The End is Only the Beginning!

When it snowed a few weeks ago, all the Germany memories just flowed into my head, and I can indeed say that I feel changed. I had more experiences on the study abroad than I had throughout the rest of my college career. Actually, my friends are tired of hearing all my Germany Stories. Now, whenever I tell a story, they will ask, "did that happen in Germany?" The responsibility that the trip spits in your face in retrospect taught me how to live. The drastic dynamic between Germany and the United States and even the drastic dynamic between the big city of Berlin and a rural village like College Station was mind boggling. Now that I'm back, I just want to get out! I miss the late night adventures trying to locate the hotel, asking random people on the street for directions when they don't speak English. I miss the bitter cold where ears will freeze even if a hat is worn. I miss actually being required to wear shoes.

The material learned on the trip inside the hospitals has been much more helpful to my current studies than I ever expected. To be able to visualize a working clinical dialysis machine when learning about it in class forces the material to stick better. I find myself not being grossed out by smells anymore either. Nothing is worse than a necropsy or rectal exam! It's nice to see the faces of patients with recently implanted heart pumps and know that my field of study will make a difference in someone's life.

Now, I never see a pug now without thinking of Olaf. His obsession with dogs is like nothing I've ever seen in America, and the strange thing is that most Germans are just like him! Isn't this the CUTEST? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgS3nJztGSg

One of the biggest things I miss about Germany is the public transportation system. I'll be driving the 2 hour drive to my mother's house thinking, "If I lived in Germany, I could be sleeping on the train right now!" I can't imagine why passenger trains aren't as big here as they are in Europe. Train stations are so convenient. If I need some soap, I could just pick it up at the train station on my way to school. It's amazing how little elementary school kids ride the tram like it's no big deal.

Some things I am happy to return to are: free water, waiter tips (a simple doubling of the tax), free refills, flip flops, shorts, the SUN

Some things I miss from Germany are: Snow, Snowballs, Snowball fights, Snowmen, Snowgirls, friendly Germans, Olaf, city life, Foreign Girls, free healthcare, no sales tax, cheap German beer.

A Time To Remember

So spring break has started and I finally have the opportunity to reflect on the past month and a half and realize how much the Germany trip has changed my perspective and contributed to my personal growth. There have been so many times so far this semester that I have been able to bring up the trip to Germany in conversation either to tell a story or to share a different perspective. I feel like I am also more qualified to form my own opinion on the health care system after being able to learn about the system in Germany and talk to different doctors there. I intensely miss the deep history and culture of Germany. It was fascinating to learn about how their history has shaped the country and effected its people even today.


It is still hard to grasp that only 6 weeks ago i was trudging through the deep snow in Europe! Its even more incredible that it has snowed twice in Texas since then! My time in Germany was an irreplaceable experience that I constantly find myself reflecting on. It was incredible to be able to travel a foreign country with my peers and absolutely incredible guides in Dr.Wasser and Olaf, who I hope I will continue to keep in touch with. It all seems like a sweet dream now, but I have evidence of with through the friendships I continue to maintain with some of the people from the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed my study abroad experience and dearly hope that I will be able to travel to Germany again to once again experience the beautiful culture and see my friend Olaf once again.

Anyone ready for a trip back?

   Wow, I can’t believe I have been back in the states for over six weeks. It seems like just last week we were all trudging through the snow in Germany.  I have lived in Texas my whole life so before going to Germany I think I could have counted the number of times I saw snow in my lifetime on one hand. So living in Germany for 2 ½ weeks with snow on the ground every day was quite a shock to me. I thought I had received enough snow for lifetime (or at least for Texan’s lifetime) while in Europe. But what do you know it has already snowed two times in Texas since I have been back, what are the odds right? Crazy Texas Weather!!

    It still seems like a dream that six weeks ago I was touring the Louvre in France, standing on the first deck of the Eiffel tower, observing an open heart surgery standing two feet away from the surgeon, along with the countless other amazing tours and museums we attended. My dad is quite the history buff so anytime he is watching television it is either on the History Channel or the Military Channel. He is so fascinated by all the stories and places I visited while in Europe that every time I come home he has a new show recorded for me and he can’t wait to show it to me. The last one he showed me was of tanks fighting in Cologne. In the background clearly visible were the two steeples of the Cologne Cathedral. It was crazy to me watching these men fight where I had stood only a few short weeks ago.  That is one of the main things I really loved about Germany, is the rich history. I would have never believed I would be so fascinated by history until my visit to Europe.

