Finals Week, the Final Week (Week 16)

We started the week off with a relaxing bike ride to Remagen on Monday. It might be one of my favorite activities that we've done as a group. The weather was, thankfully, bright and sunny and the ride was the slowest-paced thing we've done all semester with everyone together. We rode to a museum within an old bridge that was destroyed during WWII. Here, we learned a bit more about the local history during that time period and about some conflicts since WWII. After the museum, we had a group lunch, our last one, before making our way back to Bonn. The rest of the week was mostly finals. We had our third physiology exam Tuesday and the physiology final Wednesday, which everyone did well on. The genetics final was Friday, and it was harder than any of us expected it to be, but I still feel like I did pretty well on it, like a high B. Tuesday and Wednesday I took a break from studying to watch the final Harry Potter movie and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" with Astrid and Naja.

Saturday was the Rhinecruise for us and the Vis program. The weather wasn't that good early on, but the cruise was still nice and the scenery beautiful. We had our History of European Medicine final during the cruise, which was fun and went pretty well. After the cruise, we toured Nassau castle, which is the only castle in the Middle Rhine to have never been conquered. It was cool to see the different rooms, like the bedroom and kitchen, as well as the armor and torture devices on display in other areas of the castle. That evening, about half of our program, plus John from the Vis program, went to see the fireworks that were part of the Rhine in Flammen (Rhine in Flames) festival. They were much more impressive than I thought they would be and we all had a really great time hanging out, talking about our plans for the summer, and reminiscing on the last semester. It was pretty melancholic. A few of us went out afterwards because we didn't want the night to end just yet, which was kind of a reflection of my attitude about the semester itself.

Today, Sunday, was packing day, but I've been packed since Tuesday night. I wanted to go to Cologne and go to Claudius Therme, but didn't end up going since the store I wanted to go to in Cologne was closed. Since that was the case, I had a hard time justifying 16 euros for the tickets to Cologne to go to the spa, where I'd be spending 24 euros to use the spa and sauna for two hours. Instead, I used the morning to pack for my trip to Portugal. In the afternoon, the theater students from LMU had their performance of Spring Awakening, which I went to see with the others. Honestly, I didn't understand what was going on for a good portion of the play and definitely didn't enjoy the style of the play. But I can acknowledge that the students did an excellent job with their performances.

Once the play was over, most of us went to old AIB to kill time before the farewell party. The farewell party was a great time for pretty much everyone, although a few people left early to eat with their host families one last time. That was kind of a shame, since we got a group picture towards the end of the party. Most of our program ended up in the lounge downstairs to talk and hang out with just us one last time. Again, pretty melancholic. I had to say goodbye to a few people who were leaving really early tomorrow morning and to those who I wouldn't see again before I left with some of the others on my shuttle to Frankfurt. Tomorrow, I'll have to say goodbye to the ones on my shuttle and on the 14th, I'll say goodbye to Sid one last time in Frankfurt. It's weird to think about how we won't see each other every day come tomorrow. And, even though everyone except Madyson will still be in College Station, it won't be the same as it was here. I'll miss it.

Paris Is Always a Good Idea (Week 11)

So we didn’t actually leave for France until Wednesday and didn’t get to Paris until Thursday evening. Not too much happened Monday but Tuesday was our second physiology exam. Again, the review Sarah did was super helpful and I think that I did a better than the last exam. Come Wednesday, we drove to Colmar, a cute town that exchanged hands between France and Germany quite frequently in the past. We were only there long enough to get lunch, buy some Kugelhopf and souvenirs, and see a museum, which was a shame since it seemed like a nice place. The altar piece we saw at the museum was interesting because of the style used to portray Jesus, who looked green, and his resurrection. Part of the altar piece was actually under restoration, but they still had it on display. It was cool to be able to see the art restoration taking place real-time. 

