Day...One?

Greetings from Schriesheim, Germany! :)

There was a one hour delay in the departure of our flight from Sioux Falls to Chicago which very nearly made us miss our connection to Ottawa. Andrew and I literally had about ten minutes to race across O'Hare to make it to boarding on time. We arrived a little late for boarding, but thankfully they started boarding late (just as we arrived) so we made our flight. Unfortunately, United Express was convinced that we wouldn't make our flight, so even though we did make it, they re-booked us on another flight. That wouldn't really be a problem, but our luggage was apparently re-booked as well and didn't make it onto the original plane with us to Ottawa. It kind of sucks being here with nothing but what I had in my carry-on (thank goodness I packed my toothbrush in there!), but with any luck the baggage will arrive sometime tomorrow.

I slept for almost the entire flight from Ottawa to Frankfurt, and with the help of some coffee to keep me awake for today, I think I might have managed to adjust to the new time zone. Either that or my body has absolutely no idea if it's supposed to be sleeping or active; I suppose we'll have to see how the next couple of days turn out. It's about eight o'clock now, anyway and I'm completely exhausted. Today was an easy day, we met the rest of the students at the airport in Frankfurt and then took a bus to Heidelberg which dropped us off with our host-families.

My host-family has turned out to be great so far! I'm staying with a couple named Anika and Johannes and their young boy (8) and girl (10). Anika took the time to show me around the smallish town of Schriesheim, which I have so far found to be very charming. :) Schriesheim is about 10km from Heidelberg. Everything here is green and lush and smells like flowers, mostly roses. The buildings are old, and the town has a lively feel. I'm looking forward to spending some more time exploring and really getting a feel for this place. Since it's so close to Heidelberg, and there are well established bicycle routes, and my host-family has a spare cycle for me, I think I might be riding a bike to school instead of the train once I understand the route a little better. :D

After our walk, we ate fresh strawberries and played Uno with the kids. Finally, we went to a pizza party to meet up with the rest of the summer program students and all of their host-families. I got to speak mostly English today, but will be expected to speak mostly German tomorrow and pretty much exclusively German from Sunday onward. I think that will be tough at first, but hopefully I'll become comfortable speaking it all the time without too much awkwardness. I'll be riding a train to Heidelberg tomorrow for an orientation and a tour of Heidelberg. I'll start posting pictures tomorrow, too. :) Until then, I'm going to try to get as much sleep as possible. Tchuss!

Pre-Journey Test Post

Right now, I have about two days before I leave for Heidelberg, Germany. Classes ended a couple weeks ago; my German is starting to feel rather rusty. But, my future fellow travelers and I took a European Studies class designed to prepare us for Germany, taught by one of our German language professors (the one coming on the trip with us). In this class we discussed what we might experience in Germany, heard from a couple students who went on this trip two years ago, and worked away at the ridiculous amount of paperwork we had to fill out prior to our departure.

Some of the things we've learned about Germany (and Germans):

•          We might be stared at. In the words of my professor, "You might look across the aisle on a bus and see a guy just staring at you. It’s pretty normal. You can stare back, or look the other way and pretend you don't see him..."

•          Recycling is required by law in Germany! Apparently, there is actually someone that goes through people’s trash, and if there is glass in the same container as paper or something, the guilty one has to pay a fine. It seems I’ll learn a thing or two about serious recycling; I’m not complaining!

•          Germans don't have the same concept of personal space as Americans do. They jostle you around in line, and stand uncomfortably close. I don’t think I’ll particularly enjoy this, but I can deal with it.

•          Heidelberg is very bike-friendly, and has an extensive network of bike paths and bike lanes. The people who use these bike paths/lanes are very protective of their right to use them; it sounds like being yelled at for being in a bike lane is not an uncommon occurrence. There might even be some cases of pedestrians being run down by bicyclists? I’m not sure about that, though.

•          On the third or so day of our trip, we will cry and possibly even pack our bags and beg to go home. A combination of jet lag and a couple days of constant concentration on understanding and speaking German will cause us to be mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted and therefore susceptible to emotional breakdown. I'm already preparing myself for this, for I have no doubt that I will be among those who suffer from the third day blues.

•          Most Germans know more about American politics than most Americans. I shall need to be prepared to discuss, and even potentially argue politics with some of the people I meet in Germany. I think I can handle that. :)

While I don't look forward to being uncomfortable, nervous, and emotionally unstable...I’m definitely mostly just excited that I get to go on this trip!

If your curious as to the details of the study abroad trip (what I'll be doing, where I'll be going, etc.) check out the About page!