    There are many things that I miss about Germany, the friendly people, constantly trying new food, German beer (which we tried here but it is definitely not the same), not having a care in the world, and the fascination of interacting and conversing with people my age in another culture.

    My trip to Europe has changed me in more ways that I can think of. It has opened my eyes to world of possibilities out there. Growing up with a mom who has polio I never really traveled anywhere so I always assumed that I would grow up, get a job and move back some where close to family. While my family still means the world to me, I have this newfound love for traveling and want to incorporate it into whatever I decided to do with my life. I constantly find myself replying to people “danke” instead of thank you, and my clock is still set to military time, I have grown pretty accustomed to it now.

    I had a fabulous time, made some of the greatest memories with two of my best friends, and made a few great German friends while on this trip in Europe. I learned a lot about myself, the history of medicine, and about Germany itself during this trip and would recommend it to anyone wanting to travel abroad.  My roommate has never been abroad so this August her and I are traveling to Spain to visit one of our friends and then we are going to make our way through Germany! Can’t wait to go back :)

Cait

     

Time Flies

It’s half way through spring semester and it seems like only a week or so ago I was traveling all throughout Europe. It’s still hard for me to fathom the fact that I’ve seen the Eiffel tower, I celebrated New Year’s in Berlin, and visited the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. I still can’t believe I was at one point elbow deep in a cow or that I was only a few feet from an exposed and beating human heart. I could go on and on about all the amazing things I saw and experienced. In fact talking about this trip seems to creep into my everyday conversation and is something I will truly never forget. People are usually very surprised by some of the things we were able to do.

There are an endless number of things I learned on this trip. I learned that I actually do enjoy some history; in fact anytime my history teacher mentions Germany I perk up a bit and usually know what he’s talking about. I learned how to deal with different types of people- whether it be people you travel with and are around for 3 three weeks (no offense to anyone!), those who don’t speak the same language as you, or those who are just plain rude. I even learned more about myself. I’ve learned to be more open and accepting to new ideas, as well as trying new things. As my title of this blog says, time flies- so I’ve learned that you need to take amazing opportunities like this trip when they come and to embrace it while it lasts. I don’t know when I’ll have another chance to go on a trip as amazing as this was.

I have enjoyed being back in America, not living out of a suitcase, and being able to see my family, though I do miss so many things about Europe, especially Germany. I miss attempting to read German signs and menus, I miss the subways (it was quite difficult to drive for the first time after returning home!), I miss trying new types of food, I miss German beer, I miss talking to natives and listening to their opinions and learning about their way of life, I basically miss everything about this trip. Well, except trudging through the snow on a daily basis. I’m originally from Chicago and have thought about going back there for graduate school, but now I don’t know if I could handle 5 years of snow!!!!

Since there were so many things I loved, it makes me think about all the other things I’m “missing out on”. There’s so much more out there that I can learn about and experience. I’ve always loved traveling, but now my love for traveling is on a whole other level. I’d love to definitely travel back to Germany as well as many other countries. Hopefully I can fit this in sometime in the near future before I have to face the reality of having a career, bills, and even bigger responsibilities. This trip has also made me think about my future. I’d like to incorporate international learning and interaction into my future. I wouldn’t mind traveling for “business” (whatever it is that I wind up doing) and working with people in another country. This trip has made me look at the bigger picture. I was so used to thinking America was the best and not worrying about other countries. Now I can see and appreciate the importance of working with other countries- it’s amazing how much you can learn from them.

I’d like to thank Dr. Wasser, Olaf, Dr. Roussel, all the AIB staff, and anyone else that helped make this trip possible. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget and would recommend to anyone!!!

Home Sweet... Wait is that snow??!

