Chapter 17

For the weekend, I went to the lovely city of London. This was also quite an ambitious trip, as the plane departed at 8AM. I decided not to go to sleep after watching Infinity War Avengers and just stay up until it was time to go to Cologne Airport. When I got to London, the first thing we did was eat an English breakfast as one of our friends wanted the cultural experience. Later, we  trekked through Hyde Park and went to the front of Buckingham Palace. The Queen was present, as the flag was lifted and displayed up in the air. Afterwards, we went to our airbnb which was out in the suburbs. We slept because we were exhausted, woke up and ate at a nearby Nando’s, stopped by a grocery store and bought cereal while the cashier wrongly thought we were going to steal things, and then slept some more. On Sunday, we went to The National Gallery and I got to revisit a lot of artwork from Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh. Afterwards, we went to Piccadilly Circus and I spent an astronomical amount on tea — I had been thinking about this tea for over a year, so I just went IN. We took a visit to the Soho area and Chinatown as well. For a late lunch, we went to a place called Chandos for fish and chips. The workers were very nice but I could tell they were overworked or super busy, as the lunch hour was ending. The vibe of the restaurant was amazing and I recommend it to anyone going to visit London. Afterwards, we took a stop at the Jubilee Market and Covent Market and walked around before taking a flight back to Germany. It was such a short trip, but I don’t regret visiting London again.

The trip back to Bad Godesberg was horrible, as our flight was delayed and the plane had missed the departure slot time so we had to wait even longer. We reached the last bus back to Bonn by literally a couple of minutes before it left, but the trams, subway, and trains in Bonn were not running in a way that didn’t force me to wait 30 minutes to an hour. I gave up and ordered a taxi, which was only 21,90 euro with 15% tip as it was raining, and I did not want to walk a mile in the rain even if I made it back to the Bad Godesberg Bahnhof. 

On Monday we had our Rheincruise as well as our history of medicine final.

The cruise was relaxing and had a playground on it, which brought out everyones inner immature child in them. The history of medicine final was interactive, but I found it hard to answer questions with my seated position and slow reflexes. Additionally, I wonder how Dr. Wasser sorted us, as I was sorted into Slytherin. Pottermore has always sorted me into Ravenclaw, and other internet quizzes has as well. But then again, those online quizzes have also sorted me into Ravenclaw primary, and either Slytherin or Hufflepuff secondary. Later, we took time to buy last minute gifts in Bonn as the next day was a public holiday and everything would be closed.

On Tuesday, we went to AIB to do course evaluations but almost all of the course evaluations were not up yet. We also did a video interview for AIB/the program, and my friend and I managed to get a question answered from almost everyone for our scholarship video projects. Two people we could not get; one person did not want to do it and another simply ignored my question. Later, we went to Hofgarten as the day was nice and as a last way to hang out. When I went home, I was overwhelmed with packing as it felt like I had to pack my entire life in some luggage. I video chatted my friend to help keep me up for most of the time, and it got to the point where he started telling me bed time stories (???). I also finished watching A Series of Unfortunate Events, and I also watched it in German instead of English as an excuse to “practice German.” My taxi came right on time at 3:15AM, and since it was way early in the morning and I am definitely not a morning person, it was weird and melancholy. 

It’s late right now and I’m running on basically 20 minute to one hour naps for the past couple of days (weeks?!), and I have to get up in 3 hours but here are some insights of mine from this semester abroad:

1. I now trust my gut instinct better about people, places, and situations. Listen to your sixth sense.
2. But also, believe in people. First impressions are bad. (But please… listen to your sixth sense.)
3. Budgeting and planning is key.
4. Work hard, play hard.
5. Feeling at home is a state of mind.
6. Comfort zones are most often expanded by discomfort.

Leaving Bonn, my host family, AIB, and my foreign home away from home is bittersweet and I will not lie — I’m anxious to go back to Texas and see my friends and family again. But would I do this all over again? Of course. ♡

Chapter 16

This week we had our third physiology exam as well as our final exam. I outlined and rewrote the content for the third exam this time around, as in the past I studied with pen and paper instead of electronic notes. I’ve been using electronic notes for the past exams, and maybe I was not transitioning well to it. After the exams, I accompanied a friend to get his haircut and am still amazed at the price disparity of haircuts between genders. But then again, most females have long hair. I also took a study break and bought a lot of Haribo to bring back home. There was a haribo sweet that was shaped like the German flag, so I got a lot of those. I also went to the Botanishe Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms Universitat Bonn and the garden was free to visit and was incredibly beautiful. My favorite part was the room with all the cacti and succulents. Outside, I got to see baby ducks!!

On Friday, we had an excursion to Remagen. We were apparently supposed to bike but due to logistics, we could not. I would have loved to bike along the river and on the path — it was such a lovely day to do so. We did a tour of the Peace Museum at the Bridge of Remagen and it was interesting to see quotes of people who promoted peace; but then again, not everyone is perfect. There was an interactive art piece about peace, that had a dove and two people shaking hands occur when you held down a button which was cute. A section of the wall had the nobel peace prize winners, as of course Malala Yousafzai was listed. It’s doubly interesting as she is currently studying at Oxford, and one of my friends who is studying abroad at Oxford met her at a social event and snap chatted a selfie with her. These people aren’t just far off role models; they are not only among us but also they could be us. It was a simple reminder that our generation can take action to promote peace and other similar positive goods in the world. 

Later that night, we had the AIB farewell party. It was bittersweet even though the vibe was joyful with the amazing and talented band that played live music for us. The other study abroad programs had their work and art pieces displayed. My favorite piece was a stop motion booklet about a derpy pigeon by a student named Suzanne. Later, I watched Infinity War Avengers at the Woki theater with a friend. I’ve only watched three Marvel movies before, and even then I’m not a huge superhero follower so the majority of the time I was incredibly confused and had to ask for explanations after the movie. I’m pretty sure there were multiple question marks above my head, as the movie seemed like it needed a lot of background information to understand, and if you figured out that background information, you would have spoiled the other Marvel movies that you hadn’t seen yet. I don’t know, I was confused and low key still am. 

Chapter 15

This week consisted of mainly studying for exams and finals. We had our lab physiology exam, and it later occurred to me that if I had randomly guessed instead of actually studied and tried, I would have made a way better grade. Yikes. Lab exams are always difficult, and this one was probably the hardest lab exam I’ve taken at A&M. Despite this, I still feel like I learn a lot in my physiology course.

After taking my last pharmacology quiz, I stayed at AIB and studied a lot. I took a break at Biergarten on Thursday, and since it was close to the weekend the place was full of people hanging out. It was super interesting because there were essentially no trash cans (except in the free restrooms) and instead people would come around and collect cans and bottles. I assume they would go and return the bottles and cans at the grocery store like Rewe for some euros back. This is an ingenious idea.

