Just another week in Deutschland

Hello all!

I know I have been slacking on this but I forget that I have this sometimes! 

Last week was good. I turned 22 and celebrated with great friends! Wendy bought me a brownie at the bakery in the morning. We went out to dinner and after dinner decided to go for drinks at the bar on campus. When I got there my friend Johanna had made me a cake! It was a great surprise! Claire and Sam made me chocolate mousse which was delicious. Sam also bought me this cute little Disney Princess chocolate which had a ring inside. We had a great time! 

The rest of the week was filled with classes and maybe going out and getting a drink with friends. 

On Thursday I really started to get sick. I had a cough, stuffy nose, sore throat, and clogged ear. It is so hard to find medicine here, they have a lot of herbal medicines which is fine but I prefer my chemical filled cold medicine! :) I am finally starting to feel better but it will take time. The worst of it is my cough and my ear. My cough gets bad at night so when I am trying to sleep it keeps me up. The cough medicine I bought at the store is DISGUSTING! I almost threw up the first time I took it. 

As many of you know I have problems with my right ear. My eustachian tube does not drain fluid properly so it just sits in there and causes hearing problems. I have had 7 surgeries to put a "tube" in my eardrum to help drain it but so far none have been sucessful. The minute the tube comes out my hearing goes again. I had my last tube taken out two days before I left for Germany. This wouldn't be such a big deal if it didn't cause problems when flying. When you have a fluid buildup in your ear it causes pressure to build. When flying the pressure is increased and is very painful. It is very easy to burst your eardrum with this condition. So I have to be very careful while flying! Okay on to more exciting things... 

Saturday we took the train to Cologne and went to the chocolate museum there! It was really cool! You could watch the process of chocolate being made. It was very interesting and I would go back in a heartbeat. 

Sunday I made homemade salsa and guacamole for the Bills game! What a game that was! We went to our friends to watch it just like we do every other week and when we finally got the game on the score was 14-0 and everyone said "looks like your not winning this week." I said right then "you watch we will come back in the second half and win it." Looks like I know what I am talking about! That was such an exciting game! I am so excited for this season! Its too bad I am not in Buffalo to experience it!  

This weekend we are going to Munich for Oktoberfest! :)  We are leaving Saturday morning at 8 and getting there around 1 p.m. We will have until midnight to explore Munich and hopefully get into a tent for Oktoberfest! It should be a lot of fun! I will take lots of pictures and put them up next week! 

 Sam and I are flying to Berlin next Friday Oct. 7th!! We will be visiting friends and going to see the Buffalo Sabres play at O2 Arena! I am SO excited to see them play over here! It will be the only game I see all season so it will be fun! We will fly back to Cologne on the 9th in time to see the Bills game. If anyone has been to Berlin and has suggestions on what to see or do there please let me know! I would love some comments on it!

That is all for today! :) Keep in touch with emails, letters, and skype calls! I love hearing from everyone! 

Oh and a big shout out to my cousin Courtney! She is getting married this Saturday. I wish I could be there Court! I love you! Congratulations!! :) 

 

                                                        Free Sample at Chocolate Museum

                                                     Cologne

Buffalo Sabres

I forgot to mention the Buffalo Sabres trip to Germany in my last post! 


The Sabres are coming, The Sabres are coming!! 


I am so excited! Not entirely sure if I will be going to the game in Berlin but I am going to try my best to make it there. The girls and I want to go on a trip to Berlin and we are aiming for the weekend the Sabres play there. 


Tickets to the game are on the expensive side so I have to figure out if I can afford it. Then I either have to go by myself (lame, I know) or find someone willing to spend the money to go. I thought that people would be interested in hockey but I have yet to find a single person who watches hockey here. It is very disappointing. 


I will keep everyone updated on seeing the Sabres play. I think it would be awesome and I brought my I <3 Buffalo Hockey tshirt so I better be able to wear it! :) 

Week 2 in Deutschland

My second week here was great! I have met a lot of new friends and started classes. 


