So much has happened this past week, I don’t know where to begin! First off, last Sunday I went with some friends to the Christopher Street Day Parade, or rather, the BIGGEST gay pride parade in all of Europe. It was insane. It was hot, hot, HOT out, but it was such a great time! We ended up in the Aldstadt (Old Town) area at a beer garden and hung out for hours drinking Kolsch and swapping stories. It was a *fabulous* day! 

The kids are finally beginning to warm up to me.* Correction, Gustav has liked me since day 1, but Pauline is finally starting to warm up to me. The problem was that when their parents were around, the kids knew they didn’t have to listen to me, so they didn’t (understandably). But after a little bribery (ice cream is my best friend) and some alone time with the kids, they were my new pals in no time.

This week I had language class where we had some new students; a French man and a new man and woman from Spain, and I am picking up more and more German each time. I explored the Aldstadt area with my friend Gabriel- which is my favorite area thus far because it is right on the Rhine River. It is simply beautiful.

 

Yesterday Esther and I went to a barbecue for Gustav’s class for the end-of-the-year, and I ate the most delicious food ever. It was adorable and fun and it was a great end to the week. Back to the city tonight to check out a jazz club! Until next time-

PS- On my way home from the parade last Sunday, I accidentally stayed on a train that was going out of order. Thankfully the train conductor did a walk through the train and realized an idiot (ME) was still on it. After a little wait, we turned around, went back to the station and I got on a new train. Ah, that explains why I was the only person on the entire train!!…..

 

First language class in Koln.

Hey! Last night I had my first language class in the big city. Frechen borders the city’s west side, just like Oak Park does to Chicago, so navigating to the city is pretty easy. Olaf had taken me to the city where my language class would be held, but I was still nervous about getting there on my own. After throwing back an espresso, I was on my way.

First I walk 10 minutes to the Frechen S-Bahn (train stop), and then I get off at the biggest stop, which is the city center, smack dab in the middle of Cologne. When you step outside of the train station, the view is overwhelming. One of the largest cathedrals in the world, and an U.N.E.S.C.O. recognized site, the Cologne Cathedral, is directly outside of the station. I forgot my phone so unfortunately I don’t have pictures, but I will take some tomorrow before class. When I stepped out of the station and realized the cathedral was nowhere in sight, I panicked a little, and started walking. I almost immediately found a sign for the cathedral and was on my way the the central station. After about 15 minutes I had found my language class, let out a huge sigh of relief, and went into the VHS building where my class was being held.

The class was interesting. Hard, to say the least, but great at the same time. The teacher barely spoke anything other than German to us, along with a little bit of English (which kind of made me feel bad for anyone who didn’t speak English as well.) It was 3 hours long with a 15-minute break, and needless to say, I learned a lot. I made some really cool friends, which I am most excited about. They hail from all over the world, too- Columbia, Spain, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Russia, just to name a few. 

My new friends and I made some plans to get some beer after class tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to getting to know this incredibly diverse group of people furthermore tomorrow. Tschuss!