Protected: Dominik Sings
I love USA und Ich liebe Deutschland!
The study abroad program is over. It officially ended on December 5th, but some of us stayed for one last weekend, leaving on December 8th. For my last weekend I hung out with Dominik and also saw the last 5 studio members that stayed. On Saturday December 6, the studio people all went over to Pam's host family and had taco salads, to re-acclimate to "American food." It was a nice relaxing evening.
On Sunday, I was at Dominik's flat. We went bowling, watched some TV, played games, I got some of his recipes, and he burnt me some german music CDs, so on. I had to leave for the airport at 5:30 am, so we just stayed up all night; I slept on the plane. The trip back was over 21 hours of traveling; Cologne Airport, to Munich, to Philadelphia, to Houston. It was a long trip. The flights were not to bad, just some small turbulence over the ocean. We had just enough time between flights to re go though security at each airport. It all worked out well. In Philadelphia I got a philly cheese steak for dinner -- when in Philly, right?
It was my first time coming back to the US after 9/11. Security is much tighter. It was also the first time I had to declare things. Long story; but I made it back into the country. Some small things I immediately am happy for: free drinking fountains, ice, free refills, free bathrooms, smiles, and English. It nice to be able to understand the conversations that are happening around you. Such a small thing, but really affects your personal space.
Well, now for my last words. Ich liebe Deutschland. I will miss everyone and everything I saw in Germany. I cannot express how much this trip has effected me. It is an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. Auf Wiedersehen, Tschüss, und Bis bald!
Now I'm back in Texas, living at my mom's until I move into my new place. I will write a massive post about that soon.
Barcelona, Spain
For my last trip I wanted to go somewhere different. So Briana and I went to Barcelona, Spain. It just so happened that we went on November 29th and M'lynn and Rachel were going on the 30th. We made arrangements to stay in the same hostel room and to all come back to Bonn on December 2nd. Because this was my last trip I wanted to try and spend as little money and posable. So I had everything budgeted down to the last euro cent. Little did I know Ryan Air had other plans--Barcelona was amazing, but getting/coming back was horrific.
We found a good deal on an airline, Ryan Air. It left from Dusseldorf and arrived in Barcelona. Dusseldorf is not that far from Bonn so we figured it would be fine (take a train for 6€). Well, it turns out that Ryan Air fly out of small airports, so even though it said Dusseldorf, it was in a small city closer to the Netherlands. We had to take a bus from Koln HBF to Weese Airport; 21€ extra and a 1 hour and 30 min bus ride. Here is where it gets worse. Right as our bus arrives, we see that the terminal is being evacuated. Someone was not clamming a bag so they evacuated the terminal and we all had to wait outside in the cold (I mean cold; -1 Celsius) for 3 hours. Our plane was delayed for over an hour. After the evacuation we got everything sorted out and finally landed in "Barcelona." HA! No, it was another small city 1 hour and 30 min from Barcelona. So, yes, another 21€ bus ride.
Once we finally got into the city, we used the metro to get to our hostel. Our hostel was amazing, Briana did a good job. It was very modern, clean, tall, and stylish. We even had free access to the neighboring spa (with pool, sauna, so on). That night, because we had been traveling for 10 hours, Briana and I stayed in. We went down to the cafeteria and sampled some authentic Sangria--which was, for lack of a better word, divine. We had a bit to much and stayed up talking and laughing until 2am. While talking we also planed out a schedule for the next few days.
The next morning (November 30), while waiting for M'lynn and Rachel to arrive in the afternoon, we went on a city tour from one of Briana's travel books. First on our stop was the famous "La Rambla." We walked down the pedestrian corridor and gawked at the architecture, shops, artists, and ambiance. It was so nice being somewhere that was "warm" (comparably to Germany).
At the end of La Rambla, we came to Barcelona harbor. Standing tall in the air was Christopher Columbus; you can tell it is him because he is pointing to America. We walked along the harbor and to the beaches. For lunch we talked to some locals and they told us to go to "Origins." It was an organic restaurant that uses 99.9% local ingredients. It is a Tapas restaurant; meaning you get allot of little things and eat the all together. I got spanish sausages and Cannelloni. The Cannelloni was in a rich cheese sauce and had tuna in it; different, but good. That was Briana's and my "nice" meal, 13€ each.
