After returning from the France excursion, we had a full week of classes to make up for our time away. Classes went well, and there was alot of emphasis on the Enmodes research projects, as we now only had two weeks until the final presentations. My team was doing a great job. We had divided the work into teams of two, and our project was moving forward at its fastest pace yet (unfortunately I cannot share too many details here as the information is proprietary). We had several meetings that week to work on our project as a group, but most of my time outside of class was spent on the project individually. Schoolwork started to pile up, and I was finding myself spending more time on school than at any other point in the semester. Outside of class, I was still going to my gym and preparing for the upcoming half-marathon.
That Saturday, we students participated in Charity Day, put on by AIB. Like the Big Event at TAMU (Charity Day was actually started by TAMU students who wanted to have a Big Event here in Germany), we were divided into teams and assigned to community service projects throughout the community. My group spent the day painting a primary school. The project took several hours, but it was a fun way to give back to the community that has welcomed us with open arms and hang out with my fellow students.
After finishing at the school, several of us went to the Altstadt to see the world famous cherry blossoms of Bonn. Although they only bloom for a few weeks, Bonn is famous for its many cherry blossom trees lining the streets of this part of town.
After enjoying the views and the weather, I headed home to work on schoolwork and rest.
The next morning, I woke up relatively early and caught a bus to town. I was running in the Bonn half-marathon. Many of the students had signed up to run, most in the relay, but a few in the half-marathon and one, my friend Sebastian, in the full. After grabbing a light breakfast, we got in line and before long, the race began.
An hour and forty four minutes later I finished. I was thrilled with my time, as I had been shooting for an hour and forty five minutes. After finishing, I headed to the food court to enjoy the free refreshments, then spent most of the day cheering on the other runners. It was fun watching the relay runners trade off and cheering them on, and I made sure to catch Seb at a few places to cheer him to the finish. He completed the race strong, proving alot of people's doubts wrong. Considering the lack of time to train, everyone ran very well, and we all had alot of fun.