The end has come...time to say goodbye.

Here it is, my last full day in Bremen started only thirty minutes ago. I am definitely not ready to leave all this behind because I felt like I just got here. With all the fun times I was having, it was hard to make time to blog. Then again the posts I have are from the beginning and the end..the most important times. From all the crazy disco nights to travelling around Europe, and from being dubbed the 'Party Queen' to peeing in bushes... this has been an unforgettable, life-changing experience.

Erasmus life has been one hell of a ride. Not only meeting students from all around the world has been fun, but getting to know other cultures and appreciating mine own even more. I have made so many attachments to the  friends I have made here and it is too hard to let go. From crying in the clubs to crying on the bus, and of course in my bed...saying goodbye to this has been one of the toughest things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbN0g8-zbdY

Trust me, I do kind of miss home, but nothing can compare to this and home will always be there. I am already thinking of ways to come back here- either for grad school or after grad school when it comes to finding a job. Germany or Sweden are definitely my top choices...almost anywhere in Europe would do the trick.

I am so grateful that I had this opportunity and actually took it. And to think that I wasn't going to come here because of the fear of getting behind ONE semester. I would have missed out on all this awesomeness...

I guess I am mostly writing this to wrap my head around it all. It has hit me in little waves, but I know the big one will hit soon. All I can do now is just remember all my amazing adventures and share them with my friends and family..ok not ALL of my adventures, but some ;p.

I highly recommend every college student to experience this. You are able to learn soooooo much here. Not just how to party, but how to come together with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural students. For example, the most important thing: communication. I never realized how hard it was to communicate with those who spoke english as a second language and those who spoke no english at all. My patience and listening skills have increased a great deal, as well as my German skills. I went from having 3 semesters of German and not being able to hold a conversation to having my understanding skills and vocabulary increase ten-fold. It is true that you can't just learn a language from a book and classes..you MUST go there. It is really the only way to force you to get better. Unfortunately, you know what they say...' If you don't use it, you lose it'. Im hoping I can keep it up.

There is so much going through my head right now and I wish I could write it all down. I could just list all the things I will miss, but that would go on and on and on. I know my fellow erasmus and I will miss LA VIVA the most ;p.

All I can say now is that I am eternally grateful to my mom for financially supporting me through this and thankful for all the new friends I have that I can stay close to with the wonders of Facebook and Skype. And too my friends and family for giving me support when it was needed.

IF ONLY I COULD STAY HERE...  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqjunrxUsqw

Let's Play Catch Up (Part 2...3/7/11-3/11/11)

This past week was Orientation week for us International Students, as wells a 4-day intensive German language course. It was definitely hard, yet refreshing, to get up early and adhere to a schedule. I finally figured out how to take the trams around the city which significantly cut down my traveling-by-foot time, but it definitely made things confusing. There have so far been too many times when I got out on the wrong stop or was going in the wrong directions HAHAHA...hopefully by know I have learned from those mistakes.

My Banana beer at the Lagerhaus

A menu at the Lagerhaus the people signed

 In addition to have activities everyday, I was going out almost every night. Bars, Pubs, Clubs....it was almost too much. Yeah there were definitely bonding moments, but I was spending a bit too much for the budget I am on. Regardless, I had HELLA fun! Monday we went to the same pub from Sunday, but there was about double the amount of people there. They had to open up a whole new section for us. Wednesday we went to the 1 Euro Bar and STUBU (a two-leveled disco)...I was out will 4am and  had about 3 hours of sleep and unfortunately had to be at school by 9 in the morning. Yes, I did wake up on time, but I definitely did not go out on Thursday.

Us after the scavenger hunt

Friday was by far the funnest day I have had here in Bremen. We had this City Scavanger Hunt, race which was really cool. We had tasks and had to take pictures/ find certain things about the city and while we were doing all that we learned about some of the history behind Bremen. After, all of the students went to the Lagerhaus and enjoyed beer/hung out until they announced the winners. But, the people in charge said they didn't have enough time to tally everything so we have to wait a few weeks.


