month 1: full of firsts

Time seems to have different qualities here – it’s simultaneously crazy that it’s already been a whole month and unimaginable that it’s only been a mere month

Hello again! A lot has happened since the last post… and I think life is going to continue at this fast pace for some time now, which is both amazing and something I have to be constantly aware of so I don’t take on too much. On Friday morning, it dawned on me that we arrived at RBC exactly four weeks prior. Four whole weeks…

Here’s a recap of the past week:

On Friday, Sept. 13, we had a wonderful small Mid-Autumn Festival celebration. The mooncake (brought all the way from Hong Kong!) was delicious, and I got to hear different versions of the story of Chang e and Hou Yi, the legend explaining why people look at the moon on this particular day (08.15 of the lunar calendar). Hearing the story was actually a first for me!

On Saturday morning, the first years headed off on Outdoor Weekend! After eating breakfast and packing our lunches, we all left campus for a weekend of hiking/biking and bonding. The hike there was quite enjoyable – I got to know the people in my group much better, and since we were in the Black Forest, most of our hike was in the shade.

We hiked for about 7 hours to get to our campsite near Oberried. When we arrived, we set up our tents and collected our sleeping mats and sleeping bags. Half of the students made dinner (couscous with corn, chickpeas and tomato sauce), and after dinner we gathered around the campfire, told stories, sang songs, and chatted. Our tent was right beside a small river, and so I fell asleep to the beautiful sound of rushing water.

The next morning, Sunday, Sept. 15, the other half of the students made coffee and tea, and we had oatmeal with almonds, cinnamon, and various other toppings. We then packed our lunches and tents and helped clean the campsite and wash dishes before setting off on the same route back. (The biking groups reached campus in about 30 mins while we took several hours :'() I developed really painful blisters on both sides of both my feet, so this was a long journey home under a hot sun (eventually I had to wear my roommate’s slides and carry my hiking boots; I think it was my fault for not wearing my boots more before this hike)…

on the plus side, we got to see plenty of horses and cows!

When we came back on Sunday, our newest additions to the UWC family were waiting: baby alpacas named Blueberry and Tango! I can see them from my bedroom window and from the common room of our house, and they’re very cute!

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a CAS service fair where our service partners from Freiburg presented their organization / institution and what kind of help they needed and when. It was inspiring to see all the things that students are involved in and how many different initiatives we can contribute to, including the local food bank, organic farms, the school garden, an ecological research project with the University of Freiburg, kindergartens, schools, secondhand stores and refugee organizations.
On Wednesday morning we made our final CAS decisions (submitted our top three choices for each category: creativity, activity and service). The results of that will come out tonight and our extracurricular program officially begins tomorrow! I look forward to the rest of this term and all the unique things that CAS will add to my experience, but I’m also very grateful that we got these first few weeks to get to know the school, our schedules and to try some activities out before committing to anything.

Thursday’s sunset

On Friday, we had a university presentation and fair featuring 10 American colleges that are also Davis partners, meaning they are part of the Davis UWC Scholars Program which provides need-based financial support to UWC graduates who attend select post-secondary institutions in the US. A very large percentage of the international student population at all of the colleges is made up of UWC graduates, and several even brought greetings from RBC alumni who matriculated this year.
Saturday was a very special day – Open Day / UWC Day / Sommerfest / our 5th-year anniversary celebration! My Swiss roommate’s parents visited and we walked around the campus in the morning before eating lunch and then watching the cultural show which was put together entirely by students.

An English, German and Spanish rendition of Imagine by John Lennon

In the afternoon, I helped make pizzas at our pizza oven, and the time flew by very quickly. The pizzas were delicious and I’m really happy I chose to help out there.

our little pizza shack – the oven was made by students 2 years ago

our work counter – we probably made 60+ pizzas here

It was really nice to see all the visitors of various ages and backgrounds on our campus.

(above pictures taken by a fellow first-year student)

our garden never ceases to amaze me

And that was my week! I never would have imagined at this time last year that this might be what a week in September would look like, but I’m so happy I have the opportunity to experience weeks like this over and over again 🙂

Next up:

This Tuesday, the first years will be visiting Robert Bosch Stiftung in Stuttgart which should be a really cool experience!
On Thursday and Friday, we have the honour of welcoming Shelby Davis, the co-founder and funder of the Davis Scholarship Program, and his wife, Gale Davis.
On Saturday, project week begins! We are in the process of finalizing our campsites, the route the nine of us will bike, and planning what we will cook – I’m sure it will be a challenging but invigorating week.

