Where do I even begin?
Also, mein Deutsch ist besser jetzt als vor.
So, my Deutsch is better now than before. Which is true. It has been almost 2 months since I arrived in Germany and my comprehension of the German language has greatly improved. This whole "cultural immersion" thing seems to actually be working. A couple weeks ago I went with my host-parents to see "Wir sind Die Millers" which in English translates to "We Are The Millers". For those of you who don't know it's the recent movie with Jennifer Anniston and I think some guy from I think Saturday Night Live is in it (MADtv is better and always will be, just an fyi).
I was REALLY surprised at how much I actually understood from watching the movie. I literally knew almost everything they were saying. This experience was a lot different from just a few weeks before when I went and saw "Das ist Das Ende" ("This Is The End"). Back then, I hardly knew anything they were trying to say, only bits and pieces. This time around was like a lightbulb went off in my head and the jokes were making sense so there was no awkward laughing at the wrong times or just because everyone else was.
Last weekend I went on one of the best trips since I've left America, and that was to Köln. Köln is located the Northeast region of Germany and is about 5hrs away from Radolfzell by train (one of the only few disadvantages of being so close to the border of Switzerland).
Friday the CYBX'rs and I had a strenuously long cultural training session that involved discussing more differences between the U.S. and Deutschland including the work environment, the hiring process, the dress codes in the workplace, and of course.... how everyone was doing so far with their host families. Now as you know my host parents are EVERYTHING and by that I mean they could adopt me right now and I wouldn't even lift a finger to stop them. Who cares I'm already grown as hell? lol
Unfortunately everyone else isn't as lucky as me so of course you have those who still haven't "adjusted" to living with a German host family and probably never will. After getting a free Schnitzel for lunch, then sitting through a rigorous 4hrs of "vital" information, it was time for me to head to Köln, or as I like to call it... "Kuurrrrrrnnnnnnnnn".
I bought my ticket and had packed the night before so I was ready to go once I left the cultural training (that lasted from 8:45am - 5pm btw.....)
Luckily things ended a few minutes earlier so I was able to sneak out and make it to the train station with time to spare. Thanks to the Verkauferin (saleswoman) at the Bahnhof (train station) I was able to arrive at an earlier time so instead of a 6hr train ride it was reduced to 5, which really made a difference. I went through sooo many cities including Frankfurt, Bonn, Mainz, and Stuttgart. I finally arrived in Köln (also known as Cologne) around 10:15pm and was met by my friends Bri, Nancy, and her boyfriend Christophe. I was greeted with open arms and instantly felt the love...
After a few minutes of hello's, how are you's, and hey boo's we headed to our next destination which was this little house party another participant in the program was throwing on the other side of the city. It took about an hour, but we found our way through the dark alleyways. There I was greeted again by some familiar faces. I couldn't believe it had been so long since I've seen these guys.
We literally danced and partied the night away, shoutout to my boy Luke I had plenty of inebriated convos with him in German that night haha. Also shoutout to the Shannon who I designated as the "Rosanne Bar" of the 30th CBYX group, she literally gives not one f*ck about anything, and she never will. And I love that girl for it, no lie.
After about 5 long hours of partying, catching up on everyone, and speaking the most Deutsch I've spoken since coming to Germany, it was time to leave the party, find my bed, and rest up for a bit
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| Something wicked this way comes... (Köln Dom looking all dreary and luminous) |
The next day me and Trez (one of the participants I was crashing with) met up with our good friend Alex at the Kurndome.
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| Entrance to the Köln Dom |
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| Me, Nancy, & The "Hey Boo" originator Bri |
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| random candid with Buscagaletti |
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| Look at it... in all it's wondrous glory... |
Anyways.. after a good hearty meal, it was time to explore the city... We found a Lindt Schokolade (Chocolate) museum that was reasonable priced (with a student discount) and showed us how chocolate was made. In all fairness, I think ALL museums are boring and I instantly wanted to walk right back out after only 10 minutes lol. Instead I sucked it up and fought off my sleepiness by reading the random facts about Chocolate...