Lets start with classes here. I had 5 classes this week but next week I will have 7 and the following week I will have 8. Every week your schedule changes. It is great that they have an online system you can check your schedule for each week. I like my classes so far, the students are nice. The final in every class counts for 70% of your grade. It is a daunting thought because I do not test well. I get nervous and forget information because it is stressful! 


Everyone that I have met here so far has been so nice. They make you feel welcome and offer assistance in getting settled. I have made a lot of new friends. Thursday night Wendy and I went to the Welcome Back Party at Rheinsubstanz. The Rheinsubstanz is a club on the Rhine River. It was pretty big and packed. The clubs here are much different than the states. The MAJOR difference is the dancing. I'd say about 95% of people here stand there and move side to side and maybe do some fist pumping type action. The music was another big difference. They played a mix of music but mostly techno which is not my first choice. The payment system was pretty cool. They gave you a swipe card when you went in and you used it for coat check, drinks, and cover. You payed everything on your way out. It was a great system except when you wanted to leave you had to wait in line. 


Last night we went to our friend Sarah's house for a girls night. I decided to make homemade salsa. It turned out different than I expected but was still really good. Wendy made guacamole and it was fantastic! We tried some new drinks and had lots of fun. I had amaretto mixed with apple juice. It was sweet but delicious! 


I was homesick the first week here. I was having a tough time because I missed all my family and friends so much. This week was much better! I still miss everyone but I know this will be a great experience for me and I am lucky enough to have the support of all my family and friends. Without people supporting me this would have never happened and I am extremely blessed to be here. 


One thing that helps is hearing from people back home. It doesn't matter if it is on facebook, twitter, a comment on my blog, an email (at my new email address), skype, or a letter/package in the mail. Please keep all those things coming! Its lonely in the morning when I wake up because it is still the middle of the night at home! 


Monday is my 22nd Birthday and I know I am going to have a tough time. I love birthdays.. doesn't matter if it is mine or someone elses. I just LOVE them. It will be hard to be away from my friends and family on my birthday but thankfully I have GREAT friends here. We are going to dinner and having drinks. It will be a nice way to take my mind off of home. It also helps that Bob sent me an amazing card and that my mom sent my birthday gift with me so I can open that!


I am missing English books too. I have gone into a few bookstores hoping to find books written in English but there are none. I have been reading The Help for a month now and I am afraid to finish it because I don't have anymore books! I think the fear of not having other books to read is the reason why it has taken me so long to finish it. :( 


Hope everything is going great back at home! 


LET'S GO BUFFALO! 


Can't wait to watch the Bills game tomorrow! I bought frozen chicken wings to try and chips and salsa. I am hoping it is all good. Next week I will try making homemade salsa again. :)


I am hoping for a preseason win for the Sabres on Monday too! Its my birthday so I hope they get that W! 


That is all for now! Talk to everyone soon!


-Brittany 

                                                      Rheinsubstanz

                                                 Girls Night 

What I miss

A few people have offered to send me care packages while I am here. I do not expect anyone to send me stuff because it does get expensive. Letters are not that bad. Bob sent me a WONDERFUL birthday card and it was $2.17 to send over here and only took 4 days.

I do have a few things that I miss from home however most of them are snacks so don't laugh! :)
- Kens Caesar dressing.. I can't find caesar dressing anywhere. Very disappointing UPDATE: Was able to find Caesar dressing... will try it tonight!
- Cheez its
- Salsa UPDATE: Found salsa will try during Bills game tomorrow!
- Chips (tortilla) UPDATE: Found tortilla chips and will try tomorrow with salsa
- Animal Crackers
- Troyer Farms Salt & Vinegar chips
- Chips Ahoy cookies
- Franks Hot Sauce

I also miss chicken wings, skim milk, bacon (the bacon here is like ham), a real kitchen (I have to burners and a sink) and a decent sized shower. My shower is so tiny. I am afraid one of these days I will break the glass because I hit my elbows against it everyday!

Hope everyone is doing well! I have a good amount of free time so feel free to email me! Don't forget I changed my email address because hotmail isn't working over here.

Miss you all!

