Can I just tell you how much of a culture shock it was stepping outside of the Köln train station? The first thing I saw was the Köln Dom,
and I literally stopped in my tracks and just stared upwards. Never before had I seen something like that in my entire life.
The next culture shock? TRAFFIC. Holy heart attack every time I am in a car. I know understand why German cars are so tiny. Germans are crazy drivers, and also like to wait until the last possible second and until they are less than a foot away from the car in front of them to stop.
Jet lag is probably one of the worst feelings, ever. I ended up going to an AFS Re-orietation camp for the students returning home to Germany after being abroad, and wanted to do nothing other than sleep. It was absolute torture trying to stay up with these people. Have to say though, I went to bed early and missed my first chance at trying German beer. Ah, well, I still have 10 months ;)
We came home in the early afternoon of the next day. My host mom said I would know when I was home when I saw the Brauweiler Abbey 
so weird to call this home, after having called a tourist filled amusement park “home”.
Anyways, I started school today, and I now understand how Rika and Anastasia must have felt. Absolutely foreign, and I’m not too sure how if I like it! I did have an English class though, and I just wish all my classes were like that. But other than that, I have started to make friends, and my friend Laura was kind enough to introduce me to none other than…. bum bum bum… the mall. Ohhhhh the mall. A lot of neat stores, a Hollister (blew my mind), and LOTS OF FOOD. I can’t even begin to describe the food. I am probably going to come home looking like an oompa loompa. No regrets, I have never tasted better bread or ice cream in my entire life.
Off to “survival camp”, we’ll see how this goes.
Tshüss!
