CBYX Mid-Year Seminar

I went back to school for one day on Monday after getting back from Stuttgart, and then I left on Tuesday for Bonn. All of us were so excited to be back together again – it was like Language Camp part 2. We weren’t actually staying in Bonn; we stayed in a town called Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, about 40 minutes away from Bonn by train. We all arrived at the hostel at different times, so it was exciting every time we saw a new person walk through the door.

The second day we were in Bad-Neuenahr, we walked to an old bunker and took a tour of it. It was built during the Cold War era to house the German government and other people needed to keep the government running if a war or severe crisis ever happened. Obviously, the bunker is decommissioned now, so we were able to take an hour and a half long tour of part of it. 

After the tour, we were given free time to walk through the old part of the city and explore. Mariel, Emily, and I found a cute little crêpe restaurant that served really good food.

The next couple of days, we talked a lot about our exchange experiences so far and any problems we were having. It was interesting hearing everyone’s different stories. Even though everyone’s exchanges have been different, we were all able to relate to each other’s problems and help find solutions.

Friday was really fun because we took the train to Bonn in the morning. We visited the Experiment headquarters and then took a tour of the city. It was really cold and rainy (like it usually is in Germany), but it was fun none the less. Being the former capital of Germany, Bonn has a lot of interesting history and buildings. We saw the old Rathaus, Beethoven’s house, and the Rhine River.

After our city tour, we had free time to eat lunch. Then we had to meet the rest of the group at the Haus der Geschichte, which is a museum all about German history since 1945. Usually, history museums can be a little boring, but I can honestly say, everything about this museum was so interesting. Our tour guide was also really great at explaining everything to us.

When we finished our tour of the museum, we were given free time in the city once again. The last train back to Bad Neuenahr was at 9:45, so we had a lot of time. Mariel, Emily, and I went to the huge Haribo store and bought a lot of gummy bears. Then we found a cute little restaurant to eat dinner at. There was a second floor in the restaurant which had a really great view of Bonn. We walked back to the train station after dinner and took the last train back to the hostel. It was a really nice day and Bonn is a beautiful city!

On Sunday, we had to say our goodbyes once again as we all got ready to go back to our homes. It was hard because all of us are so close, but it’s nice to know that we’ll see each other again in May in Berlin. Mid-year was honestly so much fun and Experiment did a great job planning everything. I loved seeing all of my friends again and exploring Bonn/Bad Neuenahr with them!