Introduction to University life and a trip to Luxembourg

After returning from Munich, it was time to start classes at the university; my summer vacation which started the second week of May and lasted through the first week of October was officially over! I was ready to start classes, but of course was not ready to give up the freedom of summer!

A few days before leaving for Munich I moved into my room and got situated. The living situation here is a bit different from the standard dormitory setup I was a part of my freshman year of college: instead of sharing a room with another student (like in the US), I have my own room, complete with a desk, dresser, and a few book shelves. Although I have my own room, I share a hallway with 4 other students, and together we share a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a shower. I live with two girls from Germany, one girl from Japan, and one PhD student from Austria. Although we share an apartment, more or less, I hardly ever see any of them--even though I leave my door open! I'm also pretty sure I'm the only person who uses the kitchen, although the fridge and pantry are filled with food. I'm not sure what everybody does all day, but I know they aren't spending their time in the apartment! So, the social living scene isn't all that exciting, but I live in a great area of the city. I live in a 5 minute radius of: the main library, the Economics library, all of my classes, the multi-purpose field, the main University building, a few cafes, the central bus and train station, and my favorite, the cafeteria! I really lucked out with the location of the apartment, being central to the city where I don't even need to take a bus or train to get where I need to go. The grocery stores are within 5 minutes by bike, as well as other important stores, so all is well!

The Hofgarten, with the main University building behind

Academically speaking, I will be taking five classes this semester. Below, I've provided a brief summary:

1. Verhaltensökonomik(Behavioral Economics): This course is taught in German and is a Monday/Wednesday course lasting for 1.5 hours each day. It is taught in a large lecture hall with around 90 enrolled students (although only 60 attend the lectures). Content wise, this class deals with the psychological and social aspects that economics seeks to explore. It is a relatively new branch that is viewed as "soft" in the economic realm and "hard" in the psychology realm; many academics view this branch of the field as a hybrid between economics and psychology. To my economically-minded readers: We are taking a rather mathematical approach to the topic and proving theorems in class, not sticking strictly to psychological theory and vocabulary words.
2. Game Theory (Economics): This course is taught in English and is a Wednesday/Friday course lasting for 1.5 hours each day. It is taught in the same lecture hall as the above course with relatively the same attendance. The professor looks and talks like Ralph Fiennes, so the first day in the course I couldn't shake the fact that Lord Voldemort was teaching me Economics, but rightly so because the first class kind of scared me anyways. This course is inherently mathematical, so at times I just feel like I am in a math course where economic terms get thrown around randomly. I am excited to see how this course goes this semester.
3. Deutsch in Wirtschaft und Handel (German in Business and Commerce): This is a German language class which will help me improve my grammar and vocabulary through conversation homework. Some of the goals of the course are to prepare students with writing CVs in German, writing professional emails, and learning the right vocabulary for various other tasks. This is a class which meets just for 2 hours each Tuesday and is a 9 person class, and it's proven to be a light work-load with a great payoff!
4. Green Utopias/Dystopias: Literature from the Anthropocene: This is my English literature course which meets once a week for 2 hours. The class is limited to 30 students, but we break into small groups to discuss reading assignments. We have a reading list of five novels which deal with Earth as imagined in a utopian/dystopian future where human actions have considerably changed the Earth's ecosystems. This class has already proven to be very thought-provoking and I look forward to further discussions.
5. Changes in America's Republican Party with the advent of the Tea Party: To be honest, this is probably the class I have looked forward to most since learning of my schedule. It's a 9 person class which meets once a week for 2 hours. The content of this course deals with a highly detailed academic review of the Republican Party, and specifically, what influences the Tea Party has had and will continue to have going forward in American politics. Each class has a themed lecture and we will also be covering the Midterm Elections and presenting on several key states. I will also make an additional presentation on the results of Louisiana's midterm elections.

I am very excited for this semester, both between the courses I am enrolled in and the various programs sponsored by the University. I think this semester might be filled with the most interesting courses I've yet to take in college, and that isn't meant to be a knock to LSU, but after 4 semesters of working hard, I've earned the right to take a few fun General Education credits here in Germany. I will have to work hard in the courses, but I also have a great deal of liberty which I hope to exercise when I choose to do some travelling abroad in Europe. We'll see what the coming months hold!

