I’ve been in Reutlingen, Germany for the past couple of weeks, and classes still haven’t started yet. I’ve done an intensive German language course, which ended last week and just finished orientation. It’s been frustrating, especially since I’ve been watching my friends talk about their classes, that they’ve been in for a month, and actually been jealous. There are some things that I’m getting used to, but one thing I don’t think I will ever be able to understand is how everything is closed on Sunday’s, literally everything. I’ve enjoyed speaking to people in German and after 6 years of studying the language it’s exciting to know that it wasn’t all in vain and I’m actually here. I went to Prague last weekend, and spoke more German than English there as well. It’s so easy to travel to different countries, and use public transportation with out feeling uneasy. I stayed in a hostel for 3 nights, and the biggest experience is definitely the people who stay in the same room, and I was lucky enough to share my room with 7 extremely drunk and loud Australian boys. One even managed to pee on the floor in the middle of the night, and another fell off of his bunk into it. I didn’t get much sleep much that night… Now that I’ve been in Reutlingen for almost a month I almost feel like a local, but there is still much to learn! For instance, my mom made reservations, not dinner, when I was growing up so I am learning how to cook and buy everything from scratch in a kitchen I’m sharing with 7 people (which will soon be 17 people by the end of the month). I am confident I will be a culinary master by the end of my travels, but luckily my roommate, who is from Romania, only cooks and has been helping me. One thing I’ve definitely enjoyed, has been how much walking I do compared to America and its a small victory everyday to compare my steps to all of my friends back home on different applications like Fitbit. I can’t imagine how people who traveled abroad over 15 years ago didn’t have the access to skype, FaceTime, or instant messaging like we do now survived! I don’t get too homesick, since I can easily call or message my family and friends. It also makes it easier when they see the pictures I’ve been taking and say, “wow that’s beautiful! I’m so jealous, I wish I was there!” To put it into perspective that I am lucky enough to be going on adventures l, stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing different cultures. I’ve attached a picture of Prague that I took when I went on top of one of the highest towers that emphasizes the beautiful architecture and roofs of the city. The question that keeps popping up in my life is, where to next?
