Why Chose Germany? - First Blog Post

Last year during D-Term I traveled to Italy with North Central College and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I had never been aboard before my time in Italy due to the issue of expenses. Now that I have “Travel to Italy” checked off my bucket list, next is Germany. This year I have chosen to study in Germany and Berlin during D-Term 2015 because of family and friend references to visit the beautiful country. I was always told that the best time to travel was when you are young and in college, so when trying to decide where to travel to next, I was presented with a number of choices and simply couldn’t decide. My great aunt and uncle housed a foreign exchange student, Chris, long ago and he happened to be from Germany. My uncle basically decided to call him his own and to this day, the two are really close and keep in contact, even though Chris has gone back to live in Germany. Learning from Chris’ experience and life in Germany, my uncle immediately became fascinated with the country and has always told me I should go and visit Chris and his country. Another reason I would like to visit Germany and Berlin is, to be honest, the food and the beer. My parents’ friend traveled to Germany for the OktoberFest that occurs in Germany every year and told me it is something I should experience. 

Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and it is considered the world’s largest fair.

Now, even though we will not be going to Germany during the time of the Oktoberfest, Christmastime will be just as thrilling. My family and I go to the Christkindlmarket, the German Christmas market in downtown Chicago, every year. It is something we look forward to and plan each year. The potato pancakes are my favorite and I can only imagine how much more delicious they will be in Germany. Because my family and I experience the Christkindlmarket every year during the holidays, I am looking forward to carrying the tradition with my sister over in Germany with their true Christmas markets.

Christkindlmarket in Chicago, Illinois. Bringing German culture to America.

VS.

 German Christmas Market

Apart form all the great food, I would also love to learn about the German culture to really broaden my cultural experience. Based on what I have experienced in Italy, the United States of America definitely does things a little differently and vice versa. The biggest thing I have noticed is that time is not a factor over in Europe. People over in Europe have their own sense of time and go at their own pace. I want to see the comparison from Germany to Italy and Germany to America. The biggest thing I am looking forward to learning about is the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and aspects of World War II. I have never really been a history junkie, but something about that time in history really fascinates me. Overall, I am eager to learn about a new culture and see a new way of living.

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