After settling in Bonn, I began to look for some ways to branch out and meet new people. The University has a well-organized sports program and offers groups/classes ranging from soccer to Nordic walking, mixed-dancing classes to Capoeira, and everything in between. Unfortunately for me, I was late to the game and found that, out of all of the relevant 10 or so sport classes I would have wanted to sign up for, all were booked! I went ahead and just started Google searching things to do and came across a rock climbing group in Bonn full of international people who don't speak German. This was great for me because I flew over some of my climbing gear and didn't know where to start. It also helped that I would be meeting people from all over the world who preferred to speak in English rather than German. I contacted the head of the group, Guillermo (from Argentina) and he was more than willing to help me out. The next day I met him and some other climbers at one of Bonn's climbing gyms. We climbed for about 2.5 hours, and as I was leaving, Guillermo asked me if I had any plans for the weekend. He told me they climb every night of the week in gyms, but try to make an excursion to the outdoors every weekend for more practical climbing. This weekend, they were going to Luxembourg to a world-famous climbing place and said I could tag-along if I was free. I quickly became free!

Climbing gym in Bonn

We met early on Saturday morning, where I was introduced to the climbing group for the weekend: Guillermo would be heading the group with his wife Isa (Spain), along with long-time friends Vasiliy (Russia) and Kathrin (Germany)....and then there was me, 10 years younger than the youngest! We loaded into the van and headed out for the 2 hour ride. When we arrived we immediately hit the trails with all of our gear and started to climb.

View of fields in Luxembourg after an ascent

Before the 2 hours at the climbing gym days before, I hadn't climbed in nearly 4 months. Needless to say I was really out of shape, but I was surprised that I was able to go 6/6 in all of the routes I tried out. I attribute a lot of the unexpected success to the great encouragement from the others, who were always yelling down from below "You've got this, you can do this!" and then, it just happened! We spent our time hiking through the fairy-tale-esque forests, fields, and valleys before heading back to the campsite and starting the BBQ.

Mid-hike picture of a cow pasture

Each person threw in a contribution to the potluck dinner and we ended up having a variety of sausages, cheeses, and kebabs of onion, bellpepper, tomato, zucchini, and mushroom for dinner. It was great. To boot, we bought a few Belgian beers from the bar nearby. Afterwards, just when we all thought we were full, Vasiliy busted out two bags of marshmallows and skewers. Add that to some new-found chocolate that Isa found in her bag and we were close to making the smores trifecta, but alas, no graham crackers were to be found.

"Rocky Mountain Marshmallows," "Made in the USA," "A True American Tradition," "Classic"

 After having a great fire and feeling as full as could be, we all headed to sleep. The next morning we woke up to a breakfast of breads, cheeses, peanut butter, coffee, tea, and chocolate milk. We then headed out to climb for the remainder of the day. We climbed for the next 6 hours before heading back to Bonn.

A Luxembourg Sunset

As we were sitting above the valley watching the sunset above the routes, we said "How crazy would it be if a climber just poked their head up here?" No more than 10 seconds later, as if on cue, Vasiliy poked his head up and said "Hey guys!" You couldn't have scripted it any better!

Isa, with Vasiliy who just completed a route

My trip to Luxembourg was short, but it felt like time passed so slowly that it was easy to live in the moment and take in everything that I was experiencing. It really was a great weekend, not only because of the friends I made, but because of the little things too. The first day we were climbing on a face that had several routes nearby for other climbers. Along that face we were sharing the area with 3 other groups, and what I found really interesting was that every group was speaking in a different language. On the far left we had French, then to the right of that Luxembourgish, then Spanish, and we were speaking in English. By the end of the weekend though, in addition to those languages I also heard Russian, German, Italian, and Flemish spoken. Call me a tourist, but I still get goosebumps being surrounded by all these different cultures.

I am tempted to say that my trip to Luxembourg beats out my trip to Munich for "Best Weekend in Europe," but it's comparing apples and oranges at this point. I am seeing every experience for what it is and am not trying to compare against experiences; each experience is just adding to the tapestry of my short time here in Europe.

