back to the future

Dear readers, let me tell you a story!

Once upon a time (a few months ago anyways), there was a girl from Luxembourg studying in the United States. She loved reading and writing and so she decided to create a blog, to keep her family and friends informed about her life overseas. At first all seemed good, she wrote her experiences down every now and then and enjoyed talking about her international lifestyle. Slowly but surely, however, fewer posts got shared and in March she stopped working on her blog altogether. I'm sure you were or still are wondering what could have happened to trigger this? Was it sheer idleness? Too much stress because of university? No time because there was always something a little more exciting to be done? To be honest all of these reasons apply but another huge maleficent factor influenced the sad decision to stop writing: my laptop broke down.
You heard me, my internet-able device, which I trusted with all my documents and photos, bailed on me and decided to shut down for good only a week before finals. Of course I had all my drafts, final essays and homework on it and no, of course I didn't save it on another device or send it to my e-mail account. GONE! It was all gone... Not only did I have to say good bye to all my documents, furthermore my laptop did not restart again, he simply refused to work and so I was back to paper and pencil again!
As I said this wasn't  the whole reason why I stopped writing but it increased the stress I had to cope with and left little time for blogging next to studying and meeting friends. I could have used the computers in the library but first I had to re-write all my essays and I couldn't have posted anything with pictures. So I decided to concentrate on my studies and the real life in the now rather than spending my free time in the library too! I probably would have bored you with my anger about technology if I would have taken the time to post anyways, so you didn't miss out! And no worries I swore to myself to finish this blog once I'd have more time on my hands and access to a computer again. So here I am back home and ready to reflect on the past weeks in the States, from finals to roadtrips, I'll tell you all the exciting details within the next weeks!

so this time for real: keep coming back, I'll keep you posted! xx

paradise awaits

The Bahamas (feels good saying it believe me!)

view from above, looks really small doesn't it?

Was stellt man sich unter den Bahamas vor? Paradiesische Strände, tanzfreudige Menschen,  chaotische Märkte, reiche Amerikaner, fruchtige Cocktails etc... Zugegeben meine Vorstellung von der Inselgruppe war nicht gerade sehr groß, genauso wenig wie mein Wissen über die Nation oder Kultur. Wusstest ihr dass die Bahamas aus über 700 Inseln besteht und eines der reichsten Ländern Amerika's ist? Ich auch nicht, aber da ich lernwillig bin und mich für neue Länder und Kulturen interessier, freute ich mich ein weiteres Land zu meinen bisherigen Reisezielen hinzufügen zu können. Das, und natürlich die Aussicht auf gutes Wetter, Strand und Cocktails, it is Spring Break after all! Als wir nach unserer, wie im letzten Post beschriebenen, etwas anstrengenden Reise, in Nassau angekommen waren, freuten wir uns erstmal darauf in unser Hotel zu ziehen und die Stadt zu erkunden. 

 

British Colonial Hilton Hotel

 

Nach reichlichem Genörgel wegen Mangel an Schuhwerk von meiner Seite aus, ging es dann auch los, zum ersten Mal seit Monaten konnten wir unsere shorts und t-shirt rauskramen und uns auf Sonne freuen. Erstes Ziel: Flip flops oder Sandlen kaufen da ich keine mitgenommen hatte und mein Paket wie gesagt nicht rechtzeitig angekommen ist. Also ging es erstmal mit Sportschuhen nach draussen in angenehme 25 Grad. Leider macht in Nassau alles unglaublich früh zu, vor allem Sonntags, und wie es der Zufall wollte kamen wir erst kurz nach 3 an. Klingt früh aber nach etwas rumschlendern durch die Souvenirshops und an der Promenade entlang ging die Zeit schnell um und bevor wir uns umsehn konnten war es 5, die Läden machten dicht und die Leute eilten nach Hause zu ihrem wohlverdienten Feierabend. Fazit: Ich musste also einen weiteren Tag meine Nike's vollschwitzen. Schnell eilten wir in den lokalen Supermark, der von außen auch als Gefängnis durchgehen würde und von innen, naja nennen wir es kreativ chaotisch eingerichtet war. Doch auch dort wurden wir nach 5 minuten wieder rausgeschmissen denn auch diese Bahamians wollten nach Hause, Feierabend scheint ihnen wirklich heilig zu sein. Also machten wir uns wieder Richtung Hotel da in Nassau dem Anschein nach eh alles geschlossen war, ja sogar die meisten Restaurants und Cafés. Da wir eh müde von der Anreise waren entschlossen wir uns lediglich gegenüber vom Hotel essen zu gehn und dann früh in's Bett um den nächsten Tag auszukosten...und Schuhe zu kaufen. Die Stimmung war eher mittelmässig da die Bahamas auf den ersten Blick sehr verschlafen wirkten und die Leute auch nicht so freundlich waren wie gedacht. Was Andrea sehr schockte war das Verhalten vieler Männer, die beim Anblick von Westlichen Frauen sich doch des öfteren umdrehten oder sogar mit Komplimenten um sich schmissen. Aus meinen vorherigen Reisen nach Lateinamerika hab ich gelernt bei sowas einfach zu lächeln wenn es nett gemeint ist oder es komplett zu ignorieren, die meisten Männer meinen es nicht böse und freuen sich einfach über die Touristas. Andere Länder, andere Sitten!

