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.
Prep, Two Weeks of Travel
I'm distressed about how much traveling I am doing soon (photo by Briana Morrison). I am doing laundry right now to prepare for two weeks of travel. Saturday the class is going to Berlin, Germany, for four days and then Prague, Czech Republic, for three days. After, we are coming back to Bonn. I have one night of relaxing and doing laundry again. Then, Briana, Brent (her BF that is coming to Germany for 9 days), and I are going on our week of travel. We finalized our travel plans today. Starting October 5th, we are going to Cologne for the afternoon, then riding a 3 hour high-speed train to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We will be in Amsterdam for 2 days/nights. Then, ride a 2 hour train to Bruges, Belgium for one day/night. Then, ride a 1 hour train to Brussels, Belgium for one day/night. Then, ride a 2 hour train to Paris, France for 3 days/nights. Finally, ride a 3 hour train back to Bonn/Cologne. We reserved hostels/hotels in each place. We are paying about 200€, per person, for all the logging. Most of our places included breakfast and are smack-dab in the middle of town. Our hotel in Paris is only 5 minutes walking distance from Notre Dome. Oh! Also, I got a rail pass (for all the train rides), so all the trains only cost me 295€. I believe I am going to be able to get away only paying 700€ for everything (lodging, food, transportation, and maybe souvenirs) for this 10 day trip. And, to makes things better, I will still have three train travel days leftover on my rail pass. To use them, I have started planning a trip to the Black Forest and Bern, Switzerland, sometime in November.
Cologne or Bust
A group of us headed to Cologne. It was a cold, windy, droll day. We all met at Bonn's main train station (Hauptbahnhof) at around 8:50am. We got onto a regional train and arrived at Cologne in only 20 minuets. After a quick call to Miriam we learned that Cologne has more then one stop. So we got onto another train and in two more stops up and arrived at Colgone's Hauptbahnhof. Once you walk out of the train station, Cologne's Cathedral is immediately at your feet. The sight is astonishing. Locals say you have to pick up your jaw from the floor the first time; they are so right. We walked around the Cathedral and then spent the 1€ to walk up 529 spiral stone steps to the top of the south spire. It was so tiring, but worth the view. We came down and went to lunch at a local Italian restaurant. After lunch, we wondered the souvenir shops. I found a limited edition, hand crafted/painted, stamped/signed, pewter top and german seal, beerstine for 70€ ($100). I am debating weather or not to go back and buy it. We then did a bit more window shopping at local clothing places and decided to go to the Chocolate Museum. Before going on the self tour we all got hot chocolate, european style. Absolutely the best cup of hot chocolate. After our souls were warmed by the sweet silky blanket of chocolate love we headed on our tour. The museum walked us though the making of chocolate from start (growing) to finish (advertising). My favorite part was where we were in the production stage with all the machines. See a movie of the truffle machine. It was like being in Willy Wonka's factory. We finished around 6pm-- on our way back to the train station I filmed the Cathedral's bells pealing--and headed back to Bonn.