Was this all a dream?

The countdown to go home has started and I have mixed feelings for that day. On August 13, I'll be in Chicago with my family. I really can't wait to hug my siblings and my mom. But once I'm home, the long break and vacation will be over. I can't really say I'm ready for that. Being in Europe has felt like the longest vacation of my life. Why is that? Well, compared to my life back in the U.S., here I have little responsibilities. I have the chance to travel (for cheap) to other countries. I have enough free time to exercise as much as I want without having to be anywhere or complete a long assignment. I can make plans to go out with friends and stay out as long as I want. I can get more than 8 hours of sleep if I really want to. Overall, I can do whatever I want without feeling bad about it. God, it's been great!! Just enjoying every day, whether it has been traveling, learning or just laying in the grass reading a book. I don't know how long it will take me to get back to my normal life and the routine of hard work and the pile of assignments I have to do once I'm back in the U.S. I sure am dreading that. Although it hasn't been easy to be so far away from the people I've known for the longest, I met new and great people as well. I've had some amazing, fun, relaxing times with all of them. I'm also not ready to leave them behind. In addition, it wasn't easy to come to a new country, education system, culture and society. But I have learned about it and now, I'm used to it. I'm going to miss the typical phrases that I know how to say in German. I'm going to miss being able to take long walks and bike rides while admiring the beauty of nature that Heidelberg has. These next few days won't be easy. I have a lot of plans still. I want to accomplish many things and most importantly, I want to enjoy every single day I have left here in Europe.

Plans don't always go as planned.

Before coming abroad, I had many academic goals and personal expectations. I knew it would be hard to accomplish everything and that obstacles would come across. However, I underestimated the level of difficulty. My academic goal consisted of a big research project in France. I'm interested in learning more about immigration and how it affects the country whether it is good or bad. I wanted to get insight into the lives of immigrants. I had originally planned on interviewing people and learn from their struggles. I was able to get feedback from a few people. But mostly, I was disappointed by how many people rejected the idea of my interview. I knew immigration is a topic that stresses the government all over the world. You would think people might want to talk about it and discuss their beliefs. Truth is, many don't want to. I made my way to Strasbourg and Paris where I wanted to focus my research. I did receive feedback from both cities, however, I wish I had received more. Overall, I learned more through observing and by how people reacted towards my attempt to talk about immigration. In addition, I practiced my French speaking skills with native French speakers which was the best part. Because I was able to ask questions and have a conversation. My plans didn't go as planned, but I did achieve part of my academic goal.


On the other hand, my personal goals were exceded. I accomplished and learned so much about myself. I'm stronger than what I look. I'm more efficient and smarter as well. I was able to take care of myself for five months in a different country. I pulled through every obstacle. I had optimism always present in me. Even when things got hard. I had different struggles come up, like for example, when I thought I couldn't figure out a class schedule because of my level of proficiency in French, when my wallet got stolen in Barcelona, when I had to get my wisdom teeth out and had to recover without the help of my family, when I had to plan and travel on my own for 5 days to Paris in order to accomplish my academic goal. I thought I knew myself well, but truth is that by being abroad I learned more aspects of me. My mistakes have taught me lessons I wouldn't have learned if I didn't have this experience. In addition, I had fun making these mistakes and learning from them. I am now able to say I've lived, traveled and experience Europe as much as I could possibly have.

8 countries, 19 cities.

Italy

Pisa 

Milán

  Venice  

  Rome 

Germany  

Berlin  

Mannheim  

Frankfurt

Moselle

Heidelberg 

Spain 

Barcelona  

Palma Mallorca 

France  

Parisx5 

Strasbourgx2  

Metz 

Switzerland  

Zurich 

Lucerne

United Kingdom 

Englad

London 

Ireland 

Dublin 

Scotland

Edinburgh 

Academics and more

I've been meaning to post and talk about my classes here at the University of Heidelberg. Taking 3 French classes and a German course has been a great experience. French is a language I enjoy learning and speaking. My professors are wonderful women who are very smart and keep their classes interesting. I get a little bit of everything. One of my French classes teaches grammar and vocabulary. Though I've been learning French since I was a sophomore in high school, I often notice that if it wasn't for that class, I would have forgotten some grammar rules. This class has helped me refresh my memory. My 2nd French class teaches me more vocabulary and more about the French culture. In this class we often have group discussions and time to practice our speaking skills. I enjoy this class a lot more because I've become friends with a really nice and fun German girl. We basically have a good time learning and I feel totally comfortable with her. My 3rd French class is the toughest. In this class I learn about actual and now a days issues in France. It is my hardest class because the rest of the students have been learning French since they were in elementary school. Their speaking and vocabulary is well above mine. However, I enjoy listening to them. Here, I practice my listening and understanding skills to the highest level. At the beginning of the semester, it was hard to keep up. Up until the end, it got a little easier; however this class was always a challenge. But I can say I learned so much by struggling and listening to others speak French.