Brittany

Pictures

                                            Cathedral in Cologne

                                            Scavenger Hunt in Cologne

                                                       Scavenger Hunt in Cologne

                                                        Beethoven Fest in Bonn

                                              Ice cream my first day in Bad Honnef

                                                Free champagne at Ikea!

                                                   Town of Bad Honnef

                                                  View on our walk

Day trips

Hello all!


I know I have been slacking on writing in here but it is because I am busy exploring Germany! I have been to Köln and Bonn since I last wrote. 


We went to Köln on friday with school to do a scavenger hunt. It was pretty good except it was raining a bit. After the scavenger hunt we met at a brewery and had a tour guide from Köln tell us more about the city. Köln is also known as Cologne by people outside Germany. Here on out when I refer to Köln it will be using Cologne because it is easier without the umlauts. It was great the school paid for 2 rounds of beer! 


Saturday we decided to go to a market in Bonn. It was more of a street fair with some rides. It was really big! We walked around and when we were leaving we bought crepes. They were delicious! We spent a little more than an hour at the market so we decided to stop in downtown Bonn on our way back. The cities here are wonderful. They have gorgeous architecture. We walked around for about an hour before stopping at H & M to shop. The nice thing about many cities here is that the main shopping district does not have streets for cars. Instead they are streets for pedestrians. It is fantastic to just walk around and not worry about traffic. After we left H&M we took the train back to Bad Honnef. It is a quick ride of about 45 minutes. We were hungry so we headed to the Mexican restaurant in town. They have good nachos! 


Sunday it rained from noon to 6 p.m. Thankfully it stopped raining at 6 because I had the opportunity to watch the Bills game at a friends house. It was a 12 minute walk so I didn't want to have to walk in the rain. It was great! One of the guys has the NFL Game Pass so we were able to hook the computer up to the TV and watch the game. It was like a little piece of home for me. I am going to try and make chicken wings here. I am going to buy frozen wings and then use Franks Sauce to cook them in! I hope they turn out well! 
Yesterday we went grocery shopping then back to Cologne to do some shopping. I was able to find some cute stuff at good prices. 


My classes started today and I am so excited. I love the start of classes. The first class I had was Destination Management. We were assigned a project for the semester. I am in a group with two other girls and we are going to start our project on Thursday. My second class was Sales and Distibution. That was a fun class and we were given our assignments for the semester and I may try to do them this weekend so I don't have to worry about them later on. 
I am taking 8 classes this semester so I want to make sure I have time to do all the work and do it well. It will be easier because I am not working full time. It is so weird to have so much free time. 


That is all for now! I didn't sleep very well last night so I am going to try and take a nap before this evening. I have a meeting for the LEO club. I think the description fits me pretty well. 


Here is the description of LEO club "You do not want to wait for the world to change, but change the world yourself? You are a team player, enjoy getting involved in social activities and want to put your ideas into action? You are between 16 and 30 years old and interested in becoming a committed member of a lively organization? Then YOU are at the right place with us!"  


Hope to hear from people soon! I get a little lonely over here so please write to me! :) 


Thank you all for your love and support.


-Brittany

I need your help!

I was making a grocery list and was trying to come up with meals I can make. My kitchenette is very small and has a stove top with 2 burners, but NO oven. I have a mini fridge that I share with my roommate.

So if anyone has any recipes that I could make in my kitchenette please send them to me! You can message me on facebook with them or send me an email.

I look forward to receiving recipes from everyone!

Thanks!

Finally Arrived!

Hello all!

I have arrived in Bad Honnef! I got off to a rocky start when I had my flight changed from Wednesday to Thursday because of the backup from the hurricane. It was just as hard saying "see you later" to everyone on Thursday as it was Wednesday. Maybe it was even harder but I got through it. I flew from Buffalo to Newark. It was a quick flight and I actually slept during most of it.

Then I had a 7 hour flight from Newark to Hamburg, Germany. I watched Water For Elephants the first 2 hours. Then I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I stayed up after that and watched some tv shows. It was a pretty good flight. The dinner was pretty gross but we had croissants for breakfast and they were good.

