FIRST TIME EVER TO SKI

So my first time skiing was freaking awesome!!!! It was one of the best weekends of my life thank you Brynn and Austin for making it such an enjoyable weekend. I did almost all I could from going down the bunny slope to the second hardest slope (by accident haha) that was a tumble to say the least. I also almost killed someone. I was going down this slope trying my S form and I didn't pick up one of my feet enough and it went forty five degrees instead of ninety degrees. The rest is history with a lady flying 5 feet from her original position and her boy friend about to pounce on me. Of course I flew a good 10 feet and when I was getting up I felt something wet come streaming down my face and I was like oh shoot. I need to call Dr. Wasser I'm bleeding out. I started wiping off my forehead and it was just a cake of sweat had formed there and I was ok. The next day I also had a traumatic experience when I was going down a steeper hill I tried to slide to stop (like a quick stop) and instead of stopping I flipped and landed on my head. Least to say I stopped but not like I expected. After skiing we went to the tallest mountain in Germany called the Zugspitze 9,700 feet above sea level. The view was absolutely stunning and breath taking, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. After getting back we had loads of tests to study for which I was still ill prepared for (I know what your thinking not Joseph, haha well... studying is going). Well see how those test go this next week, but wish me luck I don't know if I can take Paris for a whole week.

Well this week was interesting to say the least

So the weekend was pretty chill, I decided to stay in to rest up and study for the following tests. I forgot how much you can get done when you have nothing planned for the rest of the day haha. During this week we attended a out of class lecture provided by College Station over drugs and how they help in medical treatment works to how the government regulates them. This went on for a couple of days and was very interesting and time committing. Later in the week we had a couple of tests (which we won't talk about *cough*) I have been going to the gym more often though which I'm really proud of. I ran 5 miles in an hour which is ok I mean I know I'm out of shape but you know you have to start somewhere. Plus I've noticed I've been eating so much more out here and it's scaring me because when I go back to the states I don't want to blow up like a balloon. This weekend though will be exciting skiing is coming up and I can't wait to go for my first time!

LONDON: one weekend was not enough

First thing's first: don't wear cute shoes to walk around the entirety of London.  Cute shoes are good for maybe three hours max.  Cute shoes are not good for 10 miles in 10 hours.  Which is what Saturday consisted of.

Friday evening Brynn and I landed in London Stansted Airport, and an hour on the tube later I saw my friend, Tom, for the first time in three years!  Tom studied abroad at Texas A&M during my freshman year, his junior year.  We hung out a lot during that time and when I mentioned coming to Europe for a semester he suggested I come visit!  Before this study abroad I never thought I would see him again, so that in itself is pretty cool.  

SATURDAY was awesome!  We walked a total of 10 miles and basically crammed all of the touristy parts of central London into one long day.  Tom had only been living in London for six months, so even though he was toting around two puppy-dog tourists, he enjoyed seeing the sights as much as we did because he hadn’t made time to do it by himself yet.  

We started at the Tower of London, an old castle that was once used as a prison.  We walked across the iconic Tower Bridge, along the River Thames, and back across the London Bridge (cue Fergie lyrics) to The Madison, a fancy rooftop bar with a fantastic view of St Paul’s Cathedral.  After drinking ridiculously expensive cocktails, we got back out on the streets to wander the city and find some Black Cabbies and the typical red double-decker busses.

I WALKED ACROSS THE DEATHEATER BRIDGE!!!  It’s actually called the Millennium Bridge, but I know it as the bridge in Harry Potter that the Deatheaters destroyed in the Half Blood Price.  I just rewatched this clip and it’s so cool to recognize the place and know that I’ve been there!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrX-xN45UE8.  We also walked past the Palace Theatre, the original home of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play.  If I had more time and more money I would definitely make a trip back to see that performance. 

