Day 1: Both flights were great. We arrived early in Chicago and left on time for Frankfurt. On the flight to Frankfurt I sat next to a couple that had lived in Germany for a few years and they were very nice to talk to and let me have the window seat. It was so cool to fly over Europe and see the lights from all the cities. Our plane landed right on time and I made it through the airport and through customs easily. I was actually the only one going through customs at the time. The airport was almost deserted at 7 am. I got my bags and headed to the meeting area. Once there I got my stuff on the bus and started talking to the kids already there. I was so worried about not getting there on time for nothing. We didn't even leave the airport until a little after 9. And we drove to Cologne, Germany. This town is awesome. It has a giant cathedral and a lot of Roman ruins. The first day there we just walked around and looked in the windows and had a beer. The local beer is Kolsh, which is also the dialect of the area, so the joke is that its the only language you can speak and drink. That night we were all pretty tired, so we just hung out until about 10 and went to bed.
There are 24 of us in the program 18 girls and 6 guys from all over the US. We all have gotten along really well so far.
Day 2: We started off with a tour of the city through the biggest catholic church and a lot of Roman ruins from the 1st (ish) century. Then lunch. Afterwords we toured the Dom (cathedral) it is larger than Notre Dame and is the resting place of the 3 wisemen. We got to walk up one of the towers and get a birds eye view of the town and then some free time before dinner. I headed off with one of the girls, Amy, to look around...and we got incredibly lost! We wondered around Cologne on our great adventure for a few hours and saw some of the coolest stuff. We loved it! Later that evening a group of us headed out to enjoy the local entertainment : )
Day 3: An early morning and off to Bonn. There we went through a museum of the history of modern Germany. Then to Worms...make sure you roll the "r" as you say it. There we had toured a Jewish synogogue and cemetary with tombstones dating back to the 10th century. After Worms we drove to Heidelberg to stay the night. Our hostel was right next to the zoo and we got to see all kinds of animals from our windows. It was also very far from the altstadt (old town) where all the touristy things are. So our first adventure on the public transportation. It turns out I've been to Heidelberg and didn't remember until we got there. It has a huge castle over looking the town and when I came to Germany in high school we visited the castle. When the group of us from Salzburg go into town we stick out as Americans. We are loud, because we are enjoying ourselves and being in another country. So far we have decided that this week since we are touring we will just except the fact that we are tourists and not care that we acting like it. When we get to Salzburg we can try and acclimate ourselves more. Because of this we met another group of Americans studying at Heidelberg and spent some time talking with them.
Day 4: We toured the castle and some of the old city. Heidelberg was for the most part not destroyed by WWII. Most cities in Germany were demolished after the war and have since been rebuilt. So most of what you see when you go is new cities built with old rocks. However, Heidelberg was spared and most of the buildings are still standing in their original form. It started raining on us on our drive to Rothenburg, so we only stayed long enough to walk to the main square and back to the bus. The rain was nice though, it was more like a mist and it wasn't freezing cold nor did it make it hot and sticky. We arrived in Nurnberg just a few hours ago. Nurnberg is where many of the trials after WWII took place (I'll know more tomorrow). So far this evening I've had dinner a kaffee and the internet. It's been a slow evening compared to the last few. However, I figured ya'll needed to know what I've been up to.
I also found out that the school is a little different than I first thought. It will only be the 24 of us taking class together, so basically there will be about 7 people in each class. I'm not really sure how I feel about this, I've never had such a small class in college.
The host family situation: Most people are staying in a double situation. I'll be with Amy in a third story loft with a balcony, bay windows, a great view and our own bathroom. The family is younger with two kids 4 and 1 1/2. The mom stays home and the dad works for Sony. They are suppose to know a good bit of German, but are ready to challenge our German skills as well. They are a little farther from the school, but only about a 10 min bus ride. I'll meet them tomorrow evening and should have wifi from then on out, but we'll see if the house really does or not.
So far the best part of the trip has been getting to know everyone. We all come from different places and have different personalities, but it works so far. We can all just sit around and talk and laugh and have a great time. I am known for my laugh and it's been heard a lot on this trip.
I can't wait to see what else there will be to come!
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