After lunch we went to the Picasso Museum. I know Picasso is very famous and his paintings are innovative, but I never fully understood why, until after the museum. It took us through his entire life, from about age 9 to death. It was amazing to see how he was trained as a professional "traditional" painter and how he evolved into "Picasso." We were at the museum for over 3 hours. After, we went back to the Hostel for a siesta. We napped for 2 hours, awoken when M'lynn and Rachel arriving at 5pm.
We went out for a simple dinner and to take them to La Ramble at night. It is interesting to see things at night, compared to the day. The change has such an effect on the feeling and even the type of people that are out. It is nice to have time in a place to see the differences. At the end of the Ramble, we went to the beach. We walked in the sand and all touched the Mediterranean sea, for the first time, at the same time. It was cold, but warmer then I thought it would be. After the beach we walked to the closest metro stop and headed back to the hostel.
After breakfast (December 1), we took a metro and a bus to Park Güell. The park is by Gaudi, the famous architect. The park is on a hill to the north of Barcelona so it has amazing views over the city. The layout of the park is simple, from a landscape architecture view, but the style and architecture is stunning. All four of us stayed at the park for hours, taking hundreds of photos. Gaudi's use of tile, shape, lines, scale, views, are just fascinating and so spanish. He really did lead and embrace the art nouveau style.
After the park we took another bus around the city to see his architecture facades. We hoped around the city just big eyed at all the buildings. It is so fascinating that this one man did so many things. His name is so synonymous with Barcelona style. He really put Barcelona on the map. To top everything off, the final stop on our self tour was the ornate and extravagant church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. The church is so power full it speaks for itself, so I am just putting a photo.
After, we went back to the hostel for our siesta. We got up around 5pm. It was our last night in Barcelona so we wanted to go out that night. Because we all wanted to save money we decided to "pre-game" with the hostel sangria then head out. At 6pm we went to the cafeteria and has our sangria pitchers. I love this picture from that night because it explains the night perfectly: sangria, random people, and blurry. In the hostel we met 4 German women on a vacation. We befriended them and talked as much as we could in german and they in english. It was a fun night just talking. At 1am Briana, M'lynn, and I went out on the town. Rachel passed-out in the hostel room.
We took a taxi to the city center because the metro stopped running. Once at the city center we wandered around stopping locals around our age asking where to find a place to go out. The answers were all the same, "It is Xam on Monday, everything is closed." So after wondering around the streets of Barcelona we headed back to the Hostel at 4am. Everyone was really nice and spoke good English, more english then I thought people would speak. Even though we did not find a club, it was fun being together in Spain wondering around aimlessly for hours.
In the morning (December 2) we checked out of the hostel and went to the city center for another few hours before having to leave at 2pm. We went to one of the local Spanish markets. It was so cool. Such strange food I have never seen before and so much sea food! I know Texas has alot of sea food, but I was speechless. It was an authentic market with meat, fruit, vegetables, spices, oils, fungi, fish, and more. I even saw an old woman toss a flounder up into the air and cut its head off before it hit the counter. It was cool and nauseating at the same time, a good time to head out. At 2pm we left Barclona and went to the bus station.
I do not even walk to talk about getting back to Bonn in detail so I am going to shorten it. I took a metro, bus, plane, train, train, train, U-Bahn, and walked allot somewhere in there. It took over 10 hours. I am so tired of traveling, not tired of seeing places, just the traveling. Anyway, at the airport I saw a Spanish sunset, a perfect ending to my Barcelona trip.
Thanksgiving & Bonn Christmas Market
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Being here in Germany on Thanksgiving is kind of hard. They do not celebrate it here and I really miss family. To help the "pain," the program I am here with gives all the students a Thanksgiving party; with turkey and all. I think I said that AIB has students from Texas A&M University and from LMU from California. The party was a joint Thanksgiving, so it was nice to have more Americans around to help celebrate and create the Thanksgiving mood. It was a nice dinner. We had pounds of mashed potatoes, 6 turkeys, stuffing, salad, fruit salad, green beans, souffles, cobblers, pies, and more.