The rest of the day consisted of walking down Southbank past the London Eye, across yet another bridge to Parliament and what should have been a great view of Big Ben, but the clock was under expensive renovation.  Meh.  We walked through St James park to Buckingham Palace, and down the Mall to Trafalgar Square, and eventually to Chinatown, where we found an authentic Japanese sushi restaurant for a late, late lunch.  We then walked through Soho, walking into pub after pub, trying to find a place to wait for one of Tom's friends that wasn’t packed with Rugby fans or men wanting to hit on Tom.  We finally found a pub and watched the rest of the England vs Scotland rugby match before venturing back to cook dinner.

Sunday was shopping!!  My feet were killing me from the extensive walking tour the day before, and I was honestly dreading walking around all day in the same shoes with my loaded backpack.  So we all slept in, had lunch at the apartment, and left around 1pm to go shopping on Oxford Street.  Let me just say: God Bless Primark.  Primark is basically a larger, more diverse, less expensive version of Forever 21.  I found a cute pair of tennis shoes for roughly $8 that saved my feet from falling off and made the rest of the day much more enjoyable.  The journey home was no problem, and we made it back to our host family’s house by midnight Sunday.

As the title says, one weekend in London just wasn’t enough.  If I ever get the chance to go back, I’ll try to go for at least a week.  I want to see the HP play, shop more on Oxford street, spend a day inside the National Gallery, walk more of Chinatown, see Baker Street (the home of Sherlock Holmes), go inside the Tower of London, and walk through some of London’s best parks.  There’s so much to see and do, and I want to go back!!  

The Tower of London (featuring: Tube sign) 

Perspective shot on the Tower Bride

St Paul's from the Madison

Cheesin'

THE DEATHEATER BRIDGE (aka the Millennium Bridge)

The London Eye on the Thames

Side of Parliament with the least construction going on

ENTRANCE TO THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

The Queen's residence

Tickets were $200 each ):

"The sun gods have blessed you." -- Matthew Scholl

R&R Week

NOTHING HAPPENED THIS WEEK AND IT WAS GREAT AND WONDERFUL especially after
Carnival because your girl needed a relaxation week. Well kind of  a relaxation week because I realized I should probably start studying for exams.

But even though I said nothing happened things did happen, just not a lot. Dr. Fajt flew in on Tuesday and it is super nice having her here. Pharmacology class is easier and I like it a lot better with her there in person. It's just so much easier for us to communicate with her and ask her our questions. I am honestly going to be super sad when she leaves cause I enjoy talking with her as well.

Wednesday we took our excursion to Bayer and if I could work in a building like that I would be the happiest of bugs. The building had so many windows and it just felt so open and freeing and it was surrounded by the gardens at trees and ugh I want. It was modern yet in touch with nature. Me gusta. Any whoooo learned a lot of fun things at Bayer (and a lot about bees (SAVE THE BEES)) because everything was so interactive. Got to try  out virtual reality for the first time but had to stop because being an adult sucks and I get motion sick now. I probably would have been fine if I was not a bee flying around and doing bee things.

Might also mention that I am pretty sure my host mom considers my basic food groups to be potatoes and Nutella. I came home one day and I didn't get a hello oh no I got a Brynn I made you potatoes (vegetables for Shannon) but potatoes for you! And I mean heckin whoop I am all about potatoes but I don't think Sonja understands that this is a dangerous game that she doesn't know shes playing because I will eat all the potatoes.

Potatoes.

Wait, we still have school???

At the end of my last post, I mentioned being sad to be back in school.  That hasn't changed.  The past two weeks have been massively class- and enmodes-heavy.  The days start early, end late, and usually continue well into the night with physiology studying and paper-writing.  This week especially has been filled with preparing for our three exams, two presentations, and procrastinating writing a major assignment for VIBS 311. 

