When I told my host family that we didn’t celebrate Saint Nikolaus on December sixth, they were thoroughly surprised. They made sure that I experienced this culturally significant tradition. Normally, children must clean their shoes and boots and place them out for St. Nick so he can bring gifts. Although St. Nick didn’t visit my boots, I did wake up to a gift bag hanging on my door of traditional German gifts, including oranges, chocolate, Christmas CD, and a small Räucherman. My favorite includes the latter; a very traditional Christmas decoration and bringer of good luck. It is an incense smoker and looks as if the man is smoking from a pipe.

If you haven’t experienced a German Christmas market, I encourage you to put it on your bucket list. I compare it to my mom’s lit-up, miniature Christmas village that she puts on display each Christmas, come to life. Weinachtsmarkts all around are open from the end of November daily until Christmas Eve. One can find handmade crafts, seasonal food and drink, and general entertainment and good cheer. I have had the pleasure to visit a variety different German Christmas markets, located in Wittenberg, Freiburg, Moellensdorf, Berlin, and Oslo, Norway.
I had the opportunity to visit Norway last weekend. This was a very interesting experience, because I have fairly recent relatives that came from Norway. If you didn’t know it already, Oslo is the most expensive city in the world. We traveled there using Ryan Air for fairly cheap, and my friends and I rented an “apartment hotel” for the weekend. We packed food to eat while we were there. This was a good idea, because we found out it was pretty close to impossible for travelers on a budget to eat at a restaurant.

In all, however, the weekend was wonderful. We were able to tour the Nobel Peace Prize Center, the Parliament building, the Oslo Art Museum, the famous Ice Bar, and strolled around the Norwegian Christmas market. It snowed the entire time, which gave me the feeling that I was living in a life-sized snow globe. It was wonderful!! It was very interesting to visit the land of my ancestors (although Norwegian is only one aspect of my cultural heritage).
Although watching it snow through the kitchen window sipping one of the many special German holiday teas is dreamlike, not so magical about this winter wonderland is riding my bike in the softly falling snow. I have learned that it is sometimes best to walk in such weather.
As my time abroad comes to a close, I have much to reflect upon. People are people, no matter where you go. It is a blessing that I have had the opportunity to be immersed in a different language and culture. I would do it again in a heartbeat! I think that by bringing our different identities to the table- linguistic, social, cultural- we are able to really understand how much we all have in common.
Me? I’m going to weigh my suitcase one last time and go visit with my most wonderful host family one last time before I say farewell tomorrow.
If you have any questions about what my specific teaching experience was like, what to pack for a semester abroad (and what NOT to pack), tips for traveling, etc., do not hesitate to email me! I can always be reached by my CSP email account: taylora4@csp.edu.
Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland. I will miss you!
Amy

I am thankful for the community that has welcomed me here in Wittenberg, my family and friends at home, and technology that keeps us connected. I am truly enjoying my student teaching experience; it will be extremely hard to leave my students. I have enjoyed and learned a lot at  Evangelische Grundschule; I’m thankful I had the opportunity to study and teach in a different culture.

When I haven’t been utterly exhausted from my workdays (a good kind of exhausted), I have been able to travel some weekends. One weekend included a day trip to Berlin. I was able to see an English screening of Skyfall, the new James Bond film, before it was available in the United States. German cinemas are very similar to those in the States-popcorn, Icees, pop, nachos, comfy seats, you name it. Later that same day, I experienced my first German soccer match at the Olympia Stadiom- the stadium used for the 1936 Olympics. It was a humbling experience. Blending into the sea of BSC blue and learning the team chants was definitely a fun experience, even if there wasn’t a single point scored on either team!

A trip to Krakow, Poland, was one I’ll never forget. After an eleven hour train ride, two friends and I arrived hungry and tired on a Friday evening. Our first order of business was currency exchange. The Polish Zloty is used, and we were able to exchange money using an ATM (the fastest and most reliable method that I’ve found so far). After a quick bite to eat, we put our heads together to learn the public transportation system and find our way to the hotel. None of us knew a word of Polish, and our English came in more handy than our German! I really am beginning to understand English’s role as a developing lingua franca.

