You mean I actually have to study while studying abroad?

Well this is my first week of classes and I have to say it's been extremely weird being back in the classroom after 4months. It has definitely taken some time to get used to it and I know I'm not in the mood for homework already. From what I can tell this is going to be a semester of lots of reading and lots of presentations. It won't be easy by any means and I think once things start to pick up I will be pretty stressed.

My first day of class wasn't too bad. I only had two classes instead of three because my first class was cancelled because the Professor wasn't back. I guess he wanted more vacation time. My first class of the day was the course I'm taking through IES, the program I'm here studying through. This class is going to be pretty intense. We learned that we have to give two presentations, one 10 minute and one 15-20 minute, write an 8-10 page paper, and take a test. There is lots of reading and I think it will be very interesting, but really intense. The good thing is that we give these presentations in front of other IES students and we all know how hard this can be. However I know I will still be a nervous wreck when I have to give mine.

What made things worse was that when we were introducing ourselves in class, I thought it would be easier to just say I was studying German and political science because that is basically what I've been doing. Well when our teacher was trying to find someone to cover one of the short topics for this coming Tuesday he said, "Who is studying politics?" Well most of the class turned to me and then he looked up and stared right at me. The one time I say something different is the one time I get screwed. So I now have to give a 10 minute presentation this coming Tuesday and the book he suggested I use is like a mini-Webster's dictionary and I have no idea how to even sort through that.

My other two university classes don't seem like they will be too horrible. It will be challenging to understand everything, but both my professors are young and know English. I think they will be really helpful and understanding, which is the most important thing. I am looking forward to what I'm going to be learning in those classes. What's even better is that I have friends in all of them so that way if I don't understand something, hopefully someone else will have and we will be able to figure it all out.

It is nice not having classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. I have decided to not graduate early back at IU, which means I can drop a few classes for this coming semester. If I do that, the classes I would drop would mean I don't have class on Mondays or Wednesdays and I already don't have class on Friday. I can't imagine a schedule like that! I could deal with that though, no problem!

Um, I think he thought we were engaged...

Well this is my final post about my recent travels and it's all about Italy! As many of you know I have always wanted to go to Italy and a lot of that centers around the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Now of course this movie takes place mainly in the Tuscan region, but Italy has always been a place that I have dreamed of going to. Originally I wanted to go there for two weeks to just travel the whole country, but that didn't exactly work out, so I settled for three days in Rome and a day trip to Florence.

When I first arrived there from Aix, I asked the lady at the counter what was the fastest way to get to Termini Station. I had made ticket reservations for the Vatican Museum and the only time left was for 3pm on the day I arrived. Well my flight was supposed to arrive at 1:30, but of course it was late and it was closer to 2. The lady told me to take the bus and then get on the metro at the last stop and then get off at Termini. I did this and it ended up taking about an hour, which put me at Termini right at 3. Then once I was at Termini I had to find Alex and of course, our phones wouldn't work so I couldn't call him or anything. Luckily I was able to find the McDonald's in Termini and since I was late, we just went to the hostel so I could drop my things off.

The hostel I picked was called the Yellow and it was really a place for American students who wanted to party while in Rome. They tried to be clever with the witty names for their drinks you could order at the bar and they also had some really clever things on the rule sheet. Overall it was a nice hostel and I think the showers there were actually bigger than the one at my apartment. We were in a four bed room, so we weren't sure who our other roommates would be, but since it was Easter weekend we knew there would be people in there eventually.

Once settled, we headed back out towards the Vatican. We weren't able to get in because by the time we did get in, the museum was closing. Honestly it wasn't a big deal because we went back on Saturday, got right in after a short wait (not three hours like the people selling tours were telling us) and we got to see everything we would have wanted and not be rushed. I loved seeing the Sistine Chapel and honestly it was a little smaller than I had originally thought. The way I had always thought it was, was this big open room with this huge mural on the really high ceiling. Well the room was a pretty good size, but much smaller than I had thought, but the artwork was astounding. I could have probably stood in there for hours just looking at the mural. The whole room was painted from floor to ceiling and it was just gorgeous. You couldn't take pictures, but I honestly think that is something that's hard to capture in a picture. You really need to see it all to even attempt to appreciate that kind of work.

