When we all were getting ready to come to Bad Mergentheim we were all assigned "German Buddies" aka a german student at our school who can help us out while we are here. Last night they put together a welcoming party at a local bar called Los Bandidos (yep we went to a mexican bar in germany, weird) for all of us and we, as the germans say it, made party. It was a lot of fun to get to know all the germans and some of the other exchange students (kids from singapore, OSU in Bend, a girl from france and one from michigan).
One thing that is really hard to get used to here is all the smoking, even in the bars. It is so hard to ignore it all when you have someone across the table blowing cigarette smoke in your face. It is everywhere! Even the teenagers are always walking around and smoking. Very strange.
Today we had an informational meeting about what we will expect when normal classes start on Monday. From people who have gone on other various exchanges through the College of Business, I have heard their classes were almost a joke. But ours actually seem difficult and very serious. The German students who come to this school are already employed by a company and they go back and forth from working a few weeks, and then going to school a few weeks, so this is like part of their job. We were strongly advised to never miss class unless it is an emergency because we will be in a course from 9-5 for about a week or so, and then have a written final exam so missing one day will hurt you. It kind sucks that things will be so serious when I feel like I'm in vacation mode, but it will be a good learning experience.
On a lighter note, a group of OSU kids and some Germans are going to Stuttgart this weekend to go explore and have some fun up there so that should be very good times. Turns out you can get group train tickets for like 6 Euros (about $8.50) for unlimited rides during the weekend. I could definitely get used to this place :).
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