Snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, whoooooo!

Yup, that's right. Dream # 382....check. I went snowboarding last weekend with a very cool group of Couchsurfers. A girl from Russia studying in Munich. A girl from the Ukraine studying in Portugal. A guy from Portugal. A girl from Estonia (I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know where Estonia was before I met Kriistina). A guy from Australia. And three Germans. What a group!

Phil, Svetlana and Berthold

Pedro, Berthold and Anna

Anna and Pedro, picture time!

It was probably one of the most expensive weekends of my life (what they say about Switzerland is true!) but it was worth it. I'm not kidding.....I felt like I was riding in heaven. Snowboarding in the Alps has seriously been a dream of mine for I don't know how long, and I did it! I did it!!! 

You should have seen the huge smile on my face as I flew down this mountain...I'm still smiling :)

Bad Ragaz, Switzerland

the cheesy smile

 

wooooooow, really??

Mt. Pizol, yay!

once again...thank you Gilman Scholarship Program, you're making my dreams come true!!
http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

or on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204501850

Slacking on blog means I've been having too much fun ;)

I didn't realize I hadn't written in so long. What this amounts to is a wicked awesome time in my new town. I am now in Konstanz, Germany--a small town right on the border with Switzerland and Austria. I can walk to Switzerland. Awesome!!

I had really high hopes in coming to a new town. New roommates, new classmates and a new start. I am enrolled in "März Kurs" here at the Uni Konstanz, which is a combination of an intensive German language course every morning for 3 hours a day (ugh!) and orientation into our new university and new city. In Germany, this means lots and lots and lots of paperwork. Thank goodness there is such a wonderful team of people here, helping us through it all step by step.

What I have found is that people (ie the Erasmus students) are the same no matter where you go. Cliques are forming, Americans are clinging to Americans, French to French, Italian to Italian, with little outer-group mingling.

But, I've stuck to my word and have really put myself out there. I've participated in excursions, I've shown up to parties without knowing hardly anyone (which has included that record-screeching-to-a-halt moment where everyone shuts up and stares at you when you walk through the door...), and I've become an active member of the couchsurfing group here in Konstanz.

It's been hard for me to put myself out there, because by nature I am shy and introverted. But this trip was all about overcoming my fears, so I have really walked to the edge of the diving board and jumped in (sorry for the cheesy cliche, it just fits somehow). And I've been having such a great time! Things are getting easier as I am becoming more familiar with the city and developing real friendships.

I'm seeing and doing things I have never thought possible, and I owe it all to study abroad.

What are you waiting for!?!? :)

from the top of the church, Konstanz

Konstanz, my new home!

the beautiful Bodensee, ahhh sehr schön!!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program
or check them out on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204501850

Which Way to the Eiffel Tower?

So I went home for my break. I don't recommend doing that, not for any mind blowing reason, like you will forget everything you've learned, or you will never want to go home again. Nothing at all like that. Just merely for the fact that you are studying ABROAD, which means not going home on your break. When will you ever have this chance again??

That being said, I did go home for break. My parents really really wanted me to, and no matter how old I get, I'll always be a sucker to my parents' famous guilt trips. And it was great to see my family and old friends. Oh how quickly the time went, and now check it out...I'm back in Germany, but in a new town, attending a new university, making new friends and back on the adventure trail once again.

One cool thing about the trip home was that the trip back included a 4 hr layover in Paris. Mmmmhmm....if you're thinking what I'm thinking, you're thinking Eiffel Tower. Yup, I don't know french, I've never been to Paris, and I was traveling alone but somehow I figured out the Paris metro system and found my way to the Eiffel Tower!!

*pat pat* (that's me patting my own back)

Before you start thinking I'm so egomaniac, I just want to say that 6 months ago, I would have NEVER been able to figure that out, let alone have the guts to try something like that. Yay for study abroad!!! And thank you again to the Gilman Scholarship Program!!

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program