Small Victories and a Little More Sightseeing

     As of today, I have been in Reutlingen for exactly three weeks, and finally, I feel settled into a routine. The first two weeks were jam packed with orientation tours and events. I really appreciated this fun-filled welcome, but now it's time to start conquering the challenges of daily life in a foreign country. That seemed to be the theme of the week.
     On Monday, I was quite proud that I figured out how to do laundry here. Back at school, I secretly made fun of the people who had never learned this important life skill before coming to college. However, now I can sympathize with them. Using the German washer went well, up until I couldn't figure out how to open the door at the end and stood there for 5 minutes panicking that I'd never get my clothes out. Luckily, I figured that one out, and soon moved on to my next challenge: using the dryer. Now, I had already decided that I was going to be a typical American and use the dryer, even though most Germans let their clothes air dry on racks. No, I didn't have all day to wait, and the liberal German environmentalism was not going to stand in my way! Or so I thought. After paying 1 euro for an hour of drying time and ending up with still-sopping wet clothes, I learned my lesson. Turns out that drying rack will actually come in handy.
     On Wednesday, I had another small victory, this time at the grocery store. My all-time favorite recipe to make at home is German cheesecake, made out of a soft cheese called quark. In America, quark is ridiculously expensive and hard to find. In fact, this recipe would normally cost $16 to make. However, quark is everywhere in Germany, and it's about 8 times cheaper. For this reason, I have always wanted to make this cheesecake in Germany. Today I not only found cheap quark, but every other baking ingredient I needed, plus a springform pan for 6 euros! On Thursday, I successfully baked my cheesecake and must have guessed right on all the conversions because it came out perfectly. I brought some to class, and my German professor gave me her seal of approval! For the recipe, click here.
     Over the weekend, the whole group went to Bebenhausen, a tiny town outside Tübingen with a cloister founded in 1183. It's a gorgeous building with obviously, a long, rich history. Just the thought that something can exist for almost a thousand years is still mind-boggling to me.

After Bebenhausen, we had some free time to explore Tübingen a little more. Speaking of old buildings, this house was built in 1491!

And of course, I couldn't resist taking the most classic typical tourist photo of Tübingen. (But I'll need to come back on a sunny day.)

So that was my week. This Friday, we're leaving for 5 days in Berlin and 2 in Cologne, so stay tuned for the next post all about it!
   

My First Week in Reutlingen: Part 2

        For some reason, I mistakenly thought that I'd have a ton of downtime here to not only to blog, but  to also keep a paper journal, to read for fun, and to catch up on missed TV shows. I was seriously concerned that I would get bored in my free time. Nope. That definitely won't be a problem. Every day is filled with classes, homework, planned events, and unplanned adventures. So now I'll do my best to sum up all the excitement of seven days into one post.

Sunday: On Sunday, we made our first of what will probably be many trips to the neighboring town of Tübingen. Unlike Reutlingen, Tübingen was not bombed during WWII, and therefore remains a perfectly preserved medieval town. It's stereotypical Germany, where everything is at least 600 years old. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to get many good pictures of the town, but there was something creepily majestic about waking through a medieval castle in dense fog at twilight. Here's the view from the top:

After our brief tour, we ate at the famous Neckermüller restaurant along with our professors and some other Valpo friends studying in Reutlingen and Tübingen.

Monday: Monday was the first day of classes. First, we had German, which for me, is a review, but also a welcome break from the advanced literature classes I'm used to at Valpo. Then, we had art history, which may sound less than thrilling to some, but the "living art" activity in which we act out paintings for Herr Springer to guess makes this class actually really fun. Last, we had economics with the man, the myth, the legend: Baldur Veit. The guy knows everyone in the state, has connections to numerous companies in the area, and apparently hangs out with the king of Malaysia. Fascinating.

Tuesdsay: Tuesdsay wasn't terribly exciting, but I did get to experience the alleged "biggest schnitzel in the world,"that previous generations of Reutlingen students have recommended. The restaurant offers XXL and XL-sized schnitzel, and although I only got the XL, it was still bigger than the plate.

