Week two, Cologne and Munster

 It feels like forever ago looking back at Monday of this past week. On Monday, all we did was have class and it was a pretty relaxed day. On Tuesday, we took a day trip to Cologne. The way to Cologne was very stressful as three of us were very concerned that we would have to leave early to make it back for out first Math 308 class, but it worked out and we were able to contact the professor and stay. The professor actually did not contact us back to let us know we could stay until we were on the platform to head back by train and the train was pulling up so he had amazing timing. In Cologne, we did a walking tour, went to a museum in a building where the Gestapo had previously been, and then climbed the cathedral. On Wednesday, we had school and I attempted laundry for the first time. Sadly, the dryer was not open when I was doing it and I had to hang my clothes which left them slightly stiff. On Thursday, we had more class and I stayed after and did homework and did not have time to do more laundry. On Friday, I started my laundry before I left for class and then was able to dry it when I got back. This laundry was much softer than the laundry I left to hang. I also made dinner for two classmates, Isabelle and Nate.

I travelled this weekend with a group of four others to Munster. On Saturday, we went in three different churches. We then went into a museum about the history of Munster. It was very cool but all in German. We then went back to our Airbnb to put our stuff down. We tried to go to a German restaurant but you had to have a reservation so we went to a Mexican food restaurant. The food was horrible and drinks over priced. We ended up going back to our Airbnb and met up with three others from our group while they waited for their train. On Sunday, we walked to the palace and garden and then to the zoo. The walk was exhausting. We stopped and ate at the zoo restaurant. We then walked around the zoo for a while before bussing back to town. We then stopped for dinner at a bowl place. At dinner, Nate realized he bought the tickets for 06:30 instead of 18:30, not realizing it was military time and we had to repurchase tickets. We then made it home and I immediately fell asleep in bed.

A big difference I noticed in Munster was how many less people spoke English than do in Bonn. It made it a little harder to order and communicate at shops and such. We powered through though. I have a new item to add to my list of things that are starting to annoy me. I used to find the emergency siren cute but it is starting to really annoy me. First off, I swear they have no correct training on usage and second, it is so repetitive that it is just getting on my nerve. Now my list has come to three. The water, the bathrooms (paying), and the sirens. I will see how that list changes week by week.

All of the Culture Shocks I Experienced Within my First Week in Bonn, Germany (1/8/22-1/15/22)

 Howdy, Y'all!

So I have been keeping an ongoing list since I arrived in Germany of all the things that I have noticed are different from how we do things in America. Some of the things I like better, but others I am still getting used to! Without further ado here is my comprehensive list:

