Where in the World is Kirsten?: Germany- a semester abroad!

Already ready for Oktoberfest 2013!

After arriving home from Singapore and Malaysia, I had four short, sweet days in Ft. Collins before heading onto my next adventure in Germany. Those days flew by way too fast and it felt like I just threw all of my clothes from one suitcase into an even larger suitcase with even more clothes in it. Fortunately, I was able to play tennis with my team and see most of close friends before I left!

My first 3 weeks in Germany were with my family, which made the transition made the transition much easier. We traveled all throughout southern Germany and Austria, spending a large amount of time in the Alps. Some cities visited include: Munich (we visited my good friend, Celine,) Salzburg, Mittenwald, Füssen (Neuschwanstein Schloß), Garmisch (climbed to the summit of Germany's tallest mountain,) Bodensee, Stuttgart (to visit relatives,) Tübingen (where my dad studied abroad,) Heidelberg (where my mom studied,) and we eventually made our way up to Münster, my new city! I loved trying everything new and different, whether it was food (I've had WAY too much gelato, schnitzel, pretzels and chocolate!) or activities, I've tried it. Fortunately, we had amazing, warm weather which we greatly took advantage of. We spent almost all of our time outside hiking, floating down rivers or swimming in lakes and exploring cities. All in all, I had a great time with my family and I got a good feeling for southern Germany.

My host family is incredible! They have two energetic and athletic sons, Jonas (17) and Flemming (15) as well as two bunnies (Pooh and Funny.) I was lucky enough to have known them since I was a baby as my host dad, Bernhard, was my dad's best friend when he studied in Tübingen. Additionally, Jonas lived with my family for a year when he studies abroad in CO. So there were no issues with that transition! However, I will only be able to spend three weeks with Flemming since he is studying abroad in Spain.

Bernhard, Jonas, Austen, me, Renate, Jonas...they were trying to shrink down to my height...

My family spent three days with them before they had to return home. Those days were very bitter sweet as reality begun to hit me and I was trying to resist it. I realized that Rocky had already started school and that I wasn't going to see my family until next year. It was all so different, but different is good. Although saying goodbye was difficult to do, I'm not going away for too long and technology makes it easy to communicate.