On April 20, I stayed up super late as I had to call in for a meeting at around 3:30AM. This was during a banquet where they announced the officers for the Pre-Dental Society and amazingly, I won the position of Treasurer! I literally could not believe it because I am at such a disadvantage since I'm technically inactive this semester. I'm super hyped about having the privilege of this responsibility and hope to continue the professionalism and great stature of this club while living up to the previous Treasurer's role. :D

On the weekend, I went to a flea market that spanned many blocks. I met one of my classmates host parents who were selling their kids leftover and old items, such as old books. Next to them was a person selling USA license plates for a lot of euro, which is weird because many Americans throw those away. Later, I studied at Thalia’s, which is a bookstore in Bonn that used to be a movie theatre. 

Chapter 14

This week was the final days before we give our enmodes presentation, along with a bunch of work that needed to be done as the semester wraps up. Class registration occurred, and I’m still debating if I should finish my minor and certificate and whether or not I would have a spot in certain classes to do so. Class registration is always stressful, as BIMS for some reason always gets full and of course certain classes occur at the same time but you need both class and whatnot. 

In class, I had my pharmacology presentation. Since I didn’t time myself, I had a timer in the corner and tried to stay within the allotted time. However, I later realized that the timing seemed more like a formality as one of my comments said not to speak so fast. OPSA was also due, so I finished that but I still want to put more polishing touches to it. Somewhat related to OPSA, I had an interview back in Texas at 2:40AM for an officer position. After my interview, I made a video speech that was to be shown at the officer election meetings and it was super awkward making the video. On some advice I got from friends, I made the video reminiscent of a Youtube video. (yikes)

For enmodes, we basically had a lock in to complete it. We spent about 14 hours at AIB the night before the actual presentation. AIB did give us dinner, and they gave us tasty Ethiopian food which was nice as a lot of places were closed already. On the day of the presentation, it was a breath of relief when the semester long project was over and everyone seemed genuinely excited and proud. 

Even though I’m abroad we were able to do Big Event. They didn’t have the Big Event leader portion for obvious reasons as AIB assigned us places and would provide us with a bit of direction. I really did not want to do a gardening project even if the weather was nice because I’m allergic to a lot of pollen and I felt that I could do a project that was more specific to European troubles. Luckily, I was assigned to the Zentrallager Sachspenden group. The Zentrallager Sachspenden Bonn collects, distributes, and stores donations of clothing, hygiene products, and everyday items such as toys or school supplies for refugees and people in need. I spent quite a while preparing hygiene bags and my table group even managed to get a whole system down. After Big Event, we walked around Altstadt and saw a type of street side garage sales occurring underneath the cherry blossoms. I went to Eis Labor, where I had an avocado flavored ice cream. 

The next day was the Bonn marathon. I did the relay team and was the third runner out of four runners. For some reason, the second runner missed the trade off point for me because they split the runners between relay and full/half marathoners. (The signs were in German!) I decided to run after the second runner, and at one point I was like, “Woah, this person’s a really fast runner,” because I could not catch up. I decided to ask a worker for help, and the worker said to take this shortcut and maybe I can catch up. Apparently, the short cut was too good and I went too far, and ended up past the check off point for the fourth runner. I met up with the second runner and eventually traded off, but since we had run off course with the tracker and was therefore disqualified, we decided that I’ll also run the last leg with the last runner for fun. I ended up running 9.6 miles, and our group ran a total of 31.75 miles throughout scenic Bonn. I was definitely not mentally prepared to run a couple more miles then I was notified, so mentally I was not okay at all and it showed. In my opinion, running can be more mental than physical, and my physiology class further cemented that opinion. AIB provided us with heart shaped waffles afterwards, and I could not stop eating them, they were so good! I even got Eis Labor afterwards (again). 

Chapter 13

This week we started off our academics with an excursion to Bingen. We went to a Unesco World Heritage area, the Middle Rhine Valley. In the middle of the river there was an island with a backstory involving rodents that Dr. Wasser told us about. In the Middle Rhine Valley we visited the Museum am Strom in Bingen, which was about Hildegard von Bingen. Most well known people in the past are male, but Hildegard von Bingen is female. She is a saint who can be considered the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. 

This week I spent most of it studying and working on enmodes. I worked a small bit on the design history file (DHF) even though it was more of an engineering geared portion of enmodes. My pharmacology project is due soon and I worked on my powerpoint and tried to add a pokemon theme to it. I was not able to time myself when I finished it. I was talking to my host family about doing a presentation, and I mentioned that I was scared of interviews (because of a traumatizing experience I had years ago) despite the fact that more people fear public speaking than death. My roommate attempted to make me feel better by telling me the only one time he was scared, and it involved someone dying at his workplace on his watch. 

Additionally, I spent time working on an application for a position back in College Station and hopefully this works out well in my favor. Its making me nervous. 

Chapter 12

This week we had our second physiology exam. I stayed up multiple days studying for it as it was not only interesting but also made me understand what goes on in our bodies when we run, and I go jogging sometimes. It’s good that I’m learning a lot in physiology that is also practical in everyday life, and not just in the bubble of academics. 

I spontaneously booked a flight to Switzerland with two of my friends. I was a bit worried because Switzerland is expensive compared to the US dollar or Euro, and my host mother even gave me a huge bag full of snacks and meals to take with me. I’m lucky that my flight and hostel costs were cheap compared to what they usually would be from Germany, so I wanted to take full advantage of it! The train tide from Zurich to Luzern was expensive, and we had trouble buying the tickets before we got on the train. When we got checked, the worker was nice enough to let us buy the tickets from her, which was about 30 swiss francs one way. The hostel were owned by Koreans and they offered an included breakfast of korean fried rice. The breakfast was tasty but was missing an important component of the dish: a fried egg. However, they gave us unlimited refills and the food in general in Switzerland is expensive. The hostel had some interesting board games and a mini pool table where we could meet some people but I actually met some people in our rooms. There was a pair of English girls that were traveling around and having fun, but we didn’t get to see them that much due to our schedule differences. The people who moved in afterwards were also American. They were humanities students studying at University of Notre Dame back in Indiana, USA and in Europe they were studying in Ireland. They were very chatty and nice, and we even saw them and their bigger group of friends when hiking. I may be an introverted person, but meeting people is one of my favorite things to do.

The food was definitely overpriced. We went to a donner shop late one night because it was the closest open restaurant, and the cheapest box meal was about 10 swiss francs. Back in Germany, the same thing would only be about 3 euros! We also tried to get thai food, but when we went we noticed that the servings were 3/4 of the regular size and about double the price. Instead, we went to a curry restaurant. The serving and price were decent, especially for Switzerland. However, I think the chef mistook the salt for sugar because my dish was especially sweet that it hurt my stomach. 