After Colmar, we drove to Beune, another cute little town. Here, we just checked in to the hotel and then were free to go for dinner. Six of us were wandering around for a bit before we found this hole-in-the-wall place that looked promising for local food, but when we went in, the host said that the kitchen was closed. So we ended up at the best pizza place in town, supposedly, which was very good. I liked that the three of us girls got pizzas shaped like hearts. Afterwards, a lot of us wound up at a nice wine bar, where I bought a bottle to bring back for my mom. When I got back to the hotel, I had to write a paper for VIBS 311, so I was in the common area with some of the others for awhile. Joshua, Sid, Lindsay, and I actually stayed up until around 0130 talking about Christianity, which was interesting. Vivian was there for a good portion of the conversation too, but she went to bed a bit earlier than the rest of us. 

Thursday morning, everyone dropped off our bags at the bus and then went on a tour of an old hospital for the poor, which was actually really cool to see. Even though it was built to treat the poor, it was quite luxurious, as far as hospitals go. There was another altar piece at this museum that wasn’t as big or out-there as the one we saw Wednesday, but was still impressive. The amount of detail that went in to every character, especially the angel, made the people seem very life-like. After the tour, we all went back to the bus and started the drive in to Paris, during which pretty much everyone slept. 

When we got to Paris, we checked-in at the hotel before meeting up with Julian, our tour guide for the duration of our time in Paris. Julian took us on a walking tour of Paris, which was a lot of fun. We walked through the Latin quarter by the hotel, down by the river, to Notre Dame, and then to dinner at a crêperie. Notre Dame was an impressive building, and had beautiful artwork and stained glass inside. But, honestly, I don’t think it was as impressive as the cathedral in Köln. The gothic style just incorporates a lot more detail and visual interest for me. Nevertheless, Notre Dame is a beautiful structure and I do think everyone who visits Paris should see it. My favorite thing about the crêperie that we went to for dinner was actually the local wine we got to have there. It was delicious and went well with the savory crêpes. But I’ve never had a savory crêpe before and wasn’t too impressed with the taste of the different flour. I did, however, enjoy my Nutella crêpe very much, as well as the tastes I got of the other flavors, which were the crêperie’s homemade chocolate and lemon and sugar.

Friday morning was an early one for us because Julian wanted to get us to Versailles before all of the crowds. The train ride was nice though, just talking with Park, Josh, Katarina and her sister. Versailles is probably the most impressive palace in Europe. It is huge, beautiful, and has an expansive garden. We had two hours to explore the palace and gardens before everyone had to meet up for lunch, and that time passed quickly. I was glad that we got a free audio guide though, since I like learning about the purpose and history of the rooms and what’s in them. I spent about an hour and a half in the palace and then the last half hour in the gardens, which were beautiful but probably are even more so in the summer. 

When Reagan (finally) came to get us, she lead us to the area of the park where we’d be having a picnic. It was a pretty traditional French lunch, with baguettes, various meats, cheeses, and wines. I tried literally everything that Julian brought us, except for the wines. I got a glass of champagne (from a bottle I opened for the first time, with instruction from Dr. Wasser) and one glass of wine. I wanted to try the other two wines Julian brought us, but because everyone in our program is a wine fiend, when I went back for a second glass, everything was gone. Nevertheless, the picnic was great and probably my favorite part of the entire Paris trip. It ended on a high note, with an impromptu yell-practice for Pull-Out Day. There was a couple walking by when we did it who were actually graduates from A&M, and they yelled “Gig ‘em!” when they heard us. 

When we got back to Paris, we had free time but Julian took some of to the Arch de Triumph because he said everyone should see it when in Paris. Apparently, since it’s all stone, it weighs something like five times what the Eiffel Tower does, even though the Eiffel Tower is five times the size of the Arch de Triumph. We had to climb a lot of stairs to get to the top, but it was so worth it. The view was incredible! I could see everything from Sacré Coeur to the Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower and then some. After the Arch de Triumph, I went with Joshua and Ana to Sacré Coeur, which was beautiful and had some more great views of the city. Joshua and I wanted to climb to the top, but we would have had to pay for it and we were running out of time before we all had to be back at the hotel for dinner. 

