This is my third blog on my honors faculty-led study abroad in Germany. If you are interested in hearing about my expectations before-hand and my post-trip reflections, I recommend perusing those. My time in Germany was transformative for my world view and taught me much about travel and also myself. So to share what studying abroad is really like, I’ll give some tips for studying abroad, and just for fun I’ll give the good, the bad and the ugly parts of my trip.
The Good:
I gained experience travelling
- As a student who had never left the country, I had limited experience navigating environments that were new and different. From buying train tickets for the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn, to understanding when I should and shouldn’t tip (Germans have something called “Trink-Geld” which is a non-mandatory tip you give by rounding up and directly handing them the money), it took time to get adjusted to the new environment. By the end of the trip, while far from perfect, I felt more confident navigating my way around Germany.
The Concept, Places, and Topics
- I was lucky to have chosen such a great program. I had never heard of traveling across 5 cities in Germany in under 3 weeks, so I knew it was bound to be action-packed and exciting. I loved pretty much every place we visited from the awe-inspiring enormous gothic towers of the Cologne Cathedral to the fascinating tour through Porsche’s museum in Stuttgart. The topics we touched on from what it means to be a scholar, to German history, to geology were all fascinating. Of course I love learning about history, but the focus on geology was also interesting to me as a cyber-security student who doesn’t have Earth-science classes in my curriculum.
The Intercultural Experience
- Exploring Germany was a blast. The food, from the roast beef with onions, the schnitzel, to the potato dumplings was all great as I knew it would be (from my German Oma’s cooking). The moments exploring the cathedrals, castles, museums, and beer gardens were unforgettable. And talking with the locals and travellers in the local coffee shops and corner markets was a fun way to meet new people and practice some German. Picking up on little cultural differences was just as fun, like how I noticed that Germans tend to be quieter in public, from chatter on the streets and buses to the audio level inside restaurants and airports, or how paying for the bathroom at train stations is entirely normalized. I noticed that Germany is an extremely diverse country and most people I spoke to weren’t from the city I was in. Exploring Germany was as intercultural as it gets and I encourage anyone who wants to study abroad to try and take in everything around them and document things as you go, whether that be journaling, or sketching or both. My journal with my class notes, thoughts, experiences and sketches turned out to be my favorite souvenir from my trip abroad.
The Bad:
Burnout
- With so much travel, so many new experiences, tied with irregular sleeping habits, and a tight schedule, I had days where I just needed a break from the hustle and bustle, but we had to keep moving. With a large group, at any particular moment everyone has different desires and energy levels, and they often don’t align. This can be very draining and frustrating, so I advise anyone who wants to study abroad with a big group to listen to your body’s needs and protect your peace. When you are adventurous, but others want to chill, find a small group to go exploring with. And when you are exhausted, but the others are bursting with energy, find a way to relax and be calm. Don’t concern yourself with FOMO. Think about it. There is no way you can see everything when you have a few weeks to explore. I think there’s something kind of poetic about only seeing a portion of everything you could see. What you see on your adventure is unique to you, and everyone traveling will take away something different.
The Ugly:
Jetlag
- Everyone’s experience adjusting to a new environment is different. For me, the first few days had some rough patches. In the beginning, the jetlag was real, and I was very exhausted and moody from long travel days and time adjustments. I survived. I want to share that this is a very real part of travelling long distances. While this part of travel can be ugly, you do eventually adjust to the new time zone, and it does get better.
After being abroad for 20 days, I think everyone should study abroad if they are able to. Also, when travelling be open minded, excited and curious about all the things you stumble upon.