So far, my time in Germany has had many ups and downs. Staying with a host family has been really interesting. The food my host mother, Andrea, makes is super delicious! I have enjoyed talking to her and my German roommates about things to do around Bonn and Germany in general. Sometimes, I feel out of place at dinner when only German is spoken. However, this is a great way for me to get out of my comfort zone and pick up some German. This has helped me feel okay with being out of place, because ultimately this is a chance for growth and discovery. I have picked up a few words, but I am still very far away from communicating in German. This has taught me how important language is when being enriched in a culture. Normally when I think of what defines a culture, I think of food, dance, customs, and religion. I often forget that language is just as crucial to a culture as all those other factors. Andrea has said that learning a language is vital to fully enriching yourself in a culture, and I completely agree. Through my time in Germany, I have learned more about the culture here and more about the language. Riding the buses alone, going to parks alone, and ordering food alone has really helped me learn more here. It has pushed me outside of my comfort zone! In the US, I would go to places alone all the time. Here, I have been scared to go places alone because I worry they'll judge me for not speaking German or I'll say the wrong thing. Every time I go a place by myself, I feel myself growing and being more comfortable with being uncomfortable. It's important to be okay with being uncomfortable because that's part of the growing process, which is what studying abroad is all about.
Discussions with my host mother have been very interesting. She freely talks about how America does not care about the environment, which I agree with, but it's interesting to hear her speak about it so openly. I think she likes comparing the US with Germany. She also talks about how Americans are not very good at riding bikes... I would say the reason we don't know how to transport by bike is because we don't have good biking lanes. So many freeways prevent practical biking. We could be good at it, but the reason we're not is out of the common American's hands. She also loves talking about the history of Germany and how German students know more about WWII than WWI. She teaches history, so I love when she shares some of this knowledge with me because I don't know much about German history.
Besides this, I have been experiencing other parts of German culture. I went up to Drachenfels, and got to see the history of the ruins and the castle. I've been to Cologne a few times and got to see the cathedral and experience German nightlife. It's been so nice traveling around places because it's relatively cheap and easy. Transportation has shown the stereotype of German efficiency... those trains are almost always on time! The stress of rushing on and off the train is very prevalent. It's very obvious that you're supposed to be quiet on public transportation; we even got yelled at by the train conductor one night when we were going to Cologne because we were too loud. I feel like I'm slowly starting to blend in here, but I can't be too sure. People often stare at me, and I can't tell if I'm being paranoid or if they can tell I'm American just from looking at me. The currywurst and pommes are quite common and very good. The one part of food I have been struggling with is that there isn't iced coffee in many places. However, I finally had some good iced coffee today at Lighthouse Cafe. The food here is good and cheap, and I feel a lot healthier here. Walking around everywhere is also great for exercise. I even walked up to a church at the top of a hill near my house and saw the sunset from up there. It's so easy to walk to anywhere you need to go.
The differences here are obvious: less English, more public transportation, no "southern hospitality", different food, different holidays. Despite these differences, I'm still enjoying my time here. It's taken some getting used to, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of things here. I can't wait to see how I'll get to grow more in the rest of my time here!
No comments:
Post a Comment