• Butter and eggs are not refrigerated here.
• I have heard of people not refrigerating eggs before, so I was not super shocked when I saw this (and have even been practicing this storage method since I arrived here), but when I first walked through the door my host mom greeted me with different breads and butter, and I was shocked at how soft the butter was! I cleaned up after myself and asked her where should I put the butter up and to my surprise she told me to leave it on the counter! I found that very interesting and the next time I buy butter from the store I will try this method.
• American songs are not censored on the radio.
•  I have heard multiple American songs playing both on the radio and in restaurants and I still cannot get over hearing the F-bomb just playing in a public setting! I asked my host sister if German songs were censored in public settings and she said, "for the most part, yes".
• Non-carbonated water is much harder to get here, although the tap water here is EXTRAORDINARY!
•  Every time I go somewhere and I am purchasing water I have to specify that I want "still" water as this just means non-carbonated. The preference for sparkling water is not something I understand all the way yet, but maybe by the end of the trip, I will!
• Also, back home I REFUSED to drink tap water no matter how filtered it was I would always taste the difference (my friends even set up a blindfolded experiment for me once and I was able to taste the difference lol), but here the tap water tastes completely clean and fresh.
• There are no paper bills that are smaller than 5€. There are 1€ and 2€ coins but it is not paper money.
• I both like and dislike this. Unfortunately, I have been encouraged to spend more money this way because in my American way of thinking coins are always less than a dollar, so you are not actually even spending a lot of money when it is in coins, but eventually, this adds up.
• Microwaves and dryers are much less common in households.
• My host family has neither of these gadgets, I was not that phased by the absence of a microwave, but having no dryer is not a bad thing it just requires meticulous planning. I often have to remind myself I cannot just wash something the night before as it may take multiple days to fully dry.
• Some people leave food outside to keep it cold, but there are hardly any bugs here (due to the weather) so the food is not really threatened. 
• I have literally seen less than five bugs anywhere since I've been here.
• Ovens.
• The ovens here require you to choose the temperature you would like your food cooked as well as what setting you want to cook the food on. However, there are no words on the different settings just symbols and I have already burnt one pizza.
• Also, I have noticed here that a lot of German households leave their cooking pans in the oven 24/7 and when you want to cook something you just lay the paper/foil on top of the cooking pan, begin cooking, take out your food, dispose of your trash, and put the pan back in the oven. I am a BIG fan of this feature, and I think I am going to implement this into my everyday life.
• To save power escalators don't move here until you approach them, then they begin moving (motion sensing).
• The first time I saw an elevator not moving I assumed it was broken and took the stairs and as I was halfway up I noticed someone riding that same escalator and I did some deductive reasoning to figure this out lol.
• Front doors automatically lock once you close them here.
• When my host sister was showing me around for the first time, we went out the front door, and I asked if she needed to lock it and she laughed and explained it to me.
• In academic settings, Germans knock on the table instead of clapping.
• I read about this online, but I also saw it in a German movie that I was watching with my host family.
• Toilet Etiquette
• I have not used a single German bathroom that has been dirty yet and I LOVE this! Every single bathroom I have used here (public or private) has had a toilet brush scrub next to it, and I believe it is customary that if you leave a stain in the toilet you should use the brush and clean it up right then and there. I already have a brush next to my American toilet and practice this method myself, but I wish it was as culturally implemented in America as it is here because that is such a great habit to have!

Learning to Not be Afraid of Heights

 Howdy y'all,

One major point I forgot about when traveling is that from time to time you will end up on top of a cathedral, clinging to the inside support wall overlooking the city trying not to shake the entire 800 year old structure with your wobbly legs. But alas, there I was on top of Cologne's most prized possession, The Cathedral. (Obviously its official name). This all occurred when my group took a day trip to Cologne a few days ago for A&M's official first day of classes. Cologne was beautiful and every tour guide I have had thus far on the trip has been jovial, full of humor, and a bit too straight forward on morbid details. I devour the information anyway. We visited a museum that day too which was a former Gestapo prison where they tortured and executed people that did not fit the Nazi's idea of fit citizens and people. Really light stuff for a Tuesday afternoon. It was quite informative though and from my previous travels I knew a lot more information and history than I realized. Maybe I should have been a history major :)

On another note, my German has not improved much. I know a few more words but I get so shy (crazy I know) when I get up to counters and around people. We had our first German class this week and I felt so bad for the teacher because when I had to practice my conversational German in front of everyone, all I could do was laugh the whole time out of nervousness and I sounded like an idiot. My host family said my German accent is really good though so at least I know I'm saying Danke correctly! The other day I was ordering some Döner and I chickened out so bad that the guy in front of me turned around and asked if I was an American and what I was ordering and then proceeded to order for me. At least I got a "good luck" from him and a secret extra goody from the guy behind the counter for my embarrassment. At another time I was in a bakery by myself and a German man said he could hear my accent in my voice and that he LOVED it. Quite a boost because I always imagined a Texan accent in German is a bit intense. At least thats what I heard practiced in my German class when we all sounded like Texan parodies of the language. 

    People in Germany keep asking my group why we are here, fulling turning around while crossing the street to do so, because technically it's still a pandemic and we aren't in a major city like Berlin or Munich. The other night we all met a couple of people while out and I met a nice British girl who have me her details. While I was out that night I also realized I had no game whatsoever so one of our program coordinators told us "you all shouldn't really be going and meeting too many people right now, except you Avery, you should go out to work on your game." It was a real humbling experience in front of everybody. Then again this whole experience is humbling.

-Avery Nennmann

First 24 hours thoughts

*I wrote this out in an email the day after we arrived in Germany - January 9th 2022*

I made it into Germany yesterday morning and have now spent a whole day with my host family here in Bonn! Both Bonn and they are absolutely lovely. The sights of Bonn are fairly typical with the occasional cathedral or two that seem to pop up out of nowhere! I've found that Germany is not nearly as cold as everyone hyped it up to be... but what I will say is while it is cold and I was expecting that, I was not expecting for it to be cold everywhere all the time. Partly because of culture, partly because of old housing with poor insulation and partly because of the energy crisis with the Nord 2 Stream Pipeline and Russia the buildings are just about as cold inside as it is outside! Layers have certainly come in handy!

