It’s been over a week into my journey in Germany, and so much has happened! But of course I’ll start out with the beginning. When we were flying to Stuttgart from Copenhagen and we broke through the clouds, I was able to take my first look at Germany. It was so beautiful! It was after sundown and all the neighborhoods were lit up with lights, scattered across the Swabian Alb. I hadn’t fully felt the impact of my study abroad until that moment. I wish I had taken a picture so that I could post it here for you all to see!

The beautiful view from my room! It's hard to tell in this picture, but I do have a nice view of the moutains!

                After that it was a long night. Prof. Malchow and Zach Nelson picked us all up at the airport, which thankfully was a smooth transition. Our suitcases started to unload onto the conveyor belt as soon as we arrived to the baggage claim area. During our bus ride to Reutlingen, I couldn’t help notice how similar it was to home. I’m originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, which is in a valley of the Appalachian Mountains. The old Appalachian Mountain range are almost the same as the low Alps here in Baden-Württemberg. So it was strange to feel like I was still at home (only the road signs were different).

                Once we got settled I was able to organize and decorate my room! Kind of… I was so tired from my 24 hour long day that I gave up on putting stuff away… I figured I could just finish is later, but that later for me turned out to be days later.

My first day in Germany wasn’t as fun as my peers had. Prof. Malchow took us on a tour around Reutlingen, to show us Stadtmitte (literally the middle of town) in Reutlingen. The goal was not only get us use to town but to keep us busy to help with our jet lag. So I expected that I wasn’t going to feel good around the afternoon, but not like I did.

 I’m not sure how I got sick. However it started with my throat feeling a bit sore in the morning and slowly turned into a fever by lunch time. We were scheduled to have an official tour around noon, but an hour before then I knew I wasn’t going to make it. So I was able to ask Prof. Malchow to get me on a bus back home. And thus started my first two/three days of Germany… in my room. Sick. Feverish. Sleeping and watching magpies play outside my window. (I’ll have you all know, I only cried once because of it!)

Luckily, my fever went down in about two days! And I had enough ibuprofen to attend our tour around the neighboring town of Tübingen! It was very pretty there, despite gray weather. I was just so happy to get out of the room (which I had made little to no progress on organizing/cleaning, opps)!

I was also able to finally finish putting away my stuff! Here's the final form of my room. (it reminds me a lot of valpo dorms...)

Even then, I still wasn’t better, so during our first day of classes, Dr. Jennings helped me find the local doctor and set up a walk-in appointment for me. It was really nerve racking… but I learned a lot of interesting stuff about German doctors and doctor offices. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the waiting room was that the other people in the room said “good morning” to me. Which caught me off guard and I thought maybe they weren’t talking to me at first. So I awkwardly just smiled at them instead. Dr. Jennings told me later that it’s normal to acknowledge people when they enter or leave a room in Germany. The other thing that I’ve learned is that German doctors rarely prescribe medicines unless absolutely necessary and are still big on herbal remedies. Prof. Malchow explained this to me before I went, so I made sure that even if I wasn’t diagnosed with any sort of illness, I would still ask if he would recommend something for my sore throat! I was able to get a prescription for a cheap pain-killer and then he told me that I could drink (or gargle… I can’t remember) some sage tea. Though I hate tea, I stuck with the painkiller (and explains why I don’t remember what I was suppose to do with the tea).

I really didn’t think I would have to go to the doctor so soon into my stay here! Despite the fact that I did miss out on some orientation, I was able to experience some things my peers haven’t. I now know how to go to the doctor’s office and buy medicine at the Apotheke (Pharmacy)!  And don’t feel too bad for me though, I’m feeling a lot better now and I was recently able to go on a fun trip to Triberg with all of my peers. So while I had a tough beginning, I’ve been able to adjust well and get back into the flow of my new life in Germany!