Am nächsten Morgen sah alles schon ganz anders aus, bei Tageslicht fühlt man sich einfach wohler in einer neuen Umgebung, vor allem wenn man sich in einer komplett anderen kulturellen Situation befindet. An die Aufmerksamkeit gewöhnt man sich relativ schnell und auch wenn es mich persönlich stört und vor allem nach 'ner Weile nervt, hat es unserem Aufenthalt keinen Abbruch getan. Denn die Bahamas sind wunderschön! Es wirkt alles sehr klein aber irgendwo auch gemütlich mit einem sehr karibischen Touch. Was mir am meisten gefallen hat sind die bunten Häuser die sich durch ganz Nassau ziehen und dass es trotz vieler Amerikanischer Touris, eine kleine Stadt blieb in der man nicht mal einen Tag im Einkaufszentrum oder Vergnügungspark verbringt, sowas gibt's nämlich nicht...auf jeden Fall nicht in der Nähe. Es gibt nur einen lokalen Supermarkt, schöne flip flops zu finden war eine Sache der Unmöglichkeit und wenn man essen gehen oder feiern wollte waren die Möglichkeiten auch begrenzt. Aber das störte uns nicht denn schon nach dem zweiten Tag hatten wir unsere Stammkneipe gefunden: Señor Frogs, eine Bar mit sehr guten Cocktails direkt am Wasser mit Blick auf Paradise Island, und meisten gefüllt mit anderen Studenten on Spring Break. Am zweiten Abend saßen wir genau 10 Minuten alleine an einem Tisch bevor uns andere Studenten angesprochen haben, und damit mein ich nicht angeflirtet oder betrunken rumgestammelt, wie es uns warscheinlich in Cancun passiert wäre. In den Bahamas konnte man gut feiern und tanzen, allerdings mit Leuten die auch tatsächlich nüchtern waren und sich für Gespräche interessierten. Wir lernten außerdem, wie soll es anders sein, vor allem andere internationale Studenten kennen und auch in den darauf folgenden Abenden tranken wir den ein oder anderen Bahama Mama Cocktail mit unseren neuen Freunden.

 Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, France, Kroatia and America in one picture

another fun night out at Señor Frogs

Außer Feiern und faul am Strand liegen, gehört natürlich auch das Erkunden der Insel dazu, hier sind ein par Fotos damit ihr euch die Atmosphäre der Bahamas vorstellen könnt

Die Polizei ist etwas anders in den Bahamas, nicht nur dass sie sehr Touristen-freundlich sind, sie sehn auch einfach super lustig aus in ihrer edlen Uniform.

Gleich am ersten Tag hat uns ein Polizist angesprochen und gefragt ob wir ein Foto mit ihm machen wollen, die kennen die Neugierde der Touris ja schließlich. Unüblich für Polizisten war dann allerdings dass er mir seine Telefonnummer und E-mail Adress zusteckte und meinte wir könnten ihm die Fotos ja schicken und Brieffreunde werden. Andere Länder...

Am meisten mochte ich die bunten Häuser, die mich an die Karibikseite Costa Rica's erinnerten

Das wichtigste fehlt natürlich noch: Strand!! Hauptgrund warum wir in die Bahamas reisen wollten ist natürlich das Wetter und der Strand. Nach den ganzen Midterms und Schnee hatten wir uns eine Auszeit verdient und wo lässt es sich besser relaxen als am Stand in der prallen Sonne (mit einem kühlen Bier)

 

 Der Strand von unserem Hotel, mit bequemen Liegen und Strandbetten! So relaxed man richtig!

 

Haupt-event der ganzen Reise war allerdings nicht unser schönes Hotel, die leckeren Cocktails, das gute aber viel zu teure Essen oder die Strände, sondern mit Delfinen schwimmen und TANZEN!

 An unserem letzten Tag in den Bahamas fuhren Andrea und ich mit der Fähre zur Blue Lagoon Island, einer Insel wo man mit Delfinen schwimmen und knuddeln kann aber auch mehr über diese wunderschönen Geschöpfe lernen kann und dazu beitragen kann sie zu beschützen. Nach einer Einführung und kurzen Inforunde über Delfine und ihre Umgebung, ging es schon in's Wasser wo wir unseren Delfin Cacique kennenlernten und erstmal in Aktion beobachten konnten. Der Trainer war unglaublich lustig und man merkte dass es dem Tier auch Spaß machte sich zu Schau zu stellen. Von lachen, bis unter Wasser prusten, zeigte uns Cacique was er so alles an Kunststücken kann und wie schlau er ist. Dann ging es los, wir durften zu ihm in's Wasser und ihn streicheln, umarmen und mit ihm tanzen. Um anzufangen gab mir Cacique erstmal ein Küsschen auf die Wange, dann streckte ich die Arme aus und er streckte mir die Flossen entgegen und fing an rumzuwackeln, perfekter Tanzpartner würde ich sagen. Auf den Mund hat er mich dann auch geküsst und obwohl es super niedlich war und eine unglaubliche Erfahrung so einem Geschöpf so nah zu sein, muss ich sagen dass es eher komisch ist einen Delfin zu küssen. Sushi Geschmack ;) Aber ernsthaft es war unglaublich und würde jederzeit wieder mit Delfinen schwimmen gehn! Wenn ihr die Gelegenheit habt, zögert nicht es ist ein einmaliges Erlebnis und dort wo wir waren wurden die Tiere auch super liebevoll behandelt und beschützt!

