Maggie (Without) Borders: My Year in Germany

In attempting to begin this post, I realized that I have entirely neglected to write about the 'Virtual Exchange' in which we are required to take part... I'll get on that, but for now, just know that we were all assigned a partner as a part of this Virtual Exchange, and that our partners were our German counterparts currently taking part in CBYX in the US. --- A couple months back, I got a message from my Virtual Exchange partner, Giovanna, that she would be coming back to the US before the program was set to end. She had a really rough go of it in the US, and decided that it would be wisest for her to come home early and continue to pursue her life and career in Germany. Being the lovely, generous person that she is, Giovanna invited me to come visit her in her hometown, Wacken, upon her return. She told me that there was going to be a music festival in town, and that I was invited to join her.  I'll admit, I was a little hesitant. After all, I had only be...

Last week, on Monday, February 5th, 2018, the Berlin Wall had officially been down as long as it had stood. The wall was up for 28 years, 2 months, and 27 days from 1961-1989. For 28 years, 2 months, and 27 days, Berlin was divided; split between competing ideologies and warring countries with brick and mortar. Streets were interrupted, families were split, communities were destroyed. With a wall. I have realized through my college education that US Americans don't actually learn all that much about the walls that divided what were once the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD) and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) . In my primary education, I learned about WWII (often) and you can bet that I studied the Holocaust multiple times over. Don't misunderstand me: it is incredibly important to learn about these things--but after that, we learned that there was a wall, and that was it. We didn't learn the unbelievable speed with which it was erected and then steadily ex...

Though I am not fortunate enough to have had a host family for the past 3 months, I am fortunate to have a friend with a wonderfully welcoming host family. They invited me into their home for Christmas, and my future host family (more on that in another post) invited me over to spend New Year's with them. Christmas eve Kaffee und Kuchen. It was so, so nice to spend the holidays among a family. It might not have been my own, but it made me feel a lot less isolated. I really can't overemphasize how friendly most of the Germans that I've met have been. I mean, these people invited me into their home to spend the 3 days of Christmas (Christmas eve, Christmas day, Boxing day) with them without any hesitation. They even got me some amazing gifts: The bear's name is Fritz. Also important: they fed me. No, they overfed me. No, they fed me, and I overate. No regrets! One of the things I learned about the holiday season in Germany is that families generally ea...

As an American, I am accustomed to customer service. I’m used to giant, carefully curated and artfully decorated supermarkets. I am used to friendly, smiling store staff who are perpetually curious if I need help. I am used to being in no rush and everyone else being on my time. In Germany, none of that is the case. For the first time in my life, grocery shopping is stressful. The stores are usually small and minimally decorated. Products are placed on the shelf still in the boxes in which they were shipped, and if you want a single bottle of juice or can of Pringles, you’re going to have to take it out of the packaging itself. The store staff is nice, but they will not go out of their way to help you or smile at you. The most jarring thing about shopping for groceries in Germany is checking out. You’re not on your time, you’re on everyone else’s time. You have to bring your own bag (or pay for one there), and when you check out, the cashier scans your things (very quickl...

One of the things I was super excited to try in Germany was the food.  I love food (esp. bread and coffee). While most of what I've been eating has been sandwiches, I have been able to try some really great things just in my first two weeks. This post will basically just be pictures--enjoy! Up first: airplane food. Lufthansa keeps you pretty well fed. Of course, I got wine as soon as it was offered. We were also given breakfast and much-needed coffee.  ______ Schloss Waldhausen cafeteria food. The top two things: the bread and the spaetzle, which is basically little doughy egg noodles. Yummmmmmmmm. Also: note the glass bottle with the clear liquid. That's sparkling water. Nobody really drinks plain water, especially not tap water. _________ Bratwurst from a fast food stand 😍 ______ Various alcohol. Radler is a half beer/half lemonade mix, which makes it tolerable to non-beer drinkers like me. One of my favorite t...