I have high expectations for this trip. I expect it to be a new experience unlike anything I have ever done. Academically, it will be the first time I will learn outside of a typical classroom setting. I am excited to learn about the Berlin Heart and other Biomedical Engineering stuff outside of the American scope. Before this trip, I have only been outside of the United States this past summer to go to Ireland and London. Ireland and London were both great, but there were not too many drastic culture differences. I am prepared for a lot of cultural differences when I travel to Germany. It will be cool to visit some of the places in Germany that I have heard about or learned about in history classes.
Whenever I tell people about this trip, everyone tells me about something to get excited about: the history, the scenery, the culture, the beer, the cities, the train system, etc. There is so much to look forward to that I don’t think I can even comprehend what I am about to do. I am bringing 8 GB of photo storage, and I intend to take pictures of every single thing. Even though I can return to Europe again, this will still be a once in a lifetime experience. I really wanted to do a study abroad program in college, but with engineering class requirements and my summer job, I didn’t think it would work out. But this program is pretty much perfect. I am glad to have my first journey to Europe be a structured, educational experience. Because it is planned by people who know and understand Germany and Austria, it will be much more successful than if I planned a trip for myself through Germany. As I’ve been planning my free weekends, I realize how hard it is to plan when I don’t have a good understanding of how anything works in Europe.
To prepare for the trip, I pretty much paid the payments and tried to get through finals. However, now that school is done, I am actually getting ready. I spent most of the day today shopping for winter clothes, because I have none. I have a good winter coat, gloves, socks, boots, a hat, long underwear, and a backpacking backpack. I was planning on using my dad’s backpack, but it has an external frame, so it was too big to check with Continental Airlines and British Airways. So, I got to buy my own. I also organized everything I got from Alisha at the last meeting and compiled a packet to give to my parents with all of the necessary information. They are both engineers, so I am hoping if I give them all of the information in a logical way, then they will not find anything to worry about.
I am excited, but also a tad nervous. I acknowledge that I don’t actually know what I am doing, but all I have to do is get to the train station in Bonn, and then there will be people to help me. And, I am very confident about getting there. I’ve booked good plane tickets and I am not traveling alone. I don’t know how getting through customs will work. Or how I am going to find the correct train to get to Bonn, but if I miss my first train, I can get one two hours later. The free weekends are going to be adventures, but they should be great. I am really excited to visit Paris and Prague. I hope I meet a lot of cool people when I stay in hostels. I hope it’s not too expensive and that I get to see a good mix of touristy stuff along with actual French culture in Paris. The same with Prague.
Well, it’s less than a week now! It’ll be an adventure…
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