I arrived in Hamburg around 7:30 a.m. (german time) or 1:30 a.m. (Buffalo time) and went through customs. It was SO easy. He just looked at my passport and said "have a nice time." Then I got lost :( They don't give you your ticket for your flight in Germany so I had to wander around until I found someone I could ask. I had no idea what gate to go to or anything. Turns out I wandered the wrong way so I had to go back and go downstairs. When I got to my gate there was nobody from the airlines to help me so I sat down and finished watching a movie on my laptop. Finally the airline people showed up and I was able to get my boarding pass. They scan your ticket and then you go outside and get on a bus. The bus then takes you to your plane. The flight was quick from Hamburg to Cologne. It took about 45 minutes.

When I arrived in Cologne I had to board another bus to take you to the entrance. Turns out the entrance was about 50 ft away but you can't walk outside so you had to get on a bus and go around the plane and get off the bus at the doors. It was quite silly. The only nice thing about that is they take your luggage right off the plane and bring it right in for you. I only waited about 3 minutes. Trying to carry all my stuff was hard! I ended up dragging my duffle bag. I had to bring them up an escalator but there were two cement posts that I had to fit all my stuff through to get on the escalator. I am sure I looked like a fool! haha.

When I got to the second floor my buddies Sarah and Mirja were waiting for me! They helped me take my luggage to the car. They also gave me a cute little present to welcome me. It took about a half hour to get from Cologne to Bad Honnef. My University is in Bad Honnef.

When we got there I had to go sign some papers to get my apartment key. I found out I was rooming with Wendy one of the other girls from Niagara! That was a wonderful surprise! After I put my stuff in my room I had to go to the international office at school to fill out some more paperwork and pay for my student pass which gets me on the train and bus in the Bonn/ Cologne area. I also got my computer hooked up to the school network so I could let everyone know I was okay! :) I had a mini breakdown and really wanted to come home but once I got over that I was okay. I think I was just exhausted and overwhelmed with things.

I went back to my room and unpacked a little and skyped with Bob and sent out a few emails. At 2 we went and got ice cream and got cell phones! Then we went back and got the cars and took a trip to Ikea! I LOVE IKEA. Bob and I went on a trip to Pittsburgh about 2 years ago but I had forgot how amazing it is! When we walked in they gave us free champagne! :) We bought our bed linens and towels and small things for our apartment. We ate dinner there too. It was pretty good!

When we got back we set up our rooms and just hung out for the night. I was able to skype with  my cousin Val, Bob and my mom! I even got to see Manny and Gabe on skype! I ended up going to bed at almost 1 a.m.

This morning I didn't wake up until 10:45 which is late for me. The other girls had decided to go on a walk in town but I got ahold of them early enough that they hadn't gone far. I quickly got ready and went to meet them. We ended up going all the way down the main street until we hit the Autobahn. It was a 3 mile walk there and back. On our way back we stopped at a grocery store so I could buy some food. The other girls had gone to Aldi the day before I got here.

We decided we wanted to take a hike so we went back to our rooms for an hour and then set off on what turned out to be a very long hike! We took the path about 3 km to the top then decided to take a different path down. That was 4 km... well when we got to the bottom we had no idea where we were. It was a very busy street with no houses on it and it said Bad Honnef was 6.7 km in another direction. So we decided to head back up.. we thought we would take a different way up but turned around when we realized the trail ended. It ended up being about 4.5 km back to the top. From the top we went back the way we had come in the first place. It ended up being about 9 miles from start to finish. Not exactly what I was expecting when we had said we wanted to go hiking.

When we got back I laid down to relax for a minute and ended up falling asleep for an hour. When I woke up I made some dinner (spaghetti) and skyped. It is now midnight and I am ready for bed! I know this was a very long post but I thought I would post it all at one time.

I have pictures of my first few days on my facebook but will try to post a few on here! Please comment on here or email me if you have any questions or just want to get in touch! I also have skype so send me your skype information so we can chat!

I can't wait to share the rest of my adventure with all of you!

Thank you for all of your love and support!

Love,

Brittany