Ich liebe dich, Bonn

For those who don't know, I have officially been living in Bonn, Germany for three days now, and I must say, ich liebe sie! So far we have taken a tour of the city, went to the Reinisches Landes Museum, checked out some local pubs, and walked from one edge of the map to another!

So before I get into my actual trip so far, let me give some background information. I am a senior at the wonderful Texas A&M university. Although not born in Texas, I feel as though I have lived in San Antonio, TX (20 years) long enough to call myself a Texan (take that how you will).  I am fascinated by learning other cultures and how they solve problems, in particular, Germany's economy and growth over the last couple of decades; I am an International Commerce Major with a minor in Business and German.

Off to Deutschland:

My traveling day presented itself with one major hurtle to overcome. The plane I was supposed to take from San Antonio to Houston (to meet up with the other students and make our connecting flight to Amsterdam) had the right engine fail, not once, not twice, but three times, with an entire flight in it. Luckily the problem was detected during the taxi. It would start, then stop, and all the passengers could not only hear it, but smell it as well. As much as I wanted to get to Germany, I wanted off that plane! Unfortunately, United was unable to accommodate my need to get to Houston in less than four hours, but the greatest father in the world came to my rescue! By the time my dad picked me up from the airport it was 10:45, my flight was supposed to leave at 3:10 (boarding started at 2:10); driving from San Antonio to Houston normally takes 3 1/2 hours! Thank goodness for my dad's need for speed; I arrived at the airport around 1:45 went to the KLM counter sweating and nervous that security will take too long and I will miss my flight. But the guy at the baggage counter was very nice and saw how upset and nervous I was so he gave me "Fast Track" security pass. I got in and out of international airport security in less than five minutes. It was awesome! The rest of my flight went pretty smoothly, although in Amsterdam, Frau Passmore (my professor) and I almost missed the flight, because it took a lot longer to find an exchange station for euros than we thought it would.

Once we arrive to Bonn, we are escorted to a beautiful, old mansion which is called the AIB "old building." They have an entire array of chocolate assorted food... I must've been in heaven! The chocolate croissants were my favorite. I anxiously awaited my host mom to come get me. We had been exchanging Facebook messages back and forth for a month and we seemed to get along well. Once we saw each other we did that awkward handshake/hug combo, then we left and I had my first experience in a car on a German road. Scary! The roads are two ways but barely fit two cars- my anxiety definitely kicked in. Ela, my host mom, lives in an "apartment" (its more like a large duplex with neighbors on the top two floors and having the bottom two floors) with her daughter Anne who is 19. Their home is beautifully decorated, and even though Ela was apologizing for the untidiness of it, I didn't notice anything dirty or messy about it. After I got settled in we went to a place called Lamme and I had my first German (and legal) Beer; it was a Kölsch Bier. I had a pizza with some baby lettuce and ham on top, but as soon as I was finished ordering, I saw they had chicken tandoori! So I will have to go back and give it a try. Once we got back to the house I crashed for 12 hours.



Our first full day in Bonn, after an extensive welcoming meeting, we finally got to do some cardio after our long flight:

This is der Rathaus (town hall). The Burgermeister lives here and in a few weeks we will get to meet him! Eventually I will have a picture with me at the top of the stairs, but the tour guide kept saying "schnell schnell schnell" (fast, fast, fast).

In case you didn't know Beethoven was born in Bonn. As probably the most renowned composer in the world, he is the most celebrated citizen of Bonn. One last picture I find especially cool, is the "public library." It is in a converted, English phone booth. You leave a book and then take one, not sure how this would do in America, but it seems to be working here.

So after a long day of walking the group decides to relax and enjoy a Bönnsch Bier. It is the only beer that is actually brewed in Bonn and there is only one place you can get it. It was good, a little dry, but good.

(photo cred to Sydney, I forgot to take a picture!)

After dinner with our host families a lot of us met back up and when to Alt Stadt where there is a street just lined with bars, but on a Wednesday night it wasn't so hoppin. 

Today we went to the Reinisches Landes Museum. It was interesting; there were a lot of archeological artifacts that were pretty neat: some dug up barbarian bodies, a roman body, and weapons. The entire tour was in German, as is everything else, so I understood about 60% of it. But if you want to learn more about the museum just go to their website at: http://www.rlmb.lvr.de/

Tomorrow we are off to Cologne. The high will be 53 and the low is 33, isn't this supposed to be summer?

Tschüss!