Week #1

Hallo! I want to start this post by sharing some of the highlights of my first week here in Germany...

Sunday 1/12/20

My room in the basement of my host parents house! This was probably the thing I was most curious about when thinking about what life in Germany would be like. I was very pleasantly surprised to have such a large space with my own sink. 

Monday 1/13/20

This picture was taken during our first day of school when we went out to get food during our lunch break. 

Monday 1/13/20

This was also taken our first day at our first German pub! We were drinking a kölsch which is a type of beer that is from the Bonn/Cologne. This pub brews the beer themselves in giant tanks that we could see from our table! 

Wednesday 1/15/20

Were fortunate enough to take a group bonding trip to Mayschoß about 40 minutes from Bonn. We got to learn a little about growing grapes and producing wine on the German hillside which was very fascinating. 

Saturday 1/18/20

We took this picture on the deck of the The Chocolate museum in Cologne. We decided to take a quick trip to Cologne to visit the museum and see the city a little bit.

Reflecting back on my first week I am not surprised that it went by so fast. It involved a lot soaking up a new environment and figuring out how things were different from the culture I was used to. The first full day here, I found myself feeling kind of weird. I started to feel cooped up in the house but I was afraid to leave the house not really knowing anything about the people or the culture here. I took a walk along the Rhein. I noticed that I was dressed in much lighter and more colorful clothing and everyone else did too. I felt a lot of eyes on me. Once class started I had an excuse to get out of the house and start interacting with the community while in the company of my peers which helped me learn the swing the things. During the beginning of the week it wasn't until I was alone in my room that I really felt like I could relax. However, at the end of the week, I felt myself relaxing more in public and at home with my host family as I learned a little more about how things work. I know in time I will even start to feel at home here!

Tschüß!