April 15-18

This week was the first week of regular classes. I ended up switching classes and dropping the conversation class so my schedule is pretty relaxed. I don't have school Thursday or Friday which is really nice. I like both of my classes but the structure is a lot different here. We had our tutorials and we all commented on what we miss from home and what we don't like here or what the cultural differences are. The people are a lot different, kind of standoffish and don't say excuse me. It sucks that stuff is closed on Sundays, but it is also pretty relaxed here. It is going to be nice going home and hearing English everywhere, but everything also looks so ordinary in California, where everything is so much more beautiful in Europe.
Monday night we went out and pre-gamed in 15 first. We were going to go to the big party for the new students but the wait was like over an hour so we ended up at Sudhaus. I ended up leaving early because I was tired while the others stayed. We also went out Wednesday night. We went bar hopping with Charlie and Han which was actually really fun. It was just a chill night and the weather was perfect. We went to about 4 or 5 bars and then got Doner of course. Drunk food. Always. And we got some really good drinks at Paprica, Plan B and another 2 I cant remember. We went to Sudhaus for like 2 seconds, got food and then called it a night. Tonight we leave for Dublin which I am really excited for. I hope it is more organized because in London we ran out of time to do a lot. Everyone was so nice and helpful in London so I hope that they are the same in Dublin.

Week after London

This week was pretty chill, we needed a full week to recover from London, so we just stayed in Marburg for the weekend. I was really sad because of Beth and the weather and being tired made it a lot worse. I wish that I was home sometimes because I am stressed about Beth. I am just hoping that nothing happens to her while I am here. It was also the last week of our classes which was bittersweet. The final test was really easy but I don't know how I did on the culture one. Anyway, the last day we played a lot of games and had brunch which was chill. We went to Nachstalon last weekend too which was fun. We also went to Hinkeltein this week which was okay. I ended up talking with Ray and then leaving early because it wasn't very fun.

London aka the craziest weekend

London was the craziest weekend on so many levels. We left after our presentation for our culture class which went well. We made it to the train with no problems and we were stoked to be on our way to London. While on the train we heard an announcement over the PA saying something in German that we of course did not understand. The girl next to us understood and explained to us that someone had jumped in front of the train, so we were really stressed out and thought we were going to miss our flight. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to find a way to the next station along with the other IUSP people going too. It was really scary but we finally hitchhiked our way to the nearest train station and took a bus to Frankfurt from there. There were no buses so we ended up taking a cab all the way to the Frankfurt Hahn airport. We got there and met up with everyone; it was a miracle that we made it. Lexi and Alec did not make it on the delayed plane because of Dixie which I felt really bad about. When we got to London we were at the Liverpool Station and there was an announcement saying that there was an emergency in the station and that we had to evacuate. It was a crazy night, we thought it was a joke. We finally took a cab to our hostel which was really nice and just all crashed. The next day we spent a while looking for the bank for Ashley's card and then explored the city by walking. We went to King's Cross station and took pictures in front of Platform 9 3/4. Later that day we saw the London eye which was really cool. We were going to go to the Windsor Castle but it didnt work out, as well as the Sherlock Holmes museum.  After that we went back to the hostel and pre-gamed for Fabric, which was not really fun. We hung out with some London guys and then went home. The next morning we got a late start but ended up going to the Tower of London which was cool even though I remembered that I had gone before. After that we went to get some fish and chips and then went back to the hostel to chill before the pub crawl. The pub crawl was really fun. We met a lot of people and went to about 4 bars. We drank a lot of good drinks and got some free shots. We also did karaoke which was pretty fun. The next morning was our last so we just did the walking tour and then went back to the hostel for our stuff and then went to the airport. It was a really long trip because we got to the airport fine but then we missed the bus and there were no more trains so we had to sleep in the airport for like 3 hours before we could catch the morning train. It was exhausting but actually really fun. We were all deliriously tired and stayed in McDonald's for the night and stood in front of their door until they opened. There were some sketch people in the station but we finally made it back to Marburg. We had school the next morning and it was crazy that we all made it to class. I ended up going late though. It was overall a fun weekend even though there was a lot of craziness and drama. We saw a lot of the main sights and took a lot of pictures so it was a nice weekend. It was really nice to be back home though after.

King Ray
Squeegee kids

Berlin

Last weekend we all went to Berlin. The train ride was about 7 hours, which was long but not too bad. We got to the 3 Little Pigs hostel which was really nice. That night we got some food at a really cheap place down the street from the hostel and drank a lot. Later we got ready and went to Club Fritz. Ashley and Kara were really drunk so they didn't get in which was sucky but funny at the same time. It was a fun night and kind of a shit show. I lost one of my flats which was a fail. The next day we had a tour in the morning of the Berlin parliament, saw the Brandenburger Tor and walked around a little bit and got food. When we got back we pre-gamed and then went to another club. It took a really long time to get there so we didn't really have a lot of time there. It was still a fun night but Elizabeth got her wallet stolen. After that we went to bed. Sunday morning we had a tour of Potsdam and I wish I could have enjoyed it more but it was freezing and snowing the majority of the day. After that we went to see the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall which was pretty cool. After that we got on the train to go home and the ticket people asked us for our tickets which we didn't have so we had to pay a 40 Euro fine, which sucked a lot and was really stressful. I got really upset but felt better later that day. We didn't get to see the Holocaust museum but after that we didn't really want to anyway. We went back to the hostel and I Skyped with my dad before dinner. That night we pre-gamed and we were going to go to a club but we ended up going to a bar instead which was better. I was really drunk that night and asked people to many questions. It was really fun though. Monday morning we left and I basically slept for the whole bus ride back. It was a fun weekend but I was ready to be back in Marburg by the time we had to go.

Last night I got really bad news about Beth, so I am really scared and don't know what to think.
I think that a weekend out of Germany will be really fun, so I cant wait for London this weekend!