Wednesday: Wednesday was Mutscheltag, a Reutlingen-specific holiday where everybody gets together to play various dice games, in hopes of winning a Mutschel. Mutschel are star-shaped, handmade breads that come in several sizes, ranging from individual, to about 3 feet across. Herr Veit had organized a game night for all the international students, and there, I was surprisingly lucky enough to win 2 Mutschel. Sadly, I didn't win this grand prize:

Thursday: On Thursday, we had the Luther and Bach class and Modern Germany, along with more German. The two history classes will definitely be the most challenging of the five, but they sound very interesting. That evening, we all ventured out to one of the pubs for karaoke. I didn't participate this time around, but I think I'll be ready next week!

Friday: Have I mentioned that we never have class on fridays? Sometimes we have events planned, and sometimes it's just free time to travel. This week, we first had a historical tour of Reutlingen. This was interesting, and also another great opportunity for pictures.

The highlight of the tour was the narrowest street in the world, which is about a foot wide:

Later, we headed back to Tübingen, to visit our German professor and learn how to make Mutschel! I love that it's totally normal here for professors to invite us to their homes…and provide baked goods. Soon, I'll do a Spoonful of Zucker post for the Mutschel recipe.

Saturday: Finally, on Saturday, we made our first trip to Stuttgart to go to the Baden-Württemberg state museum. After a big dose of regional history, we had lunch at Vapiano, the greatest pasta restaurant in the world. (There's one in Chicago too!) That evening, we explored downtown Reutlingen a little more, to bring a relaxing end to the week.

And that's it in a nutshell! Check again next week for my latest adventures!

My First Week in Reutlingen: Part One

     It's been a long and exciting week. (okay actually 10 days, but who's counting?) Finally, I feel de-jetlagged and settled enough to reflect on everything, so this will be quite a long post. So I guess I'll jump right in on arrival day.

The Arrival:
     This is probably going to be the most challenging day of the entire semester. Don't worry, it's not a horror story. It actually went much more smoothly than I expected, but for me personally, and I assume for many, the first day in a new place is hard. It's a huge adjustment to make, especially when you haven't slept in 36 hours. I always feel pretty out of it the day after a transatlantic flight, but I got through it by focusing on one task at a time. First, we landed and got our luggage, then we met Professor Ostoyich  and his family at the airport and took a bus to Reutlingen. I will forever be grateful to them for all of their help on the first day and throughout our orientation weeks. That day, they first took us to their apartment, which is on the same street as the dorms, and fed us, passed out our linens and cooking supplies, and explained the plan for the coming days.

The Dorms:
     Then, we all moved into our rooms. I temporarily have one all to myself because there is an odd number of girls in this group, but I may be getting an international student roommate in the future. When I first found this out, I was really disappointed because I didn't want to feel left out of things, but looking back on this week, maybe it was for the best. I'd hate to subject a stranger to my jet lag-induced temporary insanity. Don't worry, I'm better now. I find it uncanny, how much the dorms here resemble the Valpo freshmen dorms. They are set up similarly, with 2 beds on either side, closets, a sink, and desks by the window.

And this is the view out of my window. It's not spectacular, but I do get to see the mountains in the distance.

     I think there are 3 or 4 dorms that Valpo kinds could potentially live in, but this semester, we're split between Wurmhaus and Reichwein-Haus, which are pretty similar. I'm in Reichwein, which is more recently renovated, but this semester, Wurmhaus seems like the place to be. More international students live there, so it's a little more lively, but I like the quiet on my floor. On each floor of both dorms, there are 2 halls of rooms and a shared kitchen and lounge in the middle.

**Helpful hints about moving in: Be sure to stop at the Valpo program storage locker where you can find all sorts of useful items donated by previous Valpo kids. There are phones, hair appliances, toiletries, blankets, cookware, clothes, and much more. It's like a treasure hunt! Secondly, if you're picky about pillows like me, bring a pillowcase/liner that zips. The European pillows here are like big, flat squares, but if you have an extra pillowcase, you can fold the pillow in half, and it'll seem normal. Finally, BRING AN ETHERNET CORD. Some dorms do not have wifi, and I'm so glad I was prepared for that going in.

The first full day:
     The next day was our first full day in Reutlingen. First we bought bus passes. (Be sure to have about 70 euros in cash for that.) We then had a brief tour of the campus and town, followed by a delicious lunch at a café. Most of us got the Maultaschen, a regional specialty similar to giant ravioli. I loved that the program paid for a few meals in the beginning, because we didn't make it to the store for a few days.