Es gibt noch so viel zu erzählen über diesen erlebnisreichen Aufenthalt, so viel Fotos zu zeigen und über so viele Aktionen zu lachen aber ich denke ich hab euch für heute genug gefoltert mit Delfin und Strandbildern. Darauf dass wir diesen Urlaub nie vergessen werden und dass das Wetter in Michigan sich in der zwischenzeit gebessert hat (ansonsten Schock unseres Leben's würd ich mal sagen).

xxx eure Bahama Mama

last trip with the ferry before going back home...

snow, don't let me go

Spring Break

destination: The Bahamas
mission: to relax and have a great time (away from the snow)
the problem: airports (any kind of transportation vehicles to be honest) really don't like us...

My last class ended on thursday morning so I had enough time to start packing and finish up my last assignments before the break. My plan was to go shopping that day as well but somehow time management wasn't on my side (is it ever?!) and so I had to deal with what I brought to Michigan in the first place. Which wasn't too bad, I always pack way too much stuff and of course I thought of bringing some tops and shorts when I packed for 5 months abroad. However as I wasn't even thinking about spring break back then, I forgot quite a few things or didn't pack them as I planned on buying new stuff once I'd be settled in the States. Mainly shoes weren't on my list, I ruined my flip flops and my sandals in Australia so I didn't bring them here, thinking that by the time I'll get to a warmer place, I'd have more than enough opportunities to go shoe shopping, we're in America after all?! Yeah... that didn't go as planned...The shopping mall is two buses away from where I live which means it takes you at least an hour to get there and once you're there you realize that although they have a few nice shops, all what's in store at the moment is to get you through the cold winter. Yes by the time of midterms and up until today (March), no spring in sight, but tons of snow instead! So no footwear for sunny weather, I had to deal with my boots and sneakers. Somehow I always manage to pack the right things (attention: irony!). I asked my mum to send me a few things but I texted her too late, so unfortunately that package never made it to me in time, and now that I got it, I can't really do anything with it because there's no need for a bikini or flip flops in Allendale right now...Oh well I'll make use of it afterwards when touring the USA with my best friend Vanessa. I cannot wait! But before going into that vacation I'd rather stay concentrated on telling you about the one that actually took place just last week-BAHAMAS! How I love saying this ;) In this Post let me tell you about how we got there and the many nerves that got killed along the way.

On friday 28th February Andrea and I got our stuff together and took the bus to Central Station as the cab that was supposed to come and pick us and two other girls up from GVSU, cancelled our arrangement saying they could only make it to the bus station downtown in time and then get us to the airport from there. No problem, we planned in some extra time and we're flexible, no worries right?! We arrived at the station where we met the other two girls who didn't have much more time left until their flight, so naturally they were a little nervous seeing nothing but buses and a bunch of people with luggage. We called the cab company and of course they didn't pick up, not the first, second or 211432358th time, so quite angry we tried several other companies who ensured us that it would be impossible to get a taxi within less than an hour now that spring break has started. 'Wie die verrückten Hühner' we started running around looking for taxis to drive by, ready to jump in front of them, because slowly Andrea and I became anxious too. How could they all bail on us and why the heck is it impossible to find a taxi in such a big city as Grand Rapids claims to be?! After a while of hysterically calling taxi companies, posting on facebook for help and imagining the worst. One of the other girls came running back claiming she found a car that would take us. I thought she was talking about a taxi, turns out she managed to convince a guy with his two children on the backseat to squeeze us 4 into their car and get us to the airport, in turn of chipping in some money for gas. At that point we didn't even care if our backpacks lay on top of the snow covered trunk (open-air btw) or if his little girl next to me burped into my ear. Not to worry family, he was a very nice family guy, doing this out of pity for us and maybe for the money, but most of all because we looked so miserable and he wanted us to make it to our well deserved spring break destinations. Faith in humanity restored, this man saved our day and probably our whole trip! Thank you thank you thank you stranger!!

First obstacle is overcome! There's more to come? Oh yeah, didn't I tell you about the 13 hours gap we'd have in Dallas, Texas? My bad! So after a 3 hours flight to Dallas our next flight wouldn't leave until next morning 10am so we had the whole night to discover the Dallas' airport. We stepped out of the airport to go to our terminal and had the joy of sweating in our warm winter clothes. After weeks or even months of snow, wind and cold, we finally got to experience what it meant to step outside and feeling a summer breeze. We didn't have to watch out for ice when walking on the sidewalk, nor did we have to bury our hands in our pockets to protect them from freezing and falling off. I didn't know what it was like to see grass or even the road instead of snow. Spring Break I already love you!!!

People at the airport then told us that checking in our luggage wouldn't be possible neither would be going beneath the gates where all the shops and food places were. Fortunately enough we had to fly off from the international terminal where they had couches and a hotel upstairs. Being poor students we couldn't afford the airport hotel, but we treated ourselves with a nice dinner and a drink at their restaurant. It must have looked quite funny, seeing us two packed students walking into that fancy restaurant, me having a huge backpack on, but what can I say it's just so much easier to travel with!! We ordered this amazing cheese platter, which was worth every penny and of which I'm still sometimes fantasizing.

