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

July 11, 2015

Hello for one last time, the summer Münster program has ended and all of the students have returned home. The experience was definitely one to remember and one I hope that other students will take in the future. Although, it is quite different once you get across the pond; Germany drives on the right side of the road, but much of the similarities stop there. The architecture is a beautiful mixture of old buildings hundreds of years old and modern architecture with glass as the main element. These two very different styles of architecture are extremely beautiful to look at when meshed together. The vehicles were much nicer considering Porsche, BMW, VW, & Jaguar were made over there making them much cheaper to own. The public transport system was amazing and heavily used by the people due to it being efficient and effective. Lastly, the way they eat is different from the way we do, they eat bread and jam for breakfast and dinner, but have a large lunch where the family will leave their work and come home to eat with the family. I believe I will miss the opportunity to travel to other places so easily, meaning that I was able to just hop on a train and travel to another country in a short amount of time considering if I wanted to hop on a train over here and travel the same amount of time, I would still be in the same state. I think I will also miss the wonderful food while traveling abroad including the currywurst and bratwurst.

The advice I would give to students planning on going on this abroad trip is to realize that Europe is cooler than America. The weather typically hovers around the lower 60s and high 50s, so pack warm! I mistakenly packed for warm weather and was cold for most of my time there. Also, realize that Euros are stronger than the US Dollar and you will end up spending much more money than you will have originally wanted to, but realize that it is an experience of a lifetime and will be worth it.  I would definitely recommend traveling to other countries. Yes, you have gone on that specific program to experience Germany, but you will have a great opportunity to visit multiple other countries in a short amount of time and experience multiple different cultures.

The best thing about being home is that everyone speaks English. I no longer have to translate everything that is being said in my head. I also missed my bed and my shower. Also, it is great being home and being able to catch up with friends and telling stories about my time abroad and listening to what they have done for the last month. However, the hardest things is as soon as I got back I went right back to work.