While we were in Rome we also went to the Colosseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the huge monument where the unknown soldier is buried, and St.Peter's Basilica. Everything we saw was huge, really old, and beautiful. We had amazing weather so that made everything even more enjoyable and exciting. I loved seeing all of these ancient sites and realizing how long they have been there. All of the history in this city is just amazing and I loved every minute of it.

On the first day we happened to see a sign for Hard Rock Cafe and Alex really wanted to go. We thought we knew where it was on the map and so we were trying to find it and we probably spent about an hour looking then finally asked someone where the street it was on was. Well we learned that we had been looking at the wrong spot on the map the entire time and we were no where close to it. We gave up that night and just went to the Colosseum. On Saturday night we decided to try again and we were walking and walking. We asked some men where it was and they said it was a little ways away. We walked some more and then asked someone in a hotel where it was. We eventually found it and discovered that it wasn't on Via Vittoria or Via Vestra (or whatever it was), but it was on Via Vittorino Vestra or something like that. Once we found it we were so ecstatic and we went straight in. I was so excited once I saw the menu because it was all American food and I mean real American food. I was so torn about what to get, but I finally settled on a side salad with RANCH dressing and a delicious veggie burger with fries. I was in complete heaven and I don't think I've ever eaten so fast in my life. I was one happy girl!

That night when we were at the Trevi Fountain, one of the many annoying men trying to give you roses or take your picture came up to us and said something. I just smiled and nodded and then he said congratulations and began to shake our hands. He asked us where we were from and then said he would take our picture. We said no over and over and he said that it was a special occassion and he would do it for free (yeah right), and finally he got the picture after we said no I don't know how many times and he left. When he walked away he said something about no money no honey. Well when he left I realized that he thought Alex and I had just gotten engaged. I was adjusting my class ring when he had spotted us because Alex had just looked at it and so this guy thought we were engaged. Oops!

On Friday, Alex and I took the train to Florence. I was super excited because I was going to see part of the Tuscan countryside and finally make it to Florence. I wasn't 100% sure about what there was to do in Florence, but I was pumped to go. We were going to meet up with Liz while in Florence, but due to poor communication and inability to call each other we weren't able to. Alex and I still managed to make our way around the city and we saw the Duomo, David, the Gold Bridge (Ponte Vecchio), and the street with all of the designer stores. It was a nice relaxing day and it was great to go for the day. The city was beautiful and so was the countryside. I would love to go back and be able to just stay in a lovely tuscan villa for a week or more.

We also had the chance to go to Easter Sunday mass at the Vatican. We were able to actually get seats and see the Pope. Our seats weren't that close, but we knew he was there and we could see him on the big TVs. It was so cool to have the chance to experience something like that and to see all of these people from around the world gather for this one event. There were people there from Croatia, Germany, France, Poland, America, and many more places. I didn't really know what was going on during the mass, but Alex explained it as it went on and I just loved being there for the experience. Plus we both dressed up in our Easter best, so that's always a plus.

I think I really fell in love with Rome and I have even more of a desire to spend more time in Italy. Rome at night was one of the most beautiful places ever. It's so amazing to see the Spanish steps lit up, the Colosseum, St. Peter's Square, and the Trevi Fountain in lights. I think the Trevi Fountain was one of my favorite places in Rome (minus the soliciters) because everyone there was smiling (except the girl that was arrested/caught by the police for climbing into the fountain, she was bawling) and almost everyone had gelato in their hand. It was just a nice carefree place where people come to just enjoy the view. I loved it!

I highly recommend Rome to anyone and everyone. It is so beautiful and rich with history. Oh and I think everyone should watch Under the Tuscan Sun as well :)

Fun in Aix...once I actually got there

Right after my parents left, I headed back to Freiburg for a few hours so I could unpack then repack and then catch a train to head to Aix-en-Provence to visit my friend Katie. Well as soon as I got back I repacked and then called Mitch and Jon. They both came over and Jon brought one of his roommates. We all decided to go on a walk up to the Schlossturm even though I had all of my things and we were going to be walking up a huge hill. I really don't know why I agreed to this, but I did and I managed to get myself to the top. It was quite the strenuous walk and I was extremely hot afterwards. When we headed back down we had to high tail it to the train station so I could make my train. I was able to barely make it on the train and I had a lovely fairwell from Jon, Mitch, and Jon's roommate Julianna.

