The First Week and a Half

On my day of arrival to Bonn, I met the Bolle family, my hosts during this semester long journey. This family is made up of three children, a mother and father, and the father's mother. The father and grandmother speak English the best; thus, I spend most of my time speaking with them during dinner and any other free time I have throughout the day. I have heard many entertaining family stories, some seemingly inappropriate yet extremely humorous nonetheless. I have spent time playing games and interacting with the three hyperactive kids, finding new methods of breaking the language barrier as I still struggle to learn and remember the German words and phrases taught in class.
I found the first week of class to be almost stress free as I explored Bonn and visited bars with fellow classmates with very few obligations to schoolwork. On day two in Bonn, I learned which train route I need to take back to Auerberg the hard way. I accidentally took an hour detour to a train stop across the river. Aside from this traveling setback, I have acclimated to my new habits in Germany well as I have gotten used to a somewhat consistent schedule at AIB.
The first major class excursion was to a red wine vineyard outside of Bonn. My classmates and I took a hike up a steep hill and gazed at the view of hillside while sipping white red-grape wine. The wine seemed to get worse as we continued to try different varieties, so I ended up just buying a bottle of the first wine we tried and drink it quickly within the following days.

Class continued as usual and I got more and more adjusted to a new lifestyle in Bonn. The next excursion during week two brought the class to Cologne. Upon exiting the subway terminal, I was immediately shocked to see a colossal cathedral almost directly in front of me. I had heard of the Cologne cathedral before, but the sheer size of the church blew me away. Lunch was paid for by AIB, which my wallet greatly appreciated, then we set out to visit a Gestapo museum. The entire museum visit can only be described as incredibly depressing yet fascinating. The tour broadened my view of how despicable and manipulative the Nazi party acted when running their nation. After leaving the museum, the class trudged toward our final task of the day: climbing the Cologne cathedral. The elevator shook as it took us about 40 meters up, yet I was not scared until I got off and immediately looked down. We were not yet close to our highest destination, but I wanted down at that moment. I forced myself onward until we finally climbed to the highest tourist point of the cathedral. I stood a safe distance from the railing and enjoyed a beautiful, foggy view.