We went to a fancy restaurant for dinner and everything was absolutely delicious: wine, dinner, and dessert. I even got a second dessert because Mats didn’t want one and Julian let me take his portion, since the budget for the dinner was already set. After dinner, we all went to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, we got to the front of the line immediately after they stopped selling tickets to the summit, so we all were only able to go to 2nd floor. It was still a good view of Paris at night, but kind of disappointing that I couldn’t go to the top. Guess I’ll just have to come back to Paris and make it happen. 

Saturday started off with another walking tour with Julian. This walking tour was different from our last one because it was three hours long and we saw a lot more of the city. I was so impressed by the architecture and history everywhere I looked. Paris really is a gorgeous city. We had a break for lunch and I actually got Chipotle - the only one I’ve ever seen in Europe - with Joshua, Vivian, and a few others. It was amazing to have really familiar food again. We ended our walking tour at the Lourve, which was much bigger than I expected it to be. We spent about four hours just in one building and, while it was interesting, a lot of us were feeling pretty run down at the end of it. And, even though Dr. Wasser warned us about it, I was still surprised by how small the Mona Lisa ended up being. I was also disappointed that the largest painting in the world, which was in the same room as the Mona Lisa, was covered up to protect it while renovations were being done. I was actually looking forward to seeing that painting the most and was sad that it didn’t work out. After the Lourve, I went with Marcus and Ryan B. to this a place Julian recommended. Julian had said that this place served his favorite eclairs in Paris and that, once it’s in your mouth, you forget about the price. I originally just bought a sampler of 5 mini macaroons- the one thing I wasn’t leaving Paris without having eaten - but after seeing Ryan’s eclair, I ordered also ordered an eclair for myself. I don’t regret spending 22 euros on these desserts at all because they were life-changing. I don’t think I’ll ever have a better macaroon or eclair. When the three of us went back to the hotel, it was sad to hear about how the others went to a cheaper place and were severely disappointed in their macaroons. 

Dinner Saturday was on our own and I went with Marcus, Ryans, Kevin and Vivian to the Latin quarter for whatever we could find. We wandered around for a while trying to find something with enough space for all of us and a kind of food we could agree on. We ended up at a place that had pate for Ryan to try - although, Vivian and I tried it as well - and some super tasty burgers. Our waitress was really sweet too and, after we had paid for our meals, she invited us all to take a shot with her. Overall, a good way to end my last full day in Paris. 

Today is now Sunday and we were released this morning to travel, but my BlaBla Car ride wasn’t until 1300, so I had enough time to go to Berthillon, an ice cream shop that Mats had recommended. It was the best ice cream I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. While I was there, I met an older lady visiting her daughter, who had just recently started working there. This older woman said that the only place she would eat ice cream was Berthillon because it was the only ice cream she ever liked. I can’t say I don’t understand where she’s coming from. After I finished my dessert for lunch, I started making my way to Shakespeare and Co., a really cool bookstore that was, again, recommended by Mats. I wasn’t in a hurry since the bookstore didn’t open until 12, so I took my time looking for souvenirs and street art - which is where most of the money I spent in Paris went. 

After Shakespeare and Co., I rushed over to where my BlaBla Car was picking me up and then had a two hour drive to Tournai. They had apparently just had a parade for Carneval and everyone was still in costumes and confetti was literally everywhere I looked. Tournai was another cute French town, with a few sites I was able to see before I had to make my way to the train station. While I waited for my train, I grabbed some chicken strips and fries from this fast food place across the street. I mention it because they gave everything to me wrapped up in parchment paper, which reminded me of whenever I would get fish and chips to-go in Australia. Also, these were the best chicken strips I’ve ever had in my life. I know I’m saying that about a lot of different foods during this trip, but that just shows how amazing the food is everywhere you go in France. Anyway, I caught my train and made all of my transfers until I got to Brugge, where I am now. I caught a bus to my AirBnB and met my host just a bit ago. She’s super sweet and the space is really nice. Now, all I have to do is figure out what to do while I’m in town. Brugge has more to see than I initially thought, so it will be difficult to do everything I want to do. Even if I can’t though, I know I’ll have a good time here. 

