Europe 6 The Day of Aachen, Germany

Aachen, 08/24/2017
First night in the building did not go well. Whether it was the time change, jet lag, heat, loud noises, or the unfamiliar bed and pillow; my night was restless.
I went to sleep at about 9 and slept decently until about 4 AM. That is when the exhaustion started. I tried every sleeping position, earplugs in and out, sleep mask on and off, different pillow placements, and breathing techniques and nothing was allowing me to go back to sleep. I tried for about two hours and finally after some time spent on my phone checking out everybody's' first day of school outfits at Freed, I fell back to sleep at 6. The next hour of sleep passed quickly and I was not ready to wake up at 7.
I was finally comfortable and slightly chilled, the perfect sleeping combo. I got ready for the day and Marie and Hannah (another other group leader,) laid out an array of breakfast foods. There was cereal, bread and spreads (nutella, speculoos, and honey,) juices, coffee, and tea.
After breakfast and much needed coffee, we had a mini orientation to the facilities and important information. Then we had about an hour to go to the market and get needed toiletries and go to the ATM for some of those 'euro euro bills'. (like dolla dolla bills. get it? lame joke, whatever. too sleepy to care)
After we made our sandwich lunches to eat on the train, we departed for our day trip to Aachen. We walked to Verviers-Central train station to catch the train to Aachen but it didn't leave until 12:30. We ended up eating our lunches while at the train station because it was going to be like an hour wait.
The train ride was about a 30 minute ride and then we arrived at the Aachen train station, Hauptbahnhof.
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(to be continued)

Europe 5 Verviers

When we got off our last train, all 26 of us beelined it for the housing that we would be staying at for the semester. 

It was quite a scene. 26 Americans rolling their huge suitcases across cobblestone sidewalks with huge backpacks on. We received a lot of strange looks and stares. 

The part of the building we occupy is above a French speaking Church of Christ and has 2 floors. The first floor has a girls bedroom that has about 8 bunk beds, a kitchen, an eating area, and the boys room. The second floor has another girls bedroom with about 3 bunk beds and a room for class and lounging. It’s small but it’s perfect. I feel like I am at church camp, but it’s pretty cozy! 

After our tour, Marie Johnson made us an array of sandwich “fixins” and we ate lunch. It was amazing! After not eating during all that train traveling and walking, we were starving. 

After lunch, we set up our beds and got settled in and got ready to leave at 5 for dinner. We had reservations at a pizza place called Cucina Restaurant at 6. During the hour gap, the Johnsons took us on a tour of Verviers. 

It is a small town and has a lot of charm. The buildings just hold so much age and history. The pizza was delicious but our whole group was just so done for the day. We were falling asleep at the table after we ate. So we bustled back to the building to take our showers and hit the hay. So day one in Verviers ends early but it was the perfect start to what will be a great semester! 

Tomorrow: Aachen, Germany! 
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(to be continued)

Europe 4 Planes, Trains, and Walking

Verviers, 08/23/2017 

We landed in Brussels and apparently some of the luggage crew went on strike so after we went through customs we went to retrieve our luggage and met a huge crowd of people. 

There was no room to maneuver and no room around the luggage areas to even see if your luggage was on the belt. It took our group probably close to an hour to get our luggage and finally walk to the train station. Once we found out what trains to take to Verviers, we encountered our first European train ride! 

It was also the first time we would be able to see the landscape and architecture. The first thing I noticed was corn! Corn fields all around. I was surprised but felt right at home! The landscape is very rural. Lots of farmland. The houses are mixed. Some old quaint houses that are skinny and tall with lots of chimneys, and then some modern square houses with lots of windows. The buildings are old and brick and stone and as adorable as you would imagine them to be. 

I was screaming inside from happiness and cheesing big on the outside. We switched trains like 3 times so we became very skilled at maneuvering our huge suitcases up and down escalators and up and down the train stairs.

We finally made it to Verviers where we met another one of our group leaders, Steve Johnson.

(to be continued) 

Europe 3 Using A Bathroom

So here we go! I'm NERVOUS. It feels very weird that I will be landing in a country I've never been to before! I think I'm going to miss America a little, but I'm ready to see what the Europe hype is about! ;)
30 minutes before we landed in Brussels, I didn't feel great after an 8 hour flight. They served us dinner almost immediately. I had a nice array of chicken and broccoli, cheese, 3 grapes, yes, 3, and some salad.

It wasn't bad for the terrible "airplane food." I then tried to get some sleep. Well let me tell you, that's no easy feat. I never realized how picky I am when it comes to my sleeping position. I've realized I need my feet up, and head laying horizontal of some sort, and need something to lean against. Well I could not really do any of that since I was in the middle section and an aisle seat. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep despite my best efforts. I think I did get some sleep here and there though.

I also got to experience using a bathroom while bumpily flying very high in the sky. That was neat. I learned to avoid that seat though. Turbulence does not help people's aim. Finally, at about 2 in the morning U.S. Time and 8 in the morning their time, we ate some breakfast. Noosa yogurt (which is one of my faves so that was comforting) a peach muffin and some cheese. It was decent for airplane food. When we started to descend, we flew over London, and it suddenly hit me that I was in Europe. Crazy!
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Europe 2 Yikes... Yay!

Next stop was security so cue the goodbyes. Short and sweet. See ya in 3 months fam:) Luckily, security was a breeze since I went through pre-check security so shoes stayed on and bags stayed in tact. Walked through and boom. Done. Most stress free security I've ever encountered. I only waited for boarding about 30 minutes and then it was time for flight #1! Pretty smooth flight. Good pretzels. No crazy seat mates. I'd say it was successful. 

I landed in Atlanta and I got off at terminal A. Figured out my next plane leaves from terminal E.

Yikes...

that's a long walk. Thankfully they have handy little trains that take you across the airport so of course I jumped on one. Finally got to my gate, grabbed some food and ready to relax and wait for the rest of the group. Well...I got a phone call saying the rest of the group would be delayed, and we would have to travel across the Atlantic on our own! I met up with 7 other girls going on the trip, and we boarded the plane and found out we were going to wait for some other planes due to weather.

Next thing we knew, the rest of the group boarded the plane. So then the group was all traveling together again!

Yay!

We ended up leaving 2.5 hours later than originally scheduled, but I'm glad we waited.
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(to be continued) 

Europe 1 The Day I Spread My Wings

STL to ATL to BRU, 08/22/2017

I woke up the morning of departure feeling ready to go. My brain instantly started going through my mental checklist of all the last minute things to gather before I left for the airport. Glasses. Computer. Charger. Makeup. Check. 

I made some eggs because it's the food of champions. At least I think so. And then I sat waiting for Ansley and Mom to be ready to take me to the airport. I tried to analyze what I was feeling but it's hard to describe. Ready to be there but also not wanting to leave. Ready to be on the other side of the airport craziness but also slightly resisting the decision to get in the car and go. 

Calm but anxious. Again, that internal battle. It's good to have both though because it levels out in the end. On the way to the airport, I called Benjamin. One last normal FaceTime conversation about what we had been up to the day before. He wasn't the only friend I heard from though. Multiple of my dear sweet friends sent me messages wishing me luck and sending me their love and prayers. I definitely felt the love! Special shoutout to all of those who did think of me this morning or yesterday before I left! I may be biased, but I have the best friends a girl could ask for! 

We arrived to the airport and parked so Ansley and Mom could come in and see me off (how sweet are they?) After struggling with understanding very clear images on how to scan my passport, (??) I checked my bag and we took off to wait in a Starbucks.

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(to be continued)