First week of actual classes, an alpine adventure, and a spontaneous bikeride

Woah, I can't believe it's already October! On Friday, I'll officially have been back in Germany for a month and I can't believe how quickly that month went by. Though I have to hand it to IES, we have been pretty freaking busy this past month. First orientation, and then a week of intensive politics seminar and german classes, then a trip to Berlin and Prague! Now things are settling down, and we're all settling into our respective schedules with class and such. But just an overview of the classes I'm taking this semester: Econ 353 Economic Relations of the EU, Econ 358 Transition to Market Economies in Central and Eastern Europe, POL 350 Integrative EU Seminar, Germ 403 Emerging Competent German Abroad, and IR 370 EU-US Relations. I'm very pleased with all of my professors thus far, and as nerdy as it sounds, really looking forward to what this semester has to offer me. I came into the IES EU Studies program knowing practically nothing about the EU, and hopefully by the end of the semester I'll be a lot more knowledgable on this extremely complex international body that has far too many treaties and sub-organizations. Did you know that the EU has a cucumber regulation that regulates the how curvy a Class I cucumber is? Yeah, I didn't either (there are also banana and condom regulations). But yeah! Classes have been great so far, and I'm also a huge fan of my no class on Wednesdays :)

Speaking of no class on Wednesdays! So I was incredibly blessed to have my aunt, uncle, and grandma come visit me for the day last Wednesday! Granted I missed out on hiking, but spending the day with family was such a treat. I got to show them around Freiburg and acted as a tour guide in this city that I'm barely familiar with. I took them to all the major landmarks, to the IES center, and a café on the river. Just spending the day with them was so comforting, and made me miss my family back home that much more. That and they're all hilarious to hang out with. So it was a Wednesday well spent.

Die schönen Damen :) 

Und auch Doug

Hahaha one of the street performers trying to give Mamaw a kiss

 Thursday and Friday just seemed to drag in anticipation of our Swiss Alps hike. Bright and early on Saturday morning we hopped on our double decker bus to take us to Engelberg. Fortunately for me, I was able to sleep almost the entire way, and when I woke up...well let's just say I was mildly impressed with the view. Though I will say I will never be sitting at the front of the bus on top again. Let's just say that it was terrifying on the mountain roads.

The view I woke up to. (I was sitting at the front of the double decker bus).

We separated into groups, took the gondola partially up the mountain to Trübsee and from there began our hike. Holy eff, I don't know if I've ever done a more challenging hike before. Though I guess the App Mtns don't have anything on the Swiss Alps! The views though. Absolutely breathtaking. Photos just don't do it justice for the natural beauty that I was able to see. Getting to the top was incredible, and not just because of the views. I got to touch snow! And drink fresh glacial water! I also may or may not have filled my nalgene up with it...no shame. And so far, so good! No giardia for me (knock on wood).

The gondola

On the way up 

Don't worry, I didn't fall

The breathtaking view from the top

After we made our way back down the mountain (via gondola, thank God), we stopped and ate and drank our allotted one beverage from IES before heading back to the bus to go to Luzern (Lucerne)! Ahh what a beautiful city! Of course we all looked fabulous in our hiking gear walking around, meanwhile there are swans everywhere, a world band festival going on, oh and a regatta. Just your average day in Switzerland I suppose. But hey, I enjoyed walking around and looking at things that were way too expensive for me to buy.

Just focus on the gorgeous city around the lake in the background

SWANS AND COVERED BRIDGES. LIKE WHAT?

Casual regatta

Too pretty, I can't even handle it

When we got back it was pretty unanimous that we all wanted to hang out/go out. It ended up being a pretty fun night at Katie and Liz's place with their roommates. I bonded with Jan, their roommate, and was very insistent on him only speaking German with me. He actually kept lapsing back to English! But I put on my stern German face so we could "nur Deutsch sprechen".

Hanging out at Katie's

Katie's roommate Jan and I throwing our Freiburg "Fs" lol

And of course some Pi Phi wings! PPL from Germany!

Sunday, I forced my body to sleep in (I mean come on, hiking was pretty strenuous). After doing nothing but uploading pictures and stalking FB for a few hours, I decided to go on a bike ride. Now, let me tell you about my bike because I'm kind of in love with her. Her name is Lola, she's green and has a bell that's slightly rusted with a four leaf clover on it. She's also like 30 years old, only has foot brakes and no gears. But she's a gem. Anyway I decided to do some exploring with Lola, so I grabbed my Nalgene and iPhone and just went. For a while I would just follow random signs to places that sounded cool, so I found a couple of pretty ponds and lakes and cornfields. Then I saw a sign that said, "Breisach 18km". Now I knew Breisach was on the border, which would be pretty neat, so I thought, "hey what the heck, I'll bike to Breisach". My bikeride was beautiful, about 4 hours roundtrip and roughly 55km long. I think I shed a tear of happiness when I hit Freiburg because by the end of the trip my legs were basically on fire. Slightly deflated tires and no gears will do that to your legs I suppose. But hey, now I can say that I've biked to the German-French border, which I guess is pretty neat.

Action shot with Lola

Der Rhein!

Breisach!

Some really hairy cows and a pear tree (it was a really sour pear btw)

Song of the Week: Wrecking Ball (cover) by Chester See

Best Meal: Is chocolate a meal? Because the dark chocolate truffles I bought in Lucerne were heavenly.

Switzerland must do: Hike somewhere in the Alps! Talk about getting one with nature, it was absolutely beautiful.

Switzerland don't do: Don't forget to have money with you. Luckily, most places do accept Visa and Mastercard. 

Highlight of the week: My bike ride to the border obviously! It was so peaceful riding by myself, and I had a a good long talk with God which was definitely needed.