Maggie (Without) Borders: My Year in Germany

I realized that, while I had mentioned language school previously, I have yet to actually describe what it was like. As my goal with this blog was to catalogue my experience for my family/friends as well as potential participants…. Whoops. Let me get on that. So: throwback to Köln! Arrival was surreal. The first place we actually went within the city was the Carl Duisberg Centrum , or CDC, which was our language school. Awaiting us was a small reception where we were introduced to the staff. We didn’t stay for long—we were very quickly given our host families’ addresses and descriptions along with 250 Euros for food for the month, then picked up one by one by taxis or our new host parents. The next few days were spent adjusting and learning exactly what we were in for during our stay in Cologne: language classes, a weeks-long group project, mandatory trips to Bonn, and almost daily excursions. Language Classes Now, it’s worthwhile to say that I can only speak on my exper...

A few weeks ago, I ran into an American friend on the train. I greeted her in English, but since she was with one of her German friends, we continued the conversation in German. A few stops later, my friend exits the train. I continue speaking to her friend, but I hear someone faintly repeating "excuse me," as we chat. I finally realize it's the man next to me trying to get my attention. I make eye contact with him. "English?" He asks. "Yes, of course," I reply. He looks, to be honest, a little worse for wear. Tattered clothes, unkempt nails, and skin smudged with dirt. English was clearly not his first language, and he didn't speak German. He smiles and shows me his phone. He's on an online German job board. "I'm looking for a job," he says in somewhat broken English, "but I don't know what this says. Can you help?" "Sure," I reply, not at all sure if I can. "What kind of job?...

So about 2 months ago, I moved to Hamburg. Being that it is the second largest city in Germany, a popular tourist destination worldwide, and my home until June, I figured I should probably tell you about it a little. As I said, Hamburg  is a very large and fairly wealthy city. With 1.8 million residents, the city is second only to Berlin in Germany and is the 14th largest city in Europe. The average income is just under 50,000 EUR per ear, which is equal to about $58,000. This is most likely due to Hamburg's status as the second largest port in Europe--Hamburg's history is marked with multiple instances of destruction, but the nature of its port has helped it recover and prosper after each disaster. Neuer Wall is one of the more luxurious shopping districts in Europe. It's located in the center of the city, right by Rathaus (City Hall) and contains storefronts for Rolex, BVLGARI, Coach, etc. One of my favorite things to do is walk through the lights on this street ...

I said this before, but leaving Cologne was awful. Just as I was starting to feel settled in, it felt like I was ripped from my friends. We all promised to visit each other, so I decided to end my first month in Hamburg with a trip to the capital of Thuringia, called Erfurt, to visit my friend Marissa. Erfurt is about 6 hours by bus away from Hamburg. It’s located in what once was East Germany, but it’s actually somewhat close to the center of the country. It’s a fairly small capital city—the population is only about 210,000, which is comparable to Birmingham, Alabama. It’s surrounded by a beautiful landscape of low hills, forests, and farms, and a lot of the architecture is old-fashioned and elaborate. Needless to say, it is a far cry from a city like Hamburg, and a very welcome change of pace and scenery for me. Erfurt on a map of Germany. I arrived in Erfurt on Friday evening. Marissa was waiting for me with her two tutors and three other PPPler. We went immediate...

On my second day in Germany, I posted a photo on Instagram of some trees, noting how they were different than the ones in the US. One of my former coworkers, an international student herself, commented that she had noticed the same thing when she came to the US, and then welcomed me to life as an international student. This made me pause. I’m an international student? I thought,  I don’t feel any different. While at language school in Cologne, I was able to let this go. Given that I was surrounded by [mostly] Americans day in and day out, my status as an international student went largely ignored. This changed immediately once I arrived in Hamburg and started attending university. It’s amazing what a language barrier can do to you and your personality. At home, I was self-assured. I didn’t worry about people talking to me, and I didn’t worry about having to talk to them. Asking for help wasn’t a chore, and getting to know others wasn’t a source of anxiety. Now that I’...