Physiology has picked up immensely since the Vienna excursion, with weeks consisting of two or three labs and three lectures per week.  Labs are difficult because we don't actually have a laboratory and can't perform some experiments that are essential to understanding the material and physiological processes.  Another component that's been frustrating is the math embedded in all of them.  I haven't done math like this since freshman year in Chem 101 and 102, so jumping back into 10-step word problems with conversions and unit analysis has been a very rude awakening.  Fortunately, our TAs know what they are doing and usually manage to make lab periods fun. Alexa particularly really wants us to understand the material and has spent hours of her own time hosting reviews and ansering questions to help me and the rest of the BIMS kids out.

German class, part of our History of Medicine course, is over.  !?  We were all surprised when Hilde told us last week that we would have a German final (!?!?!?) and then no more German class after spring break!  Learning the German language with Hilde was super helpful and actually more fun than I initially thought it would be.  Hilde is engaging, lively, understanding of why certain language concepts are so weird to us Americans.  It was plain to see that she genuinely wants to help us enjoy our short time in Germany.  While I will enjoy the fewer class periods, I'll miss the games and songs and inside jokes we had with Hilde.

Part 1 of the enmodes project ended today.  But by "ended," I mean our small groups presented the concepts we've come up with in the past month to the company, who will now determine if they like our ideas or would rather throw them in the trash.  It was nerve-wracking to explain what we've managed to finagle to the two enomdes guys who travelled all the way from Aachen.  Our concept definitely had some gaps, but overall I think the ideas my group presented were well received and should be helpful to the company when they consider options for the final design of their project.  Part 2 begins after our FABULOUS TWO WEEK TRAVELING EXTRAVAGANZA with the formation of larger groups that will combine parts of the original seven groups' concepts into three final concepts which we will formally present in Aachen at the end of April.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the company likes from my group, because our ideas are definitely out-of-the-box.  

And, with that, the weekend is here!!  I still have a paper to write and peer reviews to do and a reflection to complete for my writing class, but the end of exam week and knowing our presentations went well is a huge relief.  I can't wait for a nap. (:

Carnival (aka no sleep)

Hey look I finally made another blog post. 

As far as Carnival goes, it was great. I feel like it was kind of like super hyped, long Halloween, mainly because there was so much candy. On the first day, we attended the Bonn parade and boy was I glad I had brought a big bag because I filled that sucker all the way with candy. The parade itself was a lot different than parades at home. Some of the floats were ginormous and you could tell they are used year after year, rather than back home where they just decorate trailers and cars. They were so big that they had to be pulled by farm tractors, and turning the corners with those long floats was an ordeal. At the Bonn parade, we stood on the corner of the street so when those big floats started to turn, we had to scramble or scoot back to not get run over. However, having those big floats come so close to us meant we got to get up close to the people in the floats. This meant we were able to talk to the float people and get more stuff. 

After this parade, we went to another parade in Roisdorf. By train. The worst thing I have ever done in  my life. I love trains, but not people. Waiting for the train, more and more people kept showing up to an already overflowing platform. Once the train arrived, I felt like a herd of cattle being shoved into a tiny pen. The only way I got onto the train was because I was so squished, I was kinda just carried onto the the train. Good news was though that I was right by the doors and we got off at the very next stop, so as soon as those doors open I was out and gone. 

During the weekend of Carnival we decided to try and going up to the ruins on the seven hills just as a way to relaxing day and to see if there was anything going on up there. We failed. We got off the train somewhere near the end of line 66 feeling confident we could find our way to a bus that would take us close to the trails for the hills. Unfortunately, the buses were not running on this day at the stop we needed due to the fact the little village we were in were having there own parade. Sadly, we got to the village too late that the parade had already ended, so no candy for us. So instead of being productive and hiking and exercising we got ice cream. Instead of heading straight back to the main part of Bonn, we wandered around this little village in search of something warm to drink ie we were looking for a cafe. And we found one that not only serves hot chocolate and the like, but waffles and wonderful ice cream combos as well. 10/10

Rose Montag provided us with another, even bigger, glorious parade. I actually saw a lady on the train the next day reading the newspaper with pictures from parade and everything I got to see in the parade was in the newspaper. Side note: like the entire newspaper was in color. I'm used to seeing only the front pages of newspapers with color, but this one went all out. Any who, parade was marvelous my candy bag became even heavier that from the first parade honestly should have probably brought more bags. Another note, this parade was the longest parade I have ever been to in my  life. It was like 3.5 hours long and it started snowing at one part it was wild. After parade, night happened, drinks consumed, food (candy) eaten. We went out for a little bit after the parade and we were surprised to see the people who were partying near us during the parade and after the parade were still going strong. We joined the particular street party and had a great time, good way to end the day and thus Carnival thanks and gig'em.