What's a Week Without at Least One Exam? (Week 10)

Coming back from spring break Monday morning wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be. I got in around 2200 Sunday night, but that still allowed for about eight hours of sleep, which was really nice. I had a few assignments due during the week, but what I stressed about the most was the first lab exam, which was Friday morning. Thankfully, the review that Sarah put together was really great and I feel like I did well on the exam. Part of the reason I was so stressed was because we also have our second physiology exam next week. Basically, spring break was the only week within a month-long time period where there wasn’t an exam. 

Honestly, I didn’t do a whole this week outside of school work. But there were a few interesting things that happened with my host family. First, Astrid brought the snake out of the fridge and hibernation to put him in his cage. She also took me out Saturday to ride her horse, who was really sweet. It was pretty cold out, but besides that the ride was nice. Today, Sunday, I also got to see a toaster from the 60s. Astrid pulled out her grandmother’s old toaster when two of the slots in their 4-slice toaster stopped working right before the family brunch this morning. It was pretty interesting to see and surprising that Astrid still had this toaster. 

Spring Break Prep (Week 8)

This week was all about getting my assignments done before Spring Break. My flight out of Cologne is early Saturday morning, so there were a few due Friday and Saturday that I wanted to get done a bit early. Honestly, though, up until Wednesday, I was just concerned about the second genetics exam. Genetics was pretty much the only thing I did until Wednesday night, when we took the exam. In the few hours before the test, I was quizing Youngjun on all of my notes for the six chapters being tested. That was a really helpful review for me too and we got to clarify a few facts talking with Lindsay, who joined in for a bit. The exam itself went really well and I guessed correctly on a couple of questions, which I know because I googled said questions right after the exam. I was a bit worried though because I thought it was a pretty easy exam, even easier than the first test we had, but a few of the others came out of the exam saying it was really hard. So I didn't know what to think for a while. Just going to move past it and wait for grades, I guess.

I had one big assignment due later in the week, which my third writing assignment for Health Systems Planning; unfortunately, it took me longer than I thought it would. For Exploratory Narrative, I had to post a reflection of the two short stories, which was also due Wednesday, respond to others' reflections, and then do two peer reviews for our writing assignment from last week. My reflection being due Wednesday meant that I stayed up late to finish it. I didn't think it was worth completing before the genetics exam, since I wanted that time to review. The peer reviews and responses weren't a big deal though and I got through those pretty quickly on Friday.

Unfortunately, because of the exam and packing, I didn't get to spend much time with Astrid or Naja this week. It's Saturday now and my flight is at 0620 but I've been at the airport since around 2300 last night. The bus from Bonn to the Cologne airport (a 30-minute ride) doesn't start running until 0530 Saturdays, so I had to spend the night at the airport. I was really hoping to never have to do that again after Bergamo, especially since there is limited WiFi and very few outlets to charge my devices. In the future, I'll probably think twice when weighing the savings of an early flight to the discomfort and lack of sleep that comes with a night at the airport.

Karneval, Not Carnival (Week 7)

This week was a short one since we got Thursday and Friday off for Karneval, the Rhineland's pre-Lent celebration. But it was still quite stressful since everyone had the first physiology exam on Wednesday. BMEN and BIMS took different exams, since we cover different topics in class. I don't think the exam was hard, necessarily, but there were a few questions that were very confusing due to the wording. Of course, a couple of questions I just couldn't remember the pathways being asked about, so that's on me. But now that I have a better idea as to the structure of Dr. Wasser's exams, I think I'll be able to do a bit better on the next exam.

