Moving up the river

As of Friday the 26th of January I no longer live in Bergisch Gladbach. I changed families and now live in a town east of Bonn called Eitorf. There are 18,000 residents of this tucked-in community on the Sieg river. The part of town I live in is on the top of the hill so I can see all the sunsets from my window and ride my bike down into town to visit the market or take the train anywhere else. One my of exchange student friends also lives here in town so I've been going to the gym and going to school with him. My school here is a normal Gymasium just like in my last town, but here everything is very modern, well-kept, the teachers are all very well trained, and the students truly care about learning. It's a welcome change to be in an environment where the people are interested in learning and interested in meeting another new student. The surrounding area is very beautiful and full of opportunities for outdoor activities. I have a map of the hiking and biking trails and plan on going on a day-hike on my own down to the next town and taking the train back. The river in town also looks like a great place for kayaking so as soon as the weather gets warm I will be out there paddling.

At first I was worried about being pulled far away from my favorite city, but with the new ticket I got from my program and knowledge of the new train connections I can get to Cologne in 35 minutes for free whenever I want. That was great news for me because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to be in Cologne for the most important holiday of the year here: The mix of Mardi Gras/Halloween/4th of July that is Carnival. One of the most memorable moments of this year will be standing on the banks of Deutz and looking across the Rhine at Cologne during sunset and hearing the million voices celebrating and laughing together as they caught candy from the parade floats and sang their songs so loud that the city would sing and dance along.