I can't believe how much time has passed since we've been in Germany! It seems like just the other day I was trudging through snow... oh wait, it did snow in here the other week. I can honestly say that I won't mind waiting until next Christmas to see another snow fall. Although I wished it were 90 degrees and sunny outside that day, I felt like a pro walking through campus with snow falling on my head. All I kept thinking was, "Man oh man, how I wish I had some gluhwien and Olaf screaming 'Schnelllll!' at me." Germany was such an amazing experience! Not only did I further my education, but I felt like I've grown as a person. I know the trip will impact the rest of my life. Growing up in College Station, I've never really been exposed to different cultures and people who have different life experiences and beliefs than me.. So I guess you can say, I've been pretty sheltered. It was interesting talking to people my own age who are doing similar things as me in a different country and getting their opinion on things. It was also fun seeing the amazing hospitals and educational facilities there and getting to talk to the doctors about their jobs and passions in life. Germany is a beautiful place especially in winter! The people there are so nice and excited to meet you. It's kind of funny actually. I never really thought of 'Americans' as that entertaining folk, but it's comical because I was so excited to meet all of them, I never really thought they'd think my life was that exciting. I didn't realize how similar, yet different our worlds are. Irony, still gets me. I guess this is one of those "when I was a youngster" stories that I will tell over and over to my grandchildren. I will forever be changed by this experience. It changed my outlook on life and reinforced my enthusiasm to join the medical field one day. I would recommend going on this trip to all of my peers and will never forget my trip to Germany.

Bittersweet Farewell

The memories of my experience in Europe have turned bittersweet since my departure. The white snow, subways, beautiful cathedrals, daily “field trips”…I miss it all. However, the thought of all those experiences leave a churning feeling in my stomach since a friend accidentally deleted all the pictures I took from my memory card. What heartbreak. I guess I’ve put off writing this final blog so I wouldn’t have to think about all the deleted pictures. Guess it’s a part of life’s experiences.

But besides the negativity of losing all those pictures, the internal memories of my experience will never vanish. I never thought visiting a foreign country could be so enchanting. Upon my departure from the states, I didn’t know what to expect. I was excited, yet anxious and scared all together. Experiencing the trip with my fellow classmates definitely made the experience more adventurous. I was able to explore new places while simultaneously meeting new people. I will never forget Olaf, and of course Cosmo. As a life lesson, I’ve learned that there’s a whole other world out there, with many different people: different colors, different backgrounds, and different values. But what we all have in common is our mere existence. Simple, but you never think about those things when you’re caught up in your very own world.

So how about those programs? Man, there were so many. Probably can’t remember them all if I tried. I must say my favorite was being able to stand on the operating floor with actual surgeons to see an artificial heart transplant. You can’t place a value on that. And let’s not forget my very own visit to the eye doctor. I’ll never forget that. When I reminisce on what information may be useful to my future career as a physician, the “telemedicine” presentation comes to mind. Upon further visiting UTMB, the school into which I will matriculate into in the fall, I learned that they have a telemedicine program. I would have never known what this meant or what telemedicine was without that presentation. And although I am still skeptical about telemedicine, I find it intriguing that one day I may possibly use telemedicine within my own practice.

Clearly, I cannot sum up my whole experience within this one blog; however I can openly admit that I enjoyed every minute in Europe. The culture, food, and people were all different, yet the experience was worth the hassle of trying to speak the German language and “schnell-ing” when trying to fight to board a train. Do I miss Europe? Yes, with no doubt in my mind. Do I plan on returning? Yes, and as soon as possible. The most influential impact this trip had on my future was my decision to take the “Global Health” track in medical school. I want to learn even more about the rest of the world that’s out there and continue to help those that are different from me…both here in the states and abroad.

I’d like to thank Dr. Wasser and Dr. Rousell once again for their divine wisdom and the opportunity to study abroad…and Olaf for keeping me laughing. I also would like to thank all my fellow classmates for the good times, and even some of the bad ones. Once again, I hold this experience dear and will never forget all that I saw, tasted, and especially, what I learned, inside and outside the classroom. Although I have no pictures of my own to remember each and every little experience, I still hold my experience in Europe close to my heart. Farewell…for now.