We visited Kapellbrücke, which is a wooden bridge from the 1300s. It reminded me of Hogwarts and cross the Reuss. The first hike we took a bus upwards a mountain and the nature literally changed from suburbia to green woods to a snowy wonderland. We hiked in the Eigenthal area and since it had recently snowed, the area was untouched and beautiful. We hiked all the way up until the path was covered in snow, and we kept going until we made it to a hill with a wooden cross on it. We saw some animal tracks as well! Since it had gotten foggy and extremely cold, we went back down as it could have easily came dangerous. The other hike we went on was Mt. Pilatus. This was scenic as well, as there were waterfalls, rivers, people jogging with their dogs, and mini paths along the main path. We went up a small portion as Mt. Pilatus is quite massive and did not take the cable car up as that was quite expensive. However, the view was amazing: we could see bodies of water, the mountains, forests, and the town all in one. 

Back in town, we went to Aldi’s to get some groceries as we used up all of my host mother’s food. We made spaghetti which was actually quite delicious, and I bought chocolate mousse for everyone as the chocolate is apparently the best in the world. Of course, we bought chocolate to eat and take back with us. 

The town in Luzern was beautiful. Annoyingly enough, there were some tourists that literally pushed us to get a photo of the swans on the lake. I wish people would stop feeding bread to the birds because bread is bad for birds — it gives them a nutritional deficiency that can lead to the horrific condition angel wing (where the bird’s wings point out laterally instead of lying flat on the body) and force them to become reliant on human hand outs. Giving bread to birds is the equivalent of giving cake to your children! Don’t do it!!

But anyways, the majority of the shops were closed in Luzern but just walking around Altstadt was scenic and relaxing. Getting to eat ice cream with a view of the mountains, lake, and birds was unreal. I’m glad I got to go during Easter weekend and enjoy it more fully than a regular weekend. 

Chapter 11

This week we had classes that mostly started later in the day. I knew I had to start focusing for my second physiology exam, as I would not have as much time on the weekends to study for it because I was going back to Texas for my sister’s wedding. We had an exam review on Tuesday which just reinforced my scheduling. On Wednesday, our group of students got to go to Universitätsklinikum Bonn to shadow surgical procedures. 

We were ordered taxis to the hospital as there was another transportation strike. The taxi cab ride to the hospital was a wild one this time because the cab driver arrived about 15 minutes early and was ready to bounce as soon as possible. I thought ahead and texted my classmate who was next in line to be picked up, and attempted to delay the driver from moving on as my classmate was not ready yet. Luckily, my friend caught the door right when the taxi driver was about to accelerate away. What was scarier than normal about this was that the driver was in such a rush, that he almost ran over a man walking his dog, honked at a lot of people, all while his cell phone was ringing. The driver was yelling at whoever was calling him and hung up, but the other person on the line just kept calling back. The ride was rough, but luckily we made it to the hospital safely despite being a bit jarred.

Unluckily, the day we came to shadow was Children’s Day, which meant that multiple sections of the hospital were not prepared for student shadowing to occur. I had to wait a bit before I got to see some surgery get done. I observed part  of a surgery where a tumor was being removed from a spine, and saw the entirety of a surgery where a shunt was implanted in the brain. The patients brain looked like a deflated basketball in one position, but the head shape would shift depending on touch and head position. What was startling was how much strength the neurosurgeon had to use, because at one point, he had to essentially shove a rod through the patient’s abdomen to get to the cranial portion of the body. He further “flossed” the body to ensure that the catheter would follow through fully. I’m glad that I got to see these medical procedures and wished I was able to see more of it, especially with my past experience of getting shadowing experience. I may not be pre-med, but I am pre-dent, and in order to find a shadowing position I contacted over 30 dentists in my local area. That was unsuccessful. I was able to get a shadowing position through the Pre-Dental Society on campus. I believe it is a liability issue, as many of the faculty workers and interns were open to shadows, questions, and other curiosities as long as the patient was asleep. The only person who seemed against student shadowers was one lady who refused to be welcoming. I wish we had more days to shadow at the hospital, as it is great insight into the health profession. 

The next day, I had to prepare for a pharmacology quiz. The professor had multiple questions for the time allotted, and I did not even finish it despite all the studying I did. I am quite positive this quiz brought my entire letter grade down.

I had to go to the airport at around 3am, and I was lucky enough that my host mother was going to Frankfurt airport at around the same time for work. If she hadn’t, I would have had to get a flixbus, train, or airbnb overnight to get on my plane. For the better portion of this weekend, I actually felt like I lived on a plane. I tried to study on the plane but I kept getting dizzy and when I started reading the same paragraph over and over again, I knew I was mentally going nowhere. I had a one hour layover in London Heathrow, and the time was barely enough for me to “leave” the airport, reenter through security, and move myself to the other side to get to my terminal. I felt like I almost didn’t make it, even with the speed pass I got from one of the workers. My carry on luggage that was placed with checked in luggage did not make it, and by the time I got my luggage back in Texas, I was preparing to leave Texas to go back to Germany. This made me panic at one point because the shoes I was supposed to wear for the wedding were in my luggage. Right when I landed, I was picked up from IAH, went to the hotel for a quick shower, and then went to the post rehearsal dinner at Fogo de Chao. There was a lot of people I had not met in years, or even met at all (my new family!!) when I arrived. The next day, I was a part of the wedding and I also did a speech which made me nervous, but then again, who am I without some anxiety in me??? The wedding was American style, except there was dragon dancing around the end! The whole time I spent in Houston was not long enough, as I felt like I barely got to chat with my mother, father, sister, grandparents, and aunt. I did not want to steal my sister’s thunder, so I tried to keep the conversational topics focused on her. It was nice getting to see them after such a long time but it was much too short.

When I came back to Germany, I managed to get home in Bonn and when I sat down for a cup of tea to refresh myself for a couple of minutes, my roommate came and chatted with me. He started to give me clinical cases and asked me to solve the puzzles but my brain was quite muddled and then he gave me a long lecture about the lymphatic system. I was a bit half there the entire time, which I felt was unfair to him, as I was not fully present. Then I went to AIB for classes with the hot cheetos my parents bought me from HEB. 

Chapter 10

The beginning of Spring Break we went to sunny Barcelona. We trekked around La Rambla and ended up in Mercat la Boqueria, a large public market of food and goods. I loved that there were so many fruit stands and the juices were fresh and affordable. I got a guava strawberry combo and wish I had more than one drink because it was naturally sweet and tasty — nothing like Smoothie King or Jamba Juice. We were hungry from the plane ride, and so we just walked into a random restaurant and it was kind of like subway except pasta style. I had a lot of basil and pesto in mine and it was pretty gross. Later, we walked around Park De La Ciutadella and Passeig de Lluís Companys enjoying the warm weather and atmosphere. Many people were wearing leather jackets and getting around by rollerblades or skateboards, which was interesting. Later, we went to the beach after sundown and noticed many sand castle art! A lot of them were intricate, with fire or water features that I felt compelled to tip into their cardboard box of change for their detailed masterpieces. On the way to the beach, I was walking a bit fast and carrying an American Apparel bag (the one with city names on it) and I had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Since I was walking fast, I was ahead of my friends and it looked like I was alone. Apparently, there was a shady guy trying to pick pocket but, but eventually gave up because he noticed I was actually not alone! I’ve never been targeted to be pickpocketed, even in Paris. After the beach, we went to a seafood restaurant and had paella with some of our other friends who were coincidentally also in Barcelona. The paella was delicious and the shrimp and crustaceans were unbelievably sweet. The dessert in the restaurant was expensive, as in 13 euros for a bowl of strawberries expensive, so we decided to go to a nearby gelato place owned by Italians for dessert. There was an earl grey lavender flavor and a dark chocolate with olive oil and salt flavor. I still think about the dinner and dessert to this day.  