Since everyone was leaving I joined some friends (Arne from the Netherlands and Rishab from India) in buying cheap booze before our night at the club. We had about 2 hours to kill so we went to this "Penny Mart" bout some cheap beer (.29 euro a can) and a bottle of wine.  yeah you can drink on the streets of Germany, but it was way to cold to be sitting some place drinking. So instead, we hoped onto a tram and just drank and conversed there. I was a bit hesitant to drink on public transportation, but no one really cared. In fact, people were hoping on and off with opened beers in their hands. We road the tram to the end of the line and just road it back to where the club was. We drunkly waited in line with other students, for the club to open and eagerly awaited the FREE mojitos downstairs.

Once we got in, it was definitely not as easy to get the Free mojitos as last time was. The wait in line was ridiculous and there were soooo many people pushing and shoving. Shit I would too if I was going to be getting free drinks. With three free mojitos chilling in my stomach...I pretty much just dance the night away! It was so much fun!!! I met a lot of people and definitely can't complain with the way the night ended.. ;)

Let's Play Catch Up (Part 1...3/6/11)

So it has been like a week since I have last posted. My first Sunday in Bremen, I spend the day with Kimberlie walking along the Weser river. Here on Sundays some bakeries are opened in the morning and maybe a few restaurants/pubs are opened a little later, but for the most part a lot of places are closed. Sunday is the day everyone is out and about and spending time with there family.

Everyone and their dogs were at the river! No really, everyone has dogs and they are always out with them. Most are not even on leashes and are so obedient. Another thing a lot of people do here is ride there bikes, regardless of age.

After Kim and I walked a long the river for a few hours we went to the City Center and ate some delicious food..and of course I drank beer!

Woot Woot for mugs od beer!

We had a gathering at a Pub that night with the exchange students who had already arrived.  It was so nice seeing so many new faces and getting to know a lot of people!

In the Wohnzimmer

After, a few of us went to this place called the Wohnzimmer (Living Room in english). This dim-lit place was full of couches,  chairs, lamps..and there was even an upper section that had pillows and mats. Like nothing I have ever experienced!

Upper section looking out

You can find more pictures from the river adventure in my Facebook album titled "Weser River"

Die Wochenede

So the weekend is here and I am already so tired!

Mannequins in a window shop..intense!

I went out with other students on Thursday night, which was great! I hung out with Kim (a fellow american student) and we went around the city center running errands. The city center is exactly what you think...the center of the city. The buildings are old and their is cobbled stone. It is such a wonderful sight.

We then met up with other international students and went to this nice restaurant and ordered drinks and what not, then we headed out dancing. The first club played some OLD SCHOOL music...like pre 90's..and it was kind of trashy. I met these  German girls in the bathroom (one of whom was celebrating her 21st). They were taking pictures in the bathroom saying that they wanted to look like models. It was hilarious! They were really friendly..and wasted if I may add.

 We went to another club with way better dancing music and two levels! After all that I got lost for an hour trying to find my way back home (the streets are so confusing!), but thankfully I made it home when I needed to get there, but after an hour of being online I totally passed out.

After waking up at about 5 in the evening on Friday, I pretty much got ready to go out again. It's like sleep, go out, stay up, pass out till evening, and the same thing all over again. And last night was way more intense. We went to a club that had free mojitos for one hour..and since we got there early..no lines! We spent all night dancing in that club..I guess all places close at 4am here.

We decided to go eat at McDonald's and apparently everyone else was thinking the same thing...and as much as I hate the company...they had a veggieburger! Which was awesome..and the fries are different, less grease and no excess salt..it was yummy! After, I took my first tram (like MUNI in SF) home with the help of Edjackson..one of the awesome students I have met.

Now it is almost 6, and I woke up only two hours ago...I doubt I am going to go back out tonight. I need to recover, freshen up, and recharge for tomorrow and Orientation week. 

Today is definitely a lazy day! I have the TV on and chatting on FB, almost like home LOL!

Cheers! :)

Arrival and First Official Day

I would have to say, I really enjoyed flying Air Canada. there were touch screens at the back of everyone's seat! I was able to watch movies, tv shows, listen to the radio, etc. there was even an option to play games!