I just found out that today is the last day of summer! Summer at home definitely doesn’t feel like it lasts until Sept. 22, so this is new (and I really like it – it’s so refreshing to look out my window and see such beautiful weather and clear skies). Happy last day of summer, and here’s to autumn 2019!

Until next time!

third week thrills!

Hello! I’m enjoying blogging, so I really hope I’m able to keep it up throughout my UWC experience!

After our test run with the touring bikes we will be using for project week, I had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I was in bed before 10 pm on Sunday, but woke up just before midnight to join the celebration of my Swiss roommate’s birthday.

On Tuesday evening, I went for a short walk in my hiking boots to make sure they were comfortable and to explore the area behind our campus.

(I learned this week that in Germany, you’re not supposed to wish someone a happy early birthday because it’s considered bad luck… I kind of wish I knew this earlier but now I’ve learned my lesson!)

Today after school we received information about the first-years’ Outdoor Weekend, which will be taking place this Saturday and Sunday. My 2 first-year roomies and I were put into the most challenging hiking group – we will be hiking ~6 hours each day. It looks like the weather will be really nice, so hopefully everything goes smoothly and we make it to and from the school without too much trouble! I’m a bit nervous because it’s been a while since I’ve done an intensive hike, but I really look forward to bonding with my group and appreciating the great outdoors.

Tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, is the Mid-Autumn Festival (which I didn’t even know until my Thai housemate told me this afternoon…); I felt a bit nostalgic because I knew my family would be celebrating with mooncake back home, but I got an email this evening saying that we’ll have our own little celebration tomorrow evening complete with mooncake, fruit, and tea. I can’t wait to learn how other students usually celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival at home!

I think that’s all for now – here’s to Mid-Autumn Festival (and living to tell the tale of hiking almost 40 km over 2 days :’))

Until next time!

two weeks later…

Friday marked two weeks since our arrival at Robert Bosch College, but it honestly feels like it’s been more than a month. Spending all your time with your classmates definitely leads to deep, meaningful relationships in a short amount of time. It’s hard to believe so much has happened in just 16 days.

Last weekend, my Swiss roommate and I went for a short walk (well actually, we got almost all the way to the mall before realizing it was a Sunday and German stores are closed on Sundays).

I love the style of the exterior of European apartments

Over the past week, we got the chance to attend CAS “taster sessions” to try out the CAS activities we might be interested in, and I really enjoyed bouldering at the Blockhaus, a climbing gym about a 30-40 minute bike ride from our school. It was really nice to get off campus for a few hours and do something physically and mentally challenging. We came back quite late, and it was amazing to bike under a night sky full of stars; I almost forgot what it feels like to look up and be unable to count how many there are.

I also tried contemporary dance and mountain biking, both of which were fun! Right now, I’m most interested in joining the school orchestra for Creativity (and to keep up practicing piano!), and bouldering for Activity. We haven’t been presented the Service activities yet.

Classes started on Tuesday, and so far I’m enjoying them. I’m quite happy with the courses I chose, and I look forward to getting deeper into the content this week. Orientation week made RBC feel like a vacation, so it was a bit strange at first to have to begin associating it with classes and academic obligations, but we are after all here (at least partially) for school!

I didn’t end up getting my first choice Project Week (canoeing in southern France), but I did get my second choice, biking along the Rhine up the Black Forest. I’m a little nervous for a full week of biking and camping but also excited for the experience. Yesterday we did a (5-hour) test run with the touring bikes we will use for project week (which is three short weeks away!).

after an exhausting climb, a beautiful view of Freiburg (picture taken by a student in our project week group)

I also found out this week that I was accepted into my first choice college job! (My parents asked if I get paid, but all college jobs are voluntary :)) Over the following weeks, five other first-year students and I will be receiving first aid training and serving as the First Responders of the school.

I didn’t think it would happen this quickly, but I’m definitely starting to miss food from home… Perhaps I’ll be able to cook some meals in the near future, but that involves a bit of planning to find all the ingredients and carry them back – I now realize the luxury of having a car and knowing your way around a city!

Until next week!