At our airbnb we wanted to wash our clothes but there was a bunch of other people using the washer and dryer. When I went to wash my clothes the door to the machine would not open and I started freaking out. The host was never even there, it was the hosts friend who was managing the in person responsibilities. It took about 3 hours to get my clothes washed and dried, and nothing was damaged except maybe my black skinny jeans getting lighter. I also think I had some sort of food poisoning as I had milk and cereal from the grocery store, and the milk may have been processed differently from what I’m used to. We pre ordered Park Guell tickets to go the next day, we as we had to go in at a certain time. In the past, the park was free to enter but so many people came and the wildlife, plants, and area was getting so overwhelmed that they had to start doing tickets with certain entrance times. We took a bus to get there and I was low key panicking because if we missed our time, we would have had to repurchase tickets and wait even longer, but we made it literally 1 minute before the ticket fully expired. The park was beautiful and I kept hearing parrots, but I never got to saw them. Apparently the locals brought the parrots to make the crows go away, but both birds became friends and live together peacefully, which essentially exaggerated the locals “problems.” It was a sunny day, and there was a cafe that sold the best fruit popsicles. We also met up with our friends that we had dinner with last night, and after they did their Park Guell tour we hiked up a little bit to get a view of Barcelona. Afterwards, we split and went to Sagrada Família. We didn’t go inside because it was pricy, but the outer architecture was beautiful as we sat on a bench and admired the art. We were pretty exhausted so we went back to our airbnb and napped as we were all sleep deprived. When we woke up we were hungry and I looked up a tapas place. I never really liked tapas because when I had them in London and St. Augustine, they were pricy, hard to split the bill, and I always left still hungry. However, this tapas place was self serve and we were lucky enough to not wait a long time to sit at the bar, which was where the tapas buffet was placed. They were delicious and affordable, despite each little thing adding up. Since we were in Barcelona, we also ordered fruity sangria that went spectacularly well with the tapas. 

After Barcelona, we flew to Rome.

After entering our airbnb, we went to a local pizza place that was underground and the pizza was tasty and the crusty crispy. We then walked to the Pantheon and had gelato nearby, as we were all anxious to try italian gelato. Instead of scooping the treat, they kind of twirl the gelato. In the plaza and nearby areas, I noticed that there were a lot of people who I assume were immigrants attempting to sell objects such as cheap souvenirs, selfie sticks, flowers, and more to tourists. It ruined the vibe, but it made me wonder about the economy of the area. At sunset, we went to the Spanish steps which was located near a bunch of luxury shops. I asked about the bag my aunt wanted to know the price of, and apparently the bag was completely sold out in the country. My friend also wanted to see if a pair of sneakers that had just come out were in stock, but we couldn’t find a sneaker store that was up to date. We then walked to the Trevi Fountain, which was something I have always wanted to see!! It was absolutely beautiful at night, even with the crowds. There were shops nearby that sold woodworks that reminded me of Pinocchio. On the way back to our airbnb, we took a scenic route on the Fiume Tevere and stopped by the Vatican. I facetimed my religious friend, as I knew she would appreciate the gesture. The next morning, however, we actually went inside Vatican City. We prepared early and bought our tickets online, so we didn’t have to wait hours to get in. However, there were so many immigrants attempting to sell us tour guides and made it seem as if they were the official Vatican City workers that it did fool some tourists. They were aggressive, and one of them even told us, “Hey, you don’t need to be so rude, I’m just trying to do my job by letting you bypass the line and showing you the landmarks.” We were simply trying to find the entrance to the building when we were bombarded with them, and it was actually difficult to figure out who was the actual Vatican City worker. The legitimate worker was standing guard in a sleek uniform that didn’t have a lot of “tacky” tour guide pins/designations on. Inside the Vatican, we got to see a lot of art especially inside the Sistine Chapel. The frescoes there were an absolute masterpiece, and Michelangelo’s work cliche-y but literally took my breath away. We decided to eat at the cafe there because it always takes us a while to figure out where to eat, and we wanted to explore Rome more and have lots of gelato. We then went to the Colosseum before it closed, and the Colosseum had cats! Apparently there is a feral feline population living there. My friends thought the Colosseum was small, as media would exaggerate the size of the place. Once we overstayed our time there, we left the roman cats behind in their pretty home and walked toward the sunset. We passed by the Imperial Forum and the vibe was nicer there. Many people were outdoors walking their dogs or painting or playing music. Of course, there was a bunch of tourists and when we got closer to an area more people were trying to pay the bills by selling selfie sticks. At our airbnb, my mom called me and starting freaking out about FAFSA and additional forms for something literally out of my control and that increased my cortisol levels to the max. The water also went out due to the neighborhoods pipes, and the airbnb host was incredibly apologetic and bought us water. I felt bad myself because he probably could hear me arguing on the phone. 

Our next stop during Spring Break was Florence. 

When we went there, we walked around the San Lorenzo Market, which was an area where leather goods are sold. My friend wanted to get this purse for her sister and we tried haggling, however, it only worked once but we thought we could get a better price. Some of the merchants were a tad racist. The place was close to the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower, and the exterior of the church as pastel, light colored, and pretty — which was different compared to other churches we’ve been seeing. Then we strolled around, and the temperature steadily dropped that I emergency bought pants just in case that I got sick. We went to San Niccolò, and hiked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo where the replica of the David Statue was. There was a small kiosk there and the owners were incredibly rude, unwilling to do their job, and also racist. However, the view from the top was pretty. On the replica, there was a small painted rock with “True Love” written on it for a lucky person to find true love. Cute! The next day we went to the Galleria dell’Accademia and saw the actual Statue of David along with other artworks. One exhibit was about clothes fabric, and the intricate designs involved in silk. We left that area, and good sandwiches from a butchers shop. Here, the workers were incredibly sweet and nice, which was a good change from the rude service we’ve received so far in Florence. After lunch, we went to the Uffizi Gallery and once again we received rude service. Student tickets were only allowed for members of the EU, and our German visa did not allow us to get student tickets. The worker literally used 1 finger to type as her other hand was palming her face, and we just paid the difference for a regular ticket while she rolled her eyes and literally huffed. She did not enjoy her job. The Uffizi Gallery was larger than I thought it was, and I ended up getting a little bit lost inside. The Birth of Venice was quite a pretty piece of art, and it was refreshing to see other people also taking the time to enjoy the art through journalling or sketching. I also got to see Caravaggio’s Medusa in a room placed for maximum effect. For dinner, we went to a restaurant that was actually a bit difficult to get to because of construction. It took us more than an hour to walk there when it should have only been 15 minutes! I had the seafood pasta dish, and for 8 euros, a substantial amount of shrimp, clams, scallops, and other ingredients were cooked with it. We tried to go twice, but the second time we went the kitchen was closed and they were only serving the pizza.  