The city of Krakow was absolutely beautiful; the architecture was breathtaking. It was even more unforgettable with a fresh blanket of snow. The most memorable experience, however, came from a trip to the museum at Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration/death camp. I have no words for how deeply the experience affected me. It was a cold, rainy day; perfectly fitting for such a tour. I returned to Wittenberg with a different perspective and understanding of the holocaust that I didn’t have before I came here, as did the two friends I traveled with.
Next weekend I will be traveling to Freiburg, Germany, to visit a friend from MN who is studying abroad. I can’t wait! I’m starting to get into the Christmas spirit. I’m sure my last weekends will be filled with many a “Weinachtsmarkt” (outdoor Christmas markets that are located in the town squares, that run from the end of November to Christmas Eve in almost every major city in Germany) and Christmas cheer.

Bis dann,

Amy

I am going to miss the wallabies outside my window every morning   It’s getting really hot here, and so it is going to be a drastic change to fly home to snow!

Last week, a group of friends and I walked to a botanical garden and had a picnic. We sat around for hours just talking and enjoying each others company There was a colony of flying fox bats in some of the nearby trees, which is quite a site to be seen. Hundreds and hundreds of sleeping bats hung above us. This was super cool… until one of them pooped on my friend’s head It’s supposed to be good luck… or ‘Bat’ luck as we said. There was also numerous butterflies and bush turkeys everywhere. The wildlife here is so diverse and unique. They are all going to be missed dearly by me. Not going to lie though, I am excited to see my squirrels when I get home

I will forever cherish the memories of Australia, and what I have learned from my adventure here will forever be a presence in my life. There will be an adjustment period once I return home, but I look forward to sharing the boxes of tim-tams and endless stories from my time here in Oz.

Phase two of my grand German adventure, my first clinical teaching placement, has ended. My last day teaching at Lucas Cranach Gymnasium was bittersweet; I was sad to leave my wonderful students and colleagues, but excited to begin my second placement. My last meeting with the headmaster at LCG confirmed that I will always have friends to visit when I return to Wittenberg.

Now begins phase three of my adventure; on Monday I will start my second clinical teaching placement at Evangelische Grundschule. I have moved back to my first host family (location, location, location), and look forward to the next nine weeks here in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

I have had many opportunities to travel, most of which have been last minute (last minute trips are the best, in my opinion).  I spend a lot of time with my friend, Claudia. Originally from Italy, she is in Wittenberg on her European Voluntary Service. The EVS is a chance for students to gain valuable work experience before jumping into the “real world.” While it is unpaid, volunteers receive a stipend for living expenses. Many Europeans take advantage of this service, and for good reason!

The last weekend in September Claudia and I traveled to Prague, Czech Republic. What a beautiful city! We saw the famous Charles bridge, castle, and cathedral. Although it rained the entire day, we were able to enjoy our tour! Claudia has a friend who studies in Prague, and he gave us a “behind the scenes,” informal tour; a city is best explored in the company of a local!

I also traveled to Leipzig last weekend with some friends. The highlights of the trip included a tour of the Stasi Museum and dinner at Auerbachs Keller. The Stasi Museum,  is located in the original Staatssicherheit headquarters. There we were able to get an inside look at the former East German secret police. It’s amazing what lengths the police went to behind the Iron Curtain. Regarding Auerbachs Keller, legend has it Goethe once dined there…all I can say is that the food was Fantastic!

Although I sometimes still feel the pangs of homesickness, I have come to feel at home here in Wittenberg. My host family has become like a real family to me and I am comfortable here; I wave at familiar faces on the street, joke with my colleagues, smile at the groups of tourists coming to see Luther’s city…My German is still developing, but almost everyone I try to speak German with is willing to help me learn! I find myself asking my students “der? die? das?…” Student teaching in  a new culture has been as much of a learning experience for me as it is for my students!

One preconceived notion that has been challenged since I’ve been here is the directness of the German language and culture that I’d confused with impoliteness. I had an “aha” moment when my host father told me that sarcasm doesn’t exist in German. In MN, I have found that it’s very common to be circular and indirect in conversations. However, I’ve learned that the direct-nature of the German language is not impolite. In fact, politeness is almost demanded in cultural settings; for example, formal registers are strictly adhered to until participants in interactions agree to speak informally to one another (Sie vs. Du). Living with two different host families has been the source of my greatest learning experiences here.

I look forward to traveling to Poland next weekend, southern Germany in November, and all the other impromptu trips I am sure will come.