 

Goat cheese on top of the freshly baked bread with dates, and a little honey sprinkled on top...#foodporn (I'm sorry but there's no other way to describe it)

After that we went back to reality and spend the following 11 hours trying to get some sleep while keeping an eye on our luggage build up around us like a shelter. Andrea somehow managed to get quite some hours of sleep, while I was observing funny sleeping behaviours of the people around me. I really couldn't sleep on these arm chairs, they weren't too bad considering we were at an airport but everytime I fell asleep I woke up 5 minutes later because I had to change sleeping positions or I'd end up with a broken back. Furthermore, there were two televisions on reporting non-stop news on maximum sound volume, interrupted every 15 minutes by an extremely happy and annoying jingle coming from the closed Starbucks right next to our chairs. So I concentrated as I said on watching others, listening to music that would actually cover up all other sounds and reading a book for one of my courses. By the end of the night, when the coffee shop actually started serving again (without annoying jingle in the background) I had finished the book and my Ipod was out of battery, I know how to pass my time I'd say. Andrea and I had a yummy breakfast at Starbucks, including a big cup of coffee, which I needed to get through the next hours of security check and boarding, without hurting others. Shine and rise, shine and rise!

 

After another 3 hours in the air, we finally arrived in Nassau, Bahamas!

We stepped outside, carrying most of our clothes in our hands, who would have thought that after 4 months of Australia I'd say that I'm not used to heat anymore?! I was smiling from ear to ear, I missed it way too much and now I can definitely say: I'm a child of summer! Whatever, I'm a child of anything that doesn't involve snow, rain and the cold ;) When we entered the airport they were playing 'bahamian' songs to welcome tourists, and by saying they, I don't mean the radio or a CD, there was an actual band located next to the immigration terminals dressed in colorful clothes, playing instruments and singing about the beauty of life. Oh how I loved this place already! Getting through immigration was easy, all we had to do was indicate that we were students on spring break and they let us through to get our bags. We took them and made our way to our hotel, smiling from ear to ear, enjoying the layed back mentality and sun shining on our skin.

midterm crisis

I know that many of you guys out there think that studying abroad is all about having the time of your life in a foreign country, and yes that's part of it, but it's still called studying abroad not celebrating abroad. I do study, a lot actually. The workload at uni here is awfully big, I'd even say that it's 'worse' than Australia, which wasn't a piece of cake either. Besides the weekly readings and essays, like blogposts or short writing assignments, there are midterms, projects, group works and last but not least FINALS! So not to worry, I won't be sitting around not knowing what to do in Allendale, there's always a reading that needs to be done...

For those of you who are not familiar with the term midterms, those are exams or assignments which need to be completed during 1-2 weeks in the middle of the semester, thus: MIDterms. Normally students have a midterm in every subject they enrolled in, it depends on the course though, I only had two exams. However, I had to work on two projects, two short writing assignemnts and a quiz during those same weeks, so it wasn't any easier for me unfortunately. Plus the readings that need to be done. Oh well I don't want to complain too much as I know that every student knows that problem and I don't want to bore you or be a cry-baby about my life in the States. Because after all I'm still very glad I did this whole study abroad experience, it may be hard at times but who says that study-wise it wouldn't be just as hard being at Kingston for my second year. So I really made the rights decision going abroad, discovering different uni systems but most of all getting to know new cultures and people.

I got one exam back already and I got 45 out of 50 which is really good and I'm so happy about it because I recently got back a quiz for another course which wasn't too good, so this really encouraged me that not all is lost and that I can get there when I get my lazy ass to the library more often. And there it is again, my favourite spot has returned to the surface: the library! At the end of every semester I'm so fed up seeing the library even from the outside because I basically move in there once readings, assignments and projects start to pile up, not to mention during exam times. So when midterms began I started once again going to the library more often. Before that Andrea and I always studied at the fireplace in Murray (one of the student accomodations) or in the meeting rooms, however with nobody watching us we tended to get distracted very quickly and started chatting about anything and everything to keep us from our books. The risk of falling asleep at the fireplace was also quite big as I always sat in one of those comfy chairs in front of the fire reading, which is fatal for such a sleepy person. So the decision was made, our new study place would be the library, where people would shush you once you started talking, where you couldn't just fall asleep and where everybody was determined to study. NOT! I don't know if all Americans are like this or if those people just always happened to be around us two, but American students do not know that you are supposed to be quiet when studying, writing or reading at the library. There's this unwritten rule that on the higher level you are, the quieter you should be. Level 1 and 2 are supposed to be study places but most people wouldn't mind somebody talking or whispering, whereas on level 3 and higher the concentration level is on the maximum and so people's reason to be there should be studying and nothing else. I mean, if people want to procrastinate on level 4 I don't mind, happens to me all the time that I end up playing around on my phone instead of concentrating on my readings but talking out loud or even singing is a NO-GO! Unfortunately, this happened more than once when I was there. It was okay for the midterms as I had to do quite a lot of writing and noise doesn't bother me when I'm writing as I just ignore everything around me once I get started, but when it comes to the finals I think I have to find a new quiet home to actually study.

Oh one more thing about the library, it's very modern and new and the best if I would have to compare it to the other universities' libraries I visited so far. Not only does it have different levels, comfortable chairs, couches (on which you can fall asleep pretty easily) computers, a fireplace, televisions, outside areas (which we cannot use right now as it is still freezing) and an organic tea/coffe shop, the printing is FREE! And I guess all students can relate to me saying how awesome it is not having to think about what material you can afford to print and what you'll leave out and just read online. Thanks GVSU!

