same old story

It has been exactly one month and eleven days since i've been back from europe. when i first came back i was so happy to have air conditioning, text on my regular phone and drive my car. but after a while..it lost its glamour. haha, i found it difficult to say "excuse me" and "thank you" in english rather than german...and to this day my phone is still in military time. i refuse to change it back...its my last link to germany.

i feel like our time in germany was a different life! does anyone else feel that way?

i realized i missed walking everywhere, feeling the cool breeze in my hair. i missed the U-bahn and bus system. i missed having cold cuts for breakfast and being able to buy the most legit bread on every street corner. i missed being out in the world experiencing, seeing, feeling, hearing new things. i miss being able to hop on a train and arrive in a completely different culture. i miss that way of life.....the simplicity and complexity oddly meshed together...

before the trip i thought germany was going to be my least favorite country. i thought i was going to like italy the best! haha, funny how that turned out. out of all the countries we visited germany was my favorite. of course i loved visiting switzerland and prague and the other places..but i could honestly see myself living in germany. maybe not for my whole life..but definitely for an extended period of time.

germany 2009 seriously changed everything. it changed my perspective on what i want out of my life. before i went on the trip i was set on applying to medical school, following the game plan i had set years before. during the trip i realized that there was so much more to the world that school, than texas, than everything i have been immersed in for 21 years of my life. i realized i wanted to do more with myself than just settle for my "plan". so now i'm taking a year off! i will be travelling back to germany next summer! i hope to work with the AIB as a student worker and really just barrel head first in the german culture.

from a medical perspective, learning some things about european health care opened my eyes to bigger pictures, bigger problems. i am enrolling in the BIMS 4+1 MPH program so that i can learn more about the global/population perspective of health care.

going to europe made me OPEN MY EYES. my stupid little bubble was broken and i was able to experience a culture vastly different from my own... and apart from these experiences i made some of the greatest friends. although we are back in CS and very busy...we still talk and hang out! we will forever share these memories and look back at how each other made this experience the greatest of all time. guys, yall made this trip amazing and i couldn't have asked for a better group of people!

thank you germany 2009. although this trip cost an exorbitant amount of money...it was worth every single euro cent. every single one.

this trip will forever be one of the greatest experiences of my life. i hope that my children will have an opportunity to have a professor like dr. wasser, share in his passion and love for different cultures/countries, go on a trip like this and have this immense experience.

over and out duesseldorf digest,
shyanie

Auf Wiedersehen

So I’ve been back in Texas for about a month and a half now. My first thought when I got off the plane was, “It’s so hot!”…then, “I’m so glad we have air conditioning!” I then got in my parents’ car and drove 3 hours back home. (This was probably only my second car ride in about a month.) When I got home, I took a shower and went straight to bed. I slept for the whole next day, only waking for delicious Mexican food. Oh, how I missed it! It was really hard for me to get over the time difference. For the next 2 or 3 weeks after I arrived back, it was hard for me to stay awake past 8.

Looking back, its so hard for me to believe that this all actually happened. I lived in Germany for a whole month of my life! One of the hardest things for me to overcome since I have come back has been switching back to saying things like ‘excuse me’ instead of ‘entschuldigung’ or ‘thanks’ instead of ‘danke’. We said these words countless times per day, and they became a part of our vocabulary. Now I have to stop myself from saying them…I’ve even said them a few times on accident.

Since I have been back, I have become more aware of our lack of energy efficient-ness. Driving everywhere, having the lights on all the time, having my computer running all day. All this now makes me feel so wasteful. Another thing I miss about Europe is just how simple everything was. I miss how easy it was to just get on a train and end up in another country. Even going through customs was so much simpler than here in the US. Alex, Stephanie, and I happened to be on the same flight on the way back. It took us longer to walk through the Frankfurt Airport than it did for us to go through customs. The line for customs in the US, on the other hand, took us a day to get through (it felt like a day anyway). Since I have been home, I feel like I haven’t had a moment to breath… school has started, work has started, tests, vet school application. Everything all happening at once. I miss the simplicity.

One thing I do not miss about Europe, though, is having to pay for water! I rather enjoy getting free water. Also, I do not miss accidently buying bubble water when you are really thirsty, but still having to drink it anyway.

