Germany Week 12 - Weightless

Wow am I feeling about 8,000,000 times better than I was last week. I feel myself, and I'm feeling even better! It was a relaxing week, university wasn't really stressful and it was chill. I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So I'm pretty okay with being off every other day! Tuesday Trez, Kelsey, and I met up with Hannes and Friedemann to eat at a cool cafe. Wednesday was the restaurant Schwerelos, where the food and drinks come with a little rollercoaster system. Schwerelos means "Weightless," so I thought with this week it might be appropriate! Thursday was a chill day, only a meeting with my super cool tandem partner! Friday was a fun night with Trez, Nick, and Sam. I'd have to say this was the most enjoyable weekend so far here in Dresden, great weather, great friends, and chilling out. You can't ask for much more than that. This week I was NOT lazy about my video, so I hope you guys enjoy!

Today marks 4 weeks in Dresden and nearly 3 months in Germany!

 

Germany Week 11 - Stressful German University

Week 11 here in Germany, have to say that this week has probably been the most stressful one during my stay here so far. University has been very confusing, and even after a week I have still not been able to finalize my schedule, we will have to see what is in store. Throughout the week I tried many different(and awesome) foods from Russia, Italy, and of course, evermore from Germany. I am glad to be settled into Dresden and say that I know the city, at least a bit. This video is shorter because of my recent sickness that I was lucky enough to get on Saturday. Had the flu(or something awful) for a couple days and am still recovering. I feel much better today, but I can tell that something is still a little off. I will get through this, I know it! All the best wishes to friends and family at home!

Germany Week 10 - Bringin' it Down

2nd week here in Dresden already. And here I am at week 10 of my stay here in Germany. With the start of my university classes coming up quick I am becoming more and more nervous. I can do this though! To start off this week's video there is wonderful footage of the beautiful place known here in Germany as the Sächsische Schweiz. It literally translates and the Saxish Switzerland. It has beautiful sandstone mountains and is quite a sight to see. All throughout the video is my own little personal Altstadt(Old City) tour, visiting with friends, exploring around, eating delicious foods, meeting awesome people, and don't forget, Luke and Trez dancing on stage at a club. DO NOT MISS THAT PART, simply click at 10:00 for the dancing. I really cannot express how fond I've grown of this city so fast. I feel as if I've already settled in and that I can call this place my home. My host family is still always as wonderful as ever to me. This next coming week will definitely feature a bit of university, my adventures, and maybe some of my sports classes I want to sign up for. I'm think Horse Riding and also Archery. Sounds pretty cool to me!

Germany Week 9 - First Week in Dresden!

Can it already be week 9 of my time here in Germany. Wow has it been cool. This week I moved to the beautiful city of Dresden. For all of you who don't know, Dresden sits tucked away near the borders of the Czech Republic and Poland in the east most part of Germany. It is a city populated by roughly 500,000 people and the city itself resides within the state of Saxony(Sachsen in German). This week involved moving to this awesome city to be greeted by my host family, our tutor Falko, and our GIZ representative. It felt like a very warm welcome. Although, it literally did not feel so warm, the temperature had dropped nearly 15 degrees(Fahrenheit) after leaving Cologne. Adventures this week include making dinner a few different times with friends, many meals with a wonderful host family, trips to the University and to Ikea, exploring the city, Stammtisch(regular's table of people) with host dad, having a super awesome BBQ on Saturday with everyone, and then going out later to meet a German PPPler and her friend to go to an Irish pub, it was an excitement-filled week, and I hope that I have many more like it!

And a very special thanks to my host family for being so welcoming. I really enjoy how I feel so included in everything. It will make my 10 months(nearly) here in Germany an absolutely wonderful one!

 

Germany Week 8 - Last Week in Cologne

Cheers to a last week here in Cologne. Had to say many goodbyes these past few days but I am still confident that the friends I have made here will still be lifelong friends to come. This week on Monday we visited St. Ursula's Church, where the bones of 11,000(or so) people are arranged in artistic patterns upon the wall. Very incredible to see. Throughout the week we had to present our final group projects at the CDC. I was able to spend more time with my CDC class and the wonderful people I've had the privilege of staying with here in Cologne. Friday was an International Dinner, saw many people before they left for their new cities in Germany. Saturday was an awesome lunch at a Korean restaurant with PPPlers, a BBQ with my host family and roommates, and finishing out the night by hanging out near the Kölner Dom and enjoying the company of all of my wonderful friends. I will miss everyone in Cologne and I wish you all the best!!

Germany Week 7 - Munich Oktoberfest and Neuschwanstein Castle

Another fantastic week it has been in the world of Germany. This week kicked off a little slow as usual, with my editing day on Sunday or Monday then chilling for another day. Throughout the video is some everyday life footage here in Germany, this week is the supermarket! But moving on to the weekend is where things become very interesting. Dawn, Katherine and I tried out "Mitfahrgelegenheit" where you travel with other people that are going to the same destination so it's cheaper for everyone. We all had a blast at Oktoberfest in Munich with our Lederhosen (for men) and Dirndls (for women). I spent this weekend with Dawn, Sam, Katherine, Cort, Dan, and Zack, all PPPlers except for Dan who was a friend of Katherine's. On Sunday we visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle which is what Disney modeled their logo from. We even dipped into Austria briefly. So over the course of my 2 months here in Germany after have never leaving the country before, in this stretch of time I have visited five other different countries. And I hope to add at least 5 more to that list by the end of this year, if not more! 

On September 30th I will be moving to Dresden for 9 1/2 months for my "permanent" placement. We shall see how the video situation will be from there, take a look for the week!

Germany Week 6 - Crazy Weekend

2 week countdown until my arrival to Dresden, but let's not forget the time here! Another fun filled week as week 6 of my stay here in Germany arrives. And oh so fast it has passed me again. We start off this wonderful week with dinner with friends, showings of class, and gearing up for the weekend. Friday night involved, you guessed it, RAVING IN THE FOREST. It was pretty awesome, the music was better this time, but SCHADE(German word I overuse meaning "Too bad"), it rained while we were there. Saturday, I and a few PPPlers went to hang out with the 29th year German PPPlers. We had tons of fun, drank, hung out, spoke German, went to a club, danced til 3 in the morning, and then the next day, we went to see them again for a BBQ. 

I'm also very excited to say that I will have a host family in Dresden. I cannot wait to meet them. They sound very nice and have recently wrote me back. Also having met my awesome tutor in Dresden, I have been reassured that he will help me, and I won't be on my own as I had originally thought. So here we go for the week!