Author: Rachel Tejevbo

The Köln Cathedral was one of the first things that caught my attention as soon as we stepped out of the Hauptbanhof along with the endless amount of tourists swarming around the majestic structure.

Worshiping in the Köln cathedral was a unique experience for me because of how much it contradicted the Pentecostal church I’ve grown up in. I was amazed at how tourists would sight see at the back while the service was going on. I found the burning of incense interesting and a bit disturbing. Majority of the service consisted of singing in Latin and a German sermon, languages I am not very conversant with. A part of the service I enjoyed was listening to the organ and the musical accompaniments as we sang the hymnals. It was also tiring yet refreshing to climb up the 600 and some stairs and take in the beautiful view from the top of the bell tower of the cathedral.

Germany was a lot to take in to be honest and our first week went by in a flash. I was overwhelmed by the transport system as I spent half the time trying to avoid getting closed between the hasty S-Bahn and U-bahn doors and figuring out the bus and train routes. I was also still a bit jet lagged so it made things a bit harder. I absolutely loved my first meal in Berlin, introduced to me by Professor DeRooy, currywurst. It also came as a shock to me that you could get run over by a cyclist if you stood on the bike path.

I remember walking through the front entrance gates of Sachsenhausen, the slogan ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ {work makes (you) free} hanging proudly from its iron gates and feeling a gloomy cloud settle on my shoulders. Continue reading “Sachsenhausen”

The Summer Program in Germany was too wonderful to put in words. Looking back at all of our travels, from Heidelberg to Bremen to Köln to Potsdam and many other places, I’m thankful for all the things I got to see and experience. I even got to visit Paris with some of my friends! I had to constantly pinch myself because everything felt so surreal.

I think Berlin is a place I grew accustomed to calling home. After six weeks, of our statics and dynamics class with Professors Nielsen and DeRooy along with our German class, friendships that were built over memorable times in the ‘M19 bus’, struggling to maintain a conversation in purely German, and stuffing myself with the oh so delicious currywurst and döner kebab; I believe it’s safe to say that the word ‘truss’ will forever be ingrained in my memory thanks to our professors and that this program was one of the best experiences of my life.