Matt Carter
H-SC May Term Abroad
Münster, Germany
Summer 2015

Hello again! Es tut mir leid (I am sorry) about the wait! It has officially been two weeks in Münster and classes are in full swing! So far the students have been enjoying their classes and the city of Münster. A while ago, some of the students embarked on a day trip to Bremerhaven, Germany where we explored the Auswanderer (Emigration) Museum and the Climate Museum. In the Emigration museum we followed the tales of a German man leaving everything he had behind him in Germany as he embarked on the ship sailing to Ellis Island in New York. We were shown what the inside of the ships looked like and how packed the men were into bunk bed-style beds (3-4 men a bed!). Next we were shown the way that the immigrants made their way through Ellis Island and ultimately to Central Station in New York if they wished to travel further. The next story we were shown was that of a man immigrating to Germany and the struggles he faced to find a place to call home as well as finding a job in struggling times. We were shown an area that had stories of individuals dating back to the late 1800’s of both emigrating and immigrating men, women, and children. The next museum we visited was the Climate Museum where the museum path followed a line of latitude around the Earth beginning with Bremerhaven. The museum tour stopped in a few more places in Europe, then onto the deserts of Africa as well as the icecaps of Antarctica. Next, we went “up” to the heavens and saw Earth as it would appear at night before coming back “down” to earth to experience Samoa and its culture. All of these climates were not only shown to us, but also imitated through creation of hot/cold air, humidity, actual rain, and/or wind.

Matt Carter ’18 Walks Across a Bridge over Water in the Climate Museum

Zach Credle ’16 at the Climate Museum

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we had to leave the museum and return to Münster before we were able to see the entire museum. More recently we were given a long weekend by our professors and the students split into two groups, one headed for Florence, Italy and the other headed to Amsterdam, Netherlands. 12 of us made our way to Amsterdam by train and we arrived there around 6p on Thursday; we checked into our place for the weekend, Hostel Croydon, and immediately got started on exploring the city. Some of us made our way to the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, and took a trip of the city on a canal cruise. While others began their own unofficial walking tour of the city. Due to the fact that our Hostel was in the middle of the Red Light District (yes, that one) where pictures are not allowed to be taken, there are very few pictures of Amsterdam. The students enjoyed the many fruits of Amsterdam, not including the well-known occupants in certain windows with a certain colored light. Unfortunately that is all I can say about Amsterdam, but rest assured, the group that went there had an interesting weekend and many stories to tell.

On the Train to Amsterdam

Amsterdam Canals and Boat Traffic

Plaza in Amsterdam

The other group that went to Florence, Italy had, to my knowledge, a wonderful time exploring the city, visiting the different museums, and tasting the many different Italian wines. Thankfully both groups returned safe and sound, bringing back many souvenirs, to Münster late Sunday night ready for the second half of our summer semester. Fortunately, all of the students have, thus far, enjoyed the city and are extremely happy with their host families. The students in the intermediate levels are slowly gaining more and more German vocabulary while the advanced level students are committing the language to memory and reinforcing what they have already learned. Coming up: we have been invited to an Opera on Wednesday, which is optional to the students, but I will be attending so I will be able to let you know how German Opera is! We will also be visiting the LWL-Museum on Wednesday which, after a quick google search, appears to be the Art and Culture Museum in Münster. Other places we will be visiting include the Stadtmuseum (City Museum on 6/25) and the Münster Zoo (6/27).