Hello World!
So it's been what... two, three months? I know there are a few family members, specifically those who don't use Facebook on the regular, who are wondering if I am alive. So let me assure you all that I am very much alive over here in the land of beer and lederhosen. As per usual, I've been swamped during the past month with online classes at UW, volunteering, an internship search, classes, making friends, finding a place to live, exploring Germany, and much more.
Since I've waited the entire holiday season to write a blog post, there's quite a bit of my life to cover. How is Münster? What am I studying in school? Christmas Markets?? There's a lot to cover, and I won't get to all of it because that would just be ridiculously long. A good chunk of pictures is on Facebook. Here, I will talk about the important stuff: school, friends, volunteering, sports, living situations, current language goals/struggles/successes, the holidays, adventures and coffee. Mind you, that list is definitely not in order of importance. If it was, we all know what would be at the top.
School
I am currently in the second part of the CBYX/PPP Program,
which involves a semester at a German university. I am living in Münster but
going to school in Steinfurt, which is about a 40-minute train ride away. At
first I was kind of peeved that I would have to ride into “Arsch der Welt” (German
for “in the middle of nowhere”). I chose 8:00am classes, so this would mean that
I would have to wake up at 6:00am every morning to make my 7:07am train. Awesome.
Actually, it’s probably the best schooling situation I can imagine. First of all, I can never be late to class, because I know the train will not wait for me. Second of all, it makes it really easy to make friends because we all go to school in the same place. It forces me to relax for 40 minutes before and after school, and it gives me a good chance to read and keep my life balanced. I really like going to school out there.
I am not taking the classes for a grade, but I am taking some pretty cool classes: Heat and Mass Transfer, Statistics, Macromolecular Chemistry, and Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. My favorite is actually Advanced Inorganic Chemistry at the moment, although my favorite changes just about every week. What can I say, I’m fickle. The professor looks like Summer Santa, and he gets quite confused pretty easily. I adore him though, because I think he is very kind and I find his personality very cute. I like that class the most though because we go over a lot of fundamental science behind many applications such as STED microscopy, photovoltaic cells and more. This more scientific perspective is what I originally started studying chemical engineering for, so it’s really fun to sit back and think about.
I also just finished an online class through the Honors Department at UW, which has probably been the largest contributor to the radio silence these last two months. I’ve been studying asylum politics and policies in the EU and Germany, with a case study in the effects of gender on the forced migration process. I’ve been attending court cases, interviewing non-government organizations (NGOs), reading a lot and writing weekly journal entries for it. It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve built a lot upon my previous experience with asylum seekers and refugees in Rome. I hope to continue studying and volunteering with human migration, because I think it brings many political issues to reality by illustrating how politics, turmoil and other issues affect individual lives.
Actually, it’s probably the best schooling situation I can imagine. First of all, I can never be late to class, because I know the train will not wait for me. Second of all, it makes it really easy to make friends because we all go to school in the same place. It forces me to relax for 40 minutes before and after school, and it gives me a good chance to read and keep my life balanced. I really like going to school out there.
I am not taking the classes for a grade, but I am taking some pretty cool classes: Heat and Mass Transfer, Statistics, Macromolecular Chemistry, and Advanced Inorganic Chemistry. My favorite is actually Advanced Inorganic Chemistry at the moment, although my favorite changes just about every week. What can I say, I’m fickle. The professor looks like Summer Santa, and he gets quite confused pretty easily. I adore him though, because I think he is very kind and I find his personality very cute. I like that class the most though because we go over a lot of fundamental science behind many applications such as STED microscopy, photovoltaic cells and more. This more scientific perspective is what I originally started studying chemical engineering for, so it’s really fun to sit back and think about.
I also just finished an online class through the Honors Department at UW, which has probably been the largest contributor to the radio silence these last two months. I’ve been studying asylum politics and policies in the EU and Germany, with a case study in the effects of gender on the forced migration process. I’ve been attending court cases, interviewing non-government organizations (NGOs), reading a lot and writing weekly journal entries for it. It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve built a lot upon my previous experience with asylum seekers and refugees in Rome. I hope to continue studying and volunteering with human migration, because I think it brings many political issues to reality by illustrating how politics, turmoil and other issues affect individual lives.
friends
school, swing dancing, WG
Adventures
Leipzig, Hamburg
Volunteering
Altenwohnheim, GGUA
Sports
soccer, swing dancing, yoga
Living situations
Moved three times: tutor, couple, WG (revolving doors)
current Language goals/struggles/successes
Don't even know where to start here
thanksgiving
Thanksgiving with program, Friendsgiving
Party with the Owens Clan
Once classes finished, went to visit Owens in Italy. Verona, Venice, chilling with family.
christmas
Köln with host family from language school