Bis bald,

Amy

I went diving on the great barrier reef! That was an experience I’m not sure words are going to be able to describe. I got to see the outer reef, and it was just beaming with colors and life! Everywhere I looked something was moving and living. It was so incredible the way everything worked together. Some of my favorite things were the giant clams, sea cucumbers, turtles, and the parrot fish. The parrot fish were exceptionally colorful, and I could hear as they chomped away at the coral. Ahhh, so much fun! We were out on the reef all day, but I swear I could have been there for 10 more days and still not have enough of it. I would love to go back someday to see more.

I have about a month left here in Australia, and a part of me is excited to see my loved ones back home, but another part of me is extremely sad. I’ve met some really incredible people here and  I hate to leave them. We’ve all made deals that it’s their turn to come see me in the future I feel like I’ve grown and learned so much as an individual by being submersed in a culture and environment so different from home. I’m excited to Share all that I’ve experienced with everyone back home. Also, I’m excited to say that I am making a stop over in New Zealand on my way home, so I get a few days with that culture as well

We saw this mother and her baby while hiking on the Island

Not sure if my previous post ever got up, but I will introduce myself again! I am Jennifer Khang, studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea at Konkuk University. And, man, it’s really great here! I definitely still get a little homesick from all of the people that I miss, but the places, people, food, culture, and city life here is also really amazing. I often have to go through the moments of realization of actually being in Korea and get excited about it. Standing at a crosswalk is usually that moment, when you see that everything around you is so different from what you are accustomed to. This is an opportunity that I have been waiting for for a very long time. Ever since elementary school when I learned about studying abroad, I knew that I would be doing it one day, and here I am! Yesterday, I actually just celebrated my 20th birthday here and enjoyed every single moment of it! Getting to celebrate my birthday the weekend right after returning from a vacation in the Philippines is really the best way to end your last days in the teen years.  It’s definitely different to be celebrating it in Seoul and not at home with my friends and family, but it’s also a very good different. As much as I miss home, I will miss Seoul when I leave just as much. I will miss the people here, the places that I enjoy getting lost at, some of the food that I actually like, my favorite little restaurant at the back gate of campus, all of the great and wonderful moments, and each and every day that I have already spent here. I learned that even with homesickness, I only have one semester to live in Korea. This is where I chose to be, and this is where I want to be, and so I should make every single day worth it.  It was a beautiful night last night and beautiful day today. The fireworks were meant just for me.

1.      Having an outlet in a bathroom is illegal for safety reasons.

2.      Most people do not go grocery shopping themselves.  They do it online and have it delivered.  They also only buy food for a couple days to a week at a time because food expires much quicker due to illegal usage of most preservatives.

3.      Fast food is EXPENSIVE!!! For instance: a McDonald’s big mac is 7£ = about $11.25. It will cost you that much (7£) to go to a café and get an actual meal and coffee here.

4.      The UK thinks of America as their “best friends”.  They are much assimilated with us.  They also think of themselves as “the bridge” between America and Europe.

5.      The presidential election is just as talked about and broadcasted here as it is back home.  Obama is like a “celebrity” in the UK and no one understands why we would ever vote differently, but they are very interested in knowing our political views and reasons.

7.      Gas prices are roughly 7£ to 8£, which would be about $11.50-$12.50 a gallon.  Holy cow!

8.      Buildings do not start with floor 1 as the lowest level.  The first level is called G or ground and the second is 1.

I have been so privileged to have been given this opportunity and have been able to experience so many things to far!  In just three weeks I have been on the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Fashion Week, Trafalgar Square, a Shakespeare play at The Globe theatre, a comedy play called 39 Steps, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, many museums, and so much more!  I have even been outside of London to the country to see Stonehenge, a rugby match, and what is said to be the most beautiful city in England… Bath!

Don’t get me wrong it was definitely very stressful for me the first couple of days being here.  This was my first time out of the county and I also at the beginning of the summer found out I have some very severe food allergies.  It was difficult figuring out what places to go to to get what I wanted and needed.  It was also very difficult orienting myself and fitting in so I did not stick out like a tourist!  In less than a weeks time though I was able to figure things out and feel like a local.  I even get people asking ME for directions now!

If any of you are interested in hearing more in-depth about my experiences here in London I post stories and pictures on a blog almost daily and you are more than welcome to check it out!  brittanygoestolondon.blogspot.com

Cheers!  -Brittany

The funny story with this is that we had agreed as a frisbee team to go to Alligator Creek since it was closer. Well, our driver clearly heard wrong, because one minute we were jamming out and the next we were up at Paluma. It was hilarious, because there was only four of us and the rest of our frisbee family was at Alligator. We ended up staying and just enjoying ourselves, and then we met up with everyone later for a movie night.