Our last stop was Venice. We had to use the restroom, so I went inside a restaurant/cafe/bar and literally bought overpriced 5 euro tea to use the restroom. One of our friends who spent the majority of Spring Break came to end it with us, so we met up with him before getting to our airbnb. The first thing we wanted to do was eat so we found a fast food fresh pasta standing room only pasta joint. Walking around venice was incredibly different, as the canals, bridges, and narrow passageways added to the ambiance despite being a bit cloudy and rainy. I felt safe the entire time even though many sidewalks representing the cliche “dark and scary alleyways” in media. We walked the Piazza San Marco both at night and in the daytime. I noticed that there were what looked like tables spanning the perimeter and I assumed that was for walking when the plaza became flooded. We walked past the Bridge of Sighs as well as along the water for multiple hours, as the view and vibe was very relaxing. Later, we took a boat taxi to some nearby islands. One of them was Isola di San Michele, the city’s cemetery in the lagoon. The idea of it was spooky and I get scared easily, so it was a relief to visit during day time. Igor Stravinsky is laid to rest here, and it was an eerie wonder to be where he was. Stravinsky composed a lot of music, most famously for The Rite of Spring. Afterwards, we went to the island of Murano and had a tasty meal and gelato. This gelato shop had interesting flavors, such as a cheese flavor or a wine flavor. Sadly, when we got out gelato at shop window, it started to rain (again). But, I’m glad that I got to see and visit Venice before global warming forced Venezia to become an underwater city. 

This Spring break agenda was quite ambitious, as it involved finding multiple plane, bus, and train transportations along with lodgings and finding where the lodging was, so by the end my adventurous streak was winding down. However, Mark Twain did write that travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and I definitely do not regret my trip and will look back to it with fond memories. 

Chapter 9

This week marks the beginning of another long excursion, but this time to France. The places we visited were Colmar, Beaune, and Paris. We had to meet up at Hofgarten early in the morning and as a late night owl I was half awake when I got to the stop and fell asleep as soon as I could. We were given time for lunch by ourselves and I went to a pizzeria as it was one of the only places that was open and not overly expensive. My friends and I attempted french at this fine establishment and the fantastic waiter thought it was funny yet friendly. 

Afterwards, we had a lecture tour at the Unterlinden Museum and Isenheim Altar. The finely preserved art showed a lot of patients with symptoms that could have been ergotism or the plague. Besides the main attraction there, I saw a couple of display cases of old waffles makers that piqued the inner baker in me. Later, we went to Beaune and had a group dinner where the majority of us tried snails. I have tried escargot a few times before, but not Parisian style snails. I was surprised that the shells were already removed when the food was served, as I was expecting to have a great complicated mess with the dish (kind of like crawfish). Later, we had a guided tour of Hotel Dieu, which was where the sick were welcomed in. When I walked into the rooms with the hospital beds, the first thing I thought of was Madam Pomfrey’s hospital rooms from the wizarding world of Harry Potter and now I can’t unsee it. I appreciate that the Hotel Dieu is still in use, not only as a museum but also as a retirement home for the geriatric. 

During our free time, I walked around and awkwardly bought some syrupy sorbet from a creperie restaurant and browsed the grocery store before walking around some nature. The next day, we bussed our way to Paris and had a tour of the area with Julien. We saw many things and I felt we were racing against an imaginary clock the entire time. In the middle of the tour, they got us the very macarons. I had often baked them when I was younger and had a more reliable and evenly heated oven (so not my place back in College Station) and had decided then that the effort was not worth it; I’d rather just buy it. Later, I noticed that macaron prices were still high in France as opposed to being a bit cheaper, as some food items are cheaper when they’re bought from its home country. It was nice eating them, and we did it outside of the flagship Louis Vuitton store. Funny thing is, my grandparents wanted to buy LV cross body bags for my aunts in China and my aunts in America told and asked me to be the mail person too late. Apparently, luxury bags are cheaper to buy in Europe. I’m not sure if that would still have been true as I would have had to declare them at the airport when I went through customs, as well as the included cost and hassle of carrying them around the tour or subway. The Paris subway system was not to my liking. It was incredibly crowded and the entire time I kept thinking of all the germs and bacteria I was touching due to how close everybody was in the subway. (Fun fact, I actually hate shaking hands with people because of how much of a germaphobe I can be —  when was the last time you washed your hands??) One time, the magnetic strip didn’t work for me, which was frustrating. However, I knew that doing an overhaul of such a complicated and busy public transportation service would not only be expensive but also a nightmare to deal with. 

After the tour, we had time to get our lunch by ourselves and after walking around a bit we went inside of a place that had a set menu for a certain amount of euros: an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. During our aimless wandering, I noticed a bunch of book shops and many shelves that had signs stating that each book was only 0,50 euro! I wanted to buy a couple but knew that buying books would be a luggage issue later, and from my first restaurant experience in Colmar I knew that my french needed a lot more honing. Later, we also had a guided tour at Le Musée d’historic de la Médicine. The hallways and building were very beautiful and the atmosphere for some reason reminded me of the Boston Public Library back in the USA. In the museum portion of the building, many displays showed historical tools. The tour guide explained a lot of things that probably gave shock value to the average tourist, but many of the topics she discussed we had already seen, heard about, or learned. Whenever we didn’t give an animated reaction, I felt like she kept trying to explain further to get a result from us. However, there was a small section related to dentistry that I found interesting. It featured a lot of fake teeth and tools that still look they are used today. This is probably because the human body has not changed, so the procedure would need similar tools. After that, we had free time. My friends and I wanted to shop around Paris a bit, and we wandered around a little doing just that. We also stopped by the Notre Dame church. Despite this church being a marvel, the Cologne church still has a more special place in my heart. Later, we had the Eiffel Tower tour at night. The line was incredibly long, which was to be expected for such a world famous architectural masterpiece. The way up was tedious as I had to go through many checkpoints and security points, which made sense due to the recent “terrorist attacks.”  The view at the top was pretty and I noticed the smells of the restaurant located inside the restaurant. The way down was more interesting, as the climb was steep. It was more fun climbing down and waving to the people going up on the elevators, but the lights would often blind me when I turned a corner going down the stairs, especially when the tower sparkled. Later that night, some friends and I went to a fandom themed bar that had quirks from tv shows, movies, games, and iconic entertainment franchises. (For example, the restrooms had a sign that announced “The Toilette Zone” instead of the Twilight Zone. 