I took the train to Offenberg and from there I was supposed to go to Strasbourg. Well due to the NATO meetings and subsequent protests in Strasbourg that weekend there weren't any trains going into France. I didn't know the full extent of this so I thought, "I'll just take the train to Kehl and try to go from there." That was a horrible idea. I had to talk to the guy at the train station, who proceeded to get mad at me because he thought I wasn't understanding him when he said no trains were running into France. I kept asking whether it would be easier to go back to Freiburg and try the next morning and after he switched to English and I continued in German and ennunciated every word coming out of my mouth, he realized what I was saying, refunded me my money and helped me figure out how to get back to Freiburg. Once I got back to Freiburg and realized I had wasted about three to four hours, I bought another ticket for the next day and then hung out with the guys for the rest of the night.

The next morning I got up early, got on a train, and set off for France again. This time I was taken mainly through Switzerland and had about four different changes. Luckily I didn't have any problems and I arrived in Aix around 3pm that afternoon. It was so warm and beautiful there! It was extremely different from Germany and Freiburg and it seemed more exotic. I immediately was thrilled to have come and it was amazing to see a different side of France. Paris was one thing, but southern France is very different. The atmosphere is different and the people seem different as well. Once I found the bus, I rode into the city and met up with Katie.

That night we went to a rooftop barbeque with her church friends and it was lots of fun. Everyone I met was really nice and even though we weren't able to get the grill to work, the food still turned out amazingly and was delicious. The worst thing about the party, but the greatest thing at the same time, was being on the roof and being exposed to all the pigeons. Shortly after we got there I felt something hit my hair and I looked around, but couldn't possibly imagine what would have been thrown at me. I felt my hair and then noticed something on my hand. I asked Katie if I had bird poop in my hair and she proceeded to laugh and then say she couldn't see anything because my hair was so dark. I went downstairs and ran into the bathroom where I then discovered a big thing of bird poop in my hair. All I can say is that I was mortified. It was so gross and I had to wash it out as best as possible. When I returned to the roof, the first thing I said to Katie was "I definitely had poop in my hair." That was the low point of the trip.

The next day I got to sleep in a bit, then wander around town. While Katie was in class I just wandered and did get slightly lost, but managed to make my way back. Then we went shopping, which is always a good time. That night when Katie had a meeting for her trip to Uganda, the other people in the group with friends visiting sent us out together to go watch the football/soccer game at the local Irish pub. We watched the game of Manchester United against Porto and it was a great game. I had fun and I met some great people. There was one guy who was from England, but studying in Brussels, and he was just amazed that we liked football. He said most British girls don't like it at all.

For my last day in Aix, a group of us went to Cassis to see the Mediterranean. It was so pretty!! We took a bus to Marseilles and then a train from Marseilles. We then had to walk a bit to find the beach, but we eventually found it. We purchased from bread and strawberries and had a nice little picnic. Once we finished eating we decided to put our feet in the water, but it was the most difficult thing ever because the beach was covered in rocks, not sand. I don't think my feet have ever hurt so much. I then had the bright idea to take a few jumping pictures and most of them just turned out pretty poorly and we all had looks of pain on our faces. It was fun though and while we sat there James, the guy visiting from Brussels, created a game called Rock Jenga. You had to move a rock from the side of the hole he dug, but you couldn't make any other rock move. I sucked...I never once was able to do it, but it did pass the time. Then we searched for green glass, but that became pretty violent as we struggled and fought with each other to steal each other's glass.

We then left and I stayed in Marseilles with James and his friend Adam. There really isn't much to see in Marseilles and honestly it's a pretty unsavory town. I felt a little unsafe and I was just glad I was there with two guys. Katie said that someone usually gets pickpocketed there and it honestly wasn't the best place I've been while in Europe. It was different and nice to see, but I would never take time to just go there. That night once I got back I went and watched another soccer game. This one was Bayern Munich against Barcelona I think. Bayern was killed and it was a sad game to see. It was fun though and I had a great time in Aix. It was so great to see Katie and to take it easy. Plus I got to put my feet in the Mediterranean!

