Traveling: Up Close

Hello all! Greetings from Germany! I can't believe it's been almost a week since I left! From the start, my trip has been interesting, to say the least. To start, when I arrived at the airport with my wheeled luggage, two duffel bags, and a messenger bag, my mom and I had the privilege of spending over an hour with the woman behind the Delta counter. I don't yet have a student visa to be in Germany, and she was very convinced that I needed one before I could depart. This was frustrating for me, because I had asked my program multiple times about the visa situation, and they assured me I can (and must) get the visa while in Germany. Of course, the US Embassy is not open on Sundays, and the Canadian Embassy was not at all helpful. Finally, we convinced this woman that it was ok for me to get on the plane. I arrived in Atlanta and found out that my travel buddy Michael's plane was delayed. He had to literally run through the airport in order to make the flight, but he made it! No traveling alone! Since Michael and I both turn 21 this summer, we were looking forward to having a beer with dinner on our international fight, especially after all of the hoopla in the morning. Come to find out, because the plane was American, you have to be 21. Embarrassing. Good thing Michael was the one who got turned down and not me! When we arrived in Frankfurt around 7am, we had a pleasant surprise waiting for us at the airport! Our friend Elizabeth Andrews had a layover on her way to study abroad, so she came and visited us! We went into the middle of Frankfurt and found a bakery before Michael and I hopped on a 4 hour, 2 transfer train ride to Schwäbisch Hall (where our language school is). Two older men started talking to us while we were on the train, so we seized the opportunity to practice our German -- until they discovered we're from a Catholic university, asked our opinion on the pope, and furthered it by asking our opinion on the pill. "You're a modern woman, aren't you?" I suddenly could "no longer understand."

Schwäbisch Hall is a beautiful town!! and even taking the train there was cool because got to pass through all the small German towns. All of the houses are exceptionally old, theres a river that runs through town, and it's very hilly here. We made it to our language school, and the first teacher we met got her masters from KU! I found out that even though I signed up for a double, I got a single room! It's a nice change having to share a bathroom with only my next door neighbor.

I've been meeting a lot of new people! Michael and I met Chris who is going to Berlin with us. We've also made friends with people from Argentina, Amsterdam, Australia, and other places all over the world! Oh, there's also another group of kids from the United States who are studying in Vienna next month, so it's always nice to have familiarity around!

I'm not sure what I'm up to this weekend, but probably visiting the castle/former JESUIT monastery (aren't you jealous, Mom??) that's about a 30 minute walk away, going for a run, and just catching my breath!

I'm slowly but surely getting used to Europe -- I bought a new hair dryer after blowing a fuse in my room with mine : ) so I now own something with one of those "crazy" European plugs. Dinner this week has been mostly Nutella and peanut butter sandwiches, but we're going to actually cook something tonight (I vote for tacos!! but sausage might win instead).

Pictures to come soon! (although I accidentally left my battery charger at home, so I'm still deciding the best way to remedy that situation haha)

Love,

Emma