70 Euro will get you a beer, a free shot of Jager, and a lifetime of memories!

My trip to Germany was a blast to say the least.  Going into the trip I was a little anxious about what I would see and be able to do.  I must say that I made a lot of new friends and became closer to those I already knew.  From the different types of beers to aggravating the heck out of Dr. Sheehan; I can thoroughly say that I had the time of my life.

Flying into Germany was an adventure in itself. To start we left BNA and flew to New Jersey, and the plane we flew on had to have been the smallest...scariest...plane I have ever seen in my life.  I literally thought I could throw a rock and make it land further than this thing could fly. However, we did eventually make it to 'Jersey and then boarded a much larger...albeit nicer plane.  This thing had it all; hot stewards, inflight meal, TVs on the seats...It was definitely the nicest plane I had ever been on and surely beats the hell out of Southwest.  Granted as nice as the plane was, the flight over the Atlantic was another tale all together.  IT TOOK FOREVER!!! I seriously was already tired of the trip the six hours in.  Thankfully, we finally landed in Berlin.  Speaking of the Landing...The runway was like a sheet of solid ICE....and I mean ICE, not this spitter spatter stuff we get in the south SERIOUS ICE!  Heading up and collecting my luggage Lawrence, Josh, and myself, after getting some cold hard Euro, met the best friend that we would have the rest of the trip...Heinrick. Boy what a fun time that was sure to ensue.

 After arriving at Heinrich's we were shown to our room and instructed of the house rules (they were few and far between) and given food.  I would like to say that I ate enough Salami that week that I dont know how I survived....but it was very good... all the food was delicious.  That evening we went out to our first restaurant. Being that I had only spoken German in class and not in a real situation and that I was the only person in my group who knew some German....ordering was always...interesting especially in the beginning.

We finally called it a night.. and I got hardly any sleep at all... I do mean very little.  By the way.. I must mention that Heinrich was awesome.. he was like the most perfect person we could have roomed with. He went out of his way to ensure that we knew where to go, how to get there, and he showed us some cool things along the way.  The next pictures are my favorites of all the things that we did as a group. The funniest thing that happened had to have been Kaiser Karl busting his ass at the palaces...I laughed till I about died... and Lawrence and I still laugh about it!

The most amazing thing that we did was going to Hamburg... The difference between it and Berlin was very very noticeable. To say the least, you could definitely tell that Hamburg was a port town and was more wealthy than Berlin.  There was a lot to see in Hamburg and the Youth Hostel was something like I had never seen before. The rates were very cheap, and so was the bar :)

Also, the chocolate store was amazing... I had never seen anything quite like it. Being that it had a chocolate volcano as well as other things it deserves its own section of pictures.  Good memories when Dr. Baker and I got to take a chocolate liquor shot together!

 The following pictures are the pictures I found to be either the most awesome and the funniest that I took the entire trip.

To sum it all up...I had the most fun that I have ever had while on a trip...especially a supped up "field trip".  I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.  I feel it could have been more organized, however, I can appreciate it has to be hard to wrangle a lot of college students in another country. The friendships I gained will benefit me greatly in the years to come. I especially liked going to get a wax with Dr. Baker.  I look forward to hopefully returning next semester. I have even considered applying the University in Berlin for a study abroad.  This was the most fun class that I ever took while at TTU. Thanks to all my classmates and to Dr.'s Baker and Sheehan for putting up with use for this great experience and opportunity.!!!  P.S.... the food was to die for...I would go back just for it, the beer, and Ka De Ve!!!