Now, learning German is tough. I can honestly say I don't understand many things. But I do try my hardest to learn. It is easier for me to understand written German than speaking. Everything about the language is tough but I do feel proud of the couple phrases I can say and how I can pick out certain words I hear while I'm in public places. I wish I've taken German classes before. It would have made my stay in Heidelberg much easier.

I enjoyed my classes and professors and I wish it was possible for me to build a relationship with them. However, I got the feeling they didn't want that. They assisted me by answering my academic questions, but they did not want to get to know me more than just a student in their class. I was disappointed because in the U.S I'm used to professors caring about academics and my life out of school. I wanted the same in Germany, but this just how the culture is. I understood it and I had to learn how to integrate.

All together, this experience, these classes and these great teachers were the ones who taught me about the education system in Heidelberg.

The Barcelona Curse

Fellow readers,


Another month has passed, and May flew by like a bliss. I started May with a four day weekend to the beautiful city of Barcelona. What a trip that was! I had a little bit of everything and it felt sooooo good to be in a country where I understood what everyone was saying. Also, I stayed at a hostel for the first time and it was a good experience. The food was absolutely delicious (it beats Italy, France and Germany). I went with 3 of my new friends so I had nice company, I enjoyed the night life in Barcelona as well, and the sightseeing was unbelievable. Barcelona has little alleys like Venice, Italy where you can get lost but find yourself in small yet interesting boutiques. There are many museums, cathedrals and beaches! Everything I wanted to see in just one city. However, not everything was beautiful, smiles and happiness. The title of this post talks about a curse. Well, yes. The curse got the three of my friends and myself included.


The curse started with difficulties in Germany. So, we needed to take a train from Heidelberg to Frankfurt because we were flying from there. Easy enough BUT there has been several strikes by the Deutsch Bahn company. The workers are demanding a higher salary and better work conditions. Unfortunately, to make their point, the trains were being delayed and some even cancelled. My friends and I were very scared about missing our flight because as typical exchange students, we bought the cheapest plane tickets with no refund. The good thing is that we all worked together and thought of ways to make it to the airport on time. We also decided to share a taxi with a super nice senior lady. She is from Australia and though she was old, she was traveling through Europe. The whole ride of 25-30 minutes, she told us about her life and I really enjoyed listening to her. Also, it felt good to be in a car (it has been a long time, since I've been in one). Once we arrived to the airport we all felt relieved and excited! However, one of my friends had a problem with her plain ticket and payment. She couldn't get in the same flight as the rest of us and she had to pay extra. It was unfortunate and I felt bad because she couldn't be with us. This is were the curse starts making its way through all four of us girls. One girl down, three more to go. The second day in Barcelona, another friend felt sick. She still did all the activities we had planned for that day but I could tell she wasn't comfortable and being herself. At this point, none of us had figured out the curse was making its way to me. I, of course, did not see it coming. The third day in Barcelona, my wallet got stolen on the train. I can honestly say that has been the worst experience thus far. People warned me about this but I was honestly so distracted. Pick-pocketers got me real good. All my student IDs, 150 euros, my bank card, gone. Forever. I felt horrible, dumb and extremely mad. At first, all I wanted to do was cry but my super supportive friends helped me calm down and make moves. I had to call my bank in Germany to cancel my bank card. I didn't have a cell phone in Spain, therefore, all I could think about was maybe the police could help. The advantage of being in Spain is that I know how to speak and understand Spanish 100%. So communicating with everyone was never an issue. I filed a police report and I was able to cancel my bank card. My day was ruined but I had to enjoy my last day in Barcelona. I also felt really bad for my friends because their day was ruined too. Though I was still mad and sad, I turned my frown into a smile and decided to move on. We went to Park Guell, a very famous park in Barcelona. I can tell everyone that it was so worth it! The park is located uphill by the mountains in Barcelona, and the view of the city was beautiful. Bad things happen but it's up to you to react to them in a positive or negative way. In addition, to the wallet incident, a bird decided to poop on me at the park.....that day was so not my day. But I've heard that is good luck when birds poop on people. Only an optimistic person would say, and I do describe myself as that.


So yes, the curse sure made its way to the last girl in the group. She got bitten by a spider the night before we left Barcelona. The Barcelona curse will never be forgotten by the fours of us. But, we made it safe and sound to Germany and we absolutely loved the city. The moral of this experience is to take care of your belongings everywhere. I had to learn this the hard way. But now I know. It will not happen again while I'm here in Europe. I can promise that!

The experiences.

Yes, I'm posting twice in one day because April was a very eventful month.


Meanwhile I was dealing with class issues I was also experiencing social and medical experiences.