Thanks Katie for the great time! It was nice to meet new people and I would love to come back!

Traveling with the Parents...

Well immediately after I returned from Paris, I had to gear up for the visit from my parents. They were arriving at 5:45am in Frankfurt the very next morning and I had to get myself to Frankfurt. The earliest I was going to get there was 7:30am, which required me to leave Freiburg on the 4:47am train. Thanks to my friend Mitch, I was reminded that the Trams don't run that early so I would have to get a taxi or walk to the main train station. This just created immediate stress because I had no idea how I was going to manage to get a taxi. Luckily I was able to ask a roommate what to do and I booked a taxi online.

The next morning I got up at 3:40am to meet my taxi at 4:15. It was soooo early! The taxi driver smacked her gum so loud that I thought I was going to go crazy. When we got to the train station I only had a 50 Euro bill to give her, so she proceeded to chew me out about it in German at 4:30 in the morning. I definitely was not in the mood for that. The good news was that once I got on the train, I was able to sleep for pretty much the entire ride.

I was able to find my parents really easily and that was when the fun began. They had one huge suitcase, a smaller rolling suitcase, a huge Vera Bradley bag, and a black bag. Essentially way too much, but we were able to get it all on the train. I knew right then and there that it was going to be a long week with all of those bags. When we got back to Freiburg, I showed my parents the city and my room. I was able to get all of the goodies they brought from home, like a gigantic jar of peanut butter, girl scout cookies, and other nicities from home. We then had lunch and I put them back in their hotel because we were all buckling down for the big NATO protest that afternoon. I was able to hang out with Liz, Jon, and Mitch for a while and run some errands. We went into DM so Jon could buy some things like shampoo. I found it really funny when Mitch suggested the volumizing shampoo (no offense Mitch, but you're hair has never struck me as voluminous). Then, while Jon was trying to smell the conditioner, he squeezed it too hard and he got it up his nose and all over. We all just burst out laughing and had a good roar. What a great way to end that day!

The next morning I was up early to go meet my parents so we could head off to Zurich. Well the first disaster of the trip involved us getting off one stop too soon in Basel and then having to figure out what to do. I did discover that even if you miss your train time, your ticket is still good so we were able to eventually get on another train to get us to Zurich. The bad thing was that my dad was rushing to get off the first train with the huge bag and ended up really hurting his foot and limping the rest of the week. Not good! Once we arrived in Zurich, we were able to get to our hotel and settle in a bit. The greatest thing about Zurich was the hotel. I have never stayed in such an amazing hotel. We had a huge room, huge bathroom with a TV in the bathroom (my dream come true), and lovely swiss chocolates awaiting us. Sadly because it was so cloudy, we couldn't see any mountains at all, which was kind of the whole point of coming. We mainly spent the day walking around and having a delicious Italian meal. That night I took a great bath, yes I took a bath, while watching TV, and then I slept extremely well.

The next day we set off for Innsbruck. We had amazing weather and the entire train ride we got to stare out at the Alps. It was so breathtaking to be able to see all of that for hours on end. Innsbruck was really nice and was surrounded by the Alps. We spent the day walking around and having two lunches. The first lunch was at a trendy restaurant that wasn't what it said it was in the guide book. After paying too much and not getting enough food we literally got up, walked a bit, and then went straight into another restaurant. That food was actually better and cheaper. We saw a few of the sights in Innsbruck and like usual, took it pretty easy. This trip was definitely not like Paris where we walked for hours and hours every day.

After Innsbruck was Salzburg. We took the train and saw a few more mountains. Sadly we were all crammed into a Harry Potter-like room on the train and it was a little uncomfortable. Once we got there we did lots of walking and saw where Motzart was born and where he lived. We also went and saw a few of the places related to the Von Trapp family and the Sound of Music. We could have taken the Sound of Music tour, but we decided not to. I think I want to go back and do that sometime. It would be awesome! The one thing about Salzburg though was all the tourists. I heard a good amount of English and the Americans were always easy to pick out. It was a nice city though and I would definitely go back.

