This month was more relaxed and focused on school, after having almost a whole month without it. I know it’s weird, but I enjoy having school and a schedule to follow. And I finally feel settled in and know my way around the area-Hohenheim is starting to feel like home, so I enjoy spending a little bit of time here! But I still managed to get a few trips in.
I went to Spain for a few days in the beginning of June. I loved Sevilla! The food was delicious, the night life was awesome, and the weather was just perfect. It’s been a little chilly still in Stuttgart, so it was nice to finally see the sun 🙂 I could definitely go back to Sevilla. We stayed really close to a palace, and in biking distance of downtown. We visited a friend who was doing an ERASMUS semester, and the organization at her Uni also puts together weekend trips. Well, the weekend we went happened to be there was ?to a beach in Portugal. It blows my mind how easy it is to travel through Europe! This little beach was absolutely stunning. It was small and kind of hidden…so just the right amount of people.
There’s an organization at Hohenheim called ISO, International Students Organization, and they’ll organize trips around the region or just even hangouts around the school, but one weekend we went to Lake Constance. I love this town! I seem to love almost every place I go to! But it’s nice going with a group like this- they don’t strictly plan the day so you aren’t running around aimlessly trying to see everything you can for just 30 seconds. They give you time to just sit and enjoy. And Lake Constance is a perfect place for this. The lake first of all, is beautiful. Unfortunately it was a little chilly and rainy, but it was nice to still sit and eat by it. We stayed in a Hostel on the Switzerland side of the border right by the water. We all went down to the water and played some games and drank. There’s one game a lot of germans play- it’s so fun! I already forgot the name, but I think it would be a perfect new tailgating game. This was also the last weekend my friend Johanna was going to be in Germany. She just left at the end of June to go back home to Sweden, so it was a nice little goodbye weekend.
This was also the month for SOCCER! The European Champion Cup or whatever it’s called was this month. Like I said, soccer is not my favorite to watch, but you just kind of get pulled into when you’re in Germany or any other soccer loving country. So it wasn’t that bad! The school has this room, TMS, where other organizations can throw parties or host events, and every time Germany played all the students who lived on campus or close it would come and watch in this little warehouse type building. Sweating and everything! But it was fun. Go Germany! I also went to some public viewings in a neighboring area called Esslingen a few times to hangout and watch soccer. Again, I LOVE this town! It’s hard to explain-but there are just little neighborhood type areas within Stuttgart, but they have mostly everything the city center has-shops, restaurants, businesses. It’s like a mini city inside the big city.
I also hung out with my host family from high school a few times! It’s really comforting having a family I know in Stuttgart. I cooked with them, and they took me to a neat little outdoor zoo type thing one day. The animals are mostly the same as in a zoo, they just have much more room. I hosted Larissa when I was 15 and she was 16, and we are still good friends. Germans huh? It’s also an amazing time to practice my german. I wasn’t very good at german when I came to live with them for a month in high school, but now they will only speak german with me! I love it.