     After that, we spent some time exploring the city on our own and then ended up watching a movie/falling asleep in one of the lounges. The next day was a free day to settle in, and on Sunday, we had our first introduction to Tübingen, which I'll get to in part 2 of this post.

Tomorrow

   
Originally, I planned on writing this post last night, so that "tomorrow" would actually be today, my departure date. But for some strange reason I will never understand, most flights to Europe are overnight, so although I leave today, I'll arrive in Germany tomorrow.  Surprisingly, I was actually pretty at peace with this whole thing until last night. I had expected the panic to set in much earlier, but in fact, in the weeks leading up to today, I managed to distract myself from fear with my very long to-do lists. Now that the lists are finished, I have too much time to think, but I have to find the peace again. That's the only good way to do this.
     When it comes to international travel, there's an easy way and a hard way. I've experienced each once. The first time I went to Germany, I wasn't technically alone, but it felt that way because I was traveling with 40 other students that I had never met before. The trip lasted about a month, and at seventeen, that was by far the longest I had ever been away from home. Back then, I had no idea what to expect, not only from the program itself, but also how my body and mind would react to travel. That particular flight on that particular day caused a perfect storm of factors that need up giving me the worst case of jet lag. First of all, I woke up that day almost too sick to get out of bed, and in addition to/because of that, I was not in the right mindset to do the hardest thing I had ever had to do. After I arrived, I unfortunately can barely remember the first week because I still felt physically and mentally awful. After spending a long time trying to figure out what went wrong that first week, I finally attributed it to about 70% jet lag, 20% heat exhaustion (Someone really should have told me there was no A/C in Germany) and 10% culture shock.
      Luckily, This time I won't have to deal with two of those three factors this time. In contrast to the -20 temperatures at home, Germany is currently a pleasant 55 degrees. As for the culture shock, I might sill have a little at some point, but I'm so thankful that this isn't my first time to the metaphorical rodeo. I know a little bit of what to expect, and I know that I have felt at home in Germany before, so I can again. As for the jet lag, I've learned that that just comes down to luck. The first time I went to Germany, I was so out of whack that I didn't sleep for 4 days. However, the second time I went to Germany, I was completely fine within a day. I think most of it is luck, but some of it has to do with your mindset going in. On the second trip, I was more confident. That time, I was flying completely alone, but I just didn't panic because I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere. When the mind is in a good place, it's easier for the body to be too.
     So this time around, I hope that I can use what experience has taught me. In fact, I wonder if it's somehow possible to just skip the whole beginning part where I get upset and panicked. Can I just skip to the part where I start to feel comfortable and never want to go home? Because I know that part will come, and I don't want to waste a single day feeling upset when I only get so many to begin with. What if I just don't worry? Don't cry? Don't take it all so seriously? As of now, that's my plan, to just let it all happen as it's supposed to. We'll see how that plan holds up when I get to the airport.
     Like every soon-to-be study abroader, I'm scared and excited at the same time. Everyone says this will be the time of my life, and while I generally agree, I also think that adds a lot of pressure for me to make it that good. This experience is a gift, a blessing. But it's hard. It's once again the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Over the whole winter break, I've thought about it non-stop. In fact, my favorite little part of each day was the four seconds after I woke up each morning, and in my half-deeming state, didn't remember yet that this challenge was approaching so soon. And then every morning, it hit me all over again. Finally, this morning, It's time. Time to put one foot in front of the other and step into this blessing, this adventure, reminding myself that the things we fear most are the things most worth having.

