When deciding to study abroad I deliberated with where I
wanted to travel to. In high school I
had the amazing opportunity to travel abroad to Rome and London for dance. These experiences were absolutely amazing and
have provided me with many lifelong friends that I have remained in contact
with, who live throughout the United States.
After those two trips I fell in love with traveling abroad. When applying to schools, study abroad
options were a factor that I looked into a lot.
After learning about North Central’s study abroad opportunities, I knew
I wanted to partake in full term abroad or a d-term trip. After months of deliberation I decided not to
apply to study abroad but to participate in a d-term trip. Unfortunately last year the trip to Australia
was canceled due to lack of students signing up. So this year I decided to try to go on a
d-term trip again. Since I will soon be
traveling throughout Europe this summer for 18 days to Zurich, Munich, Venice,
Florence, Rome, and Athens for school credit, I decided I wanted to be able to
spend more time in Germany than just two days.
My grandfather was in the army and based in Germany between the Korean
War and the Vietnam War. This resulted
in my father being raised for the first three years of his life in
Germany. Growing up my grandparents and
father has continuously talked about Germany which has made me want to travel
and experience the culture for myself.
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| German Christmas Market |
Over the past several years I have gone to the Christkindlmarket in downtown Chicago. Although this German market has been a great
opportunity to experience German culture without traveling, I am looking
forward to being fully immersed in the culture while studying abroad. By going to different Christmas markets in
Germany I would like to see how well Chicago has tried to provide an experience
of German culture compared to the authentic markets we will see.
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| Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp |
Since I major in psychology,
I am looking forward to seeing the different ways people interact in Germany
compared to the United States. As
Professor Wolf mentioned, Germany is very open to educating individuals about
their past whether it was good or bad.
So I am interested in learning why the German’s are so open about the
past achievements as well as failures.
In the United States we never want to inform people of our past mistakes
and so I think it is a major cultural difference between these two countries. One example is by allowing tours to go
through concentration camps in Germany.
Although this will be a very emotional experience I feel for everyone,
it will also be an experience no one on the trip will ever forget. This tour will be able to provide us with an
experience most people will never be able to have by actually seeing one of the
places that the holocaust took place.
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| Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria Germany |
When traveling abroad to Rome
and London in the past, I was able to see numerous castles and cathedrals. While in Rome some of the places I was able
to see were the Vatican and St. Peter’s Cathedral. In London, I saw St. Paul’s Cathedral and
took a tour through Windsor castle. So I
am looking forward to seeing the amazing churches and castles that are in
Germany.
This trip will be a once in a
lifetime opportunity and I cannot wait to be able to spend three weeks straight
in Germany. I look forward to getting to
know more about Germany as well as everyone partaking in the trip. I hope to be able to come home with a better
knowledge of the culture as well as understanding and being able to speak a
little German.
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