After the two hour dinner, the Texas students went to Bonn Christmas Market-- and the Glühwein was flowing. The markets take over the plazas in the city. They set up little quaint themepark villages. It is such a cool experience. The shops, lights, food, smells, sights, merchants, so on. All that was missing was caroling; which supposedly starts in December. The cup system here is neat. You go up and order your drink. Included in the price is a deposit on your cup/mug. If you like the cup/mug you just keep it and your deposit is the cost of the cup/mug; or you can go up and give it back and receive your deposit back. The Christmas mugs this year is a hand painted strong mug with scenes from around Bonn, so I kept mine as a souvenir. Oh yeah, I also did the same in Vienna.
In other news, today also marks the last day of my semester classes! Whoop! No more classes. Now I have 9 days of traveling, roaming, relaxing, and packing. I am going to Barcelona, Spain, November 29th till December 2nd. Then, home to Texas on December 8th at 9am (German time). It really is bitter-sweet. I want to stay, but I really want to go home.
Vienna (Wien), Austria
Because driving to north Germany went so well; Dominik and I decided to do a road trip to Austria. Do not be so shocked; It is only a 6 hour drive. It is like driving from College Station, Texas, to New Orleans, Louisiana. We rented another car Friday (November 21). We got a station-wagon to save money; we wanted to sleep in the car by putting all the seats down and use the highway pit-stops for other important things. To save even more money, before we left Friday night, we went to the grocery store and got supplies (food) for the entire weekend. We also packed the car with allot of blankets and pillows to make the car comfortable during sleep.
The car we got was amazing, a 2008 BMW. It had every bell and whistle you could think of: navigation system, 6 CD changer, seat warmers, personal environment controls, so on. A perfect car for a long road trip. We got on the road at 10pm Friday. We drove about half way, slept at a pit-stop, then got to Vienna in the morning around 11am. The German highway system is fantastic. Now, it is winter here, the temperature is around -2 Celsius; under freezing. To prevent the road from being icy, they have the railing the runs along the road spray airline de-freezing agent onto the roads, also the pit-stops are very frequent and have everything one needs.
Once we arrived in Vienna (Saturday), we drove to the city center and parked the car. We got out and went sight seeing. The first thing we got to was the pedestrian only shopping district. It was completely decorated for Christmas. Most cities I know put up a few lights and garland. Well, Vienna had Christmas light chandeliers all the way down the main promenade. It was gorgeous. To make things even more magical, it was just slightly snowing and street entertainers were playing the piccolo--I felt like I was in a Dickens' Christmas story. We just walked around went into the shops and took in all the sights.
Once it got dark at 4pm (heavy clouds) we got to the city center again. We wanted to go around to the main tourist historical monuments, but the tourist office was closed. But, lucky for us, Vienna has horse-drawn carriages that give tours. We got the long tower that went all over: city hall, musicians houses, palaces, castle, 16th century restaurant still owned by the same family, so on. It was such a good experience; talk about Dickens' Christmas story. The driver was so nice. He offered to do the tour in English, but knew more in German. So, he gave it in German and Dominik translated.
On the tour we went past the Vienna Christmas Market. Once our tour was over, and dropped us of at the city center, we walked to the Christmas Market. All over Europe they have these markets that are set up near the city centers. They are like craft fairs, but are oriented for Christmas. They had everything you could imagine: little toys, blown glass, ornaments, music boxed, baked good, so on. One important feature of every European Christmas market is Glühwein. It is like hot mulled wine, but is spiked with rum. Needless to say, it is a powerful drink--good for cold, cold, cold, nights. I drank once glass and was good for the rest of the night. Dominik had the non-alcoholic version, because he was the driver; what a good friend.