The next morning we went straight the Louvre after breakfast. The hotel breakfast was very tasty and had several options for bread, jams, and teas. Of course we saw a lot of the museum’s artworks that everyone goes there for, such as the Mona Lisa. The room was apparently not that crowded when I went. I liked Bernardino Luini’s work that was displayed, and the statue of Athena. We didn’t stay long in my opinion and I wished I could have gotten lost in the Louvre. Afterwards, we were all hungry and a bit dehydrated so my friends and I went straight to a restaurant near the exit of the Louvre. My eyes had tunnel vision for the duck confit, which was tasty but the side dish of potatoes were even better with its seasonings of herbs, butter, salt, and garlic. Afterwards, we walked around and got lost and at one point I ended up buying a dress.

We had to get up early the next day because we were heading to Versailles. The walk up to the palace just gave me more anticipation, as the entire building was so picturesque. I walked mainly inside, as I could not find a way to get to the gardens. However, we had lunch outside in the garden that consisted of a baguette, cheese, meats, fruits, and drinks that were representative of a Parisian diet. The day was a rainy and foggy, which was bad weather for the garden. Hopefully I’ll come back when the place is in full bloom, but then it might be crowded. 

After the AIB portion of the program ended, we were free to begin Spring Break. The hotel was nice to let us leave our luggage in their office as my friends and I were flying out the next day. We had time to get pho at the nearby Chinatown, which I did not find that impressing. But then again, we did not venture or explore far into it. There was a thrift shop we looked at, but the majority of items were not practical for Texas weather. Afterwards, we headed to our airbnb which was a cute reworked attic near the airport. At the airport, I really had to use the restroom and waited for about an hour and a half but couldn’t even use it, but the cleaning lady let someone else use it that had only been waiting about 15 minutes. I felt a bit discriminated against, but then again it is important to have tough skin. Once we left Paris, Spring Break officially began!

Chapter 8

A round of finals occurs this week, as well as an enmodes presentation.

I spent a lot of time working and studying my physiology notes that I had made on google docs, so hopefully I’m prepared well enough for lecture. I gave access to my notes to the class and quite a few people were using it, so maybe that means they’re pretty decent. However, for lab I am pretty worried. I don’t understand it well and a lot of it has math in it and for some irrational psychological reason my brain stops working when math outside of a financial context presents itself to me. I spent a lot of time studying my labs and reworking the problems, but when the actual test came, some of the questions were near impossible to answer due to lack of information/study material I was given. However, the lab test does not heavily weigh much into my grade, which is one of the only solace I have about it. I should have spent more time studying for lecture, because when I was going through it, I knew or had just studied the concept recently but the answer had slipped my mind. I know I’m a bad test taker, and one of the main methods I go to overcome that is to overstudy, which was something I didn’t do this time around. 

We had our enmodes meeting where we presented our updates and ideas to the company. I still feel a bit awkward as I don’t think I contribute well enough as a BIMS major and half the time I don’t understand the concepts my engineering cohorts refer to. Hopefully my inputs and feedback push the project further enough that it gets to where it needs to be after this presentation. I wish we had presented first, to break the ice, but a lot of people went to the bowling social so communication was a bit disconnected for a while before I could send the files. (The order of presenting was determined by first come first serve of whoever sent the files.) It’s difficult to solve a problem that professionals have a hard time doing, and every day the more I learn, the less I know. I know that we are essentially working for free, so it’s still a benefit for the company, but I also want to do a good job — not just a decent job.

For the weekend, I went and saw Black Panther at the Kinopolis in my neighborhood. I don't often see movies in theaters, but I really wanted to support this movie due to its potential importance in entertainment. It was an excellent movie, with great casting, acting, and story line. I'm still a bit confused on the ending though -- if they were going to show themselves to the world anyways, why did he commit suicide? As a catalyst? Sometimes, I should just not think during movies or else I might get over analytical or potentially find plot holes.

However, after this tough week we have our Paris excursion followed by Spring Break! I guess this can be a practice of delayed gratification. 

Chapter 7

This week we started off my academic adventures with pharmacology workshops that involved everyone in the program. The workshops were brilliantly structured and organized, and involved a lot of skills that many people in STEM, or us in the enmodes project, would use. As enmodes gets more intense, the time in class needs to become a bit more sophisticated than simply using google, so this workshop really refreshed, reinforced, and renewed our searching skills. 

Our final german lesson, well actually, our final exam, was this week and it was bittersweet. I wished the program was more language intensive, because despite english being quite the lingua franca, having the opportunity to learn german well in Germany is an experience that translates to a useful skill. Lately, I’ve been watching shows in Germany with English subtitles to help me learn. 

I had to do a professor meeting over Skype for my writing class, and that helped me complete my first final writing assignment. However, the entire time, I kept coughing and sniffling to the point she recommended that I visit the doctors. I noticed that my professors at AIB were also telling me this, but I usually don’t go to the doctors unless something major happens — my parents usually tell me to tough it out. Eventually, I got sick enough that I went to the doctors and I was not even given a diagnosis that pinpointed my illness. I was told it was just something everyone else in Germany had. I might have picked it up from public transportation, as the holding bars, escalators, and seats aren’t really sanitized. Additionally, I felt like I bought a bunch of medications in an attempt to get me to spend more at the apotheke.

Despite being ill, I still went to the Kendrick Lamar concert because not only were the tickets cheap but also our seats were pretty close. Kung Fu Kenny is great live, as he’s quite interactive: he tells the audience to sing, stand up, pull out our cell phone lights, or what have you so it’s not just us (the audience) staring back at him most of the time. We didn’t get to see the opener due to class ending a bit late.

For the weekend, I was planning on going to Berlin but instead I decided to maintain my health and get some rest. Therefore, I lost about 60 euro and 12 USD because I didn’t go, but health is important. I essentially slept for about 18-22 hours each day on the weekend, only getting up to eat, take my medication, and maintain my hygiene. On Sunday, my host mother had her friend and friend’s son (who was around my age) over and it was slightly embarrassing for me because not only was I out of it, but I was not Peak Whitney™. Then again, I’m not much of a great small talker. They all went out and got me mandarins (as I’ve been munching on them lately) and chocolates, which was real sweet of them. Hopefully I get to go to Berlin in the future.

Chapter 6

This week had another holiday: Valentines! I noticed that many Germans don’t celebrate this holiday as much as Karneval or Ash Wednesday. It might be because of the energy used throughout the Karneval season. 

Instead of celebrating Valentines traditionally, my TA had a great idea to celebrate Galentines with all the female classmates involved in the Biosciences program. The pairs were selected randomly and we had a 10 euro budget. I tried to put a lot of quantity in it without sacrificing quality or time. It was super cute despite everyone’s schedules being packed, and the person who had me remembered a certain thing we did together at the beginning of the school year and got me figs as a salute to the short memory. 