One of our last stops was Rothenberg ob der Trauber. This is a medieval town that is still surrounded by the wall that was built a long time ago. We had to make three different connections in under 10 minutes and that was just stressful in itself. We were bookin' it a lot that day. The funniest thing though was discovering what kind of water my dad had actually bought. Throughout the whole trip, we were having troubles buying plan water that didn't have that mineral water, bitter taste to it. Well he decided to just get some sort of flavored water. As we were sitting on the train, I looked at it closer and realized it was strawberry and pepper flavored water. Yes, it had pepper in it. He was not too thrilled, but he did laugh really hard about it.

Once we got to Rothenberg, we just walked around a little. We had a nice lunch, but it went pretty slow and by the time we were done a lot of things were closing or about to close. So we didn't get to see everything in Rothenberg, but it was still nice. I thought there were lots of Americans in Salzburg, but the number is Rothenberg was astounding. They were everywhere! I couldn't believe how many people knew about this city and actually wanted to come. It was nice, but I don't know how special it was.

The last day we went to Frankfurt because my parents were flying out of there the next morning. Our hotel ended up being out by the convention center and not near the center of the city at all. Since we were all to tired, we didn't even attempt to go into the city with the bus and metro. I think all there really was to do was shop, so it wasn't a big deal. I don't think there was that much to do in Frankfurt unless you were a businessperson. Since we used the hotel shuttle to get out to the hotel from the airport, which was complementary, we assumed it was complementary to go back to the airport. Well we were wrong. It actually cost 7 Euros a person to go back to the airport, but we had to pay it and were on the first shuttle out the next morning.

I saw my parents off at the airport and then headed back to Freiburg all by myself. It was a great week, but very exhausting. I was really glad to have seen my parents and I think they came at a good point so that it put off any possible homesickness a little while longer. Once I got back I had to immediately get ready for my next adventures!

How do you say water?!

What can you say about Paris? It honestly is really all it's cracked up to be and more. I really loved it and I thought it was extremely beautiful. The Eiffel Tower was awesome, Versailles was so pretty, and the view from the Sacre Coeur was breathtaking. I think I would go back to Paris in a heartbeat, but the only difference is the second time around I would have more money and have a nicer hotel. Other than that it would be just as great.

Speaking of hotel, the first big "adventure" in Paris was all about our hotel room. Here's a good tip for everyone wanting to go to Paris: You can't sneak people into a hotel room in Paris. We tried and we failed. Our hotel made us turn in our key before we left and then pick it up when we came back. When we first checked in, Sammy, Todd, and I went in and found out that we couldn't get into our room until after 3. We could have left our bags there, but decided not to since the other three couldn't. When we came back after 3, we had six bags between the three of us for three nights. The man helped us by putting all of our bags into the lift so it could meet us at the top of the stairs, but I'm sure this only aroused suspicion because why would three people need six bags for three nights? Well we were concerned about what we were going to do the rest of the afternoon and by the time we were ready to go back we just decided that we would all go in and just go for it. Todd and Jake went straight up the stairs, but we were all stopped immediately. There were two men and they began questioning us, asking us how many people there were, didn't we only have three beds for three nights, who is actually staying in the room, why are these other people there. We all kind of froze, but Jake was able to spit out quickly, "Oh, we're not staying, we're just getting our bags." They wanted to know why we had their bags and we explained that they couldn't check into their hotel earlier so we were holding them. Well the asked who was actually staying and Sammy pointed to me and Todd. They let us go up and get their bags, but the other three couldn't come up. We got their bags and we all said good-bye and planned on when we would meet in the morning. I walked with Katie, Jake, and Mitch to find a hotel and we were just worried about not finding anything for three nights at 11pm. We were very lucky though and found a hotel around the corner, but sadly it was not the nicest hotel ever. They only had a tiny room for the toilet and the shower was just in the middle of the room. I think we had the slightly better deal in terms of room, but trust me when I say our room wasn't much nicer.