For starters, there was a fire in the building I live in. Firefighters and the police came to our rescue. It was definitely interesting to see how Germany handles fires. Although it wasn't a big fire, and nobody was injured I noticed many things. For example, the fire alarm in my room did not go off. I heard a weird sound I've never heard before coming from downstairs but it never occurred to me it was a fire alarm. The only reason I was able to hear that weird sound was because my window was open. Though at first I didn't think much of that sound, I looked outside and people were running out of my building. I also started smelling smoke, therefore, I decided to grab my technology devices and run outside. Sure enough, running down the stairs there was smoke filling the air because the kitchen in the first floor was the reason of the fire. I was confused, alarmed and I hoped everyone was fine. But how are people supposed to know there's a fire if the alarms in our rooms don't make a sound?

The firefighters and police arrived soon after I was already outside. They handled everything well. But students were still getting out of the building while they were putting off the fire. I didn't feel safe knowing some students didn't even know what was happening in their building. There could have been someone injured. After that eventful day, I thought to myself how unorganized things are. There was never a fire drill or instructions on how to react if there ever is a fire. Also there are some floors in my building without a fire-hydrant. But definitely, what scares me the most is how the alarms in the rooms do not go off. I can only hope there never is a fire at night and if there is, someone should wake me up.


In addition to that, I'm happy that I purchased the German full cover insurance. Because if anything were to happen, the insurance will cover the expenses. Accidents can happen in a blink of an eye. Also, this month, I experienced a pain in my mouth I've never had before. For that reason, I went to visit a dentist. To my surprise, I should translate things in German better because I chose the wrong type of dentist. A nice lady told me I was at the wrong place. She didn't speak much English but she called her personal dentist for me and she even took me to the location. The people I've met here have all been really nice/polite even when I make mistakes like this.


So yes, I've experienced how dentists work here. The language barrier is a problem. I feel like sometimes I'm not being understood to what I'm trying to say. Also, I can't fully have a conversation with people because their English is as good as my German. Sign language and body language helps me communicate with others. The dentist told me I needed to take out my wisdom teeth and that I should visit a surgeon. Sure enough, the surgeon told me my wisdom teeth need to be taken out. I really wish my mom was here to take care of me but since that is not possible, I'm doing what I've been doing ever since March 1st, 2015. I'm doing things on my own, taking care of myself, and handling situations like an adult. Though it has been hard, I feel like I'm doing a good job. I take care of my needs. Two of my wisdom teeth are out, and I need to take out the other two. But I haven't decided when I will do that, due to classes. So far my study abroad experience has taught me more life lessons than anything else. I've learned that I could be more independent than what I was before. I'm learning how to be an adult and how to handle life situations.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better"

To the people that keep up with my blog (which I know it's probably my teachers back at home :)),


The month of April is finally over. I do mean to say finally because it was a stressful, complicated, and hard month for me. I've been through a lot this passed month and the title of my post reflects what I kept saying to myself. I don't mean to be a debbie downer with all the not-so-great-moments I've had this month; but I'm hoping students who will study abroad in Heidelberg in the upcoming years can learn something from my experiences. So, here we go:


As you may or may not remember, the Summer Semester started April 13th and I was eager to start learning again. Soon the happiness and eagerness banished because out of the four classes that I had picked, only one was right for me. I'm in Heidelberg taking French classes and one German course. On the first day of my ISP French class, I felt uncomfortable but I also had a feeling I could learn a lot from the activities given by the professor. I felt uncomfortable because I could only understand half of what was going on in class. I also didn't speak much because my knowledge in French vocab is not at the same level as the rest of the students. The next day, I attended the Vocabulary Translation class I picked. I don't know what I was thinking by choosing that class because obviously I will be translating from German to French. My German is level 1 and I don't know many words and I definitely don't know all the tenses. So there I am, feeling dumb because I couldn't really participate much in the classes that I had pick.


I knew I had to change classes because I wanted to participate and actually interact with the rest of the class. I spoke to the professors about my issue and both told me there weren't any other classes offered for my level of French in the University. When they told me that, I felt hopeless and thought to myself Why am I here? Why did I go through the whole process of applying and working hard to get to this point, when the school doesn't have what I need?


