It's hard to believe that almost two months ago I was 5000 miles away from home with people I barely knew. It was a completely new and exciting experience and now that I'm back home I feel like a more cultured and worldly person.
There are many things I've missed about Germany already. First of all, the public transportation system there was awesome! I don't miss it as much as a previous student of Dr. Wasser's who cried about not being able to take a bus, but it has been a bit of a hassel having to fill up on gas all the time now. This semester, since my bike is currently being repaired, I've been taking the Aggie Spirit bus to campus a lot more. My West campus Garage pass is only used after 5 PM when I can park anywhere. Another thing I miss is the great tasting beer! Being 20 and able to responsibly drink was a luxury I had in Germany. I had to wait a month until I was able to compare the American and German beer (My birthday was 12 September). Although it rained quite a bit, the weather in Germany was a lot less intense during the summer! Here in Texas it is miserably hot and it makes me appreciate the milder weather we had abroad. I also feel like I need to give a shoutout to my host family! The Colditz were so amiable and it was sad to leave them. I do still keep up with them on Facebook and they told me they might be visiting The States sometime soon. Hopefully they'll have time to come through Texas!
I really liked the structure of this program. We were busy a lot during the day and it was very educational, but at the same time we had a lot of free time! The work load wasn't very much at all and it gave us time to explore our surroundings after class instead of hitting the books. The museums and field trips were fun and interesting. The free weekends were crazy because we were completely unsupervised rookies! Some awesome memories were had at each place (particularly in prague) and we all came back from each trip safe and unscarred. Nils and Dr. Wasser did a phenomenal job and I recommend them to anyone looking to travel to Germany.
The precaution about culture shock made me worried at first. I didn't know what to expect since it was my first abroad experience. I guess I'm somewhat immune to it though, because I didn't feel shocked or overwhelmed getting there or coming back. It might have been less extreme since we were only there for 5 weeks. Nevertheless, I wasn't affected and I would truly enjoy going back in the future!
Since I've been back, I've noticed how I drop a few German words in my vocabulary and people sometimes look at me weirdly. One time on the bus to class I almost said "Entschuldigen" to a guy I bumped into. Now, on the rare occasion that I feel the need to cuss, instead of "shit" I say "Sheisse". Hopefully if I go back I will know more German and will feel more comfortable talking to people.
I miss the food, but I don't miss the service. I went to Cheddars in College Station last night and the waitress was so cute and nice to everyone because she knew it would help her get a big fat tip. I also love that I can use plastic almost everywhere I go now. On the other hand, the beer I had wasn't as tasty :(
I also miss everyone in the group! we got along fairly well. Shayna and I are in all the same classes so we still see eachother and are pretty good friends now. I see Chad every once in a while by Zachry, but I haven't seen Elsie, Claire, Kathryn, or Matt at all since I've been back and it sucks. We need to set up a reunion sometime. Hopefully we can hangout one weekend and watch the fightin' Texas Aggies football team BTHO somebody over a cup of Joe! Thanks and Gig 'em Germany! It was Unforgettable!
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