After the market we want to a local bar and found out good places to go clubbing. We went out around 11pm. We went to around 3 clubs, trying to find the best one. Finally at around 2am we found an awesome club, with people around our age, playing good music. My favorite song of the night was "Infinity 2008 - Guru Josh Project." Not necessarily a German song, but still reminds me of Austria for some reason. We were done with the club at 5am. Dominik was hyper on energy drinks, so I slept in the passenger seat as he drove half way back to Bonn.
It was good I slept. Dominik told me when we got to the half way point that we went though a massive blizard and were driving around 40 kh/m. I hate driving in snow; makes me so stressed. We got to a good pit-stop and made up the car for sleeping. We both slept from 10am to 3pm (Sunday). We drove for another 4 hours in more smaller blizzard conditions until we finally got to Bonn at 8pm. We unpacked the car and then Dominik drove me to the dorm. When I got to the dorm I had to finish my last paper for class; all I needed to do was a few edits. I got to bed at midnight. What a weekend. Only two more classes until school is over! Then only 14 days left in Germany.
Spontaneous German Weekend
I consider myself very reserved, organized, precise, and planed. Yet, I do know that spontaneity is the spice of life. And once in a while it is okay--as they saying goes in Germany, "when that cat is out of the house, the mice dance on the tables." In other words, I had no homework over the weekend so I wanted to dance on tables. Hence, my very German spontaneous weekend.
I have been in Germany for over 3 months now; I was bound to make some German friends. When I got out of school on Thursday I went over to Dominik's flat. Wait, some history, sadly, a few weeks ago his car finally kicked the bucket. He has been stuck in Bonn for two weekends. Bonn is not really known for being a party town, so if you want to go out you need to take public transportation or have a car. As we all know, having a car means you are very independent and do not have to schedule around the public transpiration. So, when I was over at Dominik's he asked what I wanted to do this weekend. I told him I had been to west German, south Germany, and east Germany, but not in north Germany. We talked about different things we could do and eventually landed on renting a car and heading up to north Germany.
That evening his mom drove us to Avis (the car rental place--same one in the USA). Yes, his mom. She so happens to live in the same apartment complex as him around the corner. Sweet lady, only speaks German. Anyways, when we got to the car place they said they were out of cars. But they did have the backup Audi TT 2008. Because it was the last car on site they gave it to us at the compact price (not sports price) and the 3 day special weekend rate. On top of that, I used my ASLA Avis discount (Danke Landscape Architecture Society of America). The grand total was only 150€ (we split it 50/50), instead of 260€. That also included unlimited kilometers; we just had to pay for gas.
That night we headed out and went clubbing in Dusseldorf, Bochum, and Essen. They are all near each other. Furthest one is about 2 hours from Bonn. We had so much fun. In Bochum, we went to a club called Stargate. Yes, Stargate like the movie. The entire club was decorated like SG-1 with a mockup Stargate behind the dance floor. The other dance floor of the club was decorated like one of the Egyptian ships. For happy hour, which is around midnight, they had 1€ cocktails. I danced on the dance floor for over 4 hours straight. The rest of the weekend was just that. We bounced around club to club, driving the awesome car (getting much attention from the ladies), and sleeping at his friends house in Essen (saved me alot of money!). My favorite song of the night was ,,Alles Neu" by Peter Fox.
Oh, Dominik had never been in a sports car before and he fell in love with it--wanted photos with it as well, as you can see. I wanted him to drive mostly because he knew the area well and it was dark. It was really fun to play with the 6 gear transmission. Also, in Germany the autobahn (highways) has no speed limit. The recommended speed is 130 km/h (81 mph), but there is not a necessarily posted speed. So on one of the straight stretches, and the road having no traffic because it was late, Dominik opened it up and we got up to 220 km/h (137 mph). It was very exhilarating. Amazingly, the car is so comfortable, it did not feel like 137 mph; if I had to of guessed, I would have said it was 90 mph.
We got back to Bonn Sunday at 9pm; which was good. The next morning I had so much work at school. We had a project day. We basically design for 8 hours straight. I was mentally exhausted after. I was glad to have a weekend of simple independent travel; helped me relax some. This week at school is going to be very difficult and intensive. Only three weeks left in Germany.