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| This chocolate machine was perpetually spinning and filling the moldings with white and milk chocolate making them hollow on the inside.. |
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| A very old case molding of what I believe to be Little Red Riding Hood & The Big Bad Wolf made from steel metal |
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| This was an interresting sign about the Mesoamercian culture and how they practiced religious rituals |
until we reached this huge room that was straight out of Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory... There was a tremendous chocolate making machine that was continuously spewing out heaves of chocolate. The one thing I found hilarious was there was a woman sitting in a small glass room where the production line ended. She sat there with an empty cardboard box that was being filled with the little free samples of chocolate that they give you at the beginning of the tour. This was literally her job for the entire day, sitting there, half sleep, collecting chocolates, hating her life. She looked so sad. So hilariously sad.
I went back for free samples (which were vanilla wafers dipped in a fountain of endlessly flowing Milk Chocolate) about 4 times and then we decided to high tail it outta of there and rest up. Bri and Alex went to Nancy's place to drop off his stuff, me and Trez went back to his crib to get some SLEEP. Museums are draining and my sugar rush was fading quickly...
Trez and I heard about the Germans that are in program same as us (except they go to the U.S. for a year studying, living, working) were wrapping up their program that night and were planning to go out for drinks, maybe party, etc. We were at our friend Shawn's apt. at the time so we all decided to go and meet up with Nancy, Alex, & Bri at the train station so we could all go together. A few long stops later and we ended up at the Youth International hostel where EVERYONE was. I saw a few of the participants from our group as well as a buttload of Germans around my age.
After a few laughs and an extended photoshoot in the lobby we all went to a bar for drinks and to chat with the CBYX'ers who had just spent a year in America. It was cool to see all the different places people were place. I met someone who was stuck in West Virginia for a year, felt bad for him because theres like.... nothing there but country folks and maybe a few coal mines. I got to practice some of my German with the gang and had a little incident that involved touching a Bri's hair. Which in the black community we all know is a BIG NO NO. She was cool with it though, plus it answered Alex's question of "how does she do her hair like that?"
After drinks we decided to hit up a nightclub where we danced the night away, which is where this series of miraculous photos came about...
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| woah mama, DON'T TOUCH THE HAIR. |
On of the Germans who had just gotten back from America went with us (hiding behind Bri's afro puff in the bottom left corner) and afterwards BOUGHT US FOOD. Granted it was KFC and I hadn't had KFC for years, but... it. was. the. best. buc-ket. of. chic-ken. I've. ev-er. had. OMG.
That was possibly one of the best nights I have had since being in Germany, and this is including all the different countries and places I've been. Nothing could replace this feeling, I didn't want the night to end.
It grew late (around 2:30am) and I had to prepare for my departure the next day.. :/ I rearranged to leave the same time as Alex and just ride back to Saarbrücken with him and then just go back to Radolfzell afterwards. That Sunday morning, we all met at the train station. Seeing that we still had about and hour or so to spare we decided to grab some coffee at this cool lil spot that had amazing desserts, they were pretty affordable too... (side note: I will DEFINTELY be going to that cafe again)...
Everything seemed to happen so fast, it seemed like just the day before I had arrived, but here it was, Sunday afternoon and it was time for me to say goodbye. Bri, KC, and Nancy walked us to our platform, we said our goodbyes and didn't stop waving (or winking) until the train departed.
On the train(s) I got to have a long, much-needed talk with Alex. I think we were both feeling a bit down about how things were going at this point in the program and how our expectations prior to Deutschland differed from our current reality. Life can really suck sometimes...
About 3 or so hours passed and we had made it to Saarland (German state where Saarbrücken is located) which I have to say is beautiful but looks kind of unlively to say the least. Although it was a Sunday and the weather was crap so that could have played a factor into it as well.. Said my sad goodbyes to Alex (which was weird, because I'm def gonna see his ass again in a few weeks or less lol) and went onto my next train heading towards Strasbourg, France. Saarland is literally a stone's throw from France so this was no surprise. I was kinda freaking out halfway through the ride simply because my French is "pas terrible" plus I wasn't sure if my Schons Wochende (Deutsch weekend pass for the trains) would work in France, and i DEFINITELY didn't want to pay any more euros that day. Luckily I was able to get by with just the pass and make my way safely back to Radolfzell and then my village known as Bankholzen.
So in total it took me a total 10hrs of travel from Köln to get home to my bed. The crazy thing is... I wouldn't have had it any other way...
Until next time..
Bis später!
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