This is how I feel about my living situation in Münster. Oh, I believe I forgot to mention that to the general public, but I am moving to Münster come Tuesday, September 30th!! What a great birthday gift. At this point, I will be starting the university phase of the CBYX program and attending the Fachhochschule Münster. My living situation has been up in the air until this weekend, and I literally just found out where I am going to be living for the first part of this phase. This happened to a few people in the program, and although I was beginning to get irritated with the situation towards the end of last week, I really didn't mind much because I knew it would work itself out. Which it did- I will be living with my tutor until approximately the 20th of October, then moving in with a couple named Marie and Simon. That is all I know. My tutor uses an abundance of smiley faces in her emails though, so I am really excited to live with her.
Münster is approximately 150 km north and a liiiitttlleee bit east of Köln, approximately 8 hours and 26 minutes by bike. Why by bike you ask? Well apparently Münster is the bicycle capital (Fahrradhauptstadt) of Germany. After my trip to Amsterdam, I just want to ride my bicycle bicycle, so I am pretty syked for that. Everyone keeps telling me the same thing about Münster- "klein, aber schön." "Small, but beautiful." I don't know how I am going to go from cities like Seattle or Köln to a smaller city like Münster, and I am a bit concerned about getting antsy, but I think I will like it. It looks like there is a swing dancing community there, there will undoubtedly be soccer, I found a refugee organization to volunteer for, and I will finally be able to study again. I really missed school. So, although Münster is small, I think I will find it to my liking :)
Münster is approximately 150 km north and a liiiitttlleee bit east of Köln, approximately 8 hours and 26 minutes by bike. Why by bike you ask? Well apparently Münster is the bicycle capital (Fahrradhauptstadt) of Germany. After my trip to Amsterdam, I just want to ride my bicycle bicycle, so I am pretty syked for that. Everyone keeps telling me the same thing about Münster- "klein, aber schön." "Small, but beautiful." I don't know how I am going to go from cities like Seattle or Köln to a smaller city like Münster, and I am a bit concerned about getting antsy, but I think I will like it. It looks like there is a swing dancing community there, there will undoubtedly be soccer, I found a refugee organization to volunteer for, and I will finally be able to study again. I really missed school. So, although Münster is small, I think I will find it to my liking :)
Aside from the news about my next phase, here are some adventures and updates from the last month :)
|
Some other adventures:
- I went on a graffiti adventure with Nick (the other Seattleite). This one is better shown than talked about:
|
- I attended my first concert in Germany: Sylvan Esso. I went alone, drank grapefruit beer (SOO good), and just had a great time and danced. There were some pretty stark differences between concerts in Köln and America though. For instance, the audience here was SO quiet and respectful, especially during transitions. The band actually teased the crowd about it a little bit. Overall success though, not only because the concert was bomb, but also because I got to meet the singer.
|
- I had my last soccer game today. We played an away game at a field in a beautiful little town in the middle of some small mountains. It reminded me quite a bit of Issaquah back home. I am sad to leave my team, but I am really really proud of how much I have seen them improve in the last month. A lot of the players are new to the game, but they play hard and make the effort to improve their game. Although we've suffered some losses and gotten off to a rough start with so many injuries and such a steep learning curve, I am proud that everyone didn't give up. People were hurt, but they still fought. Everyone was tired, but we continued to run. The other team was slightly bitchy today (if we are being honest here), but we continued to rise to the challenge. I get so frustrated on the field trying to convey this in German, because I don't think I am doing a good enough job, but fostering the correct attitude and support for one's teammates is the most important part of playing for a team. I am of the opinion that a team can win a game, but a true victory comes from perseverance (No, I did not get that from a fortune cookie unfortunately).
- Overall, I've just been trying to make the most of what little time I have left here by spending quality time with my friends and host family, although I don't have enough time to see everyone and everything. That's been a constant theme this summer. I am sad to leave my host family because I won't be able to wake up every morning to my host father making fun of me for being late, I won't get to walk in on my host mother doing face exercises while watching TV, and I won't have my host mother there to take care of me when I am just having one of those days. I will still see my host family and plan on visiting Sophia (host sister) in FrankfurtBankfurt, but I am a little bit sad to leave another home. I was very lucky to get such a loving, fun and supportive host family, and I am so grateful to be blessed with such good people in my life. It makes this new transition easy, because I know I have a little bit of a home here in Germany already.