Over Winterim this semester, from December 30 to January 14, I left Oshkosh for Fulda, Germany. Since hearing about study abroad trips as a freshman I have wanted to do this. As the day I would board the bus got closer, I got a little more nervous. My nerves hit hard because I thought I wouldn't make friends fast enough or be alright away from home for two weeks. As it turned out, I took more away from my study abroad trip to Germany than I ever thought I would. For those of you still wondering if the money or time away is worth it, here's a quick recap of my trip.
Class Time
Originally, I had no idea how learning or class would be incorporated into our study abroad experience. When I thought about the trip I almost completely left out the actual school part. What actually happened is that our group of about twenty students attended a UW Oshkosh partner school- the University of Hoschule, Fulda.
Because this trip was through the College of Business and would earn us six credits, we had to attend two classes each day. The first class was a global business management course taught by UW Oshkosh professor Mark Manske, that went from 9 a.m. until noon Monday through Thursday. We then had a lunch break to eat in the school cafeteria. From 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. we were taught basic German by professors from the German university. This might seem like a long period of time, but several days were cut short due to other activities that we had to go to.
The best and most beneficial part about our class was hearing from the students from Iran, Ukraine, Germany, South Korea and Mexico. These students were a part of our group for the entire two
weeks and gave us plenty of new persepctives.
Entertainment
Each night our group had something to do thanks to the planning of the international coordinator from Horschule University. We got to do things like take a salsa class, a German cooking class and attend a film festival. All of these things were something different that we would normally not get the chance to do. The activities brought the group closer as well.
Beyond what we got to do in Fulda, we also visited Berlin for the weekend and Frankfurt for the day. In Berlin we got a walking tour of the city, which was beautiful but a bit freezing, and a tour of the parliment building. Then, in Frankfurt we went to the Dialog Museum. This was especially unique because it allowed our group to travel through pitch black rooms and experience what it would be like to be blind. After the mueseum we went to a traditional German restaurant, which was of course delicious.
After getting this amazing chance to travel to Europe, I would recommend studying abroad to every student. Just think, when is there a better time than as a college student? If you're looking for study abroad opportunities check out the study abroad fair in Reeve on February 9, 2012.
