Yesterday Kim, Chenin and I went to Bonn to look around! I love Bonn its one of my favorite cities so far being here. In the evening we went over to our friend's house and play this game Activity. Its a combination of charades, taboo, and pictionary. It was so much fun, and the fact that it was in German made us have to use a translator, and have at least one German teammate on each team, haha. While we were working on German they were working on English. What I found interesting was that many words either from german or english don't match up. There was a German word in the game that translated in English was Game stop. Which in German means, if you can't get the best answer or the answer, use the second best haha (just an example). Today Kim, Chenin and I went to Bruel. I have been before but it was their first time. We took a tour of the palace, and we saw the hunting house. The gardens were so beautiful, and saw a bridge and groom taking their wedding pictures. What a beautiful spot! Today also was the first time having chinese food here, and it was really good! Also Bruel had this open market, which was very cool, so many people were out! I think it was because it was a Saturday and the fact that everything is closed on Sunday's.

Grape(s) Society

So classes are going in full effect now, I already have a project due beginning of April~ Yesterday I bought my Eurorail ticket to go to Germany (Berlin, Munich), Benelux (Amsterdam, Belgium, and Luxembourg) and France. We have planned out our first trip which is to Paris, for easter weekend. Then we are going to Amsterdam, in the weekends following, which we will be there for Holocaust Remembrance. We will get to see Anne Frank's house and much more. Today I ate at a Mexican Taco restaurant. I wanted a bean and cheese burrito, and I know they have the ingredients, but they were unable to make it for me : (. But this is the first and only place so far that we were able to get TAP WATER for FREE!!!!!!! I was soooo excited about that. In the evening there was a club I joined on campus called the Grape(s)ociety which we got to try different wines! There will be tasting and events that we can participate in and attend. We also have 97 vines on our campus which I signed up to tend and help prosper the area, which I am really excited about. I can't wait to learn more about wine and how its made or where it comes from. We are going to have 2 events so far that we discussed tonight. First is Wine and Chocolate pairing, and the second one is discounted wines against more expensive wines (it will be a blind tasting)!

I finally started school, which I haven't been to a class since December. The classes are different here, where each class is 2 1/2 hours long. Each week your schedule can change. So far some of them seem like they will be ok, and some very boring. I can wait to start German! We don't start the class until March 22nd. I still don't know really any German, but I am looking up words, and am going to put them all over my apartment. We don't have t.v.'s here, so I haven't watched t.v. in a while. BUT the thing that the others and I look forward to every week is Germany's Next Top Model on Thursday's! Its 2 hours long, all in German! I don't understand a thing (well I'm picking up a few words here and there). But its really interesting to watch it. Bad Honnef is along the Rhine River, which has a walking trail next to it. I have been going on walks (around 4 to 5 miles), which is so beautiful and peaceful. I joined a running club on campus, which we run along the Rhine. In June there is a run in Frankfurt, which I plan to participate in. The other day I was walking along the Rhine, I had found a trampoline, which was soo much fun! What I find amazing here, is that there are so many elderly people walking all the time. I have seen some even with walkers, walking along the Rhine. Also seeing them ride their bikes around town!

Trip to Bonn and snow!

Yesterday I went on a trip to Bonn with the new exchange students and international students. We went to a German history museum, which was interesting about WWII, and the Berlin Wall. Our tour guide was funny. Then we are went to a german bar, and we all got drinks ( the first round was on our head department ladies)! Germans like to mix there beer with different drinks, coke, diet coke, fanta, sprite. I think that is so weird, but I decided to try beer (a light beer when mixing it with something else) with diet coke. It actually tasted good, it brought the beer flavor down and didn't make it too strong. And it started to actually snow last night!!!! Maybe I can make a snowman : )

Today it snowed! It looked more like dandruff haha

Day #2 of orientation

So today I went on a different castle hike. I went to Lowenburger, which was a really good hike. It is tucked back into the mountain at the top so you can't see it from Bad Honnef. It is part of the 7 mountains, and is the second tallest. While we were hiking up, one of our professors (led the hike) said this is where snow white dwarfs were said to be ( in the story of course). The forecast for tomorrow and Saturday say some snow! I really hope so. I don't like the cold, and it will be even colder but snow! Tomorrow we are learning about different wines maybe even get to try some!

Orientation

From March 3-5 I have orientation for my school. Yesterday we had a cocktail party which was fun then we all headed to the La Dee Da bar together. It was fun. Today was more orientation, and we got to sign up for excursions. I am going to a ruin castle - Drachenfels. (I think we are walking all the way there) not sure though. Tomorrow is more orientation, and then we are all going to Bonn, to go to museums and go to a bar. It should be fun!