January 3/January 4, 2017

Day 1 and Day 2

The Flight There

The word excitement is an understatement for how I feel right now. I could hardly sleep last night, however, I think that might be due more to the fact that I waited until the night before to pack. I am currently running on maybe 2 hours of sleep. I finished packing at 3 or so and went to sleep at 4, just to wake up at around 6 to leave for the airport. No bueno.

Before we went to the airport, we had to make a stop to pick up Macey and her entire house too. Granted, I am not able to talk much seeing as I packed just as much. Getting through security was fun, though.

One second Macey went through security before me, and the next she was being pulled aside and getting the works of a full pat down (courtesy of the Lubbock airport’s TSA). Thankfully she survived. Janayia happened to have the same flight as us so we were able to share our excitement with a fellow classmate.

Time to board, Europe here we come!!

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Just landed and the excitement is just continuing to grow. When we got to Dallas we realized that Hunter S., Hope, and Nick P. all had the same flight as us.

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The first day here was incredible and really set the tone for the rest of the trip. Heidi is awesome and I can tell it’s going to be funny watching her and our professor joke. Getting to the hotel was fun, seeing as our bus almost took out a tiny car getting there. Today consisted of a little bit of exploring by ourselves, orientation, a walking tour, and the welcome dinner. Our walking tour was quite cold, however, and I was definitely unprepared for it. Thankfully Professor H. let me borrow his scarf. The welcome dinner was delicious and I learned that I definitely enjoy schnitzel and three-course meals. Everyone got to know Macey’s clumsy side because she broke two glasses within the time span that we were there.

Well, tomorrow is an early morning so with all that being said, until tomorrow.

The world traveler,

Casey

THINGS I’VE LEARNED TODAY:

• There are no speed limits on the highway, only suggestions. Weird, right?
• Frankfurt Airport is the largest employer in Frankfurt with 82,000 employees.
• Their streets are very narrow.
• Everyone is very friendly.
• I don’t prefer curry. I can eat it but definitely could live a life without it easily.
• Frankfurt is split in half by an old-fashioned, original side and a very modern, new side.
• Currency is different shapes, and don't just get rid of coins, they can be full a full euro or two.

January 5, 2017

Day 3

Fresenius and Deutsche Bank

Another day equals another memory for the books. You know, I now remember why I moved away from Pennsylvania… I HATE the cold. But of course, it didn’t stop our exploring souls. We started the day off with a delicious breakfast that I could easily get used to. I absolutely love that they get fresh flowers to set out every morning. Everything here is just so fresh and pure.

After, we departed for Fresenius SE & Co. where we had the pleasure to see all their machines, past to present, and talked about what they are as a company and what their future holds. The fact they just bought out another company makes you consider investing in them because they have so much planned. When I called mom, she actually told me that our local hospital is actually getting an entire dialysis center put in and Fresenius is the company doing it all. I thought that was so ironic.

When we returned to Frankfurt we had a little bit of free time to eat before we had to meet back up for Deutsche Bank AG. Let me tell you, our speaker of that presentation was AWESOME. She told us straight up how she felt and wasn’t scared of it either. She is just as disappointed as the rest of the world with the leaders of that company. Her lecture was quite interesting and had all of us intrigued.

Once we were done at Deutsche Bank, we had the rest of the day to explore and eat dinner. Macey, Brandon, and I had plans for dinner, but when Macey suddenly got sick so then it became two. We tried playing the penny game where heads is left and tails is right. Let's just say we got a little lost. We went into the first place we found and realized it was so expensive that we awkwardly had to get up and leave. We stopped at a street vendor to buy a pretzel to tide us over until we found somewhere.

After walking for a good while we found somewhere that we thought had indoor seating… WRONG. So we had the “greatest” idea to go into Starbucks and buy some coffee to eat in there. Well, the women behind us “were getting nauseous” from our food and made us leave. Best part you might ask? When they realized we weren’t disrespectful about it, they felt terrible and tried to retract what they said AFTER I had already thrown away my food. But what can you do, right?

Last day here starts in the morning, so until tomorrow.

The world traveler,

Casey

THINGS I’VE LEARNED TODAY:

• Don’t play the penny game in an unknown location.
• Don’t take your food into Starbucks because mayonnaise can be very disturbing.
• Apparently, you pay for public restrooms? No thank you, I will wait.

January 6, 2017

Day 4

Heidelberg

After our yummy and delicious breakfast, we were off to the BEAUTIFUL Heidelberg. The day consisted of lectures and tours and castles, oh my. Heidelberg had to have been my favorite part of Germany. We started our day off with a walk up to the European Study Center to meet Annika to discuss Cultural Diversity. She made it extremely interactive and made us want to participate with ease.

For lunch, we found ourselves at a nice little Italian restaurant where Macey and Brandon worked their magic to get our waiters number. It took the majority of the time we were there to finally get it, but she got it. Was the whole meal embarrassing? Yes. Was it hilarious? Yes. Did I think the guy was gay? Yes. Was he? I'm still confused. The whole time I swore he was into Brandon. He wasn’t… It is definitely a story down for the books.

Our tour was really interesting and our tour guide was too. Seeing as he continually said “footnote” the whole time. We got to visit the church and the college jail, and toured the town as a whole as well. Something about a college jail just doesn’t make any sense to me, but hey, as long as they had fun while they were there, right?

The Heidelberg Red Sandstone Castle was huge! When we were told that the world’s largest wine barrel was housed there, everyone walked up to the first barrel they saw and started taking pictures with it. Turns out they thought that was the famous barrel and their jaws dropped when they saw the real one.

I found my sister a beautiful jewelry box at the castle for her wedding and her fiancé a nutcracker for his collection in town.

Since it was our last night in Germany, we had to celebrate by exploring one last time until we leave tomorrow morning. When we were looking for a restaurant we asked a local for suggestions. I got a little sketched out when he took us through a back alley to get there, but he was actually really sweet. Brandon bought him a beer when we got there and I enjoyed a cider beer and schnitzel. I would say today was an overall success.

Off to Paris first thing in the morning and I am so excited, until tomorrow.

The world traveler,

Casey

THINGS I’VE LEARNED TODAY:

• Heidelberg was where the Protestant movement started.
• Heidelberg doesn’t really have a founding date.
• Brandon is not afraid to take the bull by its horn and get Macey a guy’s number.
• Heidelberg is too beautiful for words.

Scrapbook: