When I first decided to study abroad, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. The initial and pre departure meetings definitely helped me to understand what the program actually entailed and helped me to calm my nerves. My roommate and I are also additionally traveling to Barcelona after our program, and figuring out the flights was extremely easy with the CIBS staff. Arriving in Munich was definitely a different culture than I have been used to. Previously I had only ever been to Belize with my family, so moving across the Atlantic temporarily is something new.
My initial impression of Germany was that the people were kind of rude and did not have the southern charm that I am used to. After a few days I now realize that they keep to themselves because it is the polite thing to do in their culture. They are an extremely efficient group of people, so it is best to keep walking and stay out of their way. Additionally, they know exactly how to have fun when you warm up to them. If they?re having a good time, they want to bring you in like you?re a part of their family. Through this study abroad I initially was doing it to learn about my classes and have fun on the weekends. Now that I am here and have spent a couple of days immersed in the city, I hope to fully experience the culture and grow as a human. One big thing we?re learning in our international business class is that Europeans and Americans are not very different, but instead just have alternate versions of ways to live.
In Germany, there is a lot of environmentally friendly and efficient solutions to transportation and energy. One of the main things is the U-Bahn or as we Americans call it, The Subway. At first it was really confusing, but once we figured out the stops that we needed to use it was extremely efficient. We have the ability to go from downtown to the suburbs within 20 minutes without any cars or TRAFFIC. Along with transportation, Germany uses a lot of energy efficient technology. The biggest that I have noticed is the exclusion of air conditioning from buildings when the doors are open, or the lights requiring your key card to stay on when in the hotel. I have also noticed a lot of solar energy that is being used by putting panels in fields as well as on top of buildings. Lastly, I think the biggest difference is the sound! I don?t know if it?s because of the culture of keeping to themselves or the use of hybrid transportation but there is no noise in the city. It is super quiet and is Americans make more noise than the cars.
