So it’s now been one month since I arrived in Germany. At first when I got here, everything was exciting and new. It didn’t bother me too much that I couldn’t speak the language because alot of people here speak english. After about a week though, I began to get frustrated with my lack of communication skills. Although I could communicate basic ideas to most people, and everyone speaks at least a little bit of German, I would occasionally have trouble with simple tasks. Ordering food was where I have had the most trouble, because although most people will be able to understand my order in english, I had difficulties decyphering some menus and would often end up just picking something at random. It was also somewhat frustrating not being able to understand people when they would say something to me on the street, or a bus or something.

After about a month of German class, things are getting easier. I can now make out mostly everything on restaurant menus, order in German, and communicate well enough to get around. I can also understand words here and there and generally make out what people are trying to say, and if all else fails we just resort to pointing and english.

The program is awesome. We have different field trips every week, and are always going somewhere in Germany. Last week we went to Baden Baden, which is this crazy spa in germany, and then we saw the Daimler production plant in Stuttgart, which was really cool. We also saw the Federal constitutional court a few weeks ago (which is their supreme court) and have visited BMW, Porsche and Mercedes Museums whcih were all really interesting. This week we’re going to Berlin, whcih will be awesome. We’re visiting the Ministry of Economics and touring all over the city.

Almost every weekend we get to travel to different places. Two weeks ago me and another kid went to Switzerland and went bungee jumping, and last week we went to an island in the Mediteranean and hung out on the beach all weekend.

Everyone in Europe is just so friendly and laid back that it makes for a really nice atmosphere anywhere you go. We have class from 9-5 msot weekdays when we arent on some other trip, but its all pretty interesting and we don’t have too much work to take home other than reviewing what we went over in class. I can definitely say that this study abroad has been fun so far and I’m not looking forward to going home

 

 

We have just finished our first week in Pforzheim, and I have to say that Germany is amazing so far. Class has been a little rough, since we were jetlagged pretty much all week and still had to wake up for morning clases wich lasted 3 hours. Aside from being tired though, class has been pretty intersting. We’re taking a German class and a class on the EU and German culture.

 

I’m starting to pick up a little bit of German, and can now recognize a few words here and there when I hear other people speak. Almost everyone here speaks English though, so it’s not very difficult to get around. One thing that is a bit odd is that nobody here drinks tap water; they all drink carbonated mineral water and if you ask for tap water in a restaurant nobody understands. It gets kind of annoying having to buy water anywhere I go since you can’t just get a glass of water, so I just carry around a water bottle.

On Friday we went to Munich and visited the BMW plant, which was incredibly high tech. Everything was done with these automated robots that were incredibly precise. Then we went to the Haufbrahaus, which is a famous bavarian restaurant and beer garden, with some clubbing later that night. That was alot of fun, probably the best night so far. On Saturday we toured around the beautiful German countryside and saw the castle that Cinderella is based off of. It was stunning and had an incredible view. Now we’re just back in Pforzheim for another week of classes. Hopefully things are better when we aren’t jetlagged.