Packing for 4 Months: My Attempt at Minimalism

     I'm now at four days and counting. Then, it's off to Germany for at least four months, maybe longer if I find an internship. Naturally, I have many, many thoughts running through my head right now, which I plan to discuss in what I expect to be a very long post tomorrow. However, for now, I wanted to dedicate a post to the great challenge that is packing for a long-term trip. Because that's the kind of travel blog I want this to be. Not just a list of all the places I go and things I do, but rather a source of practical tips, honest observations, and general guidance for future study abroaders. When I was just beginning the packing procress, the advice of others helped tremendously, both to figure out what to do, and just as importantly, what not to do. I looked at countless blogs, travel sites, and even youtube videos for inspiration, and within a couple days, I was able to pack all the necessities into one suitcase, plus the maximum allowed carry-on baggage. If I can do it, anyone can!
     Over the past year or so, I've really started to notice how much stuff I've accumulated and how useless a lot of it is. I think I was a spoiled kid, but at the same time, I always had a natural tendency towards melancholy. My life was good, but I was just always very emotional, and somewhere along the line, I learned that shopping and accumulating new things would make me feel better. After years of that mindset, I finally took a look around at all the stuff and thought about all the other things I could have done with the money. I decided that I would rather have experiences than stuff, and so for the last six months, I've donated a ton to charity and haven't spent a dime on anything besides what I needed for Germany (which, granted, was kind of a lot). But still, in a relatively short amount of time, this experiment in frugality really changed how I live and how I shop. Now, when I walk into any kind of store, I know the difference between wants and needs, and physically can't buy anything that I don't really need. I'm ashamed to admit that I couldn't really make this distinction before, but I think it's important to talk about just to show that people can break free from materialism, and more specifically, how that concept can become a great asset when it comes to travel.
     One of the biggest inspirations I found in my online search for packing tips was a video posted by a woman who travelled around Asia for a year with just a normal-sized backpack. She's a real minimalist, and while I surely wouldn't advise packing that light for a study abroad semester, she proved to me that we don't actually need anywhere near the amount of stuff we think we need to not only survive, but to have a great time.You can wear most clothes more than once per wash, you don't need to pack for every "what if," and you will, in fact, be happier if you don't have to carry your weight in luggage. This philosophy helped me take a hard look at each item I wanted to pack and honestly assess whether or not I really needed it. Miraculously, I neither over- or underestimated the amount of stuff to take (from what I can tell at this point). The stuff that I decided to put in the "yes" pile was the exact amount that would fit in my suitcase later. Now, I don't claim to be an actual minimalist. I did fill the absolute maximum amount of free luggage, but I'm proud of myself because a few years ago, that's the amount I would have packed for one month. In fact, that's the amount I did pack for one month and it was way too much. This time, I really think it's gonna last four months.
     So I think I'll start my packing advice with a few examples of what not to pack, most of which stem from my shock and horror at what some of the study abroaders of YouTube suggested. Most of this is more applicable to women, but hey, we're the ones who usually need help with this kind of thing.

Things not to pack:
Hair dryers/curling irons/straighteners---That's an obvious one, you don't want to light your hair on fire. Personally, I decided to avoid this issue by re-perming my hair. Bringing the 80s back! And of course, they sell hair appliances abroad too.

Full-sized soaps/shampoos---It really bugs me how people can't live without their very specific brands. Don't waste space and weight in your luggage with this stuff. Just pack travel-sized bottles to last a week, and after that, be adventurous and try the local products. One exception to this is all prescription and OTC medication, which may be unavailable in many areas.

Season specific clothing---Know the climate before you go, and don't pack a bunch of heavy sweaters or a bunch of short shorts if you won't need them several times.

Too much clothing/accessories---Don't bring your entire jewelry collection. I packed one necklace, one bracelet, one ring, and 2 pairs of earrings. Tangent time: I saw some girl giving packing advice on YouTube who had about 15 bras in her suitcase! I can't imagine why that would be necessary.

Feminine products---This one really gets me, at least if you're going to Europe. Several girls have
advised bringing your own, but before you waste space on that, just take a second to ask yourself how millions of European women manage to get by with what's available in their countries. Another YouTube nut actually packed 2 giant Costco-sized boxes of tampons for her trip and acted like that was a good tip. I don't want to judge others and I know that we all have things we won't budge on, but I actually laughed out loud at that video and the size of those boxes. Becoming adaptable to new environments is a life skill. Come on girls, let's learn it!

Too many shoes/heels---The final YouTube nut advised brining about 8 pairs of shoes, 3 of which were heavy boots. Believe me, I wish I could do that, but with no room left in my one suitcase, I had to pick just 4 to pack in carry-on and the heaviest to wear on the plane. Also, you really, really, really don't want to bring heels to Europe. Heels + cobblestones = pain and embarrassment.

And finally, the worst offense of them all…
American junk food---IF I HEAR ONE MORE PERSON TELL ME TO PACK PEANUT BUTTER AND/OR KRAFT MAC & CHEESE, I'M GONNA LOSE IT! And it's not just because I don't particularly like these 2 foods. It's the principle of it. First, I wish people knew how easy it is to make real mac & cheese that's infinitely better than the box. In fact, I think I'll make that my first abroad recipe post! Secondly, I hate the idea of clinging to comfort junk food instead of trying local foods. You have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try some really yummy stuff that you're gonna miss when you go home. Embrace it and enjoy it!

