Get Ready to be SpO.I.Led!!

Hallo Alle!

I bet you're wondering about the title! You might be thinking, "What's up with this guy's title?",  "Why is he trying to be funny?",   Why should we get ready to be spoiled?", or even perhaps, "Who the heck let him make blogs for IES Abroad?" and let me tell you that they are all valid questions. So sit down, relax, and allow me to explain how my two weeks of my Orientation Intensive Language course period spoils you!

Yeah, if you haven't figured out what OIL is, then I suggest you re-read the last sentence! 

So our first two weeks here we are required to engage in a two week language intensive class. This class is a refresher on perhaps some of the more used aspects of the German language. We went over Modal Verbs, conjugations, scenarios, and the history of the city that we will definitely have to use during our time here. 

- But Juan! How is any of this spoil worthy? How is spending hours in a classroom for 2 weeks going to spoil me?

Alright, alright... Stop your whining and allow me to explain.

While the class itself is very important and useful to be in, its the excursions that you partake in during the OIL period that spoil you! Just before the beginning of our OIL period, IES Abroad provided an trip to Kandersteg, a beautiful resort in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. We took a bus from Freiburg to Kandersteg and took a skytram up to the top of the mountains. Lemme just tell you, I have never seen land so green and beautiful like I did in Switzerland, and I grew up in the greens of Alabama. A lovely hike, delicious restaurant, and really friendly cows made this a trip I would kill to take again!

- That's pretty cool Juan, but that is ONE trip! Are you saying that trip is enough to leave us spoiled?

Fear not fellow reader, for that was only one of many fun trips. Having started class by this time, I thought that it was the end of our fun trips. That it had started and ended with Switzerland. Nah. That was only the beginning.

During our the first week of our OIL period, we took a guided city tour with our IES Abroad group. A nice sunny day, warm weather, and the excitment of exploring the city with a group made the trip a really exciting one! It helped us get oriented to the buildings around us. You find out the where the best eats are, where the cheapest school supplies are, and where you can get a nice beer for when you're thirsty. We walked around the Münsterplatz, Martinstor, and checked out where the Kino was. Honestly, as simple as this trip/excursion was, it was totally worth it.

Our tour guide and IES Abroad assistants were really helpful in showing us around and were a great company when they accompanied us to Switzerland! 

Well everybody, this is it for now! I will talk to y'all soon, but until then, Ciao!

-Juan