For my honors study abroad requirement, I decided to go to Muenster (German: Münster), Germany through the Summer in Muenster program run by Hampden-Sydney College, which neighbors Longwood University. The program aligned with several of my goals. It completed my foreign language requirement for my general education as a B.A., it fulfilled some requirements for my German (at the time) minor, and it fulfilled my extra-language-course requirement for my international studies minor. It was also pretty close to home in some ways (one of the instructors was from Longwood and there were four other Longwood students going as well).

Studying abroad is difficult to describe. Sometimes it’s great: you get to see new places, trying new foods, and practice another language. Sometimes it’s confusing: the coffee maker is too complicated, free refills aren’t a thing, and the oatmeal is weird. Sometimes you get to tour a (real) castle and sometimes you really miss being able to order a coffee in English.

Overall it was a really good experience though. My host parents were great, functioning in German every day was exhausting but not scary, Germany believes in like 300 kinds of bread, and aside from the occasional aggressive cyclist, biking to school and around town was nice. The worst part of the trip was my fellow Americans who I came with, as college boys don’t necessarily find civility, restraint, or manners in countries where they are able to legally drink and don’t know anybody. Without wasting too much space, it suffices to say that I learned the meaning of “Ugly American.”

I generally liked German food and didn’t struggle as a vegetarian (beyond occasionally having to explain that American vegetarians don’t eat fish), I felt I blended in pretty well in Germany (aside from when I was in a group with the aforementioned other Americans), and it wasn’t nearly as expensive as I thought it would be. I didn’t have any issues with antisemitism (except from one of the other students on my trip, again, Ugly Americans) and the only anti-American sentiment I encountered took the form of ceaseless political questions (but I think that’s the German way period, so I didn’t take it too personally).

My favorite parts of the trip were probably when I got to tour a giant castle and eating a new kind of bread every day. I actually visited three castles during my time in Germany, but Nordkirchen was the only one that I was able to go on a proper tour of. There was a minor flaw however, in that I forgot my scarf (which I had brought to Germany with me) the day I went to the castle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to everything I learned about Germany, German Culture, and German, I also gained some more insight into my own American culture. I had four key observations in this regard:

1. The way we use the English language is not literal. One of the first conversations my host father and I had was on what he referred to as “American politeness” and all the euphemisms Americans use. By the end of my stay, I had compiled a list of fifty or sixty words or phrases that don’t really mean what they should at face value.
2. We as Americans generally don’t think about the environment at all. In Germany, they have it down to almost a science. Back home we make more of a token effort more of the time.
3. The rest of the world really, really, really cares more about “football” (soccer) than we do.
4. We aren’t nearly as creative about how we eat our food (in what combinations and at what temperatures) as we could be.

Overall it was a really good experience. So great, in fact, that I ended up making my minor a second major, and I’m studying abroad again for Summer 2019 (this time in Berlin).