Things in Australia are very similar to home, but different in subtle ways. Life is a laid back party here. There isn’t the stress and pressure on students that I face back home. It’s okay here to take a few gap years to just travel around and see the world. Also, the government pays for most of Australian’s college. So the pressure to get out of school and make tons of money to pay off student loans is just not there, and thus most Australians are very laid back and comfortable about school. They will go out the the clubs twice or more a week! And it’s no big deal at all to skip a lecture or two… or three. It’s a wonderful atmosphere that I have used to clear my head and gain some perspective for when I go back home.

I went to Magnetic Island a few weekends back and got to go bare-back horseback riding into the ocean in just my swim suit! It had to be one of the best moments of my life I love all that I’m experiencing here in Oz. It will feel strange to come home when the time comes.

Well, phase one of my adventures in Germany is complete. Friday marked the end of my three-week long intensive German language course at the Institut für deutsche Sprache und Kultur e.V. (http://www.sprache.uni-halle.de/). Over the past three weeks, I have met so many wonderful people. I was able to gain a basic understanding/foundation of the German language. I still have a lot to learn, but I hope that being immersed in German language and culture will help me progress quite rapidly. =) I was sad to see my new friends leave on Friday. I am thankful for Facebook: I will be able to keep in contact with my new friends friends from Japan, Italy, Albania, Romania, Russia…all at the same time. Thomas Friedman was right…the world really is flat! If you have any more questions about learning German at the Institut, feel free to leave a comment or email me at taylora4@csp.edu.

The little slice of Germany that I’ve visited has been a wonderful cultural and linguistic experience so far. For example, I was able to attend an Einschulung celebration yesterday for the daughter of my Guest parents. An Einschulung is a very old tradition in which students entering the first grade, along with their families, get to celebrate the beginning of their formal academic training. The students receive a large cone (looks like a big traffic cone, only decorated for 1st graders!) filled with candy and all the school supplies they’ll need for school. There are many traditions like this that have much meaning to families in Wittenberg and in Germany as a whole. Living with a Guest family has so many benefits- you get to experience these cultural nuances that you wouldn’t see living alone in a flat or even with roommates. Even more interesting is the divide in traditions between East and West Germany. Wittenberg is in the former East Germany, and there are some things that are still different here than in former West Germany. One example would be the Amplemann figure (the figure of a man that is red/green and signals when it is safe to walk across a street). Although the country has been united once again, there are still subtle markers that hint to a not-so-distant divided past.

Also interesting is how many languages the average person I’ve met here speaks. Many of the students in the language course spoke 3+ languages. Their home language, English, and other languages studied in school. I found this so fascinating. In the US, it is not uncommon to find someone who only speaks English. However, there have been only a few instances since I’ve been in Germany where I haven’t been able to speak English.I never assumed that I could visit another country (where English is not the main language) and still speak English. It has been nice, but I am more motivated to learn German because I believe that without the German language, I will not begin to fully understand the German culture.

Phase two began with my transition to a second “Gastfamilie,” Family Speicher. I’m still in Wittenberg, just across town. The reason for my transition to a second family is logistical. The high school where I’ll be teaching, Lucas Cranach Gymnasium, is very near to the home of Family Speicher. Because most of my travel is done on foot or by bike, proximity to where I’ll be teaching is very important. Did I mention that my “Gasteltern,” Julius and Leslie Speicher, are both my cooperating teachers at the schools in which I’ll be teaching? It’s been wonderful living with two teachers, and their three young (and very cute!) children. Tomorrow, Monday, I will begin my first student teaching experience. I am excited to see what a day in the life of a German teacher (and student) looks like. So, for the next six weeks, I will fill the shoes of a German high school English teacher. I can’t wait!

One of the perks of student teaching/studying abroad is the opportunity to travel. So far, I’ve seen Leipzig and Berlin. Which were both amazing. These two trips were sponsored and organized by the Institut. I’ve included some photos from both excursions. It is very humbling to learn about the history of Germany in the places where the history occurred. Touching the Berlin Wall, visiting the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, viewing the Brandenburger Tor…they were breathtaking experiences. For me, learning about history really comes alive when I’m able to witness where things occurred.

So for now, that’s all.

Bis bald,

Amy