Zurich, Switzerland
The group of us arrived in Zurich around 11pm after a 3 hour train ride from Munich, Germany. We walked from the HBF to our hotel which was only a few minutes away. We all checked into our rooms and went right to bed. We all made plans to get up and meet at 9am. We headed to the HBF to exchange money. Switzerland is still on the Swiss Franc, not Euro. After getting money, we went looking for a restaurant for breakfast. I had done some research on Zurich so I knew where the local cheaper restaurants where located, Niederdorfstrasse. We found a cute place which served continental breakfast; perfect.
After breakfast we went shopping. First we went shopping on the local's shopping road in the Niederdorfstrasse area. So many shoppes. Everything from local second hand shopping to New York designers, swiss mecanics, to chocolate. We found a classic swiss hand craft store that had 100% mechanical music boxes. I found the one I want, it is 3000 Swiss Franc ($2800). At the end of Niederdorfstrasse were the two famous Zurich churches. We went into both of them and up one of the towers. It was a nice view all over Zurich. After the churches we did more shopping.
There was a small gathering of some type. We did not know what for because it was only in German and French. But they had some snack stands up, which included-- yes-- roasted chestnuts. We could not resist. We all split 200 grams. They were a bit different then we imaged--very potato tasting. At least I get to say I have had roasted chestnuts, from an open fire, in Switzerland. We then went to dinner and back to the hotel. Some people went out clubbing that night. I went to bed because I still didn't feel 100%.
The next morning was Sunday (November 9). All the stores were closed so we had a nice relaxing day strolling around Zurich. We went down the main shopping street. It has cool florescent tube lighting all the way down. At the end of the street we went to the Zurich arboretum. All the leaves were changing colors. It was a painting of autumn I will never forget. At the end of the arboretum was Zurich harbor. When you looked out over the winter harbor you could see, just in the background, the Alps. Zurich is not exactly in the alps, but you could see them.
After walking around for hours, we went into an authentic Swiss restaurant. We had hot chocolate and a small snack. All of our feet hurt from walking so much so we went back to the hotel. We watched a movie on my laptop and then headed to the HBF. We got on a non-stop City Night Line train at 8pm. Our train ride back to Bonn was over 9 hours (which I used one of my left over Eurail Pass days, leaving me with two days left for another trip). I slept most of the way, so it only felt like 4 hours. We arrived back in Bonn at 5am. I jumped on a U-Bahn and got to my dorm at 6am. Such a perfect trip and good planing.
Heidelberg & Munich
The class arived in Heidelberg (November 4, 2008) at about 1pm after a 4 hour train ride. We walked from the HBF to our hotel, checked in, and freshened up. Heidelberg is known as a University town in Germany (much like College Station in Texas). We came to Heidelberg to walk the Philosophers Walk. On the northern side of the Neckar, the Heiligenberg hill, remains of the celtic fortress and the Philosophers Walk. The walk got its name from the fact that Heidelberg philosophers and university teachers are said to have once walked and talked here. It has excellent views of the old town and castle. The walk is basically a narrow staircase up a moss covered wall alleyway. It was an interesting walk; mainly valuable for the style and views over the city. After the walk, we headed back to the hotel. 
AIB paid for a group dinner at our hotel authentic German restaurant. We had a fantastic announcement from Cat (and Josh, her husband) that they are pregnant; with a baby girl. They told me about two weeks after we got to Germany, but I had to keep it a secret for months! It is nice to be able to talk about it now. In celebration of the news (and presidential election that night), we had a party in one of the hotel rooms and watched CNN (in English) on TV. The next morning, right as we woke up, we turned on the TV in our room and got the election results. Obama! It is kind of strange. In the States it is posable to almost ignore the election as it is happening. In Europe, it is everywhere. The whole world is watching the States; you just cannot escape the election. It is nice it is finally over. I think I can speak for everyone in my studio, we were tired of being asked "Who are you voting for?"
