Howdy! (weirdly never really say that at home but missing it here)
So it’s been almost two weeks since we made our hop across the pond to Bonn, Germany. So far, so good. We started classes this week and have already taken a quiz in German class, and have started projects in our Studio courses. Since we have been here, we have quickly adjusted to small differences of daily life. There are so many things you don’t think about during the middle of your every day, so when even the smallest adjustments take place, laughter is the only way around them.
1. In the US, when you knock on a door and prepare to open it, you expect to turn some sort of handle, right? NOT IN GERMANY!!!! Doorknobs basically don’t have a purpose. It’s just a fake out…. push or pull….. but figuring out to push or pull isn’t so easy when you don’t know what “aufziehen” or “aufstosen” means.
2. Milk has the shelf life of 2 months without refrigeration…. that’s just not normal, y’all.
3. Hair dryers here will suck the life right out of you. Just kidding, but they really do eat your hair if you aren’t careful. Both of us have already fallen victim to the terrifying fan within them.
4. Learning the bus routes is sink or swim. You get there early, and they show up late. You show up on time, and they leave you.
5. Splenda, Sweet N Low and other types of wonderful fake sugar don’t exist here. You like sweetened coffee? Too bad. Two sugar cubes and some warm milk is all you get.
6. Guns in this country are like unicorns. They are frequently talked about, but have never been spotted.
7. Taking a casual stroll to the market? Watch out for that car there parked on the sidewalk….
8. They have more strict laws on internet usage than they do on underage alcohol abuse. A 12 year old with a beer? Probably ok. Watching a miley cyrus music video on youtube, forbidden.
9. You stop to try out your first german Schnitzel. Don’t choke! Water is not free. You will pay 2 euro or die. The choice is yours.
10. Texans are like celebrities, and when people hear we are from Texas, the first things they say are “Pow Pow!” (their sad attempt at making gun sounds) and ask about the Mavs and our boy Dirk.
11. Do you like oatmeal? How about when it’s cold?…. cause that’s the common way to eat it here! Cold oats for everyone! (aka cardboard unless you put sugar on it)
12. You want to learn to speak German? Throw everything you learned from 1st-12th grade english class out the window. Grammar here translates to the worst english ever, and the letters are all different sounds. V sounds like F, W sounds like V, Z sounds like Tsss, E sounds like uh, and S sounds like Z. How’s that for a little mind boggling tongue tie?
13.Things that don’t exist in this country: Grape Jelly, Pop Tarts, Netflix, Pandora Radio, Pencils, Abc.com, most videos on youtube, decently priced tennis shoes (Nike Frees are the equivalent of like $200 US dollars!!), public restrooms, Stick deodorant, to-go cups, Mexican food, and people who don’t smoke. (Seriously, like 8 out of 10 people smoke here. Statistic courtesy of Laura Dobbs.)
14. Wedding rings go on your right hand ring finger. After a few odd looks directed to Laura on the bus we assumed it was just our American Vibe, but now we are fairly certain that shiny Aggie ring of gold is a little mistaken for something else. Everyone says you always pour your heart and money into your spouse…. I guess in this case they are still right. Thanks & Gig Em!
Since we last blogged, we have officially made our first German friend! Shout out to our boy Brian, the german student that lives in our basement… otherwise referred to as our troll. (As a term of endearment of course.) He helps us with our German homework, escorts us to all of the local hot spots, and is great comic relief at dinner time. Needless to say, we owe a lot of our laughs here so far to him.
Here are some photos of a few things we have seen/done since our last blog post! Tomorrow we are taking our first train ride to Brussels, Belgium. Fingers crossed that we don’t screw it up and that we make it to the right stop! We will update you with endless instagram pics of chocolate, waffles and beer (hopefully all three at once)….. and whatever else we find in Brussels that we don’t know about yet! We hope everyone back home is doing great!
Thinking of our friends and family always,
Love,
Kelsey & Laura
This photo shows why it’s a good thing we walk have to walk everywhere…
At the top of one of the hills in Bonn, during our 6 mile class hike.
Some cute stuff in a little store we found
Trying out the whole selfie thing. Standing in front of a cool church at the top of a hill.
Photo of said cool church at the top of the hill….
Weird but really cool grave yard we saw
Ceiling of the church we went to
Hi from our Hike!
Good thing shoes are supposed to get dirty cause it was muddy all over the floor!!! Cool leaves though!
Giant gummy bears found at HARIBO shop. Quick Fact, HARIBO brand is manufactured in Bonn!!
The heads of two martyred Christians. Cassius and Florentius were buried in Bonn, and their remains still are found here today.
passports&ponytails 