What kept me alive through those weeks of hard work, was the though of me and Andrea going to the Bahamas during Sprink Break! YES you heard me bahamas it is!!! We were asked to go to Cancun first but with all that stress going on we needed some time to just relax. I love Cancun and it would have been lots of fun for the first days but I know that it wouldn't have been a vacation and that after a few days I would have cursed all those half naked 18 years old drunk Americans behaving like they own that beautiful place. They would have ruined the image I have of Cancun from when I was there a few years ago and I didn't want to spend money on a trip I wasn't sure I would enjoy. And after all this stress and the finals which are yet to come, we needed a good break from cold michigan. Be prepared next post will be about the wonderful time we had in the bahamas, if you don't want to be jealous, don't read it, but I promise it's gonna be worth hating me ;)

xxx

downtown

First days and nights in Grand Rapids

I settled in pretty quickly and even though I'm still getting lost every now and then, I feel a bit like this is home already. My flatmates turn out to be nice but unfortunately also very busy with work, coaching or university. They have studied here for several years and are almost finished with their degree so it's natural that the interest of showing the new kid around isn't that big. It's fine though, we get along and that's really all that matters when it comes to living together. I have found my friends elsewhere by now, and what a surprise most of them are internationals! I talked about this in one of my Australian blog posts where I figured out how internationals always stick together because they are in the same situation. And yes same happened here, in my opinion this will always happen wherever I'll go as it has proven itself to be true so many times before. On the bright side it's fun to hang out with people from all over the world and you have reasons to travel the world afterwards. Furthermore we're only several weeks into the semester who says that it won't change, you never know what awaits you in a few weeks from now. At the moment I'm closest to Andrea, she is from Kroatia but has been raised and has lived in Germany for all of her life. On one of the first days the two of us and Tizi, a guy from Germany, went to a hockey game in Grand Rapids which was pretty fun although we were still a bit tired from the night before as we went out and had a pretty long party night with other internationals. Back to the game, all American style we decided to go for a hotdog, chips and a huge coke... I mean if you decide to see such a game, might as well go all in! Knowing very little about Hockey I cannot even tell you what happened in detail nor can I recall who won, but due to American's ability to entertain its audience it was never boring, not once!

 Andrea und Tizi in der Van Andel Arena nach dem Spiel

ready for the game to begin!

Going out in Grand Rapids/Allendale

The only places you can go out in Allendale is to house parties, off campus of course! As GVSU is a dry campus, students are not allowed to drink on campus, let alone have parties, however there are, as shown in American movies, always house parties off campus during weekends. We've only been to one so far because in winter time there aren't so many and the students who used to have the best parties got busted too many times last semester and will get kicked out if they would throw another one. Bad timing for us! But that's how it works, even if it's off campus, police and security often bust the events as many minors (under 21) go there because there is nowhere else to celebrate for them. Seriously America why do you let people own guns and drive cars at the age of 16 but are afraid of letting them drink a beer before they turn 21?! Did you know that Kinder Surprise Eggs aren't allowed in the United States because children could choke on the toys...Yeah because guns are that much safer! Oh well I won't go into that discussion now, I just wanted to let you know that I do not think that everything's one big perfect dream over here. Anyways, that one party we went to was fun as we were quite a group of  internationals, otherwise it would have been hard keeping up with the American style of partying!

The American way of partying basically means getting really drunk and dancing in a very inappropriate way. Have you ever heard of twerking? This is not just something Miley Cyrus does, unfortunately it is very common for ladies in the United States to dance that way. There are other forms of dancing that I'd also rather not explain in a detailled way, let's just say Americans like being close to one another when celebrating. And NO! I do not fit in to the American culture when it comes to this, and nope I'm not planning on ever adapting! You can be reassured Mom and Dad, I behave as well as I always do ;)

McFaddens on thursday...as always! 2 dollar drinks here we go...

Saturday at 'The Woods'

didn't we say funny faces?! Oh well...classy as always!

 

 

at Anthony's house before going to Rumors (the only place where people under 21 are allowed to go to party, and as there are quite a lot of those in our group we decided to join them sometimes)

All in all, Grand Rapids has a few fun places to go to and we haven't been everywhere yet, but from what I've seen I've got to say I prefer clubbing in Europe. I mean we had some really fun nights here but mostly because of the people not because of the location. Everything closes at 2am and the buses don't run until very late... However, I'm sure we're going to make the best out of it! We're internationals after all and know how to have fun in other countries.