And now for what you should pack:
Disclaimer: I don't know if I made all the right decisions, but I did my best, and I feel confident that I'll have what I need. Sometime during my semester, I'll do an update post to talk about what I wish I would have packed or left at home.

To start the process, I spread out a big sheet on my floor and pulled things out of my closet, organizing them first into "yes" and "maybe" piles and then into item categories. This is all the clothing I ended up packing:

     Some people may find this boring, but I want to list everything I packed because I found it extremely helpful when other people posted their packing lists on their travel blogs. Just in general, I tried to pack mix and match clothiers in mostly neutrals with a few pops of color. I opted for comfort, layering, and versatility above all. If a particular item didn't match with at least 2 other things, I wouldn't bring it. I didn't pack clothes I don't like, but I also didn't pack my favorite/nicest things either. Many pieces are hand-me-downs, thrift shop gems, or just sort of on their last leg. That way, if I need to throw things out at the end of the semester to make room for accumulated junk, I won't have a problem doing that. Finally, remember to wear your heaviest clothes and shoes on the plane. In my case, that's jeans, my snow-proof walking shoes, and my winter parka.

In the big suitcase:
8 t-shirts/everyday shirts (all short sleeves for layering with cardigans)
3 either casual or dressy tops
1 dressy top
4 cardigans
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of khakis
1 black dress pant
1 casual khaki skirt
1 pair of longer khaki shorts
1 pair of black leggings
1 pair of yoga pants (that double as pajamas)
2 workout/sleep t-shirts
1 lounge/sleep short
2 versatile black dresses, 1 printed
2 pairs of black tights (because 1 will rip)
5 tank tops/layering camis
1 swimsuit
1 swim coverup/PJ
1 dressy coat
1 spring windbreaker
5 printed scarves (plus a warm one with hat and gloves)
socks, underwear, and bras (but not 15 of them, see above)
minimal toiletries and makeup

     To actually pack the suitcase, I first used all of my roll-up space bags, and then packed things by category in gallon ziplock bags. Those are like the poor man's space bag because you can squish all the extra air out. Every piece of clothing (except jeans) is in an airtight bag, tightly rolled, not folded. I'm really not usually so OCD, I got the bag idea from YouTube too, and it's brilliant. There's no way I would have fit everything with any other method.

Carry-on baggage:
My airline allows one carry-on and one "personal item." Because I would probably go nuts if I didn't have a guitar for 4 months, I bought a really cheap as-is, travel-sized one that counts as my carry-on. Then i stuffed the case with all of my paperback books. It's probably not great for the guitar, but I'm not wasting any space. And isn't it pretty?

     So that meant that I only had the "personal item" left in my luggage allowance. Usually, they say this is supposed to be a purse or laptop bag, but I've never been stopped in all my years of using my regular-sized school backpack and calling that my "personal item." That way, I can fit my laptop, my entire purse, plus some other stuff in it. These are the other miscellaneous items I recommend bringing:

Shoes---because there's no real weight restriction for carry-ons, or at least, they don't check it. I will wear my good walking shoes and I packed a pair of black flats, converse sneakers, comfortable walking sandals, and shower flip-flops. If it was summer, I would have bought flip flops there but unfortunately, it's January.

laptop, camera, smartphone at least for wifi use, plus all the cords and chargers, and an adapter
laptop lock
regular lock (for hostel lockers)
ethernet cord (unless you're confident in the wifi wherever you're going)
small umbrella
a folder with important documents
one notebook (This is study abroad after all.)
medication/contacts/glasses
sunglasses
minimal jewelry
a bunch of ziplock bags--I heard that they don't have them in Germany, but I guess I'll find out.
American measuring cups---For me, that's a necessity.

     Except for a few other little things, that's pretty much it. At this point, it all seems really heavy, but I tried my best to weigh the suitcase on a bathroom scale and I think it's exactly 50lbs. It's still more than is comfortable to carry, but to the best of my knowledge, I really don't think there's anything unnecessary in there. In the end, the most important thing to remember is that I can't be prepared for everything, but I will figure it out when I need to. So with that, I conclude this longest post ever, until next week when I write a longer one about my pre-departure thoughts and fears and hopes.