Wow it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with these posts!
On Monday, we had yet another German test followed by working in our internships. I finally began assembling my robot at work. I am excited to begin to work with it and to figure out how to get it to drive and work how I want it to. The Arduino and Raspberry Pi are new to me, so it is a bit challenging but I am learning more and more every day. After work, some of us headed into town and had a DELICIOUS Italian meal of pasta, pasta, and more pasta. It was fantastic!
On Tuesday, we had our German class followed by work. After work, some of us headed into the city to find a coffee shop where we could do some homework. We had to read a short German story about Oktoberfest for class. I was amazed at how much of this story we could read and comprehend! It really put into perspective how much German we have learned over this short course. Had I tried to read this story at the beginning of June, I would’ve recognized only like 3 words! It’s really exciting to see how much we learned thanks to our awesome teacher Lydia, and the fact that we were learning German in Germany, so we could go out and actually use what we learned.
Wednesday was a relatively slow day. We had our last class before the final and went to our internships as usual. We spent that evening preparing for our FINAL the next day. This class went by so quickly it is insane — we had a full semester of German 101 in only about 12 days of instruction!
We began Thursday with our finals. First, we had an oral final where we had to speak for 10 minutes in German to our teacher. I was really nervous at first because 10 minutes is a long time. However, when we were actually speaking, it was really easy and the time flew by! After the oral exam we all had to take a written exam as well and then we were finished with the German class. While it was fast paced and a bit stressful, the class was awesome overall and I am so glad it was included in this program. After class we again went to our internships. For dinner this evening, we went to Hofbräukeller and enjoyed a celebratory Maß of Bier before going out that night.
On Friday, we went to work in the afternoon and then headed into the city for our favorite four hours of the week: FREIBEIR FREITAG. This event is so incredibly fun and the environment is the best! We look forward to it each week. We danced the night away to some European techno(ish) music and enjoyed freibier and pretzles. It was a great end to the week. After Freibeir Freitag, we went home to pack for our hiking adventure in the Alps the next morning!
At 8 am Saturday morning, we hopped into some cars and headed to Austria for our hiking adventure. Once we arrived, we grabbed our backpacks and were off on an 18 km trek in the Alps. We were lucky to have such a beautiful day for this hike in, since it took us around 5 hours to complete. The scenery was insanely gorgeous with towering gray mountains, a teal blue river, and dark green trees. While most of the hike was a gradual incline, the last 30-40 minutes consisted of switchbacks on switchbacks up the mountain to the lodge. I was so tired at this point, but I was afraid to stop because I didn’t know if I would be able to start up again! Finally though, we reached the lodge where we would be staying. We checked in inside and sat down for some lunch. After about an hour or so we decided to go on another smaller hike to the top of the peak (why we did this, I have no clue, the altitude must have brought on this insanity or something)! Naturally, it began to rain right as we set off and we were soaked through within 10 minutes. About 2/3 of the way in, Jayme and I decided to turn around because we were cold, tired, and wet. While I’m a little sad I didn’t make it to the top, I’m glad I turned around when I did because I was already starting to feel a little sick. That evening we ate dinner in the lodge and then went to bed after a game of Yahtzee.
We woke up Sunday morning and went down to the restaurant in the lodge for breakfast. After eating, four of the guys decided to do yet another short hike before we hiked back to the car. While they did that, the rest of us sat around in the restaurant, drank lots and lots of coffee (there were free refills), and chatted. Once they returned, we packed up our stuff and headed back down the mountain. Kid you not, it rained the whole time. We hiked for 4+ hours in the rain and I don’t think I had ever been that happy to see the car when we got back. It’s a shame though, because the hike was still beautiful, but it was a lot harder to appreciate this time around. Overall though, this hiking adventure was one of the coolest experiences ever! We hiked over 36 km (22 miles) in the ALPS like what?? That’s so cool! It was for sure a once in a lifetime experience and I am very grateful for my buddy, David, for taking us out there.
The Sunday marked exactly one month since I arrived in Munich. I cannot believe time has passed by this quickly! This past month has been one of the best of my life. I’ve gotten to do so many amazing things here, and I’m starting to feel more like a Munich local than a tourist. I am so incredibly grateful to get to do this, and I am not quite ready to go home yet. Thankfully I still have a couple more weeks here!
You can find this weeks pics right here!