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany

The week after my departure from Cologne was filled with registration and paperwork for the University. However, at this point in time I was still living in Cologne, therefore I was waking up early every day to commute to Bonn to start my day of standing in lines, dealing with bureaucrats, running back and forth between buildings, and the like. It was such a hassle! I wasn't the only one though, because virtually every foreign student in Germany goes through a long, drawn-out process of the same paperwork too. We struggled together. Come Thursday of that week, I was considered done with everything and could finally enjoy what little time I had left before classes started four days later. Luckily for me, I had already planned out my celebration.

My friend, Alan, was going through the same process I was, but in Munich. Early on, once we had learned about the details of our future cities, we had planned to spend a weekend down in Munich, where of course we would check out Oktoberfest, and then maybe do some hiking the next day. Generally speaking, the most expensive part of attending Oktoberfest is the accommodation. Luckily, I was able to crash at Alan's place in my sleeping bag free of charge. Check!  All I needed to do was book my transportation there and back, pack a bag, and withdraw some Oktoberfest money from the bank and all would be good. Thursday around noon, after finishing off a tasty bowl of coconut-curry soup and a heaping bowl of pesto pasta (from the cafe I mentioned in an earlier post), I headed out to Munich. I once again booked my ride with the carpooling website, where the prices were four times cheaper than the train (and the rides were the same amount of time). This gave me a great opportunity to meet some new people, practice my German, and just see the countryside from the Autobahn. I had a blast. The ride started out a bit slowly, but with time came an hour-and-a-half long conversation in German. All of the passengers were quite receptive to my learning of the language, and all offered tips and corrections. After learning of my interests and hobbies, I received suggestions for future hiking destinations within the country. I can't wait to check those out. The ride ended up lasting 2 more hours than expected due to traffic (which we should have expected), making for a grand total of 7 hours in the car! I finished off one of the books I brought, Lord of the Flies, and started another. I also listened to quite a bit of music. We rolled into Munich at 9 pm, and I met Alan shortly after.

The next day, Friday, which also happened to be Germany's national holiday, we woke up and cooked a nice, hearty, Mexican breakfast. We left the apartment at 9:30 am, not really knowing exactly where to go to find Oktoberfest, but as the saying goes "FOLLOW THE LEDERHOSEN!"

Alright, that's not an actual saying, but I think it should be.

We found Oktoberfest in due time and went to find a beer tent to occupy for the rest of the day. That was at 10 am, one hour after the opening, and there was nowhere to sit inside! We searched thoroughly, but finally came to the conclusion that we were going to have to part ways with this specific tent (for those unaware, each brewery, or brand, has their own tent which can hold ~600+ people) and search elsewhere. As we walked back out, we discovered the outside patio--same structure as inside, just not as many people. We had our picking at tables, so we sat down at an unoccupied table and ordered two maß (pronounced 'mass': A one liter quantity of beer at 6% alcohol, costing a total of 10 euro). That was at 10:17 am, but it was 5 o'clock somewhere, so no worries. Within 30 minutes of us sitting down, we were greeted by a group of Germans, our age, who were looking for a place to sit. We ended up chatting with them for the next 3 hours! I made friends with Annka, who will soon be down in Australia doing a 3 month exchange program.

Annka, in a dirndl, and myself, sporting a pair of lederhosen

We ate some delicious German food, including pretzels, potatoes, and some heavenly chicken. The whole day was just fantastic. We talked a lot and laughed a lot, and you can't ask for much more than that. There are, of course, more stories to tell! Everything went well and I'm glad I was able to participate in one of the biggest cultural experiences in the world!

The next day we woke up early to catch a train that was heading down south near the border of Austria. We had carefully planned out the day's events two nights prior and would be heading down to Neuschwanstein, one of the most famous castles in all of Germany, to do some sightseeing and hiking. It's a big tourist destination, and actually has a connection to Walt Disney and Disney World. I encourage you to check that out on Google. We caught the train and settled in for the 2 hour ride. The seats were scarce, so I ended up sitting next to an elderly woman, but we got to talking and didn't stop for the next hour. I prefaced my monologue with "having living in Cologne for two months" at which point, very bluntly, she told me Cologne was not so pretty as Munich! She told me she had lived in Munich for the last 60 years and found it to be quite cleaner than Cologne (I'll tip my hat to that one). We talked about a variety of subjects, and it was just nice to talk to somebody with a different viewpoint. I hopped on the connecting train to Füssen and parted ways with her.

