Köln

So I had my first adventure in Köln (Cologne) last night.  A group of us went to go see Avengers in 3D, which was AWESOME! I highly recommend seeing it. Then, after the movie, we all split up into smaller groups and went to different clubs (it was an 8:35 pm movie). I went out with 8 other people to a club called Underground. It had two dance floors and a bar area with Kicker (foosball) tables. Since the dance floors were not very full when we got there (even though it was after midnight), only a few of the group members danced, and not for very long. Instead, we just played a few games of Kicker and then left slightly after 1:00 am. However, I didn't get back to my room until around 3:00 in the morning. We first had to take the U-Bahn (like the subway) to get to the stop with a train station. That didn't leave until around 1:30, and then we had to wait for the train, which didn't come until 2:00. The train ride from Köln to Bonn is about half an hour, during which Matt and I used each other as pillows to try and get some sleep. Then I had to take the night bus from the main bus/train station back to my Studentenwohnheim, and that ride takes 25-30 minutes. So I didn't get into bed until very early this morning. But it was an excellent night with fun people, and I'm glad I decided to go out with them afterwards instead of going home.
Also, yesterday I went to a baseball game with a few friends. Yes, Germany has baseball, but it's not nearly as popular as it is in the States. But the game was free, and it was a gorgeous day outside, so it was a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The Bonn Capitals won the first game 8-7 over the Cologne Cardinals, and I didn't stay for the second game. The main reason Bonn won was because Cologne's pitcher had, like, 3 balks (which had to be explained to me), and hit 4 or 5 batters with pitches. There's another game on Tuesday, which is a holiday for me, so I will more than likely be going back then.
I am also now officially a resident of Germany. I got my residence permit on Thursday, which looks a lot like a driver's license only more awesome. It has holograms everywhere, and it's so pretty! I can now say I've been a resident of another country.

My ticket from "The Avengers". Go see it!

My residence permit. It's so much more awesome in person.

Next weekend is Rhein in Flammen, which is a huge all-day event, so there will be much to write about after that.

Maddie

James Joyce

Before I left, my mom told me I had to try a different German beer every week. I have not exactly kept up with that, but I did go to an Irish Pub and try some Irish beer. I found myself a new drinking buddy in Mary, who hails from Detroit and has a family as Irish as mine is German. She was able to recommend some drinks to me, and I have now tried 4 different Irish beers. I tried a Half-and-half, which was Grolsch and Murphy's, a Black and Tan (I don't remember what was in that), a Black Velvet (Strongbow Cider and Murphy's), and a straight Murphy's Stout. Of all of them, the Black and Tan was my hands-down favorite, but there wasn't one that I straight up hated.

I should mention that these all took place in two different sittings. I didn't drink all of these drinks in one trip to James Joyce (the pub that we went to). While we were there the second time, an older German man sat down at an empty stool at our table and talked to us for a minute before he started drawing us. It was a very strange occurrence. After he was finished, he asked us if either of us wanted the picture (it actually wasn't bad), but neither Mary nor I really cared to have it. So we each finished our drinks and left to head back to our respective Studentenwohnheims. It was a very good night, though.

 Half-and-half

 Black and Tan

 My first attempt at a photo of my Black Velvet (it was later and therefore darker on our second trip)

Slightly better photo of the Black Velvet (that's a candle behind it)

That's all for now!

Maddie

Der Rhein

So in case I haven't mentioned this yet, my Studentenwohnheim is right along the Rhein river.  There is also a trail that goes along the river on both banks, which I use as my running path when I go for a run.  It's such a great place to run!  There are always people out on the trail, either running, walking, biking, or inline skating.  I haven't seen so many roller-bladers since I was a kid at the skating rink!  I'm also talking people of all ages.  It kind of makes me feel unaccomplished when I see a little 2-year-old riding a two-wheeler better than I can (I fail at riding bikes).
I can't see the river from my window (I look out onto the street), but it's a very short walk down to the trail.  Sometimes I even go for walks down there when the weather is nice out and I have nothing better to do.
Life has pretty much settled into a routine now.  Since we don't have any breaks for a little while, I have now had all my classes.  I am pretty bored by my Intensivkurs, but my Phonetik course is great!  I would love to trade up to Intensivkurs C, but I would have to get out of my current Phonetik course and into a harder one.  So I'm a little torn, but I think I'll just tough out the lower-level so that I'm not in over my head in Phonetik.  It's a really small class, because most of the people who signed up for the class didn't want class on Fridays, so they chose the class on Thursday afternoon.  The Friday morning class was the first one I saw, so I thought it was the only one available.  It turned out that the Thursday one was down at the bottom of the page.  But I don't mind having class on Friday mornings.  I don't go out a lot, so I won't need to sleep late on Fridays.  And since it's so small, I think we might get out sort of early on most days.  We did yesterday, so I'm hoping that becomes the norm (it's a 3-hour long class with a 20-minute pause in the middle, so an early release is always welcome!)
That's about all going on right now.  I took some photos of what I run by on a regular basis so you can all be jealous that you don't have a river to run by haha!

Obviously I was not running when I took the pictures, but I thought you guys might like to see what I get to see on a regular basis.  It's much more awesome in person.  Also, side note, I may not be running along here anymore if my (hopefully) temporary setback on my formerly good knee ends up being not-so-temporary.  Fingers crossed!

Bis bald!
Maddie