Arriving in Munich was a definitely a culture shock for me. I had never been to Europe, let alone out of the United States. The Munich airport was my first official encounter with German people as a German man at the customs station sternly questioned my intentions in the country. So far after being here for a week, he is still the scariest German I’ve interacted with. After getting settled in the hotel, the exploration of Munich began. The U-Bahn was my first time being on a subway of some sort. I have realized how efficient Germans are within their society. They move to the right side of the escalators to let anyone who wants to pass do so on the left side. My first impression of Munich people is that they stare and quietly keep to themselves. I don’t think they are the fondest of Americans. I wonder why that is… loud perhaps? That makes sense because we are definitely a loud group of students. We have lots of fun and laughs, and I couldn’t have asked for better people to study abroad with. Many of the older Munich civilians only speak German. However, the University students all speak English too. I have noticed that there are lots of people living in Munich that are from all over the world. The diversity reminds me of the United States. The city of Munich is beautiful. It is more modern than I was expecting, but there are still no skyscrapers and tall buildings like there are in Houston. There are more food options here than I thought there would be. I was surprised at the variety of food options available near our hotel (Indian cuisine, pizza, American bars, Kebabs). The produce at the grocery stores here in Germany are so delicious. There are definitely less preservatives in the food. Additionally, Germany seems similar to the United States in that the younger demographic is more progressive with emphasis on being environmentally conscious and seeing the integration of different cultures to be important. Professor Schwartz and Professor McFarland have been amazing. Class has been going so smoothly. It is so nice that our classroom is in the hotel. Making time to study is the hardest part, but the content of the courses is interesting, and the professors make it enjoyable to learn. Being exposed to a different part of the world has been insightful, but it’s made me realize that we as humans are not all that different.
