Reflections on Germany

Germany was great, to be succinct. To be a little more elaborate, Germany showed me what I appreciate about the United States, but also what was fascinating about Germany and the culture of Germany. Germany was fascinating because of the history that could be found if you just observe your surroundings. I loved the food in Germany, such as döner and the simple German breakfast of brötchen, meats, cheeses, and cucumbers or tomatoes. I appreciated the quiet places in Berlin and around Germany, with their parks being no exception. Seeing first hand the influence of refugees on Germany was extremely interesting and thought provoking.

I also learned a lot about engineering through the statics and dynamics class. I began to see real examples of engineering at work that I could connect to my class. One of the most important things about this trip was getting to know people. I am thankful that I became friends with many of the people on the trip. I am thankful for the blessings that God has given me on this trip. Thanks to the Professors and all who made this trip so great.

Reflections on Wittenberg

In Europe, religion has been losing its importance for quite some time. At one time, the catholic church would choose who the rulers of Europe were, and they had a “divine right” to rule. That monarchy has now almost completely disappeared aside from a few symbolic positions. I don’t know the exact reason this has happened but when the nobility no longer requires people to be of the same religion, the importance of religion to the average person will be much lower. Also, the horrors of war in Europe probably led many to question their beliefs. In their minds God is either not all-loving because he lets terrible things happen, or he is not all-powerful and cannot stop bad things from happening.

I would wager that this will probably happen in America, but not to the same extent.

“Hey how was Germany?”

If I had to sum up everything that I learned, did, and saw in Germany in a word, it would be “unreal”. I mean that quite literally too. Whenever I look back on this trip, I find myself asking, “Did that really happen? Did I really fly for the first time? Did I really travel to a foreign country where I barely spoke the language and live there for six weeks? Did I really coordinate a trip to Denmark and stay with an exchange student from high school? Did I really do all of that on top of a 200 level engineering class?” Continue reading ““Hey how was Germany?””

So…Now What?

“So you went to Germany for six weeks?”

Yep. We did. We experienced German culture at its finest over the past six weeks. We visited multiple cities in, and even around, Germany. We tried our best to converse with locals in German. We even took two classes in the middle of all that. But I’m willing to bet that every single one of us would want to do it all over again.

Continue reading “So…Now What?”

Blog post 8

Going to Germany was a good experience. I found the trip to be a good length (6 weeks) because I was constantly learning knew things about the city, but I didn’t get tired of the city life and noise until the end of the trip. It was neat to experience a different culture and see how the German people live. The food was good (mostly because of these wonderful things called Dӧners. Google ‘em for more info) but German food lacks fruit and vegetables, a major staple of my diet, so that was something to get used to. We always spent a fair amount of time on school work, but it was never overwhelming. The group seemed to have a good dynamic and homework was usually a social event, allowing us to all check methods and results with others. The professors did a good job keeping us busy on the weekends while still giving us some time to travel independently or just relax. Overall, the trip was great and I would definitely recommend it to others.