Auf Wiedersehen,
Jena Webb

So, when are we going back?

The feelings I had on the way to Germany about adjustment-to-culture issues existed, oddly enough, also on my way back to the states. I thought to myself, "how am I going to eat breakfast without fruit picked from a garden in the backyard?", "what about drinking wine at almost every meal? I'm not 21.", "there aren't little bakeries at every corner in Texas!", "actually, there is no such thing as a 'corner' in Texas, everything is so spread out and far away.", "will I remember how to drive?", "how will I ever go without trains, subways, and trams?" The list of concerns went on and on. I now eat fruit and bread from the grocery store and drive everywhere I need to go but I have definitely adjusted to life just like I had to do when arriving in Europe.

For weeks, I found myself cooking renditions of the meals my host mom made me for dinner and eating Nutella for every snack. My umbrella took a break from its long and laborious summer vacation. I was waking up early every morning and going to sleep at a reasonable time, if not earlier than reasonable, which is the exact opposite of my normal sleep schedule. I replaced my jackets with shorts and came to terms with driving everywhere instead of walking.

It felt as if the instant I landed back in Texas, responsibities of all different sorts were waiting at the airport with a sign that read my name. I had to start working and going to school for 30 plus hours a week. There were no more mornings where I could wake up and think "what country am I going to today?" It was as if being in Europe was like a life away from life.

Everyday was so relaxing, pleasant, and care-free. I think having five solid weeks in such an atmosphere made me realize that I have my whole life ahead of me; there is no need to rush it. I have now set numerous goals for myself because I have assured myself that I have the time to achieve them.

I want to travel every chance that I get. I want to become fluent in a foreign language. I want to learn how to play the piano as brilliantly as Alex. I want to work in another country. I want to find a way to make recycling more prominent in the states. I want to spend countless numbers of hours at The Louvre. I want to visit my host mom again. I want to visit the AIB again. I want Cosmo and my dog, Farrah to meet. I want to volunteer abroad. I want to, one day, have a garden. I want to always remember Germany 2009 and keep it in my heart forever.

I was so afraid of traveling abroad without someone I knew but I came back with like 18 new friends, stories that still make me laugh hysterically, professional and academic experiences that I would never find elsewhere, and an attitude that says, if you want it to anything can happen, anywhere, at anytime.

It was the best trip anyone could have asked for and I am so appreciative that I got to experience it all.

I love Germany 2009!

Brittany

Life Changing?

I despise when people say something was "a life changing experience" because I think that frankly it's used too often. When I hear "life changing" I think of a someone's life being completely changed around, they were an addict and now they've quit, they wanted to be an astronaut but now they want to be an oncologist, they lost or gained faith in humanity. So when I heard from people that study abroad was a "life changing experience" I kind of rolled my eyes, after all I'd been to foreign countries before, I'd even been to Europe.

Did the Summer 2009 Germany History of Medicine trip change the basic core of who I am as a person? No, but did the trip change me? Yes, it most certainly did. I'd like to think that the person I am now is the person I would have been at one point in my life, study abroad or no study abroad, but the things I did and experienced were like a catalyst, accelerating that process. If you had told me before the trip that I would come to love Germany so much I'd be plotting ways to go back or that my older brother would look to me for guidance in planning our activities in London and Ireland I would pat you on the head and dismiss you as slightly odd.

Despite loving traveling, before this trip I was terrified of it, I couldn't fathom traveling alone or without a concrete plan, but now I'm much more willing to go with the flow a little. Even more than that, the devil's in the details. Not a day goes by that I don't think to myself that whatever it was I did that day I learned the courage, tenacity, "go-get'em" attitude or knowledge (because I did gain real, concrete, can-be-put-in-a-book knowledge) to do so from my trip this summer.

I'm loathe to call this trip "life changing" and yet I would be lying if I said that this summer in Germany (and Austria, Switzerland, England, and Ireland) didn't change my life. Each and every thing I go through changes a piece of who I am as a person, this trip changed a whole lot of pieces in an immensely positive way.