On actual Valentines day, we had an excursion to the Bayer company in Leverkusen. There was a building designed for communication with the public and the place had recently been remodeled. They had a “research lab” to encourage and motivate youngsters to get involved with the scientific process. The representative told us the most complex lab was taking DNA out of strawberries and I remember when I was in 9th grade doing that exact same lab twice. There was an emphasis on bees as there was a bee statue, and many scientific tools such as pipettes and lab coats for the kids and the whole experience and idea was so cute I was about to tear up. They also had an auditorium or lecture hall that they used for meetings and the public. For the public, it involved movies and scientific demonstrations or magic shows, which was all very endearing. There was an area where you could put on a suit and it gives you the equivalent of an elderly human body, and I thought it built up a lot more empathy than what I originally had for the geriatric population. Next to is where many different kinds of packaging for medicine that Bayer made, so you could try to open the child proof bottles or boxes. There was a lot of high tech stations that we could play in, such as a booth where you could see your organs or bones and the touch screen was basically you touching the air — something out of a sci fi film. They had sonic chairs where you put on these huge sun glasses and were transported to a beehive and learned about pollination and concepts related to it. A photo booth was also built in the corner for all the fellow narcissists out there (aka me). A gorgeous Japanese garden with geese was in the back, but I feel like we barely went through it. The representative showed us the process, money, and time that went into bringing a product to the market and the data was staggering — but I can understand why. 

We had our German final on February 15. I didn’t realize that the German language classes was a survival version of it that involved being cut short. I asked my host mother for help, which really did help as I was confused on what noun matched with das/der and so on. The nouns that ended with “e” usually had “die” in front of it. Hopefully I did well. Later, my host mother bought me an A1 level german book so I can self teach myself further. 

Pharmacology is getting more difficult  and I definitely underestimated the weight of each quiz — each quiz has the power to bring me down a letter grade which is kind of nauseating. 

For the weekend, I went to Amsterdam. The airbnb I stayed at was a bit far and included breakfast. I got to see the Anne Frank house, as we preordered tickets in advance a couple of weeks ago and I felt it was not only humbling but also important to remember Anne’s legacy. I appreciated that the gift shop did not try to commercialize off of the tourist spot, and instead mainly sold Anne’s diary or photos and paper build ups of the house’s architecture. I could not imagine having to be quiet for multiple hours of the day, especially because the toilet and water pipes could have alerted to their presence and the wood floors were creaky and the sound insulation was bad and there was not much room for multiple people in such a small space. Additionally, holding it in is not good for kidneys. 

Later, we went on a boat cruise that went through the canals in which the captain pointed us local history, such as the architecture or where the governor lives and the economically important ports. The tulips in the flower market were beautiful and affordable — 50 tulips for 10 euros! I bought a bundle to bring back to my host family, especially because I kept coming back to the idea of how economical the bouquet is compared to what I would get in America. Next to the market was an outdoor flea market with tons of stalls. A lot of them had a bunch of clothes just thrown on the cement, so you would have to sift through it all like at a thrift shop. There were stalls with bike accessories, bike repair services, and the bicycles themselves. It was interesting to see that biking takes precedence over cars or pedestrians in this city. I bought a small 3 euro bee ring at the flea market and went along my way. We walked by a cheese museum, which was actually a cheese shop where the basement was learning about the industry. There was even a cheesy photo booth, but it was broken when we went. I did like the cheese, however. Next door, there was an art exhibit that could be seen through the window and it was a criticism of Brexit. I thought that was interesting.

Intermission 1

In my last post I expressed dismay about not seeing any political floats during Karneval, but on Rosenmontag in Cologne there were quite a few political opinions being expressed. The day was chilly and rainy, and I forgot to bring my gloves so at the end of the festivities I could barely feel my fingers. Finding a place to eat was a bit difficult as many places were either closed, full, or were simply food stands. My photos of the political floats are below -- I just had to share!

Chapter 5

This week we had a lot of classes -- specifically physiology! It was interesting, and even though I am taking physiology abroad, I was working on the same concepts and textbooks figures and graphs as my friends back in College Station, Texas! I even helped clarify something for a friend back in the US, as their test was pretty recent. I don't have my test until March 1, which makes me a bit nervous because then there would be a lot of content so each question would have a lot of weight. As someone who always has a borderline grade in a class by a question, that's quite scary. Additionally, we also got to work on our enmodes project this week with out groups.

For my online writing class, we got to meet our professor! The meeting was done through a video conference, and she was interested in our lives, goals, and interests that could somehow influence our writings. She also mentioned that one of our writing assignments would involve interviewing someone who has our career goal, but as we are currently in Germany, that would be a tad difficult to do so, and instead interview someone with an interesting profession. I would love to interview someone in the dental field here. I am living with a new roommate who is currently working as an emergency doctor, so maybe one of my classmates could interview him. It is definitely an intriguing career, as he has already told me many stories of his recent work shifts. Additionally, my host sister moved out when I was in Vienna! She mentioned that she was moving out soon, but I didn't realize that soon! And I also have another new roommate, a masters student working as an intern from Pakistan! I'm living with such accomplished and fascinating people.

On Thursday, February 8th, the Beaul Carnival parade happened. I went to AIB as everyone was gathering there to get ready with face paint while eating berliners, so I met up with my classmates and friends there. Everyone dresses up for Karnvel in costumes -- a bit less spooky like Halloween, and more cheery colorful costumes were the dress code. I managed to snag an Alice in Wonderland costume for a bargain of 10 euros, which was a steal. I almost got a bee costume that came with wings and a tutu, but it was 20 euros in total (so double the price!) but they had so many of those costumes I felt like someone else might have picked it as well, and might not be a good sport if we had cute matching outfits, as sometimes it could be embarrassing to show up with the exact same outfit. The parade had many live bands playing along with cheer teams, floats, and impressive designs. Candies, flowers, napkins, drinks, and popcorn were thrown out of the floats and into the crowd so I had quite a bag full of sweets. When the parade ended, a free outdoor concert was playing nearby where a bunch of people were celebrating! During the dancing and singing, a guy with a mask as part of his costume tried to kiss me, but instead he just hugged me until his friends dragged him away as he was a bit too tipsy. I was warned about this during my german lesson about this cultural aspect! Later that night, I went out and one of my friends host mom dropped my friend off and took a group picture of us! That was sweet of them. I also attended the Bad Godesberg parade later in the weekend, which is where I live, and it was so cute and wholesome! Several families were dressed up according to a theme, and many floats also handed out little toys such as bouncy balls and frisbees. They also threw necklaces, bracelets, chips, whole candy bars, cell phone cases, canvas purses, cloth bags, and buckets to the crowd! My friends host family was a part of the parade and we got to wave when they passed us. I did not see any political parade floats, however, which was something I was really looking forward to.

