Marksburg und Wein

So we went to a castle yesterday. Not just castle ruins, but a legitimate castle. One of the only, if not the only, one that hasn't been destroyed. It was super cool, actually. I got some great photos. It was also an hour and a half bus ride one way, so we had a lot of bus riding.
After the castle, we went to a winery and had a wine-tasting. I had a good time, even though I'm not a wine drinker. The coordinators of our program made every country come up to the front and sing for everyone else. We (all ~30 of us Americans) did part of an Eminem rap, sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", and then the first verse and chorus of Smash Mouth's "All Star". I made some friends from Wisconsin, and then after a loud bus ride full of drunk people (except me, of course), I went to a dorm party for a little bit. I was there long enough to get beat in pool, and then I went home to sleep while almost everyone else went to a bar or a club, I'm not sure which.

That's all for now

Maddie

Bus und Bahn Streik und deutsches Essen

So there is a bus strike going on today, in all of Nordrhein-Westfalen, so I had to walk almost half an hour from my dorm to my class today, and then the same time back. This morning it was cold, but this afternoon it was better. So that was lovely, but it should be back to normal tomorrow. It's not a bad walk, and there were people who had longer walks, but it's not something I want to do every day while the weather is still a little cold.
I went out to dinner with a group of people last night, and had German food and watched soccer. It was such a cultural experience, because some of the people in my group were from Germany and followed soccer. I didn't really understand what was going on, but the food was good.
There is a dinner tonight at the Mensa (like a dining hall) for all the international students to meet with their Bonn Buddies. I don't actually have a Bonn Buddy, but I am going to see if anyone wants to unofficially adopt me into their group. We will see at 18:00 Uhr tonight.
We got placed in classes based on our language ability, and I got put in group 9 out of 14. It is a very culturally diverse group. My teacher is awesome! We also have AGs (workshops) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I picked grammar (eww, but I have terrible German grammar), and Theater, which is super fun! I haven't taken theater classes since high school, but I loved them, and this one looks to be just as superfantastisch. But I am outnumbered 3-1 by kansas people, so I'm just going to have to show them up and prove that Mizzou is, in fact, the better school.
That's all for now.

Maddie

My first German beer. It was really good, and in true Maddie fashion, I didn't even drink all of it.

The restaurant where we ate.

My food. It was DELICIOUS! Like German mac & cheese.

Drachenfels

Okay, so now I can sit down and really write a good long post. I have an adapter, so my laptop isn't about to die. Also, nothing in Germany is open on Sundays.
Where to start? Well I think in the hubbub of arrival day on Thursday, I lost my coat. So far, that hasn't been a problem, and if it gets too cold, I'll just double up on my jackets. I brought two, but not really for that reason.
The first couple of days have been interesting, to say the least. The first night, I almost didn't have sheets for my bed. But then I managed to get some before I had to go to sleep. Last night, I blew a fuse trying to plug my power strip in, and what I didn't realize was that it affected the room next to me as well as my own. We got it figured out, though, and now have power.
Yesterday, I went grocery shopping, which was about as exciting as it sounds. But there's no sales tax here, so the listed price is how much everything costs. It makes calculating total prices much easier. Also, as a group, we (the whole 140-some people in the Orientation Class, along with half a dozen group leaders) went to Drachenfels. I took some awesome pictures on my phone, but I can't figure out how to get them to my computer yet. I will post them when/if I do figure this out. Anyway, what we did was hike up this giant mountainous hill to some castle remains. It was not horribly exciting, but the view was fantastic.
There are people from all over the world here. Lots of people from the Asian countries, some from other parts of Europe, and I even met a girl from Australia. The biggest group comes from the US, though. I've met a lot of people from Michigan, some from Wisconsin, and even one from kansas.
I have my own room with my own bathroom and tiny kitchen-thing. It doesn't have an oven or microwave; just a sink, mini fridge, and two burners for the stove. My shower is tiny, but it gets the job done.
We start our real classes in April. This first month is just orientation. We will be separated into classes tomorrow based on ability. If I think of anything else to say, I'll post it, but that's all that's on my mind right now.

Auf Wiedersehen,
Maddie

Update: got the pictures onto my computer.

Bonn!

Well I'm finally here and finally set up my internet access. However, my converter is not working for whatever reason and so I need to get a new one. My sim card is also not letting me register it online. So I'm phone-less right now, and will be laptop-less soon until I get a new converter. Things are just weird right now,  but I will keep you guys updated as often as I can.

Maddie
PS: Also, all my websites are now in german, and I don't know how to change them. My german is a little rusty still.