Germany

1
Germany

• My two month summer experience in Europe.
• By, Jennie Rademacher

2
Stuttgart, Germany

• My program was through the University of
  Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany.
• The University of Hohenheim was a medium size
  school with a large demographic of students.
  Hohenheim also had an extensive agriculture
  focus.
• I took two masters level (graduate) modules (3
  week courses) Advanced Resource Management and
  Precision Farming.

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Why?

• My major is international resource and consumer
  economics. This paired with my love for
  experiencing new things drove me to explore my
  options abroad.
• I knew I wanted to go to Europe and I have always
  been interested in Germany. The Hohenheim
  program seemed tailor made to my major and
  interests.
• I hoped to gain intellectual knowledge but more
  importantly develop skills to understand and work
  well with people from all walks of life.

4
Getting In.

• After attending the informational meeting and
  learning as much as possible about the program I
  decided to apply.
• The application required my transcripts, a letter
  of recommendation as well as filling out a resume
  like questionnaire.
• After my acceptance I researched my airfare and
  travel options travel cuts was very helpful to
  me during this process.

5
Anticipation and Expectations

• I was fortunate to travel to Europe once before
  so I was used to some European culture but
  Germany was still very different.
• My biggest concern was meeting students and
  developing friendships. I really wanted to
  experience Germany as a native (as much as that
  was possible anyway.)
• I was looking forward to exploring all the
  cultural differences as well as mastering a
  completely different territory.

6
How it went

• I lived with a retired professor off campus.
  Getting to know Bernie was an excellent
  experience but living off campus felt very lonely
  and isolated at times.
• I was very friendly in my classes to meet people
  although most people in my classes were much
  older than me and not at the same level socially.
  Actually all the people in my class were not
  locals most were from Eastern Europe, the Middle
  East, and Africa (which was very interesting.)
• The German students took a bit of time to
  initially warm up too. They definitely dont
  believe in the obligatory American smile ( which
  took me a while to get used too.) Once I did get
  to know some of them they were very kind and nice
  to see out socially.
• In my spare time I read, a lot, I didnt have a
  TV or computer easily accessible so I really
  started to enjoy the only English radio station
  and any English reading material I could get my
  hands on. I also spend time exploring the town
  and shopping. (One day we traveled an hour to get
  an American style cheeseburger, it was great.)
• I wish forming friendships with the German
  students was easier and not just acquaintance
  based. I found myself to be constantly an
  observer which is a great way to learn but after
  a while can feel extremely isolated.

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Conclusion

• I would participate in this program if I did it
  with a good friend. I would like to have someone
  to share and reflect upon the experience with.
• I would recommended this program to a very
  independent person who is up for a very enriching
  but can be challenging trip.
• Because of this trip I hope to live and work
  abroad after I graduate college. Exploring new
  cultures will continue to be a major interest for
  me.