<3

to a far away land

After an exhausting 16 hours journey I finally arrived in Michigan, and to be honest it felt like having arrived somewhere in Alaska! 

lucky I was wearing quite some layers and it still felt like I was about to freeze any second

I remember stepping out of the plane and walking through a hallway past an opened window, and even though it was only a second, my whole body was shivering. Right there and then I knew that no matter what I've been told and how many warnings I got...it's going to be worse. I had to wait quite a while in a queue before finally getting to the people who controlled passports and visa and of course I was nervous because even though everything should be okay with my visa... from what you hear abouth American immigration philosophy you just have to worry. When I finally got to show my visa, J-1 papers and passport, all the woman asked me was where I would live and how long I would stay, then she took my fingerprints and I was allowed to enter American ground. I made it! I arrived in my new 'hometown' for the following 5 months. I stepped out and took a cab to get to my hotel which cost me around 50 dollars but I didn't feel like taking a bus in a city I didn't know to get to a place I had no idea of during night-time. The hotel was more than okay, a nice room, huge bed, television and clean bathroom, what more do you want for two days, what more will make you happy as a 'poor' student!! I fell asleep the minute I sat on that comfy queen size bed and slept through the whole night, well I woke up really early but I planned on doing that anyways. On the brightside: NO jetlag!! Next morning, I got up and got ready for my first trip to Grand Valley State University as all international students were supposed to meet that day (9am!!) to take a trip around the campus and get to know each other. As google told me that the hotel and campus wouldn't be too far away I was confident of finding the place I needed to be at 9am. Well as most of you know I am a hopeless case when it comes to orientation, I even get lost driving around in Luxembourg City, so I should have expected to get lost in the first place. I left the hotel at 8am but the way was longer than expected and when I finally arrived at the campus, I didn't know where to go from there. I thought once I was there I'd probably just know where to go and on top of that I had a map, a quite detailled one actually. So you might have figured out by now that I cannot read maps and that the campus is huge! Add the freaking cold to that and out comes a desperate Catherine. My legs were aching so badly from the cold, my hands felt like they were non-existant and my nose could easily be compared to Rudolph's (you know Santa's helper). Anyways, I started to worry about freezing to death and missing the whole conference and tour, when I saw a guy in the distant. As desperate as I was, I started running or sliding for that matter towards him and asked him if he knew where Lake Ontario Hall was and if he could point me in the right direction. As it turns out I have been walking into the wrong one for quite some time and needed to go back from where I came from, the good news were that the guy offered to accompany me even though he wasn't planning on going anywhere near that hall. And that was when I found out that most Americans are very outgoing and helpful when it comes to international people. Finally there, I bursted in, the presentation had already begun and I was the last one to join. Well I'm used to arriving late so who cares, first impression: chaos queen. We then learned about uni, took a tour around campus and went to a few shops to get basic stuff for our dorms. To be honest I didn't pay attention during the tour because a) it was freezing cold b) everything looked the same under the snow and c) getting to know the people from the tour seemed more important

                                                   GVSU at its best : snow storm

After the tour, we all went to a mongolian bbq which was amazing, the food was great and we all got to know each other a little more. Unfortunately I found out that all the other students have been picked up from the airport and moved in on campus, which I was told was impossible at that time. Of course I was angry because I had to spend money on a cab and on the two nights at the hotel but it was a good day and I got to enjoy one more free breakfast and a night in a queen size bed before moving in with my flatmates.

Next day I gathered my stuff, called another cab and got myself to my new home: Laker Village. I found out that my new flatmates were all Americans and best friends, which kind of frightened me because it meant that they stick together and I didn't know if a new member was exactly what they were looking for. When I moved in only one of them was already back from the winter break but I shouldn't have worried, she was very friendly and after talking for a while I knew that we would get along just fine. After having unpacked, two internationals I met the day before, and I were off to that big supermarket (Meijer) to get basics and food to survive the first days. The trip was one of a kind!! The bus system is a bit f*cked up, during the week it's okay but on the weekend the buses don't run late and only every hour. Of course ignorant as we were, we picked out a sunday to go shopping so after having missed the last bus, because there was just too much stuff to discover in that huge American supermarket, we decided on taking yet another cab. And the expenses just kept piling up!
Basically, I realized that we were living out in the sticks! Don't get me wrong, I think Grand Rapids isn't too bad but where I live, in Allendale, 20 minutes from downtown there's really nothing to do as there's only our university and a few restaurants (which you can only get to by car). To get to the next shopping mall you'd have to take the bus downtown (20 minutes) than change buses at central station and take another one to the mall (40 minutes) all in all it's a day trip if you want or need clothes. You see I'm really experiencing different lifestlyes during my overseastudies. But even if not everything turns out as imagined, that's life and that makes you grow and makes you realize that sometimes you have to deal with things you don't like, but you'll manage and that's what counts in the end.

                                                               discovering downtown

more of my first impressions and activities in the next blog post!
I know I haven't been posting new entries regularly but it's really hard to keep up, there's so much to do and I'm not only talking about fun stuff here. University turns out to expect a lot from its students, more than the Australian or English one, so most of the time I spend my days studying, writing and running from one class to another. I'll try to write about everything more often though, because recapping all of this is harder than just writing it down once you experience it. I don't want to sound scatterbrained but somehow with all the new things and people you start forgetting details, jokes or simply interesting events so easily and quickly.

have patience I'm telling you it's going to be worth it in the end! xxx

let's talk about...

YEAH! After almost 5 months of writing blog entries I finally figured out how to activate the comments' section so if you have anything to say or to add to what I wrote or will write, as in now: you're officially allowed and welcome to do so!!

The next blog post will follow soon, I know that I haven't updated you about my trip to America and how my first month over here has been so far, but there was and is so much to do that I need to find the time to write it all down. I hope to get some time on my hands soon so that I can keep you posted about my life overseas (at the latest after midterms...uni comes first) ;-)

Love, Cathy xxx

ready, set, go...

