On Sunday I woke up around 9. In Germany, the sun rises much earlier than in America, and it was initially hard to sleep in past 5:30-6:00 am. Now I am used to it, but it was confusing the first few days! My exchange partner’s mother made us a nice breakfast of croissants and fruit, and Rexy came over a bit later. We were all going to go into Frankfurt together, but Monique (my exchange partner) wasn’t feeling well, so she dropped us off at the U-Bahn station to go into Frankfurt. The ride was amazingly short, and soon we had gone from a small town to a massive city. We walked past an old square quickly on our way to the boat tour. The weather was extremely hot, and we were sweating by the time we reached the boat. It was worth it when we started moving down the river and saw the incredible skyline of Frankfurt behind us. After the boat completed its round trip back, we disembarked and walked back into the city. It was interesting how quickly the buildings went from modern stores to old traditional German buildings. We wandered around a square lined with these old buildings, then walked for just a few minutes and found ourselves on a street lined with sleek storefronts like Gucci and Burberry. There was a festival celebrating the firefighters of the city, and one square was filled with old models of fire trucks. A large shallow fountain was nearby, and to ward off the heat a bunch of small children were splashing around and playing. It was nothing like the stereotypical idea of cold, serious Germans. I can’t imagine something like that happening in the center of New York or a large city in America. Overall, the day in Frankfurt was hot but an interesting comparison to other larger American cities. ~Sara M.
Today, we slept in, per usual. After waking at about 11 AM, Mikal and I went downstairs to an excellent breakfast of Brötchen (sections of baguette cut in half) with Turkish sausage, various fruits, and Apfelsaftschorle. Please keep in mind that the picture above regarding breakfast was after we had eaten, not before. After wasting some time at home, Mikal, his parents, and I embarked upon a biking journey of grandiose proportions. From Steinbach, we traveled through trails and visited Bad Homburg and Oberursel, among other wondrous places. Prior to this journey, I was unaware of how naturally beautiful this entire area was; I was truly amazed by what I observed. A highlight of the trip was when we stopped near a castle in Bad Homburg to enjoy some Italian ice cream. After hearing so much about it during German class, I felt compelled to try out the fabled Spaghetti-Eis. The fact that a master of culinary practices possesses the ability to disguise ice cream as spaghetti, whilst maintaining the former’s refreshing, frozen glory, accurately displays the astounding progression of humanity. During another break for drinks at a local brewery (I drank orange juice), I had a productive discussion with my host family about the elusiveness of perfection regarding the use of German grammar. At the same place, we briefly saw two familiar looking, German-fluent American tourists. For me, it has been most helpful to speak always in German, and to ask (in German) every time I make a mistake. I then try to incorporate the newly learned word or speaking tactic into the following conversations. After about seven hours of being out, we came back home and wolfed down a tasty dinner of curried fish with rice. Mikal and I then listened to music for a while before heading to bed. Overall, today was a splendiferous experience that allowed me to witness the wonders of nature, get a solid workout in, consume delectable foods, and better my understanding and usage of the German language. ~Xavier