On Wednesday (November 5), the class checked out of the hotel at 10am and went back to the HBF. We got on a train to Munich. We arrived in Munich around 1pm. We used the U-Bahn to get to our hotel. It was a nice 3 star hotel owned and located centrally in a district close to my heart. We checked in, freshness up, and then gathered and headed to our first tour. We all went to met with Munich's Landeshauptstadt Baureferat office; essentially Munich's Park, Recreation, Public art department. They gave us a 2-3 hour presentation on how Munich incorporates art into all aspects of development. 2% of a project in Munich must be devoted to art (public and private). So a $2 Million building in Munich would have a huge public art budget requirement. The building the department is housed in is amazing! The art they had instated is fascinating. A whole circle of the courtyard rotates. It is hard to explain in words. The project was called "Courtyard in the Wind." I'll find a picture.
After our presentation we went to an authentic Bavarian restaurant, Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus is a brewery in Munich, owned by the state government. The Hof (court) comes from the brewery's history as a royal brewery in the Kingdom of Bavaria. The brewery has the second largest tent at the Oktoberfest. Its own brew, of course, is the only beer served. We went to Bavarian night at the restaurant. They have shows of authentic Bavarian dancing, singing, and merriment. It was fascinating to see, I got some movie clips. The food was an all you can eat buffet, and really good. As a side note, The Hofbräuhaus in Munich was one of the beer halls used by the Nazi Party to declare policies and hold functions: On February 24, 1920, Adolf Hitler proclaimed the twenty-five theses of the National Socialist program at the Hofbräuhaus, which reconstituted the German Workers' Party as the National Socialist German Workers' Party, known as the Nazi Party. Some of the first violent attacks on Jews took place at the Hofbräuhaus. All in all, even with the tainted history, the Hofbräuhaus is one of Munich's pride and joy.
Now, for the past day my stomach has been feeling bad. I was getting bad cramps. At the restaurant I made sure to chew really well and only got Sprite. The next morning it was worse. I needed to use the bathroom every 2 hours. We went out on a city tour to see some the highlights from the presentation last afternoon. Walking around the city, not knowing where bathrooms were, and being outside in the cold was unbearable. The public art was cool. My favorite was the infinity staircase.
The next morning (November 7) was our last day in Munich. We were all gathering in the lobby at 8am to check out. When I came down from my room, I was as pale as a ghost. I felt offal. I was in so such pain. I was thinking I may need to cancel my weekend in Zurich and go back to Bonn. I talked to Miriam and Naderi. They told me to stay at the hotel and rest (we had our rooms until noon). It was a hard decision because I missed the Dachau Concentration Camp Tour (I got pictures and a summery from my studio people). In retrospect, it was a good idea to miss it feeling they way I did. I went back up to my room at 8:30am and at 8:45am M'Lynn showed up at my door. She was sick too. We both slept in the room until noon when Naderi came to get us and check out. We then sat/slept/rested in the hotel lobby until we needed to go to the HBF at 5pm. M'lynn went back to Bonn. I was feeling slightly better having rested and slept all day so I went to Zurich, Switzerland. And I am very glad I did.
Boo! (That’s German for “Boo”)
For Halloween the studio decided to have our own party (because Germany does not celebrate Halloween) then go clubbing in Cologne. We all went over to Pam's host parents house, which graciously agreed to host the party. We all contributed 3€ and Pam went to the store for hotdogs and snacks (it was BYOB). The class mainly went as leaves, 4 people went as the current presidential (and VPs) candidates, and one person went as if she was stuck in the 80s. The party was really fun. 
Our professor even came and did face painting. We had a good time being all together outside of the classroom. We were going to meet Miriam (our AIB program coordinator) in Cologne, but she sent a text saying she did not fill up to it. Because it was cold, we were relying on public transportation, and everyone was dressed up, we did not go. The party started winding down at midnight. Everyone wanted to make sure to catch his or her last U-Bahn home, so we ended the party.
