Saturday, April 2, 2011

Cologne/Bonn Week 2, Wednesday

This morning in class we learned about Sprichtwoerte (common phrases) used in Germany.  For example, “kill two birds with one stone” is “kill two flies with one swatter” in German, and “the apple falls not far from the tree” is the exact same in German.  Another one I remember was “throwing your money out the window with both hands” which means to blow your money on something.

After class, we took a train to Bonn for an orientation meeting with GIZ, the liaison company that compiled our visas and provides training.  We learned about all the different documents we have to fill out when we get to the cities we’re living.  It’s going to be a big headache getting our residence permits, tax cards, work permits, registration papers, and bank accounts set up.






After orientation we walked to the Altstadt in Bonn where we saw the Rathaus (town house) which was very cool and in the middle of town there’s a big food market.  Ludwig von Beethoven was born and lived in Bonn and it seems like the city takes a lot of pride in that.  There’s pictures of him all over town and a big statue in one of the plazas.  After exploring the city a little, we had dinner at a brewery called Brauhaus Bönnsch.  There I got a delicious mettwurst with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.  The beer was really good too, and it came in a cool looking glass that was shaped with a hand grip on one side.






After that we walked around the city for a little bit and then got on the train back to Köln.  Once back from Bonn, I worked on homework for a little bit, wrote some postcards, and then skyped with Janie for a little bit before I got super tired and went to bed.

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