Germany Pre-program Post

             I don’t know what my expectations for this summer semester really are. I would mostly attribute it to the fact that I have no premonition of what most people have enjoyed there. Without some kind of clue, or insight, my response at this point will be generic and based off Internet research I’ve done. With this in mind, I would say I am expecting large glasses of beer, beautiful rolling hills, and people dressed in traditional German garments. However, just from talking to Mira during the spring semester I know that most of this is only true in Bavaria.  At an academic and intellectual standpoint, I expect to be immersed by a new culture and way of life. I want to notice and analyze the subtle differences between normal behavior of Americans and that of Germans. By the end of my stay in Germany, I hope to be able to have a very simple conversation in German.

            The reason I chose this program was because I wanted to go somewhere I’ve never been before, to a place where I didn’t know the language or anything about it. I wanted a new experience, to be able to say one day that I went to Germany, didn’t knowing the language, and still left more enlightened about their way of life. However, the closer and closer we get to the start the more and more nervous I get about not knowing very much. Luckily, Mira said that most young Germans know English, so if I completely fail I can at least talk in English and learn by trial and error.  At this point, I’m just ready to go.