Dressed up for Karneval!

A Star Trek Inspired Float

Karnvel Parade Shenanigans

Over the weekend I also visited Wildlife Park Venusberg. There was still a little bit of snow around, and the entrance to the nature portion of the park had a playground. Inside the actual park, there were fallen trees, little huts made out of logs and wood, and areas with wild animals. I got to see deer, pigs, does, birds, and dogs! The dogs were not an actual part of the park, as they were the visitor's pets. There were vending machines where we could put in euro coins in to get animal food out to feed the animals, and a few of my friends did that. 

 

There was a man who came prepared though -- he had a whole knapsack of seed, corn, and vegetable peels that he let us use to feed the wildlife. He also had a patient and wise looking border collie with him that I could tell was ready to leave their "usual morning walking route," as it was a bit chilly and wet all around. Apparently I live about a 40 minutes brisk walking pace away from the park, and my host mom said that in the Spring, horses will be out munching on the grass in the park! 

Chapter 4

I'm in Vienna! We had to wake up incredibly early to travel there and the entire time I was half awake. It was a weird and quirky feeling to see Dr. Wasser dress up as a plague doctor Dr. Schnobel talk to us about the history of Vienna, from the plague to the medical campus to the "correct" history of Austria's involvement during the mid 1900s. He knew quite a lot of subtle monuments scattered throughout the street and that's when I noticed that Dr. Schnobel had similar shoes to Dr. Wasser...

We later went to the catacombs, and I kept getting chills up my spine during the tour. There was a wall of femurs, and it’s wild thinking that some person’s job was to stack up the femurs along the wall, and another person’s job to stack the other bones elsewhere. One room was designed for a family, but the owner, a man, ended up not marrying or having children so the large room was just him alone. This made me quite gloomy.

Later, we ate at the Goulash museum and I got the dish recommended by my TA. It did not come in a copper pot, but that's probably because we were such a large group that ordered many of the same things. I even tried chocolate goulash, which was tasty and not overwhelmingly sweet!

The next day we went to The Narrenturm, which was built as a hospital for mental patients in 1784. We had a tour of the floor that contained many preservations and replications of human diseases, as The Narrenturm is also the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum. The building is structured like a cylinder, with 28 windows all around. The cylinder, I suppose, was designed so that if patients left their room they'd walk in a circle and end up back inside of their room. The meaning of 28 was due to the moon having a lunar cycle of 28 days, and back then aligning the cosmos and moon was thought to help the patients. 

During my free time, I went to the Albertina with my friends. My favorite part was actually not the Picassos or Monet pieces, but the exhibit with Apollo’s nine muses. They each protect a different art and have a symbolic item. I also tried Natsu Sushi, which was a fast food corner shop underground in the train station. Considering the price and the customer audience, it was delicious, convenient, and cheap. They even had roasted duck for the noodles! I also visited the Schoenbrunn Palace and Gardens. The maze was not quite appealing as it was winter, so the area was basically dead, but the "hike" up and around was fun and lively.

Schoenbrunn Palace and Gardens

The beginning of February started with a visit to the Josephine, which was initially built for the medical-surgery academy. We were able to see the famous collection of obstetrical and anatomical wax models that were designed not only anatomically correct but also as aesthetically pleasing as they possibly could be. What was interesting was that the lymph nodes were exaggerated, as during the time the wax models were made, lymph nodes and the lymph system were supposedly being discovered! The room with the babies disturbed me the most, as a few models had clamps attached to the head of the baby. Since I have the privilege of having a more modern knowledge of science, I know that clamping an infants head out of the mother would not be okay, as the head is still quite soft and fragile! Additionally, the birth defects and loss of mother during childbirth irked me — maybe because I also have a uterus and that giving birth is practically a miracle both back then and today. 

I also got to visit the Freud House!! It was wild to have a psychoanalysis lecture inside of Freuds own home and to view the very place where he did his work. I did not bring my laptop with me, so I had to type all of my notes using the Notes app on my iPhone, which was kind of difficult if there were important diagrams in the powerpoint for some reason. I know it was supposed to be a quick overview of Freuds life and an introduction of psychoanalysis, but it was interesting that Carl Jung was not mentioned more than he was, or that the difference between Freudian and Jungian philosophies was not mentioned a whole ton. Even more so, as I was circling Freuds house I heard and chatted with a few of my classmates about Freud’s position on dreams being a look into the unconscious mind and that almost everything was sexual, which they were building an aversion to. Interestingly, a few of my peers were leaning towards Jungian philosophy (where everything is not sexually motivated) without even knowing. Additionally, despite being a STEM major, I think it is important to study philosophy as studying philosophy is essentially studying logic, and studying logic teaches you how to think. I hope my peers (and myself!) know how to think, for the sake of ourselves and society as a whole.

Late that night, we went to go see a classical concert at the St. Anna church. I had never played a string instrument (although I did try to when I was younger but could not due to financial and convenience reasons) but hearing live music play creates a wonderful experience — especially when you hear the ring throughout the room, the sound the music makes during the end of a song. Hearing it in Vienna, the city with Mozart’s and Beethoven’s legacy, was just the cherry on top.

Friday was our last day in Vienna. We went to see the Spanish Horse Riding School practice in the morning, and it made me wonder about the economics behind the whole practice — owning and raising horses is not cheap! Additionally, there was a sort of exercise wheel for the horses that did not allow the horse to stop or rest, unlike a hamster wheel. I do not know how to feel about that, as I do not know the full workings of the Spanish Horse Riding School. Despite it not being a performance, it was almost quite relaxing watching them practice due to the chilly weather, hypnotic galloping of the horses, and the classical music being played. We also went to the Natural History Museum, and I will not lie, I was prepared to be disappointed as I have been to many Natural History Museums in my life. However! The “stuffed animals,” as the tour guide called them, were so fascinating! I felt like I was in a zoo, except better, because the animals were not subjugated to a prison like life! The museum had kiwi birds, weird marsupials, and many other animals such as several different owls! There was even a room that made it look like you were in outer space viewing planet Earth, which stimulated the Overview Effect to anyone in the room. Needless to say, the stuff animal room and being in outer space really turned my opinion around. 

Friday night I traveled to Prague and spent the weekend there. The Prazsky orloj was under construction, which I was looking forward to (despite being warned that it would be underwhelming) but I was not expecting the clock to be under construction!! That really killed the mood for me and I was low-key sad and mad about it. We did go up to the Pražský hrad, and from there we had a gorgeous view of the town. I also got to try a chimney cake, and maybe it is because of my own personal tastes, but I preferred the ice cream topping instead of the actual treat. I also wanted to visit The Museum of Communism, as I do live in America, the land of capitalism, so I thought it was important for me to be educated in such a topic without a potential American filter through it. And indeed, I did learn quite a few things there that I would not have learned in any of my past history classes. 

A postcard from The Museum of Communism

 Prazsky orlop under construction

View near the Prague Castle