We got our grades back for the genetics exam, which was good. I scored a bit above average, so I'm feeling pretty secure there. Just have to keep it up for the next two exams and the final. I'm thinking that I'll take all of the exams before the final, that way the comprehensive final isn't weighted any more. I would just get so stressed and worried about my performance on the final if it counted for more than the 25% it already does. Skipping exam two or three would make the final count for 50% of my grade, since the exams are all we have. I just can't handle that pressure. Exam one wasn't very hard, so I don't think it'll be a problem to take the rest of the exams.

Thursday, all of the students part of an AIB program were part of the Karneval parade in Beuel. Everyone met at the new AIB building, picked up a sweatshirt, and picked up either a blue or orange bob wig. The sweatshirts apparently ran a bit small, so I can't wear the hood on my medium sweatshirt without the fabric on the shoulders being pulled up. But it's comfy, so I'll probably use it around the house, at least. The wigs were terrible and made me flashback to the Enigmatic show that Johnson High School did. Since I was in the color guard, I had the same wig, just platinum blonde and not blue. Didn't want to ever wear a wig again but it was for a parade, so I sucked it up for the morning. Being in the parade, we all got bags full of candy to throw out to onlookers. I was a bit too generous early on, unfortunately, and didn't have much to give in the last half of the parade. Also, going through the candy, we all found some really odd ones. One of them was a lollipop contained in a plastic shell- a supreme choking hazard- and mini cheeto-esque chips with a candy coating. There was plenty of Haribo gummies, and I will admit to enjoying a few of those myself. 

Didn't do too much the rest of the weekend. I was just doing my writing assignment for VIBS 311 and preparing for the next genetics exam on Wednesday. I did all of the chapter questions, because that helped me a lot in the last exam, and then reviewed the PowerPoint presentations. Pretty boring Karneval weekend compared to some peoples', I'm sure. Actually, my host mom's older daughter was in town for a few days this weekend for Karneval. She and Naja went out to some of the parades and different things in town and seemed to have a good time.

Today, Monday, we also have no class because it's Rosen Montag, which is the biggest day of Karneval with the biggest parades. I thought about going to the parade in Cologne, but I wasn't feeling up to dealing with literally a million other people and possibly not being able to get back to Bonn on the train. Instead, I just went to the parade in Bonn for a bit, which was still quite nice to see. The weather was pretty bad and it started raining pretty badly about 1.5 hours into the parade, and at that point I decided to just go home. I collected a bit of candy, or Kamelle, that was thrown by the people on the floats, mostly gummies, of course. Some of the kids around me, though, were getting a lot of candy and their moms were vicious in helping them grab as much candy as fast as possible. One girl almost got run over by a float because she went out into the road to pick up a little chocolate bar. 

The parade was nice before it started raining, but I didn't stay too long. This whole week I was feeling pretty worn out and I wasn't up to staying for the entire parade, especially in the rain. But I'm glad I went for a bit because it was still fun and you can't not do something for Rosen Montag. 

Back to Spanish (Week 3)

This week was very relaxed as far as lectures are concerned. There were two days where I only had one class, Friday was a free day, and Thursday afternoon we toured Museum Stoecki, which was essentially a German anesthesiologist's personal museum of pharmaceuticals and medical technology. It was incredible how much he had collected over his time in medicine. Even though everything was in a hospital building, it was set up like any other museum with display cases for all of the old medicines and machines and little placards for most of the displays. It was interesting to see the progression of anesthesiology over 200 years. For a long time, most of what changed was just the materials the devices were made from and anesthesiologists used ether for much longer than I thought. I also didn't realize that it took so long for needless to come about. But the coolest thing, in my opinion, was seeing the iron lung. Apparently, this little museum has one of only four on display in Europe.

Outside of class and our tour, I was just getting all my assignments due over the weekend done early so I didn't have to worry about them during my trip to Madrid. Genetics has the first exam coming up too, which meant I was also reading for that and going over the chapter problems. Our professor said that those problems would help us a lot on the exams we'll be taking, so that's my focus when it comes to studying and reviewing material. We'll be taking the exam a few days late because of the Vienna excursion, but I honestly don't think it's going to increase my study time. We'll have a hard time trying to make time to study while in Vienna and then while in Budapest the weekend after. Have to take advantage of how far East we'll be, after all. It just means that I'll have to very carefully manage my time and be super focused when I do get to study. 

