I have a couple trips to blog about, but I also wanted to talk a little bit about what life is like here, and some of the struggles I have run into. I titled this blog "Brot und Käse" because, for the last month, my diet has consisted of a very limited selection of dry bread, cheese, and dietary torture. I think the Europeans may be stuck in the Middle Ages. Not only does their diet consist of peasant food, but they have a plague mentality and many of them think having the window open and letting fresh air in at night makes them sick, which has increased my suffering tenfold. Similarly, they avoid Americans like the plague even though we hail from one of the few places that never contracted this disease.
All jokes aside, there have been some major cultural shocks. The foremost being the food. Germans eat bread with cheese and butter for breakfast, supper, and sometimes lunch. Since I arrived I have had very little protein, sodium, starch, or legumes. However, on the flip side, the school grows all its food, and we have fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, pears, and pumpkins daily. My favorite is the fresh apple juice. 👌
The other major issue I have run into is the lack of AC. My roommate is constantly cold at night and I am too hot. It has been extremely hard to sleep, so I will be switching rooms soon.
Lastly, it is much harder to make friends here. The people are generally more reserved and do not open up quickly and I don't think they always appreciate how boisterous and friendly we Americans can be. I am not always the most outgoing person (with people I do not know), so it has been an adjustment to step out of my comfort zone and be the one making advances in the friendship. However, that is not to say people are mean. Those that I have become friends with are exquisite humans and I already feel as if I have met more people, done more things, and made more memories than I did my entire year at Southern. I think that is partly due to how small the school is. It is a community.
The nearest town is Braunau am Inn. It is a few miles away and we have to take a train to get there. Me and my friends enjoy going in the evenings and getting Kuchen (cake) from the local bakeries, going to the Interspar and getting Rosemary flavored chips, or taking advantage of the wifi at the local McDonalds (the wifi on campus is atrocious). Just across the River Inn is the town of Simbach, and the country of Germany. We simply walk over the bridge and we are in a new country, which is very hard to wrap one's head around.
We have classes all morning, including German writing, speaking, grammar, and phonetics, along with religion, cultural studies, and a cooking class. All of the language students are great, and we come from all over the world. Many of us are American but there are also a couple students from Brazil, Argentina, and one from Italy.
There have been many frustrations, like getting money for the laundry machines, trying to sleep at night, getting a new SIM card, and not having wifi, but life here is slower and simpler, and I enjoy having enough time to commit to both my studies and my experiences. Here are some photos.
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The Schloss (castle) that gives the school its name
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Good Brot |
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It rained for five days straight. Most of Northern Europe was flooded. I was soaked through.
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Sabbath picnic at the Hagenau Schloss. I made a friend.
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Hagenau Schloss
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Found a wild hedgehog. He had no fight or flight instincts.
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First time trying Tiramisu
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Made my own Tiramisu
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Tiramisu again???
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Spent the Sabbath at a church member's house trying to solve riddles. |
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