I was mad, sad, upset and more than anything I just wanted to be home. But, I started thinking realistically and I didn't come all the way here to NOT get what I want and need. Therefore, I started sending e-mails to coordinators here and back home. Sure enough they had to have a better solution to what I should do. I needed answers and someone to guide me to the right place. The coordinator who takes care of my issues here, didn't know my level of French wasn't perfect and right there in her office, I had my first public breakdown. I started crying my eyes out because I was so frustrated with everyone telling me, I don't know what to do. After embarrassing myself infront of my coordinator I apologized for that childish behavior. I asked for more options. I told her that I had taken a French placement exam in the Central Languages building and that class was at my French level and I felt comfortable. She said that I could possibly take another French class in that same building if the professors there allowed it. Sure enough, the professors there didn't know if I could be added to the class because classes were already full. Thankfully, that same day, a professor sent me an e-mail and said there was a spot open in her class (she told me I had luck). Now that I had two classes that were at the right level of French, I felt better. However, my wallet didn't. The classes at the Central Languages are not free and I had to pay 80 euros for each class, plus the books. Though paying that amount of money didn't make me feel happy, I knew I had to do it in order to have the right classes and in order to transfer credits back to Illinois College.


After settling everything down for my French classes, I thought I was set and ready to start learning. However, other issues came my way. My French classes are taught in German (this I can't do anything about and I have to deal with it) and the German class that I had originally signed up for was cancelled. There weren't enough students who were taking that class on that day and time. You would think that a professor or coordinator would e-mail the students about the cancelation. But no, no one was informed. I went to the first day of class not knowing the class had been cancelled and that I was put into a different class on a day and time that conflicted with my other French classes. There I am again, feeling like is this ever going to get better? All I want to do here is go to class, learn and be able to transfer credits back to my homeschool. I just want to learn, why are obstacles getting in my way?


Anyway, April was full of frustrating days. I couldn't believe how unorganized everything was. I thought the experience at the University of Heidelberg would be great. But so far, I just keep bumping into walls. Long story short, three weeks after the semester has started, I am now in three French classes that I enjoy and one German class that works with my schedule. Coordinators helped me find the right classes and led me to the right people. My professors are really nice and I'm thankful they understand my situation. I've also made new friends in those classes. Very nice Germans who I can talk to :)


This post only rants about the school issues I've had in April. The moral is: before going abroad to study a different language, make sure you ask about the level of proficiency of each class. To avoid feeling lost and hopeless in a different country, think of all kinds of questions you should ask before actually deciding on coming to the other side of the world.

1 month & 5 more to go!

Guten Morgen,


Thank you for keeping up with my blog and taking up a little bit of your time to read. As of today, I can finally say I've been in Europe for one month :) In just one month, I've learned so many things. For example, my german level is not 0 anymore. I have the knowledge of some basic phrases and words. I passed the German Level 1 class and my plan is to continue learning German while I'm here. Also, I know the basic routes to get to the places I frequent the most. These places are my home (of course), the dinning hall (Mensa), the stores where I can buy food (Rewe, Aldi, Kaufland), the train station to leave Heidelberg, and the gym where I can exercise. So public transportation is not a problem anymore. I've also learned how to manage my time better. I found a balance between, parties, classes, friends, and family. I feel more relaxed with the way I organize myself and time.

I've organized my time so well that I was able to plan trips every weekend that I have been here. I've been to France three times (Metz, Strasbourg, and Paris) All three cities were beautiful. Paris has my heart though! I loved every single minute there. I visited different monuments and just by walking around a regular street, I felt happy. I also took the public transportation in Paris. I was able to understand and speak to several French people. My skills are not perfect but the fact that I can actually communicate in French with strangers, makes me feel accomplished. In addition, I have never been so sure about my decision of Majoring in French. Listening and speaking the language makes me feel good. I am way too excited for my French classes.


As of right now, I have 2 weeks before the summer semester starts. This means I will be taking classes while my friends back in the U.S will be enjoying their summer. I'm fine with that though. Because I truly miss being busy with school work. I feel like I've been out of school for too long. Last time I was pushed to do well on an assignment or test was in December of 2014. I'm ready to be busy with homework. I'm excited to be taking three French courses and one German class. Choosing classes here has not been easy, but with the help of coordinators and professors I finally figured it out. Therefore, academics wise, I'm set and ready. Classes will begin April 13th.


Meanwhile what would I be doing? Well, Easter break starts today. I'm leaving on a trip to Italy at night. I will be in Venice, Vicenza, Florence Pisa and Milan. It's great how I can just plan to leave Germany and be in a different country the next day. Europe is treating me well. I feel accomplished by just being here. I've always wanted to travel and my dreams are becoming true every day! Of course I wouldn't be here without the support and help of my parents. I miss them already. But I know that they are proud of my accomplishments and they are very happy I can travel anywhere that I want. I really am having the time of my life. All of the experiences I've had so far, whether good or bad, they are teaching me life lessons.


Now fellow readers, here is a piece of advice I've learned and experienced on my own. If you really truly want something. Say for example, travel? Plan it and do it! Anything is possible. Not everything will come out perfectly BUT by trying you are already on the right track. Get out of your comfort zone and do something extraordinary. You will feel proud of yourself :)

That's it for now. I will post later on throughout the month!


Merci beaucoup mon chères