Back home

I am glad to be back in America, where we have ice and free restrooms, but saying that I miss Germany would have to be an understatement. The first day I made it back to the states I immediately put shorts on, which was an amazing feeling. It has been hard for me to get adjusted back into the schedule and it took me a few days to get past the jet lag. I think what I miss the most is not having a care in the world and just being able to walk around the city and enjoy myself constantly from early in the morning to late at night. This trip has opened my eyes to a world view of many things, culturally and politically. One of the stand out memories I have from the trip was speaking to a man in Berlin about America and just listening to his views about our culture and understanding the reasons they feel that way. It is easy in America, especially if you don’t travel, to not have a world view and I think that isn’t an issue over there because of the short distance between various countries and the emphasis that everyone puts on traveling. Everyone one you talk to over there knows at least two languages and that is a sobering statistic when in America not very many people put an emphasis on language. Experiencing the public transportation system over there makes me wonder why the U.S. doesn’t take greater strides to create transportation systems to eliminate the necessity of a car. Overall I felt like my trip abroad was a successful preview of trips that I will take later in my life. I definitely want to go back and spend more time in Europe and even Germany.

Back in Texas

I have been back on Texas soil for nearly a month and half now, but I am still reminded daily of my trip to Germany. Last Thursday College Station was blessed to have a mini 'snow storm'. CS never gets snow! But as my luck would have it, of course it would snow (and heavily) right after my winter trip to Germany. Everyone was elated about the weather except for me (and I'm sure everyone else that went on the trip). I can honestly say I have seen more than enough snow to last me a lifetime. I am ready for a good Ol' Texas summer, but I won't be having one for awhile!!! I am going on ANOTHER study abroad trip this summer called Semester At Sea! I will be sailing on a cruise ship throughout the Mediterranean. Pretty sweet huh? Now that I am an expert on European traveling it should be much easier to get around. Well, maybe not for me because Caitlyn did most of the navigating :). Big Red, aka my suite case, won't be joining me for the journey this time! And not just because she lost a wheel.

I recently wrote a paper over my trip to Germany. It was for my BIMS 481 class so it's directed towards students interested in the trip. I got an A on the paper, but I was a little concerned about the type of 'humor' I used because some might consider it vulgar (especially Barbara Gastel, my teacher). But I thought it was pretty good and apparently she did too. I generally detest writing, but this paper was fun for me! I had to reflect on all the experiences and remember all that we had done (which I might add was ALOT). My writing style is anti of long-winded and I usually have to be repetitive in order to reach the needed word count; however, this was not the case for this paper. She counted off for it being too long. I just couldn't stop writing though. There was so much to tell!!!

Now that I am back in Texas I am back in the same old routine. School, study, OAT, eat, work out, sorority, and if I'm lucky sleep. Those are basically the only things I do during the week and on most weekends. So as you can imagine I really miss the relaxed 'never study' atmosphere of the Germany trip. While we were constantly doing something, it was always something enjoyable. Well, except for the opera. Sorry Dr. Wasser but as hard as I tried to enjoy it I just didn't.

Janelle and I were driving back to CS from Dallas yesterday and the majority of our drive consisted of us talking about all of our memories from the trip. We decided we needed a page specifically for all of our tragedies. I made so many great memories! And some great friends as well! In fact, five of us do weekly dinners. Except we've been slacking for the past couple of weeks... hopefully we will fix that this week. Right guys?

I am taking a class called Gender and International Education (don't ask), and my teacher did her doctorate thesis over the impact of European traveling on American Women. We have some very interesting conversations to say the least. It is interesting to hear her take on how traveling can change a person. She told me a little bit about her thesis and how most women never travel to Europe just once, they always go for a second round! Which is true for me because I'm going back this summer! And after the 3 week taste of Europe I received I cannot wait to get back to the EU. She told me that after traveling most women have a 'hole' that they can't seem to fill and that it was made by their experiences in other cultures. I completely agree with her because right now I'm feeling a little lost. Before I left I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life, but after experiencing a world beyond America I am having second thoughts. It is so weird knowing that there is another world beyond my own and I want to be a part of it.

Now that I have spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on Germany it is time to hit those books again! Quizzes, tests, and homework is what I have to look forward to for the next 2 weeks!.... AND THEN I'm off to Hawaii for spring break! Can you tell I've been bit by the travel bug? :)

Joanna