The program was an absolutely brilliant one. I mean, it had its ups and downs, and in certain moments I was a bit homesick. Apart from that, it was challenging, interesting, and usually exciting. I think my favorite part was the 3 day weekend and the trips to different places. Honestly, I wish I could stay in Germany.
Month: September 2019
Hey how was Germany?
(3 minutes or less, I really need to get to class)
Luther’s Revolution
Wittenberg is a long, narrow corridor of ancient houses and shops, a few small plazas, and some sleepy tourists wandering about. Not many people could be seen on our Sunday adventure to the birthplace of Martin Luther… Clearly, his legend has fueled this town for generations, if nothing else. I am not surprised, but none-the-less bothered by the lack of pilgrims to this historic place, and the absence of any other real growth here.
Elevator Pitch
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Europe. During the study abroad I was able to enrich my understanding of a different culture, improve my ability to navigate public transportation around a city and even budgeting meals. Studying in a different country, is a rare opportunity that I was blessed to have.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
The murder of several Jews, the adamant creation of what Hitler deemed as a ‘perfect’ race and the politicization of such were gruesome to learn about in detail. At Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, we were given the chance to walk around the graveyard of the murdered Jews, see the main headquarters and several other important sites. I had the chance to read about the pain, torture and horror faced by not only the Jews but people who opposed Hitler. Initially, I had assumed that I knew all the major details of what happened in World War II. However, this was not the case. Details of how they originally got Jews to enter concentration camps and the wicked assistance from the SSR’s medical team were heartbreaking to read. My experience walking through the Sachsenhausen Camp was both emotionally draining and thought-provoking.
Elevator pitch
In whole living in Germany was interesting. It was quite fun trying to figure how to get places, buy food, or doing almost anything with only knowing a small amount of the language. Traveling to different places around Germany and seeing places that I’ve learned about for years was also cool as well. On top it was just cool to stay in a different town, learn the culture, and learning how to navigate somewhere new.
Koln reflections
Koln was one of the coolest cities we visited for a weekend. The mixture between old and new, the Koln Dom was interesting, the sheer size of the Dom was extremely impressive then learning a little more about the history of it being bombed in World War 2. Then walking down by the river and just looking at the boats was a good way to end the night.
Bremen reflection
Bremen was a very cool small town, a great way to show how German culture really is by going to a small town. Also going to small town helped show how much history Germany has, with both World Wars, seeing castles, then during the industrial revolution. Just being able to walk through one small town and seeing how Germany changed with the times.
Wittenberg reflection
This was definitely my favorite day trip. Going through school I’d always learn about Martin Luther and what he did. I never really did learn about the town he grew up in. This was a cool way to see where Martin Luther lived and learned more about his life.
The World of Bremen
A world away from the modern billboards and perfectly engineered trusses of Berlin, we found ourselves sneaking about clustered stone houses and squeezing through a mouse maze of historic shops and cobbled curbs. Continue reading “The World of Bremen”