When Alan and I hopped on the new train we found a four person section unoccupied, so we took up residence. Another guy came and sat across from us and I, assuming he could speak German, asked him a question. He responded in English that he didn't speak any German, so we got to talking in English. Turns out he's from Colorado and is doing an exchange year here for academic and religious reasons. Within a few minutes of meeting him, he stuck out his left hand and said "I noticed your Eagle Scout ring, I'm an Eagle Scout too." After that, the conversation went strong for the next hour or so, talking about Louisiana and Colorado, hiking, Europe, and everything in between. Austin had plans to meet some of his other friends in Füssen, but wasn't able to get into contact with them, so he tagged along with us. We ended up hiking through the woods to the castle and spent the better part of 5 hours talking, hiking, and later, eating at a local restaurant.

View of the castle, left, nestled in the landscape of southern Germany

Alpine trail towards the castle, where Fall has already taken effect

Within 30 minutes of hiking from the base of the hill, we had made our way to the photo-op: Marienbrücke. This is the classic shot of the castle, situated on a bridge above a huge ravine overlooking the castle.

Neuschwanstein

Austin, Alan, and I hiked up a pig trail to get a better view of the castle, at which point we were looking down onto the castle and took some pretty memorable pictures. Good times. We hiked back down to grab something to eat. Afterwards, we parted ways with Austin and made our way back to Munich.

I left Munich the next morning by carpool. The ride lasted 8 hours (+3 hours for traffic delays), so once again I got some reading done, listened to some new music, and held conversation for about 2-3 hours. I rolled into Bonn at 8 pm, ready to start my first day of classes at the University only 12 hours later.

My weekend in Munich has been the best experience of my time in Germany so far. I was able to experience a different side of German culture, meet some new people, have delicious food and beer, and really just spend the whole time relaxing. When I set off for my year-abroad, I wanted to make sure that I experienced the right things and lived in the moment. Between Oktoberfest and Neuschwanstein, I can definitely say that my trip to Munich underlines everything that I wanted in a year-abroad in Germany. To that, I'll drink!

"Prost!"

Farewell, Cologne

I must sound like a broken record, but the time has been flying by. It seems like just yesterday I was flying over to begin my year-abroad and already I am commenting on events from my 8th week here.

My time in Cologne came to an end as we finished off the month of September, marking 8 weeks since my arrival in Germany. The last week of the immersion course was filled with silent reflections of the time spent together, the information learned, and the prospects for the future. When I joined the class , we were about 12 students strong, full of energy and conversation.  As of the last week we were down to 7, and although we were closer than before, it made for a tough 'good-bye;' after getting to know each other more personally, the thought that all of us would soon be in different cities, meeting new people, seemed absurd. It was a tough pill to swallow. One of the things that I really appreciated about my specific class was the fact that every student came from a different country (with the one exception that Iraq was represented twice); we had the US, Mexico, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, and Georgia represented (and during the fourth week you could say Spain and Turkey were both represented). This always created a great dialogue in class about customs back home and helped me 'see' the world just by being in Germany. On Friday, the last day of the program, we had a pot luck celebration of our accomplishments over the past two months. Every student brought a food typical from their homeland. I had considered making a gumbo, but didn't have the time to shop and cook, so I settled for cooking red beans and rice. Synthia, from Indonesia, cooked fried rice and brought spiced tomatoes. Madiha, from Pakistan, prepared a spiced, baked chicken with mild yogurt on the side. Alan, from Mexico, prepared a fresh sweet potato spread. Husam, from Iraq, cooked a traditional lentil soup which is normally served during Ramadan. To describe which food was my favorite would be impossible. Never before had I been able to sample such an array of traditional , freshly cooked meals from all over the world. The red beans and rice went over well too, but by the end of the picnic everybody was going back for seconds and thirds for ALL of the foods. I brought my Tony's along too, and it went over well. To finish the picnic, our teacher, Frau Exner, served her freshly baked cheesecake. It goes without saying that she is German, and a great representative food for her would be a pastry! I thought I was full before I learned of the cheesecake, but upon being served a slice I quickly found room in my stomach. It was delicious!

