Birks, Castles, Cathedrals, Oh My!

Time is really flying by! I feel like every day goes by quicker than the day before. I've settled into my daily routine here pretty easily despite how busy we are kept.

A pic from Schloss Buerresheim

Climbing the ruins at Monreal

A few days ago, we went to the beautiful town of Monreal. It was felt as if we were stepping into a Disney movie. The town is settled in a valley with ruins on the surrounding hills and each house is built and painted in a similar style. Pictures really don't do it justice.

Classes are going well. My vocabulary has significantly expanded, however, I learn the most German when I go home and speak German with my host family. I retain more from hearing them speak and placing words in context than I do from a lecture.

Every afternoon after class, our group meets and does an excursion. This week, we explored nearby landmarks, including a monastery, a 14th Century castle, the Cologne Cathedral, and so much more. These little adventures have really helped us see how beautiful our surroundings are and have also helped our class bond. On my favorite excursion, we did a bakery test and I really wish I took pictures of all the sweets we ate! Everything tasted AMAZING! I probably gained 5 pounds that day!

My friend, Colleen, and I at the Maria Laach Monastery

In addition to all of the scheduled activities we have planned, our group spend a lot of time together. We love going to Alter Zoll, our favorite Biergarten, and to the Hofgarten, a park where all the college students hang out. We've been lucky with the weather, and it feels great to unwind at the park with everyone after class.

After class yesterday, a few friends and I went out to look for the Birkenstock outlet, which is a little outside of Bonn. We were in Birk heaven! To all of my Birkenstock friends-order Birks in Germany! They're a fraction of the price and have so many more models here.  

Shopping was a success!

The Cathedral in Cologne! Can you tell which tower's taller?

Cousin Time!

Jessica and I at the Cologne Cathedral

Just over two weeks in and I got to see a familiar face!

My cousin, who's been studying abroad in England over the past semester, came to visit me in Bonn for the weekend! If you know me well, you know Jessica is practically my sister, so it meant a lot to me that I could see her during our overlapping time in Europe!

We maximized our time together and explored Bonn and Cologne, but we agreed that we'd also like to unwind. So instead of non-stop sightseeing, we took it easy. We went to the zoo, and explored some of the local favs here (Biergartens, the Hofgarten, and, of course, a Döner restaurant.)

Overall, it was great  to catch up and make some incredible memories together!

Messing around at the Zoo!

Guten Abend, Bonn!

Hallo! I've officially made it to Germany and am LOVING it!

I thought that my non-stop on the go summer days would've come to a close by the time I reached Germany, but they most definitely have not. Between my host family, school and friends, there hasn't been much free time! But leave it to me to be round-the-clock busy.

So where to begin...

Host sister's selfie game is strong!

My host family is WONDERFUL! The family has welcomed me warmly into their house and I love coming home from school and spending time with them. The mom's Turkish-German so we eat a lot of Turkish cuisine, which furthermore makes me want to visit Turkey!  The two kids, Jetta (3 1/2) and Eda (1 1/2) are adorable and keep the house lively. They call me "Abla," which is Turkish for sister because "Kirsten's" too difficult to say. It's great to be in a house with small kids because it's definitely benefiting my German...and it's quite humbling to be corrected by a 3 1/2 year old...

The view from a few doors down from my house!

German "boot camp" started last week and it's going well. We have five classes a day separated by coffee breaks that break up the day. The classes have been very beneficial for expanding my vocabulary and reviewing grammar (those adjective endings will be the death of me.)

Our favorite Biergarten on the Rhein

When I'm not at school, I'm normally out with the group. Our favorite meet-up spot is at a Biergarten on the Rheine. When we're not there, we're in the city eating ice cream, shopping or going on spontaneous adventures. All of us have a severe case of Wanderlust. We're all beginning to make plans for traveling around Europe over the next year! For now though, we've been exploring Bonn and Cologne.

Breakfast with the German class

Last weekend, we went to Cologne for Koelner Lichter, a firework festival. The fireworks there put our Fourth of July ones to shame. After that, we explored the night life there and went to a "disko" (which is pretty much a club.) We had a lot of fun and quite literally danced the night away!






One last thing. I found out that after Bonn, I will be spending the remaining ten months in BERLIN! I'm pumped to be in such a big city!

The whole group at a gallery opening! We met some very inspiring people, including a U.S. Vice-Consul! 

Auf Gehts! Germany Round 2

Hey everybody! This is going to be my  blog over the course of this year. I'll be using it to update my friends and family about my travels and experiences while in Germany.

Many people continue asking me why I'm going on a "gap year" to Germany so, in short, this is why...I was selected as one of the 25 students to participate on Congress Bundestag Youth Vocational Exchange (CBYX.) This program is co-funded by our Congress and Germany's Bundestag (their Parliament) to celebrate and maintain a strong relationship between these two countries. For the first two months, I'll be in Bonn living with a host family and attending an intensive language learning school. Following that, I'll by in BERLIN attending a school for a few months and then moving onto an internship in the field of international relations/ business. This experience is going to a) help me become fluent in German b) gain experience working in a field of my interests and c) to make international friends and lifelong memories.

Although this experience will be filled with ups and downs, I'm beyond excited for what lies ahead and I will try my best to keep this blog updated!

Here's the link to the program:
http://www.nacelopendoor.org/exchange-programs/americans-abroad.html