Author: Sam Klaassen

My experience in Germany is one that I will never forget. I’ve appreciated every minute of it, from the weekend trips exploring the country, to the culture shock of different language and food, to nights spent studying. Things that I’d never thought about like A/C, the use of public transport, and the simple fact of being an American became part of my daily life. I gained a vast perspective here because I’ve realized how many other cultures really exist with their own intricacies. Some of my favorite experiences were seeing buildings like the Koln and Berlin Cathedrals, exploring smaller cities like Bremen and Heidelberg, and traveling throughout Bavaria with my mom for our last week. Additionally, I didn’t think that I would be making so many new friends.  I’ve realized that when living together in a place that none of us know, we learn to help each other in a different way than in America, and I will always be thankful for these relationships.  These six weeks in Germany have truly been a life changing experience, and I would encourage any other students to be a part of it, even (and especially if) they feel that it’s outside of their comfort zone.  It has opened my eyes and helped me grow as a student and as a human.

This is picture of me and a few of the other students jumping in the Baltic Sea. This was a spontaneous decision that we made during our free time in Lubeck, and it was so worth it. There were many things like this that I didn’t necessarily plan to do on this trip, but ended up being memories that I’ll have for life!

This is a picture that I took of our breakfast area at St. Michael’s Heim. Even though it doesn’t look like much, this is the room where we ate many breakfasts and instant noodle dinners. It quickly became our homework spot where we spent many hours studying together.

This is a picture of one of the many water bottles that I had to buy. Unlike the United States, I found out that there aren’t places to get free water in Germany, so when you do buy a bottle you can get a huge 1.5 L like this!

The worship experience at the Koln Cathedral is vastly different from that of my home church. The most prevalent difference between them is my Christian Reformed style versus the Catholic style. While my church is a simple building that just suits our needs, the cathedral is a huge, ornate building full of murals and statues. I found that the Catholic mass was almost ritualistic. The leaders of the service all wore the same traditional clothes, and used things like incense and communion pieces. Comparing this to my church, my church leaders wear whatever they want, and do not have such an exact method for worship. My Reformed church seems more focused on personal relationships and concepts, while Catholic mass seemed like less of this, but had a somewhat more serious and respectful tone, which I liked. 

I thought that the tourist aspect of the cathedral slightly defeats the purpose of a church. While I really enjoyed seeing the cathedral, and was really impressed by its architecture and size, this brings a material aspect to the church. I believe that being a Christian is having a personal relationship with God, and the distraction of physical things can be unhealthy. Even though this worship is not what I am used to, and not what I think would be best, I enjoyed this trip and was very impressed by the Cathedral itself. 

Visiting the Sachsenhausen Concentration camp was a very heavy experience. It showed me the reality of all of the horrors of the Holocaust that I’ve learn about in history class. By seeing the watchtowers over the huge triangular prison, and standing in the place that thousands of humans took their last steps, I was filled with sadness and a truer understanding of this horrible history. Some other things that touched me the were the living conditions that prisoners had to withstand, and the actual foundation of the building where so many were killed. Seeing these things truly opened my eyes.

Something else that I realized about this horrible history is how the German people deal with it. Even though they could ignore it completely, they don’t, and instead they are open about it being a terrible part of their past. They don’t try to justify it or act like it never happened. Overall this was a experience that I would highly suggest, it is real and recent history.

After finishing our first statics test this morning, we’re done with our first week of class in Germany. So far it’s been an amazing experience to live in a culture different than ours, specifically a country where many people don’t speak our language. I didn’t expect their public transportation system to be so expansive and to be used by the majority of locals. I’ve also discovered how good their street food is (currywurst, doners, and bratwurst). Things from home that I’m missing are my family, friends, and my own car. One German thing I would bring back to the United States are the windows that open both from the top and from the side. It’s a great example of German engineering.