After the feast we exchanged memories and stories from the time spent together in Cologne. Frau Exner presented each of us with a card in which she wrote down a personal memory. We then spent the next 30 or so minutes trading the cards with each other writing stories and memories. It was a nice gesture and continues to be a memento from my time in Cologne. We parted ways in the class, but we still stay in good contact with each other. There is the possibility that we might be able to meet up again at some point in time this year. I look forward to this opportunity.

Synthia, Alan, myself, Frau Exner, Madiha, Saad, Husam, and Shorena

With the conclusion of my immersion program came the end of my time with my host family. When I first arrived, I wasn't allowed to clean my own dishes, unset the dishwasher, or perform other chores--that was left to the mom or son. It felt very out of place not being self sufficient or part of the team. Over time, and with my continual efforts to 'sneak' into the kitchen to unset the dishwasher, came more individualism and mutual respect. Towards the end of my stay I was doing all the dishes after dinner, unsetting the dishwasher, and usually setting the table too. We never had an outright conversation about who was to do what, but I tried to show my appreciation through the little things. During the last three weeks with my family, the idea that I would soon move out seemed to weigh heavier on me, as well as the others. Over dinner, the conversations became longer, more interesting, and more involved. The small talk picked up during the day too. Upon reflection, it seemed like I was recognizing what I would soon be missing, and I attempted to create every opportunity I could to savor the moment.

The last night with my host family was spent on a Tuesday night. The next morning I would be heading to Bonn with all of my luggage, by myself. My host mother, Frau Birgit, asked that I supply the menu for my last night, and she would cook it, even leaving work early if that's what it took. Of course I didn't want to infringe, and luckily my favorite dish (although 'favorite' is used lightly as I enjoyed every single meal at the house) was a potato casserole with pork. It seemed like an easy request to make. Tuesday night was spent with Frau Birgit, Herr Klaus, and their daughter Lena. Unfortunately Jannik, the son, and arguably my closest relationship in the whole family, was in Holland. But I appreciated the gesture of seeing Lena--she doesn't live at home anymore but came back home to see me off (she also came in town to see me 'in' on my first day). She had always been very helpful and patient with me in conversation, understanding that my German would take some time. We ate over the family dinner table with red wine, tossed salad, and homemade apple juice. At the conclusion of the meal, Frau Birgit went into the kitchen quickly as I began to unset the table, but soon I realized the meal wasn't over. She came in holding a homemade, perfectly constructed, tiramisu cake with freshly ground cinnamon on top. I was blown away...it might have been the best tiramisu cake I had even eaten. The dinner ended up lasting about 2.5 hours and during the whole meal we held conversation. We talked about my time in Cologne, differences with US culture, and so much more. It was a huge confidence booster, because I specifically remember on my first meal with the family I tried to stay as quiet as possible, fearing that my German was inadequate or that what I had to say was too elementary, but now, 8 weeks later, I was able to dabble in conversations from a wide spectrum of topics....and my German was actually pretty good now! They were quick to tell me this too, noting that my German had drastically improved since 8 weeks before.

There are only so many ways to repay kindness, and the task of repaying or recognizing 8 weeks of helpfulness, friendliness, home-cooked meals....well, I had my work cut out for me. I wrote the family a letter thanking them for all of their help, and I put that in a bouquet of flowers which I gave to Frau Birgit, but of course there wasn't any way to really thank them sufficiently.

My night with the family concluded with a train ride with Lena back into the city. It was just the two of us in the train, but we spoke in German for nearly the entire 30 minutes into the city center. She was heading back to her apartment and I was heading to meet Alan to spend an hour or two walking around our favorite parts of the city. Lena and I parted ways with a hug and a promise to stay in touch! I met up with Alan and we walked around the Cologne Cathedral and over the Rhine river, just reminiscing about our time in Cologne with the program. Both of us were in disbelief that the time had passed so quickly and that, 12 hours later, we would both be bound for our new homes.

View of the Cologne Cathedral and Hohenzollern Bridge, by night

I couldn't have asked for much more out of my stay in Cologne. I made some fantastic friends, laughed a lot, learned a lot, and have no regrets looking back. My first trip to Europe, my first encounter with German culture, was shaped by my time in Cologne. I enjoyed every second of it! Now it's on to the next adventure in Bonn!