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5 Things That I Experienced in My Exchange in Germany

So, like an arranged marriage, my parents knew that I was going to go on exchange before I did. My two older brothers did it, so why shouldn’t I too? And before I knew it, I was doing my application, and finally, I picked the amazing country of Germany, and with three months to the end of my exchange here are some of my experiences.

By Andrea LPublished 5 years ago 6 min read
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All though there are a lot of things that I can say about the exchange, these are the first that jump into my mind when I think about my exchange year.

1. The Food

So it’s not a secret that when you go to another country, the food will be different. Take it from me, I went from the Mexican diet, full of spices and tacos, to a more mellow German diet, almost no spices, and lots and lots of bread. Now, this doesn’t mean that they eat unhealthily, in fact, their diet is well balanced with exercise as well. I’ve actually lost a few pounds here, even though I came with the fear that I was going to gain weight, based on all the stereotypical media that says that Germans eat a lot of sausages and bread, which they do. But they also eat salads every meal, they don’t eat or drink a lot of sugar, and take out is not the norm. Pair that with the daily bike ride to school, or work, or to the store, and you get a healthy German with a life expectancy of 81. But I’ve grown to love these foods, and I could go on about them for days, and I’ll definitely miss them when I go back to my country.

2. The Language

So German, you love it, and hate it at the same time, it’s so versatile, and you can do so much with it, but they also have 31 ways to say the verb “go.” Now, when you’re on an exchange, the language is one of the biggest parts of it; if your organization cares whether you learn it or not also influences the outcome. Here in Germany, the rotary organization expects us to learn the language fairly well, so we have to take an evaluation in the middle of the year to determine our level, if you pass you’ve done well, If you don’t pass, however, it might be a sign to the organization that you’re not trying hard enough, or at all, and that will get you a warning at minimum, or a yellow card at worst. It’s a tough business out there, but then again the organization does provide you with weekly language learning classes, so it really is up to you. In my case, my German is not the worst, I’ve had weeks where I feel like I’ve learned a whole new range of vocabulary, and weeks where I feel like I’ve learned nothing at all. Still, I give it my best each time, and I’m getting better gradually, but something that will always haunt me is Der, Die, and Das. I’ve learned that I can never defeat them, and I’ve accepted that fact. Also, German grammar is a bitch.

3. The School

Okay, so I’m excited to tell you about this one; in fact, I think I might make a whole article on this later. The German school was boring at first, half due to the fact that I didn’t understand anything, and half do to the system itself. See, I come from a school where dudes would hide their friend’s backpacks in the ceiling, and when you go from that, to a classroom of 16 and 17 year olds, who listen to their teacher, raise their hand to speak, leave their desks clean, and just overall respect their school, it’s a rare sight. It was like a fantasy land, and yes, you might say that it’s due to the Germans and their costumes, and that that's just the way they are, but in truth it’s the school, it’s the system that raised them that way, and I can vouch for this because I worked in a kindergarten for three weeks, I got to see a lot about how they treat the kids, and how they help them deal with their problems. But like I said, I will talk about this more in the next article.

4. The Family

The family is a big part of your exchange year, nothing will prepare you more for starting your new life than having a good host family, Having a good family that you feel comfortable in, and that you grow to love is a very important part. Going on family trips, eating dinner with them, cleaning with them, going to the movies with them, they may be very different from what you’re used to, but they will leave a lasting impression on you, and you will leave one on them. And even when you leave you will always have a home in your host country. I still see stories about exchange students that come to visit their host families years after their exchange, because that’s just how close they’ve become. And it’s with them that you learn all the costumes and traditions of your host country. You may not click with some families, but that’s okay, it happens sometimes. Either way, you have three host families, or you’re bound to connect with at least one of them. Me, for example, I didn’t really fit in with my first host family, we had too-different lifestyles. But when I switched to my second host family, they took me in like I was already their own. I couldn’t have been happier with them. There is nothing better than hearing your host parents say that you will always be welcome to visit. I cried a bit when I had to leave them, but I’ll definitely take them up on that offer in the future.

5. Travel

Travel is probably one of my favorite things of my exchange, whether it is with family, with other exchange students, with rotary, or even by yourself. Now, this depends on which country you are in. In my experience in Germany, It’s pretty easy to take the train, and go to other cities close by, which I usually do with the other exchange students. And in a couple of weeks, I will be leaving on a trip through Europe with my club. Every country has a trip like this, almost at the end of the exchange, there is one big trip, usually through the biggest attractions in the country you’re in; a two week journey, with your friends, It really is a magical experience, the sad part is the reminder that when the trip is closing in, so is your goodbye to your host country. But it’s the equivalent of going out with a bang.

So those are some of the experiences I've had in my exchange! I hope you like it, I know that I went more into depth on some topics than on others, so If you want to know more, be sure to ask me in the comments! Also if you enjoyed the article, make sure to give it a like!

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About the Creator

Andrea L

I'm an 18-year-old currently in Exchange in Germany, I will talk about my experiences and topics that interest me!

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