Flügel ausbreiten und los geht's

Am 2ten Januar 2014 machte ich mich nach wenig Schlaf und viel Koffer packen endlich mal wieder auf den Weg in ein neues Leben, ein neues Land. Die Reise fing um 5 Uhr morgens an und so schlaftrunken wie ich war, konnte ich mir keine weiteren Sorgen machen, weder was die Reise noch den Inhalt meines Koffers betrifft. Ihr könnt es euch denken, auch diesmal hatte ich etwas Problem mit dem organisatorischen Teil. Kaum aus Australien zurück, fiel es mir sehr schwer mich auf dieses neue Abenteuer vorzubereiten. Ich musste erstmal wieder zuhause ankommen und die Zeit (vor allem das bekocht werden) genießen. Leider hab ich dann so viel Zeit mit Freunden und der Familie verbracht dass es mir immer schwerer fiel mich an die Vorbereitungen zu machen. Ich konnte, noch wollte ich, mir vorstellen wieder allein durch Raum und Zeit zu reisen. Als es endlich losging hab ich mich natürlich auch gefreut aber die Stunden davor waren stressig und vor allem tränenreich. Wenn man für längere Zeit wegfährt, ist es natürlich normal bei der Verabschiedung emotional zu sein. Komischerweise war ich es vor meinem zweiten Semester abroad allerdings mehr als vor Australien, dem Land auf der komplett anderen Seite der Weltkugel. Warum? Erstens weil ich nun wusste was mich erwarten würde und dass es manchmal sehr schwer ist auf sich alleine gestellt zu sein. Ich kann eigentlich sehr gut mit Heimweh umgehen, hab es selten bis gar nicht. In Australien fiel es mir am Ende doch schon schwer nicht zu sehr an meine Rückreise zu denken und mich auf meine Geliebten zu freuen. Und ich hatte mir nicht zu viel erhofft, es war unglaublich schön Weihnachten mit der Familie zu verbringen und mit Freunden in das neue Jahr zu feiern und bin sehr froh dass ich mir diese Auszeit vom Reisen gegönnt hab. Jedoch fiel es mir deswegen umso schwerer wieder goodbye zu sagen. Zweitens, hatte ich in Australien am Anfang meine Eltern und Schwester mit dabei, auch wenn's nur zum rumreisen war, und sie, später als es für mich ernst wurde, weiterzogen, nahm es mir doch die Angst  vorm Einreisen in ein neues Land. Neue Situationen können unglaublich furchteinflößend sein, vor allem wenn man manchmal Problem hat den Mund zu öffnen und nachzufragen. Ich habe mich durch das ganze Studium und Reisen definitiv weiterentwickelt und kann von mir behaupten dass ich mir nicht mehr alles gefallen lasse und auf jeden fall meinen Mund aufmache wenn mir etwas nicht passt. Die anfängliche Schüchternheit vor neuen Sachen, unbekannten Plätzen und strangers hat sich jedoch noch nicht in Luft aufgelöst. Ich arbeite daran, aber ein bisschen Angst und Respekt vor Neuem gehört dazu, dann ist man im Nachhinein umso stolzer wenn man Abenteuer bewältigt und sich Herausforderungen stellt.

Zurück zu meiner Abreise. Am 31 Dezember hieß es noch ein letztes Mal mit Freunden feiern und so kam es dass ich kurz nach 5 glücklich und erschöpft in mein Bett fiel. 

 hunnegdrëpp, gute Freunde und ganz viele Umarmungen zum Abschied...cheers to a great evening!

Am 1ten Januar ging's dann noch zur Familie um ein frohes Neues zu wünschen und die letzten Küsschen und Umarmungen für 5 Monate zu verteilen... cry me a river. Ich werde meine Familie auch dieses Mal vermissen und mich darauf freuen sie wiederzusehn, was verständlich und normal ist, aber in erster Linie will ich nun an die Zeiten denken die auf mich zukommen. Vierzehn wundervolle Tage in Luxembourg gehen zu Ende, mein last-minute gepackter Rucksack steht im Flur und meine Mutter und Oma sind bereit mich nach Frankfurt zum Flugahfen zu fahren. Ich schau mich noch einmal um, verabschiede mich von den Katzen und meinem Zuhause, denn der Tag ist gekommen, ich bin dann mal wieder weg.

let's unwrite these pages again

When one chapter ends, another one begins. 

After 4 amazing months in Australia, with ups and downs, my experience in Oz came to an end and even though I had a great time, I was counting the days to go home to my loved ones. As I said in the last post, there were quite some tensions between some of us internationals and the whole emotional rollercoaster got on my nerves. All I wanted to do was seeing familiar faces, throw myself in the arms of people I knew and trust, I wanted to be reassured before going off to another 5 months of strangeness again, I wanted to feel home. Of course I was also sad to leave this truly awesome place, say good bye to friends that I made and take a last glimpse of the sun for quite a while. No matter how many downs I had, there were without doubt more ups! I saw so many cool places, met people with interesting stories and learned quite a deal about myself and my abilities, and for that I am so thankful! I'd recommand everybody to go abroad for a while, you'll not only learn so much about a different culture, people or places, you'll also get to know yourselves in ways you could never imagine. Also travel on your own, road-tripping with friends is super fun but with strangers even more, believe me you won't be alone for a long time! All in all, I will never forget Australia and I'd probably bore my friends and family to death with stories of 'when I was in Australia'
The final week was filled with studying as exams were approaching, but after my last paper I had another 3 great days in Robina and two days in Brisbane before I left. There were a few things I needed to do before  getting into that airplane, so I went to the pool and beach one last time, I had a chai latte in the library, went to a way too crowded house party to leave 10 minutes after and go out with friends in surfers one last time, made a day trip to byron bay and had food at the market place. Conclusion: a happy and satisfied me ready to close that door and open the next one, who knows what adventures are hiding behind it.

