So, the past few days we have been on yet another exciting excursion. We first traveled by private bus with Sven to Luxembourg to visit the official European Court of Justice. Luxembourg is by far the smallest country I have seen, and although there is not much to do, it is beautiful and most definitely worth visiting. Because it is such a small country and has such a prominent and large bank, it is also one of the wealthiest countries I have been to. We also visited the European Investment bank and then spent the night in a hostel in Trier; it was a nice place with quite a few ice cream shops, but everything seemed to close fairly early. The next morning, we made our way over to Frankfurt, Germany. First we went to see the German Central Bank and money museum, my favorite part of the trip. The museum had currency from all around the world and different time periods, from ancient times to modern-day currency. There were games to play, videos to watch, and even fun facts and pictures such as coins being used for jewelry and being seen as a sign of wealth in ancient times. I also learned a lot of about fraud currency, which is a lot more common than one would think; there are about 60,000 fraud coins made each year in Germany alone, at least those that have been found out. We also visited the German stock exchange and got a chance to learn about their main purposes, goals, and strategies.

It was an exciting excursion, but it is good to be back home to the Chateau (I still can’t believe I call this “home” now). We only have about 3 weeks remaining until our last final of the semester, and I know time will fly by fast. I am going to be very busy for these next few weeks, because all the work I didn’t do for the past 3 months since I arrived here has all caught up with me. I have projects, papers, and finals coming up, and we have a few last group plans for dinner and birthday celebrations before the program is over. Everyone is planning their trips for the “spring break” after the program, and registering for summer and fall courses at GSU, or planning for graduation and grad school. Although I am a bit overwhelmed, I am not stressed, and I am very content and happy with the way things are going right now. I am excited for the remainder of our trip, and very much looking forward to being home!