Come Friday, I went to Madrid with a group of five other people. It was an even split of boys and girls, which made the room situation at the hotel simple to arrange, but getting to the hotel was a struggle. The public transport in the city is not the best and takes a long time. It ended up taking us about 3.5 hours to get to the hotel and check-in, after some issues finding the hotel. After settling in, the first thing we did was get food. By the time we finished the three-course meal (ending with an amazing chocolate cake), it was around 1800. We wanted to go to the Reina Sofia art museum, but free entry didn't start until 1900, so we just hung out at the hotel for a while before getting uber rides into town. Like I said, public transport takes a long time and it would have taken us over an hour to catch trains and buses into the city, compared to a 20-minute drive. The museum actually has an attached bar/lounge and the six of us got glasses of wine/beer after the museum closed at 2100. Later, we went out for a few drinks and danced to some really great Spanish music that I didn't understand. 

Saturday we tried to go to Retiro Park to see the Crystal Palace, but the park was closed because of the wind. The trees can apparently fall over if the wind gets too bad and people have died from a tree falling on them, according to our uber drivers. So, we ended up at the Museo del Prado instead. This museum is so big! We ended up in two groups of three and saw different floors but neither group was able to see the entirety of one floor after almost 4 hours. There were so many beautiful paintings and some of them had really interesting stories behind their creation and/or meaning. But my favorite thing was the stone statues. Most of them were about life-size, with a few being extremely large. I like statues because of the contrast in technique with that of painting. When an artist paints, she adds paint to a canvas to create a masterpiece. But when an artist chisels stone or marble, she takes away from the canvas to reveal a masterpiece. Anyway, after the museum, we went for dinner and got some paella and tapas- so delicious! We saw a lot of the big plazas in the process and after dinner, when we walked back to the park to see if it had been opened. When we found out the park was still closed, some of us went for churros. They weren't quite the same as the churros one would find in the US because the ones in Madrid don't have cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on them. But they were still quite tasty and the chocolate that came with them as a dipping sauce was very good and rich. 

This last full day of our trip, Sunday, we started by going to El Rastro, a huge flea market in the city that happens every Sunday morning. We got a big breakfast in the plaza where some of the stalls were and I tried Argentinian empanadas for the first time. I'm not entirely sure how authentic they were since we were in Spain and everything, but I can't deny that I absolutely loved my empanada! Of course, after breakfast, we went shopping for around two hours and I spent way too much money on souvenirs for my family. Next, we finally got into the park and saw the Crystal Palace. I was very impressed by the building itself because it's all made of glass and must be hard to maintain due to the high number of tourists. We then went to the palace, which is apparently the largest in Europe, and got to go inside. I can't fully express the opulence of each room I stepped foot into but the small portion of the palace that we did see was a mix of styles and artistic methods, including a room completely decorated in porcelain, that all resulted in absolutely stunning rooms at each turn. Finally, we ended the day by watching the sunset at the Temple of Debod, which was gorgeous. I think it would have been prettier if there had been water surrounding the temple in its small pool, but that couldn't happen due to the weather. 

The others are at a soccer game right now with Real Madrid. I considered going with them but I've been forced to sit (re: stand) through so many athletic events at A&M with the Corps, that I didn't consider it very long. The tickets were also a bit pricey for me. So I'm back at the hotel, and just finished packing after a very relaxing bath. Tomorrow, Monday we have an extremely early morning because of our flight and I know the second we leave Madrid I'll miss the vibe, friendly atmosphere, and gorgeous architecture. I might try to go to a different region of Spain on another weekend because we were only able to see one city and didn't do nearly everything Madrid has to offer. I'm hoping that we can see more in Vienna since we'll be there a few days longer.