Sincerely yours,
Caitlin Vanasse

Education of a Lifetime

From July 2- August 7 I got to do something most people only dream about- I got to go and explore a foreign land. Departing from the Houston airport, I had no clue to what I had coming in Europe (other than knowing that the possibilities were endless). I wanted to be affected by this trip, and during it I felt something pulling on me- though I never really knew what it was. In the wake of returning and coming back to A&M, I believe I am finally ‘living in the moment’ of my European adventures. During the trip, it took all my energy just to take in the new sights and sounds, not truly appreciating the beauty of the place. In retrospect, I actually feel the beauty of all the places I’ve been to with a much more tangible feeling than I did when I was actually over there!
In Germany, I definitely got an education on medicine’s unique history in Europe, but I also got something much more valuable- I got an education on a different peoples and culture. From the unmatched architecture in Vienna, the beautiful country of Prague, Amsterdam’s insane city life, Switzerland’s pure water and mountains, and Paris’ history- I got to see a variety of people and experience things I could never have experienced by just staying at home. It excites me to think about how I got lost in Bonn that first weekend night by myself in the city- not knowing where anything was. I proved to myself that I could get around by myself! Getting to know Steffi and her husband Christian was a first rate look into the lives of true German denizens! When I think about Steffi now, I know that I was blessed with someone truly special in this world. She is someone, a fellow sister human being, that I would have never even known existed had I not spent 3 weeks living under her roof.
When I think about German culture and American culture, there are blaring differences- and yet we are ultimately the same. How can I say this?! I think this realization for me makes the world a lot less scary to me. I feared the unknown and now I know (a little more at least) about ‘the people over there’. I appreciate their way of doing things (though I still prefer mine), but we still ultimately just want to live life as great as we know we can.
The lesson I value most from my study abroad experience in Germany was that it taught me to take a step back and live life in the moment more often.

The Real Life

My name is Andrew Reimers. My parents are Joseph and Laurie, and my brothers are Christopher and Erich. I have several close friends from home with whom I try to stay in touch. I live on campus. Most of my time between Sunday evening to Thursday afternoon is spent at work, in class, or in my room studying for class. The rest of the time I try to play as hard as possible. My best friends are either down the hall or within a bike ride of my room. My hobbies include writing amateurish sports essays, listening to podcasts, lifting weights, reading books that take themselves to seriously, and watching different HBO series on DVD.

Six weeks in Germany.

A lot of my energy goes into thinking about the future. Until July 3, 2009, my imagination was thoroughly occupied with the eminent excurrsion abroad. Dreams of schnitzel filled my sleep. This would be my pilgrimage. Nothing could be more exciting.

Six weeks back home.

Time for my first and final cliche truism of the Bonn Blogging experience. Something about "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone."

My life is great. My friends are great. I'm living the American Dream more fully than most people ever have the opportunity to do. It only took a twelve thousand dollar oddyssey for me to stop taking it for granted.

The trip was great. I learned a lot about the world and about people. I cannot thank Dr. Wasser and the AIB faculty enough. I will certainly be traveling again, maybe albeit more of a verteran than before.



Andrew Reimers, signing off

As Time Goes By...

Well it has been about 3 weeks since I have been back in the states. After the start of classes and getting down my new daily routine, I find it hard to imagine that just 3 weeks ago I was traveling through Europe! My first couple days back I had to remind myself to say "Excuse Me" and "Thank You" instead of "Endschuldigung" and "Danke" (my spelling is poor I know. just bear with me). The weather is depressing and miserably hot, but I am glad to have air conditioning back. I am slowly starting to remember to bring a jacket with me to restaurants again.

Since I have been back I started noticing how much of the German language or things were actually around me that I never really understood till now. For instance, I clean houses as one of my many jobs and in this one house they had a sign that read "Welkomme". I had always figured it was probably another language and not just very poor spelling, but now i know it's German! I feel that by having visited the country I know so much more about it that the average American. When people talk about these places that I have now been, I can have a real picture in my head instead of imagining what they might be talking about.

I still get a kick out of saying "ya i went to Germany for about 5 weeks. Spent a week in Austria, visited Switzerland one weekend, and the Czech Republic another weekend." as if it were no big deal! Just in a very matter of fact manner : )

I do miss Steffie, Olaf, and everyone from AIB as well as missing the country itsself. I'm very grateful for the opportunities and experiences I had on this trip and I'm already planning what I want to do when I go back.

Tschuss,
Stephanie

P.S. I'm very happy that i've seen quite a few of you guys around campus and college station already!