Settling into a routine

Welcome to the second week of my stay in Bergheim!

 The first week was full of surprises, adapting and improvising. The second week on the other hand was predictable, for the most part.

- Wake up at 07:30
- Walk to the bus stop at 08:02
- Take the bus at 08:19
- Walk to the kindergarten at 08:34
- Arrive at 08:43
- Indoor play time, outdoor playtime, lunch, quiet indoor playtime, outdoor playtime at 09:00-15:00
- Walk to the train station at 15:03
- Take the train or the bus back to Bergheim station at 15:23
- Free time - go for a walk, maybe shop for groceries, and then go home to rest.

- Go to bed at 21:30

- Fall asleep some time between 22:00-23:00

That's basically what my schedule looked like from Monday to Friday.

Except on Monday it was Saint Martins day, and I stayed late at the kindergarten to see their festivities. For privacy reasons, I can't post more photos from it, but trust me, it was absolutely beautiful.
The kids had made their own lanterns and were gathering to the back yard of the kindergarten with their families in the evening. There was music and marching and even a huge bonfire (the fire department was there to oversee everything) and it all looked so magical in the dim evening light. 

On Wednesday my free time started already at half past twelve in the afternoon, because there was a huge regional meeting happening in the kindergarten. I was feeling home sick and in desperate need to distract myself so I decided to jump on the first train and visit Cologne on my own.

This time I even got a decent photo of the majestic cathedral and it's towers in all of their glory.

I also visited a few stores, hoping I would find something cool to buy. Browsed some Dungeons and Dragons related things such as dice and miniatures, but nothing really caught my eye or called out my name, so I left empty handed.

After that I went to a record store that had cd-s, vinyls, dvds, video game disks, all the cool stuff. I am really into physical media and was hoping to snatch a bargain on some metalcore cd-s since the store had such a large collection. To my disappointment, I couldn't find a single compact disk that I wanted and didn't already have in my collection back at home. Yet again I left with nothing to bring home from my trip.

Before going back to home base, I went to a souvenir shop and got myself a Köln fridge magnet. Didn't take a photo of that but picture this, a 2D image the size of your palm of the Cologne cathedral in silver with Köln written below it in red cursive letters.

I then went back to the main train station, without using Google Maps, and saw that the first train back to Bergheim was cancelled. That was a-okay with me because it would've departed in 5 minutes anyway and I didn't know which track.
Another train was scheduled in 40 minutes, so I went to the right track and just chilled out. That train was also cancelled, but the info didn't come until 10 minutes after the supposed departure. I then went to the next track over and caught a train to Horrem to then get on a bus to Bergheim. The train was overly full and my phone's battery was draining rapidly. Right there and then I decided I need to buy a power bank asap.

The rest of the week went smoothly. Internship at the kindergarten, then a short walk to clear my head, then relaxing at home base.

Saturday and Sunday I didn't even leave the house, because I was too busy doing school work and then finally had the time to play video games. I've been here for two weeks and haven't found the time to game. Fake gamer alert! No but seriously I've been so busy that I haven't really had a time to just calm down and unwind. So glad I didn't have anything planned for this weekend.

Looking forward to what week 3 brings!

Best regards,
InterReili