The flight from Toronto to Munich was pretty long! I was awake while everyone was sleeping and sleeping when everyone was awake. I watched 127 hours (intense I must say), part of the film The Visitors, and half of Wall Street: Money Never Dies auf  Deutsch. As soon as I got off the plane I had 45 minutes to get to my next flight that would take me to Bremen.
Before boarding I went to the rest room and had the most difficult time drying my hands. There was this machine that had a sensor, and when you waved your hand in front of it, paper came out. So here I am tugging on the paper and wondering why it won't come out. I ask this kind lady next to me how it works and she is like, "Oh...you just wipe your hands on it, and the towel goes back up." I'm like WHAA?! It was pretty cool!

I arrive in Bremen, quickly find my luggage and leave the baggage claim area with Kimberlie (fellow student coming through the same program). Her friends are their eagerly waiting and to be honest I have no clue who I am looking for. I stand there and see this man looking at me, but I am not sure if he is the one coming to pick me up. He approaches me and ask if I am Stephanie, and everything is good. We speak in germenglish and I try my hardest to remember all the things I learned in German class.


 We arrive to the house and Thomas gives me a tour of the house and where I will be staying. Mein Bettzimmer(bedroom), Badezimmer(bath, shower, and sink), WC (water closet), and kitchen area are downstairs. As you can see, I already started unpacking a bit as soon as I arrived (my shoes and toiletries). 


The whole time I was on the plane brushing my teeth was the first thing on my mind, so you can guess what I first did once I got settled in. I also took a shower, got into some fresh clothes, and passed out for about 5 hours. When I woke up I met Astrid and one of her children, Carlos. Her son doesn't speak much English, but hers is very good. We talked for a little bit, but after about an hour I got so tired again and ended up going to sleep for another 4 hours.


Around 2AM I was wide awake and found myself playing solitaire on my computer for 4 HOURS! I passed out yet again and finally woke up in the afternoon (Goddamn jet lag!!!!) I unpacked all my clothes and got ready to do some grocery shopping.

I went to Netto, a discount grocery store, right around the corner from where I am staying. So I get there, and all the shopping carts are locked up, so I guess I was just going to get what I could carry. I found some carrots, apples, a small thing of yogurt, Brot (bread), Kaese (cheese), ketchup (a must!), and Eier(eggs). I wanted to get so much more, but I had nothing to carry meine Lebensmittel (groceries). I practice a little German with the cashier and pay about 10 euro...not to bad. Both the Brot un Eier were about 1 euro each! I also realize that tthey don't have any grocery bags, just my luck. So I shove what I can in my purse and leave with my bulging bag and apples and bread in hand. NOTE TO SELF: bring shopping bags!

So now, here I am in my room, finally with Internet, thanks to Maximillian (sp?) who I met for a brief second while he was preparing to go to fussball practice. Now that I can contact people here, I am hoping to go out later tonight to meet some of the student who have already arrived!

CHEERS!
14 followers...woot!

T-9 hours

At 8:00am Pacific Standard Time I will be departing from SFO and starting the first leg of my trip. My first layover will be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four hours later I will be boarding an Air Canada flight to Munich in Germany. And 45 minutes after that, I will be at my destination point, Bremen!




Finally, I just almost finished packing! My bag is about 49.6 pounds and my carry on is pretty light so I think I am pretty good with that. Hopefully, there isn't an off chance that my scale is wrong and they make me take all my shit out.







Other than that, it still hasn't hit me yet and I already started crying. I was on the phone with my grandma and she said there was no point in me visiting her this late because we would both end up crying...and of course that made me cry. Who knows how tomorrow will be. My eyes will probably too puffy too see out of before I even get on the plane, and then just pass out once I get on.

Wish me luck all, and pray that I get there safely.
On a happier note...11 followers yee yee!

First Post!

I was planning on making a blog for my travels months ago and here I am two days before I depart just putting it together...typical Stephanie. 

 I will be studying in Bremen, Germany , a northwestern city approximately 3 hours 45 minutes away from both Amsterdam and Berlin. I plan on finishing up my German Studies minor at Hochschule Bremen and will hopefully come back to the States semi-fluent in Deutsch! 

 I am excited to embark on my trip, yet very nervous. At the moment, I am still packing and can hopefully finish by tomorrow afternoon.

Well...back to the 83rd Academy Awards (woot woot for Natalie Portman's win)