Woche Sechs

Blog Post of Week 6: Tests and Things

March 1st, 2018

Hallo!

We just finished up test week and I feel like I am back on vacation-mode already. France is coming up in a few days and then we have spring break. All I can think about right now are the fun times I’ll have eating snails and crepes and taking touristy pictures in Paris and Rome, with me pretending to lift up the Eifel Tower in my hand. Oh, and seeing where Games of Thrones was filmed in Croatia even though I don't even watch the show !!! Yes, March is the month of many travels.

This past week, I FINALLY hung out with my host sister Ingrid and met her wild Russian friend named Marina. We mingled at the youth hotspot of Germany called Saucelitos, and we talked about music, our lives and goals, and plans for the rest of our time in Europe. This weekend, they want to go out to Cologne and stay at the club until 5am, which doesn’t even sound like something I am capable of doing because I’m such a grandma and can’t keep my eyes open past 2. We will see what happens though and if we end up going out, since Friday is Alwin’s birthday and he’s turning the big 2 0.

Trying that Mandy Essen for the first time

I went to Corey and Mitchell’s host house last week as well and I finally got to try the famous Mandy essen (food), and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Their host sister heard I came over and now she wants to meet me, so I will go back again at the end of this week. I’m pretty excited because I love meeting new people and it’s fun to meet other people’s families and visit their homes to see how other student's here are living because we don;t typically get to see other German houses except our own.

View of the Rhine during a morning run

The rest of the week consisted of studying, but with a few highlights in between. Today, for example, Corey bought me a Nutella crepe. I love the crepe, but even more, I love the old man at the crepe stand. I always practice my German with him and he is such a sweet guy! Apparently, he opened his stand only 6 months ago, which I was so surprised to hear because he seems like he gets good business and has been around for a while. I also went running with Lexie this week in preparation for the Bonn marathon and we had a lovely run by the Rhine river (picture to the right), which actually made me get more sick since I was already coughing/conjested before the run. I am now convinced that I have walking pneumonia, but whenever I told Mitchell and Kate, they laughed at me L

Now we are caight up to today, which was the final exam in German class. I am actually VERY sad that German class will be no more because Hilde was such a fun lady and I loved learning German. I am thinking that I might want to live in Germany for a little while after I graduate so becoming fluent would be good for me J  I will continue to practice in my own time though, along with Spanish. One of my goals in life is to be multilingual in Spanish and German and they will serve me well when I move back to Europe (hopefully soon!).

We also had a physiology exam today and apparently everyone did horribly. I did not think the test had a lot of the material that I had studied, so I guess I will have to study differently next time! That's about all I will say on the testing though, because they're super boring to talk about!

Tomorrow, we have an Enmodes presentation, and this is where we will condense groups. I am excited to add more people to Team Addidas because I feel like we did not mesh very well and it would be nice to have more people to kind of buffer us out. We have very different leadership styles and we lose patience with each other pretty often, but I think we came up with a cool “innovative” idea. I guess we will see tomorrow if they end up choosing our idea- I'll keep you all updated.

Anyways, I’m sorry if this was so boring. It’s been a very mundane and school-oriented week. To top it off, I thought I should mention that I;m currently running the laundry. Super cool, right? I know next week I will have loads to write about though, because FRANCE!

I will watch Netflix now, or maybe write that 311 essay… Who knows? Maybe I’ll do both!

Bis Spater!