Germany Here I Am

After crossing the ocean and many miles of land, we have arrived in Munich, Germany! It just so happened that Chris and Kammie were on our same flights from Philaldelphia and we immediately recognized one another when we were boarding the plane. Once we landed in Munich, we met up with each other while waiting for our baggage. I used the restroom and returned to find no known faces. I could not find the way to exit and stood there hoping someone would find me, and then Tanner came walking down the stairs! Andrew finally spotted me and I joined the rest of the group. Jerry greeted us along with Jeff and Dalton. Once we all assembled and had our luggage in our possession, we headed to load up the van and venture to the heart of Munich. Kelley had Jerry’s GPS so we got a little lost, which was fine because we got to see the city from the windows of the van. An interesting fact Jerry shared with us was that the hills that we could see were manmade mounds during World War II. It was hilarious when Jerry pulled out his compass, who uses that these days?! Apparently he does and it did the job because ended at our destination! This was the first time I had ever been in a foreign country (I do not count Canada) and definitely felt out of place considering I could not understand everybody. The signs, food, people, and buildings looked foreign and unfamiliar. On our walk around Marienplatz, downtown, we learned that Munich is the richest city in Germany and is also the capital of Bavaria. Germany is known for its cars and BMW headquarters is stationed here. We walked around the shops and headed to the Frauenkirche, which means church of our lady.



It was frigid outside and we used this opportunity to warm up. The other three members of the group didn’t fly in until early afternoon and we had time to kill before we met up with them for lunch. In Marienplatz, we were able to see the Rathaus-Glockenspiel which Munich is famous for. Everyday at a specific time, the clock re-enacts 2 stories from the 16th century with 42 bells and 32 life size figurines. We then proceeded to walk around outside some more and then headed to the Hofbräuhaus House which is one, if not the, most famous beerhall in the world. Here they serve traditional German cuisine and also play folk music. I had my first encounter with a German menu. All I knew was that I did not want saurkraut and I knew what that was in German so I was safe. I ordered Käsespätzle, which is German style macaroni and cheese. It was delicious! Here, we got the chance to get to know the rest of our group and see how their travels went. Thankfully, everything went smoothly and we all arrived safely. We have 10 students with an even number of boys versus girls, 5:5. The group consists of: Me, Courtney, Kammie, Heather, Lisa, Andrew, Dalton, Jeff, Tanner, and Chris.



We were all exhausted and were waiting for our journey to Regensburg. We all piled back into our vehicles and the moment we all got settled we fell asleep, the next time I opened my eyes we were entering Regensburg. The first thing I noticed was graffiti on the wall outside our hostel of the welcoming “Old School Sista.” We then ate dinner and Jerry was adamant on keeping us awake so that we would sleep through the night, which was successful! First German culture fact I learned, they have weird beds. Usually, beds have a sheet, multiple blankets, and a comforter. German beds consist of 1 large comforter! When this fact was made apparent to me I thought I was going to freeze during the night. Surprisingly enough, this comforter insolates heat and keeps the sleep quite toasty during the night.