My host family are incredibly kind people who speak better English than me at times. I have an entire floor of their townhome practically to myself (2 bedrooms, a living room and a small kitchenette). It's Europe so it is smaller than what you would expect, but works out perfectly for me - truly it is both more space than I was anticipating and is even more space than I really need to be honest. My host Mom's youngest daughter Marie (15 years old) lives above me in a small room that is practically a renovated attic. It's a funky room with lots of nooks and crannies perfect for a 15 year old! Marie has been incredible. She is fairly shy but did take me around the city today and showed me how to work their bus system. Every once and awhile she comes down from the 'attic' just to sit and talk with me as does her Mom, Hania, who came up this morning to sit and have breakfast with me and even brought me up some dinner this evening before she left for the night. I want to know them and really get to be involved in their life but my current dilemma is figuring out what the expectation is and what boundaries are. When Hania says "come down to my floor anytime you want, you don't even have to knock"... is that really what she means.

I've surprised myself with how much German I retained from way back in high school but can proudly say that the bilingual flight attendants ONLY spoke German with me - so I guess I faked sounding like a German pretty good!

The Beginning Of an Adventure!

 01/17/2022

One week down living here in Bonn and I've been amazed at all that there has been to experience. From the drastic difference in scenery, to living in a house in which English is barely spoken, life here has been completely different in all aspects. That being said, there has not been one down moment since getting here. The first few days here were definitely exhausting, but all the new stimulation provided for more than enough energy. The food has been phenomenal, the people have been welcoming, and I've loved getting to experience this country with new friends. Getting to live with a German family has been a true joy, they have been more than welcoming and accommodating for someone coming from a completely different way of life. I have already learned so much from them about the German culture, and I have been pleasantly surprised. The interactions and conversations between the family have all been very joyful and full of humor. Bonding and getting more comfortable with the group of students has also gone very well. Everyone has contributed a unique component to the group and there is good chemistry. 

Exploring Bonn and the surrounding areas has also been very enjoyable. The Haus der Geschichte Bonn was full of interesting information, the hills in the countryside were very beautiful, and I really enjoyed getting to tour Aachen. COVID will definitely have a big impact on where we will be able to travel and the attractions we'll be able to see. But COVID also allows us to build an impression of how German people act under serious circumstances, and our time here will give us a perception to compare with in the future. I'm very excited to explore more of Germany and gain a better grasp of the country and the people that live here. I'm most looking forward to building more of a routine with school, and trying more food! I know the experiences here are never-ending, and I'm so excited for what's to come. 

First Week in Bonn

 It has already been one week here and it went by super fast. I have had a few culture shocks, the biggest to me is not having free water everywhere you go. I normally go through glasses of water with every meal and I find myself having to limit myself at restaurants. That will probably be one of the things I will be happiest to have back when I get back to the states. I am settling in well besides that. It has been fun to meet everyone on the trip as I came in knowing no one else.

This week was very fun. We started off Monday with the orientation tour. On Tuesday, we went on the House of History tour. On Wednesday, we went on the hiking trip with Lakka. On Thursday, we had our first real day of classes. On Friday, we had a day trip to Aachen to have our first meeting with Endmodes about the project. After, we ate at a cool fry place and toured a cathedral. Overall, I have been eating very good food, except when I have to try and cook for myself. I need to find time to figure out more recipes. I am very excited for the rest of my stay here!

Welcome to Bonn

After delaying my flight and quarantining for 3 days in Bonn, I was finally able to join everyone. I was nervous about missing out on the first week, but everyone has made me feel so welcomed. I have settled into my apartment with Isabelle and our German roommate, Christina. I am excited to start classes and the enmodes project, all while trying to balance studying with traveling. I am gaining more confidence in getting around the city and it is slowly starting to feel like home. The COVID restrictions are fairly strict and constantly changing, but I'm hoping they will not hold back our time abroad. I am looking forward to learning more German and really making the most of my time here.