Home Sweet Home

I just arrived in the States a few days ago, and it feels so great to be back! I was overwhelmed with excitement and adrenaline rushing through me as my two best friends Brett and Natalie surprised me at the airport! I did not sleep for even a minute on the airplane and had spent the previous day walking all over Paris and pulled two all nighters in a row before I came to Paris, however, even that couldn't stop me from the excitement I felt when I saw all my family and best friends waiting for me outside of baggage claim! After I got back, my agenda was already full as I had to look for a new job, unpack, start looking for a new car, and move things up to my new house! I went to a Shiny Toy Gun concert with Brett, which was amazing as always, and even a little better than the last time we saw them! We also went to this really great Mexican Restaraunt called the Velevet Margarita, which I highly recommend! 

Yesterday I finally got to see my new house which I will be living in with my friends Avery and Faith in August. It is so adorable! I have my own room and attic, and we have a really nice size backyard too! I can't wait to start moving more of my stuff up!! Everybody better come visit me! If anybody has any unwanted furniture or house decor let me know!

More videos from my amazing semester abroad!

Best of My Semester Abroad from Brittany Sobel on Vimeo.

Around Bonn from Brittany Sobel on Vimeo.

Rhine in Flames Celebration in Bonn

Last Weekend in Bonn from Brittany Sobel on Vimeo.

Last Full Day With My Group

For the past 5 months, the school we are going to in Bonn has been taking us on all these really cool excursions in Germany. Our last one on Thursday was probably my favorite! We went to this cute German city right on the Rhine River, where we saw this sweet castle and took a cruise on the river. The Castle dated back to the Middle Ages, and had all of these awesome secret passages and underground tunnels we got to go through. This was quite a challenge as most of us totally forget to bring our flashlights. We had to literally crawl for a good 500 feet in these pitch black tightly enclosed tunnels that ran beneath the grounds of the castle. Almost all of us hit our heads pretty badly as there was not nearly enough light for all 16 of us. lol I took a little video so you can see how dark it was!!! Check it out!  

After the Castle we took a cruise on the River and saw a lot of really neat looking houses on the Rhine. The boat was really fun as it had a playground on the top of it, so we got to go down slides and play on little kids equipment as we enjoyed the view from the river! We took the boat to the base of this hilltop so we could take a chair lift to the very top. The top had an amazing view and a really fun park as well! There were ropes to swing from, ice cream to eat, and a panoramic view to enjoy!

After our excursion we went back to Bonn for the Art show and Farewell Party. The Art show went really well, and I was very surprised to see how much everyone truly enjoyed my artwork. I did a painting, and 5 photo montages that were inspired by the famous German Dada Artist Hannah Hoch.  Take a look at the pics!  Afterward we had an amazing meal, and our host families all came for our last big group dinner!

May Day in Germany

Today I experienced one of the quirkiest German Holidays. The festivities started last night, as all the clubs stay open all night long. It is called Tanz in den Mai, which means "Dance into May", the idea is that you dance all night until it becomes May. 

As we all walked back to our houses at like 5 in the morning, we saw a number of guys carrying these huge trees on their shoulders with ribbons attached to the branches. Then a little later we saw some guys planting these trees in the front yards of these random houses in the earliest hours of the morning. We soon learned that this is a common tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years in Germany. On the first of May, it is customary for a guy to plant a tree in the front yard of a girl he likes. The tree must be exactly as tall as whatever floor of the house she lives in. This way, when the girl wakes up she simply peers outside her window to see if her crush has paid her a visit. We saw some guys planting trees for girls who lived on like the 3rd floor, in which case they had to have a ton of people helping them! 

Some of the guys told us that if there is a girl you really don't like, because you think she is a slut, then you plant a tree in her yard and hang sausages on it. Each sausage represents a guy the girl has had sex with, so you hang as many sausages as guys you think she did. Grossss!! 

Luckily we saw no hanging sausages anywhere, so Germany is keeping classy as far as we know! lol

My host sister told me that since last year was leap year, girls had to plant trees with ribbons for the guys they liked, so every 4 years the tradition switches! 

I got a few pics of some decorated trees, unfortunately none from last night though since I did not have my camera on me, but take a look! 

I ran for Sudan

You will never believe it in a million years, but I jogged 13 miles today for the Bonn Marathon, and I even have a medal to prove it! My friends and I all heard about the marathon and were told that we could be sponsored for running to benefit the children of Sudan, and the building of new schools. We were under the impression that there would only be a few people running with us, but man were we wrong. 11,500 people joined us for this cause. There were also thousands of people on the sidelines cheering us on. I was planning on walking most of it, but it is pretty hard to walk when you have tons of people cheering for you and getting you all hyped up. The best part was when we got toward the finish line, they set out a red velvet carpet for us, threw out confetti, and then rewarded us with a medal and an endless supply of food. 

Afterward we went back to our school field, and the staff barbecued steak and sausage for us! We spent the rest of the day laying out and enjoying the nice warm sun! 

Last Week was Busy Busy

This past week was the first week I did not travel outside of Germany since the beginning of the semester. We did however, go on some exciting class excursions. On Thursday we went to Vogelsang & Monschau, which lie directly on the border of Germany and Belgium.... I even got a picture of the border sign! we went to Vogelsang to see one of the Nazi's training bases prior to WWII, which was interesting, but to be honest it was really nothing more than a few abandoned buildings and a nice field. We then went to this awesome Mustard Mill, where they make mustard and honey from scratch. We got to try all sorts of flavors and I even bought myself some Marzipan Honey which you can all try when I get home. 

We were suppose to go bobsledding in Monschau, but unfortunately luck was not on our side. It literally started raining the moment we got there. We did however find this awesome park near by that had all sorts of fun things that would totally be outlawed in the U.S.. Germany has few safety laws for children it appears, which made for more fun for us. Check out my first horribly sad attempt at running in the hamster wheel! haha (By the end of the day I almost did a 360 in it, but you will never believe me after watching this first part on film hahaha)

Another major thing that took place last week was a presentation that I had to give to the Innovation Project Manager at Bayer. I presented along with two other friends on the best market for Bayer to expand into within China, the pros and cons of doing so, and critical success factors for conducting business within China. The presentation came close to two hours, by far the most intense and stressful presentation I have ever had to give. It turned out great though, and the Project Leaders of Bayer said they were extremely impressed. I feel very fortunate to have had this amazing internship, it will be a great thing to have on my resume. 

On Saturday, we traveled to the city of Mainz, where we got to see the original Gutenberg Press, the same one that printed the first Bible, which we also got to see! We even got to use one of the presses to make some artwork and Prints! I printed a page of the Bible in Latin, and also made some designs for myself and some friends. After visiting the Gutenberg Press, we went to a famous Cathedral and saw the tombs of many famous Catholic Bishops from the 16th and 17th Century.  

  For the next week, I will be studying hard core for finals, so this may be the last blog update for a week or so! 

Only a few more weeks until I come home! May 8th, Save The Date!!!!  I cannot wait to see everyone!!! : ) 

<3