Another disaster we had was when we went to a cafe the first day to just get something to drink. Well Sammy wanted water, but none of us knew how to say water. When the woman came to take our order, we were able to spit out the other things we wanted, but we had no idea how to say water. We asked if she spoke English and she said no, so we proceeded to say water in four different languages. We're pretty sure she knew what we were saying, but she wasn't going to budge. We gave up on the water and then we stared at the menu and finally found some bottled water. We asked for Vittel and she immediately knew what we wanted then. I think that was one of the most frustrating parts ever.

Another thing that happened on the first night was our horrible decision for dinner. We were all so tired and had walked around so much that first day that we were all fine with settling for fast food. Well we saw Quick Burger, which we assumed was like McDonald's. We were horribly wrong. It was actually pretty expensive for a meal and the food was horrible. There was nothing quality about it and I think my sandwich had been sitting there since they opened that morning. My bread was hard and the chicken and tomatoes were practically stuck into the bread. The place wasn't that clean either and there were some really sketchy people there. We were bothered by some women asking for money for their families and then we saw a man talking to himself in the corner. It was not a nice place at all and I would never ever go there again!

Besides those problems, we had a pretty easy time of getting around the city. After getting a free map on the first day from a very creepy man, who Katie wonders if he even had pants on, we were able to find our way through the city. I was even able to give a French girl directions on the first night to a museum! That was a very proud and accomplished moment for me.

When we went to Versailles, we all went with baguettes to eat for lunch and some of us had 1.5 liters of water with them. Well we discovered when we got there that we couldn't take food or drinks in, so what did we do? Naturally we then began to eat everything. We were all standing outside the building where you buy your tickets pulling and tearing off pieces of bread and dipping it into peanut butter. Todd even had a little jam from breakfast that morning. I'm sure that everyone that saw us probably wondered what the heck we were doing and we definitely looked like peasants. Todd then chugged practically all of his water and we were all pretty full after that. It was quite the sight to behold.

It was a really great trip though and we were able to see so many awesome things. I can now say I've seen the Mona Lisa, climbed to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, been to Versailles, had a real French baguette, and walked along the red light district of Paris. Those are some major accomplishments!

Wait...I was just where?!

So I have just completed the best break of my life. I still have about two more days of break before I start class next Monday, but I will be in Freiburg until then. Since the 25th, however, I have been in five different countries and I have seen some of the most amazing things of my life. I don't think I could have ever imagined that I would ever have the chance to see the things that I've seen and have done it within a two and a half week period. This post is mainly going to be about reflection (corny I know), but there will be others about each of the places I've been.

As I sit here thinking about everything I've done, I am just awestruck by the fact that I was just in Rome on Monday and I was in Paris 17 days ago. I have seen some of the world's most famous sites and that just blows my mind! Time goes by so fast here and it seems like things happened so long ago. I can't believe that I have been away from home for two months now. I have never been away from home that long and I still have three more months to go!

Life here in Germany has been relaxing, so far, and I think life here is great. Now since classes haven't started yet I may change my mind and prefer the American way of doing things, but until then I love it here. The weirdest thing to think about is that I have already scheduled for my fall semester at IU, but I have yet to schedule for my classes in Germany and they are starting on Monday. Everyone else is getting ready for finals and Little 5, which I completely forgot about and couldn't even remember when it was, and I am here getting ready for my first day of class.

I think so far I have already changed and begun to become a somewhat different person. I think all of these changes are for the best and I can't wait to see what I'm like at the end of this trip. My new favorite thing to do is meet people. I really love meeting people from around the world. I have met so many amazing people since I've gotten here and it's been a blast. I have so many new friends so far and I love it! People have been so friendly and I think a large part of it is related to the desire by everyone to have friends. Everyone is in the same position of not really knowing anyone and being in a foreign country having to speak a foreign language. There is just an unspoken bond formed between everyone and we all just seem to connect. I love that!

Things these past few weeks have been pretty crazy, but I am so glad to be back in Freiburg. I think that this has definitely become a new home and I feel so comfortable here. When we were in our "intensive" language course they made us write about what is home. Well after being here for a while, I've realized that I have a new idea behind what is home. It's definitely where you're family is, but it's now so much more than that. It really is all about where you're comfortable and where the people you love to be around are. I have made some great friends here and coming back to them was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. Traveling is great, but being home is even better sometimes.

Now let the stories begin....