I got home at around 1am. I expected just to go to sleep, but the next part of my night made a 180 degree turn, no, more like a 360 degree turn. If you want the full story, ask me in person. Basically, I ended up in Cologne until 9am. So yes, I was up all night. I got back to the dorm at 10am, and went to sleep. I got up at 5pm for dinner and AIB movie night. I got home from movie night at midnight. Sunday, I got up late at 1pm; after much needed rest. It was a very good weekend. I am glad I finally went out in Cologne; an amazing Halloween!
Colors of Nature
Saturday, Briana and I planed on going to UN day. When the class visited the UN building, our tour guide told us that UN day was all Saturday near the UN building. Briana and I decided she would come over to the dorms at 4pm (because the dorms are just down the road from the UN building) and we would walk to the events. Well, we could not find UN day. We walked by the UN building and down to Bonn Park. We walk all over the park. This park is like central park in New York, huge. We finally realized that we were not going to find anything and gave up. After walking in the beautiful landscape, we wanted to explore more outside. We remembered some other classmates told us about the Japanese garden in Bonn (a part of the large park). We walked a little further and found the garden. Wow, absolutely stunning. The layout, water, white/gray stone, sounds, vegetation, maroon/red maples, just made for a stunning setting.
A little backtracking; Briana read an article a few days ago about red lipstick. Basically—I am drastically paraphrasing—the author did an experiment to wear red lipstick (she never wore red lipstick). She came to the conclusion (even thought it was relatively awkward at first, because red is such a powerful color) that it was a confidence builder: people noticed and commented, people seamed to respect her more (at least listen more), and so on. Briana wanted to try. So yesterday, Friday, we went to one of the mall like stores in Bonn and rummages thought the red lipsticks. Briana could not find anything. After 30 minutes she had over 15 red lipstick test dots on her hand. I looked at one of the gem tones sitting right up front and said, "That one. Buy that one." She did. So, Saturday she wore it for UN day. The color is really nice and it fits her. Anyways—why I am telling you this story—at the garden, the Japanese red maples had begun to drop leaves. We took many photos posing and playing in the leaves because the scenery was so beautiful. I picked up one of the leaves and gave it to her; it was the exact same color as her lipstick. Because Briana's camera was already out, I used it to take a picture of her. Later, Briana touched the photo up; absolutely gorgeous.
Later that day, I went over to Briana's host families house and made baked pumpkins seeds from the pounds of seeds we collected from the pumpkin carving night. Her host 'mother' was astonished at how "much work it is." She had never had them before (remember, they do not celebrate Halloween, so no pumpkin carving, no baked pumpkin seeds). They turned out really good. We made two types: salt & pepper and cinnamon & sugar.
Back to Saturday. Briana and I realized that we have been in Bonn forever and never once gone dancing/out in Cologne. We all have been to busy or traveling. We decided this Saturday night was a good time to go out; a last hoopla before we had to buckle down and finish our projects. I had found a grand opening of a club in Cologne (SEXY) a few days before, that just happened to be this night. I requested we go. We told Rachel (classmate) and she wanted to come too. We all met at the Bonn HBF at 10ish and got to Cologne at 11pm. The club didn't even open its doors until 11pm (like ever other club in Europe) so we knew we were fine on time. We walked from Cologne HBF to the club in just a few minutes. As we were walking down the last block we could see the line. I have seen movies, that take place in big cities, were people stand outside clubs waiting for the bouncer to let them in, slowly moving inch by inch, as the line extends all they way around the city block. This was that line. We were stunned; we didn't know this kind of thing acutely happens. We waited in line for over 2 hours. All while learning that Germans do not know how lines work. We had so many people cut in front of us. At around midnight multiple lines started forming—the main line had growths coming off. By 1 am, the line was a massive group of people up by the main door. We three came to the conclusion we should just give up and catch a train back to Bonn. After midnight the trains only run every hour, so It was good to go at 2am. By the time we would have gotten into the club (and paid the 10€ cover) we would only of had a few minutes before we had to grab the 3:50am train (which we all wanted to do). All in all, it was just a fun night being out in Cologne, seeing hundreds of people, and being at a grand opening of a club. Baby steps, right? Next time we go out in Cologne, we will go to a club that is established.