of what I knew and was wondering how I got those answers. I just left them the way that they were because I was confident at the time so I had to trust in myself. One of the questions, I answered one thing and I thought that I had a pretty good reasoning behind it but everyone else had totally overlooked it and put the obvious answer (which was technically wrong). So I talked with Reagan after the test and asked her about it and she agreed with me a said that she would talk to Dr. Wasser about it. She ended up getting back with me after lunch and I was right and they gave me the points back for that question! The rest of today, we just tried to study for math, Since most of us were nowhere near prepared for this final...
Wednesday was an interesting day... It was the German holiday called "Day of Work" which is basically their labor day. With this holiday comes time table changes for the tram that we didn't know about so when we got there at the normal time, we realized that the next tram wouldn't get there for another 30 minutes...
We didn't end up getting to the AIB until 15 minutes into the review time for our physiology tests... So we just jumped right in and started going over our previous tests. Our Diff Eq. test was later that day, so we went and got lunch and brought it back so we could cram a little more just before the test... It didn't really help because I got stumped on a good amount of the problems... At least everyone else felt pretty much the same way so maybe I will be saved by the curve. After that I went and sulked outside on one of the benches that they put under the trees. A few minutes later, Joshua and Ana came out and started playing volleyball so I decided to watch them and take my mind off of that terrible test.
At least now it was over and it would only be smooth sailing from here (except for me having to write a lot of blog posts that I had fallen behind on).
On Thursday, Reagan let us review our tests again since we probably didn't remember much of it after that Diff Eq. test... So we got to go over them again for another 75 minutes and I was the last one in there, going over ever single questions to make sure that I would remember what the answer was for the final.
I then read my last book that I have here before we went to lunch and then when we got back it was time for the test. It was probably the easiest tests I have ever taken, and the fastest one at that. I finished in about 23 minutes, flying through all of the questions from the previous exams and taking a little more time on the 11 new questions. It made me feel much better about myself after that terrible test yesterday... After the test, everyone just relaxed and I finished my book that I had only started last night.
On Friday, we had our class evaluations and our exit interviews. I got there pretty early because I wanted to work on my blog posts before the interview but I forgot that there was a meeting at 11 so that didn't happen. I had already done most of the online evaluations last night so I just sat there while most people did that but then mats came in and talked to us about the program and if we had any comments or recommendations. A few people brought up some things that they thought could have been better and we went over those for a bit and then after that he sent us the AIB evaluation of the program itself. He said that once we were done with that we could come in and do our interview with him and Sarah.
I didn't end up doing my interview until around 3:30 and then I went downstairs cause they were already starting to kick up out to set up for the farewell party. I worked on my blog posts for a bit down there and then I went and bought some Haribo and then headed to the house. Since I knew it was going to be a long night of blog posts, I went to the supermarket in Bornheim and got a bottle of wine to give me some inspiration while writing.
Saturday was interesting too because we were supposed to be at the Hofgarten stop by a little before 7 so I set my alarm for 6 so I could eat breakfast and then catch the tram to get there right on time... I ended up sleeping through it and it made me realize how dependent I am of Sid when I sleep in. He had slept at the AIB the night before so I didn't have the safety net of him knocking on my door if i didn't wake up... So Reagan called me and I was still in bed. They called a cab and said it would pick me up at the tram stop in Bornheim and I ran down as fast as I could but apparently Dr. Wasser had called it for the house... So not only did I not have to sprint down the hill, I could have gotten in the taxi and made it there in time to go on the cruise. So I just went back to the house and ate a nice, chill breakfast.
I was working on my blog posts when Vivian, who was on Marcus' phone, messaged me and said that I could take a train and meet them for lunch. I got together with Seb and we both bought train tickets to Braubach. We met up with them there on the docks and then went to lunch with them. We then hiked up to the castle there and got a nice tour around the place. This was one of the more interesting tours that I think we have had of something like this. On the way back down to the bus, it started to pour... We could see it coming for the past 20 minutes or so but it finally came down. Definitely ended the program on a good note.
When we got back to Bonn, I went back to the house to start packing and try and get as many more blog posts done as I could. I ended up just packing up most of my suitcases and eating diner with my host mom because that definitely needed to be done before tomorrow night.
Sunday was a pretty chill day. I had a lot of blog posts to finish, but I wanted to get my haircut and I needed to buy some more ink cartridges for my fountain pen. They probably sell them in the US, but just to be safe I wanted to buy 5 packs of them since they are only 1€ per pack. The only thing is, stores aren't open on Sundays and I didn't realize that until today so now I will either have to go when my parents are here or I will just have to wait until I get back.
This morning we had a very big, very nice breakfast with our host mom for the last time... I will see her again on Tuesday, but I am sad to be leaving her and Germany in general. It has been like a second home to me (third home if I could college station as one too) and everyone has been so great here. It would be so cool to stay longer, but I am dying to see all of my family and friends again.
For the rest of the day, I worked on my blog posts and tried to knock all of them out before the farewell party. We were supposed to go to a play by the LMU students but I had too much stuff to do and since the blog posts are for a grade and the play was not, the blog posts took priority even though Dr. Wasser was not happy about my decision. I also finished packing but I left a few things out since I didn't have enough space in my bags... Good thing my parents are bringing their own suitcases for me to put a few things in!
At around 3:30, Petra came and asked if I wanted to have some cake and coffee since her guests and her were about to have some. So I went downstairs and we had some rhubarb cake and poppy seed cake with coffee. They asked the usual questions like "What I do here?" and "Where have I been?" One of the guests was from Boston so we talked for a bit in English about my "neutral" american accent and how accents are mixing and starting to disappear. He was a pretty cool guy and I'm glad that he spoke English because I understood about 10% of what they were saying. Sometimes the guy from Boston would translate and it would confirm the little that I did understand and fill in the blanks of what I didn't. I then went back upstairs around 4 to continue working on my blog posts...
I left for the farewell party around 5 and got there a little late but there were so many people there that it didn't really matter. When I got there, I got in the drinks line with Ariella and we talked for a bit. Some of the student workers were in a band so they were playing for us on the back porch right next to us. The line took forever to get through since there were so many people and you can only pour drinks so fast. After that, we all went and talked in the front hall for a bit but we were in everyone's way so we went and sat down at some tables.
Mats then called us outside so they could give an announcement to everyone. They thanked us for coming out and then they handed out certificates to all of the students for finishing our beginners German class. They then let us know that the BBQ would be ready soon and that we could now all get food!
I talked with Mats and Josh for a bit before I got in line to get food since there were so many people in line right at the beginning. I was one of the last people to get in line to get food so when I finally got my plate, I couldn't find any of the people on my program... I ran into Reagan and she said that everyone was downstairs so I headed down there to find everyone having their own little private party! We all ate and talked and reminisced about the past few months and the great times we've had.
Once we were all done eating, we went and got someone to take a final picture of us. We accidentally forgot Kevin upstairs so he wasn't in the picture and we had to get another one later with him in it.
We then got everyone that we could downstairs and we read out the superlatives that we had all chosen for each other. Dr. Wasser had come down for the second picture and it was a little weird reading them out in from of him since he declined our request to make a poster with all of us on it with the superlatives. At least we all got to read them out to each other and say our last goodbyes before we all split up and went our separate ways, either back home or on some other adventure through Europe (or Russia).
I'm so glad that we got to see each other all together one last time before we left. It was like someone died, we were all hugging and a few tearing up and crying but it was a great heartfelt time. I'm glad I was a part of this amazing group of people and got to spend the last few months with them! Auf wiedersehen und bis später alle!
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