Studying Abroad in Germany
I was a senior at Wheaton College when I studied abroad during the Spring semester of 2020 in Regensburg, Germany. Though I was advised to stay back, I decided that since there were people living in Europe at that time dealing with the spread of COVID-19, I also would survive there during this time.
It was an interesting experience for me, not only because it was a completely new culture, but also because it was during a global pandemic when everyone in the world was dealing with similar circumstances–of course, some worse than others. Though I was also advised to return from the program after having lived in Germany for about a month because my school didn’t want to be held accountable if I contracted the virus, I decided that since there were people in quarantine all over the world and the borders would be closed anyway, I would be okay staying in Germany.
Due to my unforgettable experiences, while studying abroad, I plan to continue incorporating travel into my life and improve my global relations through future travels. I was able to meet other students from all over the world while living in Regensburg–something that I would have never gotten to do if I had stayed in the US.
Check out this article written about my studying abroad during the Pandemic: https://wheatoncollege.edu/news/lessons-from-studying-abroad-during-pandemic/
I posted vlogs of the crazy things I got to do in Germany on YouTube as well!
The first couple of months of the Regensburg program were spent in quarantine. Everyone was told to stay at home and to only go out for essential outings such as grocery shopping or doctor appointments. With hopes that the travel restrictions would be lifted by the end of the semester, I planned a two-week-long tour around Germany for myself and continued to be excited for it until the day finally came when everyone was allowed to travel domestically. I documented those first couple of months in a vlog that I posted on my YouTube channel: SydneyAdventures.
This was the first time that I had traveled solo for such a long period of time! I began my solo trip by taking a train to Lemgo, where my friend who I had met in the U.S. lived. Nicole had been an exchange student in Arizona two years prior and had stayed a few nights with my family while she was in the U.S. I got to then stay with her and her father for a few days to kick off my traveling around Germany. I felt like I was a foreign exchange student again–starting out the year with a new host family and culture shocks all around me. Nicole took me with her to a youth group at her church and I got to speak a bit of German with her friends. Everyone was welcoming and tried to help me when I didn’t understand the language or culture. After exploring Nicole’s town and becoming acclimated with her family and friends, it was time for me to move on and explore another part of Germany.
After reluctantly bidding Nicole farewell, I traveled north by train to the city of Hannover. Exhausted from the train ride, I finally got to the student hostel by 4 pm, dropped my bags on the bed in my small room, and dragged myself out of the hostel again to tour the city while there was still daylight left. There was no time to waste as the sun was setting pretty early and I knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time before my train the next day to Hanover. I took many pictures and videos for my YouTube vlog and saw as much as I could in the few hours of daylight I had left.
The next day, I went to the train station to catch a train to Hamburg. I was trying to help a woman, at the Hannover train station, figure out which train would get her to her destination, as she was very confused with the train’s weekend schedule. The woman was really nice and had a bubbly personality. A few minutes before my train arrived at the station, she asked me if I was from America because she could hear it in my accent. I was surprised she knew exactly where I was from and admitted that I was indeed from the U.S. We talked about where I was living in Germany and what I was studying at Universität Regensburg. I really enjoyed speaking German with her and was very glad that she did not switch to English at any point, as many people do; it can be quite annoying when I am just trying to practice speaking as much as I can and they just switch to English without even giving me a chance.
I stayed in Hamburg for the following three nights on my own. I walked around, again taking many pictures and videos of the beautiful architecture and unique sites. I was impressed with the amazing views that greeted me no matter where I went and the architecture that made the buildings seem like they took hundreds of years to build with their intricate designs and unique structure. I was on my feet non-stop all day and still failed to soak up all of the beauty in the city.
A few days later, I jumped onto a train again in the direction of Berlin! There, I met two of my international friends (Paula from Chile, and Lenara from Russia) and we shared a room in a student hostel for two nights. I was excited to hang out with people again. Though I had enjoyed having some time alone to spend with myself for the first few days while touring Germany, I also enjoyed having company to share my thoughts with once again. Lenara and Paula met up with me at the hostel and after we had checked into our room, we began our exploration of the city! We challenged ourselves to try to see as many sights as we could before the end of each day. Our days in Berlin were so packed full of fun activities and amazing sights, I didn’t even realize how far we had ended up walking by nightfall. I checked my step count at the end of each day and according to my phone, we had walked almost 40 thousand steps in just one day! Though we were exhausted every night, the three of us had a blast getting lost, accidentally trespassing on occasion, and learning many new things about the German culture.
The last city I visited before returning to my student apartment in Regensburg, was the grand city of Dresden. I took a long bus from Berlin to Dresden as it was a lot cheaper than a last-minute train ticket since I had originally not included the extra night in my travel budget. All the buildings near the Altstadt were beautifully old and photogenic. I got to ride a Ferris wheel to experience the best possible view of the sunset that night. It was really funny because the workers at the bottom of the Ferris wheel were just a bunch of young guys making jokes to one another and trying to have a good time at work. They must have been talking about me when I got on...probably wondering why I was riding a Ferris wheel alone. When I got into the little pod, one of them blew me a kiss...so I blew one back to him and he cracked a smile.
When I returned to Regensburg, I realized that though I had been itching to leave that city just a few weeks prior, Regensburg had become home to me. It had become a place to which I had grown accustomed and my love for the city had officially developed into something that I would never forget. My trip around Germany was pretty spectacular, but I was glad to be back. To be home again.
I took many photos of my semester abroad, check them out below!
