Throughout this trip I learned a few things. First, eating bread and oranges every morning for breakfast gets old. Next, there are a lot of different eras of architecture throughout every city. Unlike in the United States, you should not walk up to someone and ask to pet their dog no matter how much you love them. Lastly, I did indeed fall in love with the country like I thought I would.
At the beginning of the trip, we had to choose goals, things we wanted to achieve or at least try to during the zwei week period of time in Germany. I chose the following goals to broaden my language skills, immerse myself into the culture and not go straight for what I would in the United States. These goals were to order food/Kaffee in German, learn as
much of the language as I possibly could, and to get out of my comfort zone. I was able to order both my lunch or dinner as well as Kaffee in German by using the statement ‘Ich hätte gerne’ with the food or Kaffee I wanted. Being within the country, I had the ability to learn the language in a hands-on kind of forced situation since the native language is German and not English. Most people here also speak English which made it easier to get around on my own when I couldn’t point or somewhat say what I needed or wanted. In terms of comfort zone, I try to avoid situations where I have to interact with people I do not know. I enjoy people watching and learning things from a distance but not necessarily completely getting to know them as a person. This trip forced the 18 of us to know each other and interact on a daily basis since we did almost everything together.
This trip affected me in a good way. I may be tired of dinner roll-type bread and oranges
for breakfast and think that sparkling water just should not exist, but it gave an insight into the German culture. I enjoyed trying typical authentic German food such as Currywurst, Schnitzel and Rouladen. Most things also seem to be cheaper, for instance, I went to a store that kind of resembles a CVS in the USA to buy make-up remover. The one I usually use was here and cost 4 dollars less than it would if I bought it at home. I noticed that my coffee addiction would not be a good thing to have here. The cafe prices look cheap at first glance and then you see the actual size of what you are getting for those zwei euro and it does not seem so cheap anymore.
I applied for this trip because I have a strong interest in working/living in Germany for a
few years. Being a Chemical Engineer, I have the desire to work in the pharmaceutical industry. Learning about the history of medicine was interesting to me whether the information came from a company or museum.
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