We did not wait very long very deciding to explore Germany. Saturday morning, our first full day here, we all went to Cologne with my roommate. It was very simple to get there. With the Ruhr Universität Student Ticket, we can go to most train stations, or Hauptbahnhauf, free of charge. This is a very nice perk that everyone should take full advantage of. Within 2 hours we arrived in Cologne, or Köln as they call it here, and we were ready to soak in the German culture.

Our first stop was the Dom, German for Cathedral. This was a very large church that was built starting in 1248. This cathedral was absolutely beautiful inside and out, it was breathtaking. Especially as an engineer, it was very interesting to look at the structure of this building, especially considering this was all made of stone and without modern machinery.

Our next stop was walking over Cologne's Love Locks Bridge to the Köln Triangle. The bridge was tastefully cluttered with thousands of colorful locks on the fence. This is a place that couples will go to "lock in" their love, but you certainly do not need a love partner to enjoy the sight and creative decorations. At the Köln Triangle, we each paid €2,50 to go to the top, 100m in the air, and overlook the beautiful city of Köln and other surrounding areas. The top is open but there are tall, crystal clear, glass walls keeping you in safely but not blocking the wonderful view. It was shaped it a big circle so you could walk around the whole roof and enjoy the scenery. On some portions of the glass windows there were the outlines of certain major buildings and a description of was it is. If you looked through this outline just right, you could line it up with the actual building, making sure that you do not miss anything worth seeing. Being on top of the city like this, seeing everything below you, was very peaceful, relaxing, and breathtaking at the same time.

At this point it was time for lunch and we decided to try a Turkish food stand that sold sandwiches called a Döner Kebabs. This is a very authentic Turkish "fast food" dish consisting of beef, lamb, or chicken, red cabbage, cucumber, tomato, onion, and a white sauce inside of a very tasty split pita bread or lavash. The sandwich was delicious, and to think that they called it fast food really made me rethink all of Americas fast food because this was far superior. When looking for food I would really recommend going off the beaten path and not always going for the big attractive restaurants, sometimes the smaller places have much more culture to offer you.

As the day wound down, we walked along the Rhine River, a very peaceful walk where we could observe the smaller boats traveling along and the vast green scenery on either side of it. So far I have a very good impression of Germany and cannot get over how beautiful it is here and I'm sure this feeling will only grow as I visit more cities and bordering countries.

I had some troubles getting my internet to work on my laptop therefore these first few posts are delayed a few days, but I will soon be caught up and telling everything as it happens. But now, I'm finally starting to feel at home here. My first few days in the country I did your typical touristy things, but now I really feel like I'm a part of something here.

As I walked off the plane I was very nervous about speaking very little German. Fortunately, all of the signs and announcements in the Frankfurt Airport were made in both German and English. I then had to find my way to the train station and catch a two-hour train to Bochum. This is where I started to see the language barrier. The farther away from the airport I got, the fewer English signs there were and it became less obvious as to who did and did not speak English. I came here completely unprepared, which I would really recommend not doing. At least take the time to learn a few phrases and important words so you can get around in the very beginning. However, I was still able to make my way to Bochum fairly easily.

After being escorted from the train station to Ruhr Universität, I met up with the rest of the Drexel group where we were eagerly greeted with a warm welcome by the Ruhr staff and students in the international program. It was nice to see that everyone made it there safely and we were all very anxious to get out and see Germany right away, but for the time being, it was time to find our rooms in Europahaus and get settled in. I walked in to a dark room, flicked on the lights to see a very nice student apartment consisting of 3 single bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a common area. When I arrived neither of the other two roommates were home, which felt very weird walking into their house when no one is home. I really wish that I could be been informed on who my roommates were prior to leaving the states so I could find them on Facebook and get in contact with them beforehand rather than walking into an empty house feeling like a stranger.

Shortly before we had planned to venture into the city of Bochum, my first roommate got home and we briefly got acquainted. I realized that he had nothing planned for the night so I suggested that he come out with us, which turned out to be the best thing to happen. That night he took us to a street in Bochum known as Bermuda Dreieck, or Bermuda Triangle. This is a stretch of road filled with bars and restaurants, providing a very nice nightlife. Our first stop was a bar called "Brinkhoffs" where we all shared our first authentic German beer together. My roommate, Oktay, was able to give us many suggestions based on his experience of growing up in the country. He also introduced us to authentic German Bratwurst at the Bratwursthaus where we tried bratwurst mit brötchen, or bratwurst on a roll, and Currywurst with fries and mayo. Yes, mayo on fries, it sounded very strange at first but their mayonnaise here tastes much better than in America and it actually went very well with the fries and even better mixed with ketchup. Moral of the story, don't be afraid to try new things. Spending time in another country is all about exploring and trying things you might not normally do; after all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

After this we made the choice to go back home and get a good night rest before visiting Köln (Cologne) in the morning. It certainly was not a bad way to start out our first day here.

The photo attached is of my first view of Frankfurt as my Plane began it's decent into Germany.