After having spend a relaxing and fun day in Byron with Mark and Matthias, I had to pack my bags the next day which was the opposite of relaxing. Not only did I have too many clothes and hence, had to go through the painful experience of throwing stuff away, furthermore did I have two new flatmates making my day a living hell. Yup my roomies all moved out at that point so how come you were not alone at home? I had the lovely company of a spider as big as a hand chilling in the living room and a fast but noisy gecko making himself comfortable under my bed. The spider wasn't there for long, well I don't actually know, as it just suddenly vanished (and no I really do not want to know how close to me it was, neither do I want to think about whether it was hiding somewhere ready to attack...all I know is that it wasn't in my backpack when I got home so I will never see it again, thank you very much!). The gecko which I tried to get out, as I really do not like those kinds of animals in my personal space and certainly not in between my clothes in my suitcase, was too fast for me and ran under the bed, making it impossible for me to get my hands on him. Well I thought, it's just a gecko, they're somehow funny and do you no harm right? Yeah right (beware ironie) that little bastard woke me up in the middle of the night crawling on the wall behind my head making the most annoying noises you can imagine. It was squealing like an angry/sad pig, who knew that such noises can come out of such a tiny weird animal?? I certainly didn't and was glad to leave my room behind in the morning, I'll never share my room with a gecko again...lesson learned!

So I left in the morning and took the train to Brisbane, which of course got cancelled halfway through, so that I had to take another bus and tram to get to my hostel. Well annoying but I had the whole day so not that bad you think? True, if you don't have to carry a huge and heavy backpack on your shoulders, a laptop bag and purse in your hand and a fully packed suitcase in the other hand. I nearly broke my back, bursted into tears and screamed at bus drivers which is really not my style...you see I was desperate. How I was looking forward to making my way to the airport by train the next day at 6 in the morning! Anyways I ended up in the hostel, which wasn't very nice and the staff wasn't very helpful either. Just my luck: to get in you had to climb stairs before getting to a door which is quite difficult with all my bags, leaving my bags on the street right next to the station...not ideal, but I managed (on my own, as I said the staff didn't really care about me making funny noises and head as read as a tomato). I do not need to add that it was boiling hot outside and that I was sweating out all the calories I had to consume after this trip to be happy again. Having brought all my belongings to my bedroom, I could finally move again and forced myself to not fall down on my bed but instead enjoy my last day and see a bit of the city. So I went to Starbucks, got myself a strong yummy coffee, wandered around in the city and watched the christmas parade in the evening. It was kind of weird seeing Santa Claus and his little helpers dancing and waving to christmas songs while wearing shorts and shirts. 15th December at 7pm and the people are singing along to let it snow while eating ice cream and getting a sunburn, yeah it is weird for those of us who are not used to this. Anyways it was a nice way to end the semester abroad, with laughter and singing in my ears I returned to my hostel room. After having bought some tim tams and arizona ice tea (I had to take advantage one last time) I went to bed early to be fit for the extremely exhausting journey ahead of me.

After more than a day in planes, airports and buses I finally arrived in Frankfurt where my dad picked me up. My last flight was really exhausting and scary, I thought it would be okay because we were flying during night time and I tried not to sleep before so that I'd get in that plane and just sleep through those 12 hours. Nope, we had rough weather conditions which meant that every time I started falling asleep, the plane jiggled me right back into reality. A few years back I had to take something to calm my nerves before entering a plane, by now after all those journeys, I got used to flying and even though still nervous I didn't mind and managed to lay back and not worry too much. This time however, the fear came back and there was a point (probably when they decided not to serve any food or drinks because it was too bumpy and dangerous) when I almost broke out in tears. In my head hell was breaking loose, I imagined all the bad things that could happen...uhm yeah I am a worst case scenario kind of person! Only solution was to watch happy disney movies and try to think of something else. Not to worry I made it out just fine, it calmed down for the last few hours and I landed safely! My dad came to pick me up from the airport, he even took a day off work so that I wouldn't have to go by train and bus with all my heavy luggage. And I'm very grateful that he did because I was on the edge of breakin down with so many kgs on my back and not enough sleep. Thanks dad <3 During the flight, when I wasn't imagining the worst, I was looking forward to coming home so much that it took all of my energy to stay seated instead of dancing around out of joy. So naturally when I saw my dad standing there waiting for me, I had to cry, I tried my best not to but I've got to admit I'm such a sensible person and I was so happy to see a familiar face... Travelling is awesome I love it, but coming home is pretty damn cool too! Once you've been away for a longer time, you really appreciate your family and friends but most of all the comfort of having them around, knowing that they are always there for you.

Maybe it's not the people we are longing to see again, maybe it's more of a selfish thing. It is the feeling we get when we are around them, the way they make us feel. It's the memories and the childhood. It's the safety and happiness. I'm glad I went home for Christmas because I realised that exact moment that I needed this and that no matter how much fun I could have had staying a while longer in Australia, spending the holidays at home was the best I could do before throwing myself into the unknown again.