My arrival in Germany was chaotic but fun to say the least. When I arrived in Frankfurt, I was immediately confused. Thankfully, I already made a friend on the plane, or else I would’ve been lost. I expected the entry process/passport check to be thorough and that they’d ask me questions, but the passport controller just stamped my passport and said, “k, bye”. After rushing from passport control to catch my next flight to Hamburg, my new friend and I had no idea we had to catch a bus in the airport to drive to the next terminals. So after running through the airport about 3 times, we finally got the courage to ask where to go. Finally I got to my gate 5 minutes before boarding to start my new adventure in Germany.
One of the biggest culture shocks for me so far is that stores are closed on Sundays. Sometimes I want to buy something, but then I remember that everything is closed. So, you really have to plan ahead and buy food on other days of the week or else you’ll be pretty hungry on Sunday. Another thing that’s different is that dryers for clothes aren’t very common!
The separation from my friends, family and familiar ways of life has revealed a lot about myself. Everybody told me I would get homesick, but I’m actually not homesick at all (I do miss Chipotle burritos and Chic-Fil-A though). Being here has showed me that I’m actually more independent than I thought. But making friends definitely helps me to not become homesick, so if you study abroad, don’t be afraid to talk to people!
Right now I’m in Greece, then I have to fly back to Gießen because school starts the next morning. Being able to country-hop isn’t exactly possible in the US, especially this close to the start of school. By my next blog, I’ll already be busy in school and can write about my daily routine here.
One thing that surprised me is that under the town I often visit (my boyfriends house in northern germany!), there’s a whole system of bunkers from WW2. Unfortunately, someone covered the entrance with rocks, so I can’t get in. But the cool thing about Germany is that almost everywhere you go, there’s bits of history laying around, whether it be a castle or something from the war.