Last week in Cologne

 Last week in Cologne

It's crazy to think how fast the time moved here, because it feels like we've been here for like one week, but in reality this is our last week here.

Nothing super interesting happened this week, other than the fact that we had to leave Cologne. I was happy to go back to Finland and meet up with my friends, but at the same time I wanted to stay in Cologne, because there's still so much stuff I want to do.

On Friday none of us really got any good sleep, since we were all more or less nervous to start our journey back home. We took a train to Dusseldorf at around 7AM and we reached the airport around 8:30AM. 

I was really nervous that my luggage would exceed the weight limit, but luckily my suitcase was exactly 22kg. 

Our flight from Dusseldorf to Finland was super easy, and most of the flight I slept anyways. 

When we came back to Finland my mom and my aunt were waiting for me and they drove me back to Lemi. It was super nice to meet everyone again and tell stories about Cologne. I was also happy that my whole family liked the souvenirs that I brought them! 

Third week in Cologne

Third week in Cologne

By now I've gotten much more used to living in here. Time moves by really fast. It feels like we just arrived in Cologne, even though we've been here for three weeks. 

This week there was three strikes of public transport, which made it impossible to go to work, but luckily my employer is really chill with things like this, and didn't mind that I couldn't make it to work. 

Luckily the weather this week was much better than last week! Last week it was super windy and rainy, but this week it was sunny and warm, which was really good, since we were able to go outside much more! 

On Saturday we went shopping again downtown. There's so many stores around downtown that there's something for everyone's taste, but it's impossible to visit all of them in one day. We took our time shopping and came home super late at night. 

Then on Sunday we took a stroll around downtown with a few of the German students and it was super fun! firstly we visited the inside of the Cologne cathedral and it was amazing! The inside of the church was so detailed and had a lot of statues and stained glass windows. It's insane just how big and detailed the church is. 

After that we went to the Hohenzollern Bridge and placed a lock onto the bridge's railing. The view from the bridge was really pretty, since you could see the cathedral and the Rhine river. Then we stopped by for some drinks and ended our day with ice skating! 

Second week in Cologne

Second week in Cologne 

The second week here was much easier than the first one, since I've gotten much more used to the scenery and lifestyle in here. The weather wasn't as nice this week as it was last week, since it was raining almost everyday. 

This week was also my first full week of work. My work tasks consist of helping with cleaning, organizing, and preparing materials for classes. It's kind of a bummer that I won't be able to teach the kids due to the language barrier, but I'm still having a lot of fun at work! The people at my workplace are very kind and understanding. 

Time here feels like it's moving super fast! We haven't done much together, since our work hours are so different, but whenever we get to hang out with the whole group, it's so much fun!  

We also went shopping this Saturday at the central area of Cologne and had a lot of fun in there! The streets were packed with people, and there were a lot of stores, cafes and restaurants to visit. We visited a few stores and ended our day with dinner at an asian restaurant. 

First week in Cologne

 First week

The first week is now over, and it went by much faster than I expected. Everybody told me, that the first week is always the hardest, and I can agree on that, since everything was very overwhelming, but with the help of my friends, I managed to get over it. 

This week we didn't do anything super exciting, since we all were getting used to the place. We mostly just took strolls around the city and visited a few stores. We also got to visit our host school! The place was tidy and the other students there were really kind to us. We also got to taste some well known german candies, which were really good! 

I also started my work here! I'm working at Kölner Malschule. This week I only had one day of work on thursday, since all of the public transport was on strike on friday, but just from that first day, I could tell that my employer and the workplace were really nice! On thursday me and my employer went over my work schedule and I helped tidy up the place. 

There was a cute fish pond at my workplace! 

 Introduction

Hello, my name's Miksu! I'm 18 years old and this is my blog about spending a month in Cologne! I am super excited for this whole trip and I started planning one month ahead before our journey even started. During my trip in cologne I want to learn more about the culture and try German's traditional foods. 

My trip to cologne

My mom had booked me a hotel from Vantaa, that was really close to the airport, since driving all the way from Lemi to Helsinki at night didn't sound very fun for us! 

There is two other students with me on this trip and our journey started at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Our flight was from Finland to Dusseldorf and from Dusseldorf we took a train to Cologne.