On Wednesday, another floormate had a birthday so, as I’ve been doing for all my floormates, I used my artistic ability to make a present. “How hard can it be?” is this adventurous floormate’s motto, and the flowers in the corners are the national flower of his home country, Malaysia.
Each hike gets hotter under the summer sun, but at least the breeze at the peak is cool. This hike involved a high-elevation valley resting among a few different peaks.
While I didn’t capture it in a photo, just off to the side was a small mountain hut where hikers can spend the night, grab a drink, and have a warm meal. There were also sheep with bells on their collar which roamed around the peaks and added a little music to the environment.
On the way down we experienced some fog.
Here is another valley that was a little farther down the mountain.
The expanse of nature is so beautiful.
When I video-called my family, who were gathered to reveal the sex of my brother and his wife’s baby, I was armed with a reversible sign that said “I love my niece” on one side and the prophetic “I love my nephew” on the other. No matter what, I’m beyond thrilled for them and ready to be a doting aunt, or “Tante.”

This week was very productive! Monday was a casual work day from home and in the evening a bunch of floormates watched Disney’s Moana in the TV room. On Tuesday I worked in the archives in the afternoon, went on a run, and watched the European Championship semi-final. Wednesday morning was also spent in the archives and at night our floor watched the second semi-final game, during which we enjoyed some s’mores since I had ingredients remaining from the 4th. On Thursday I was back viewing parts of the Troost estate in the Bavarian State Library and felt like I had made good progress. I rewarded my hard work by going to see The Conjuring 3 with Kacper! It was especially fun since I haven’t been in a movie theater for so long. Watching the movie in German added to the excitement! When we returned to the dorm our floormates were in the midst of a wine night so we happily joined. 

Friday was another work-from-home kind of day and Kacper, his brother, his brother’s girlfriend, and I made tacos for dinner and watched a movie. The four of us went for a hike on Saturday, which, as always, elicited impressive views of the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. Sunday was a little lazy as I recovered from the hike, but I did go to Mass, cook Risi e Bisi soup for lunch, had pizza for dinner, and watched Italy win the European Championship in the evening! Yet the BEST part of Sunday was video-calling my family, who were gathered together in Pittsburgh, to join in the big reveal that my brother and his wife are expecting a boy! I already love my nephew so much!

This site is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author, Stephanie Kubus, and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.