We left at 5:45am and flew home this past Friday. The day was quite long, and I slept the majority of it. Instead of boring all you readers with those details, I figured I’d do a reflection on the trip.

Overall, I loved the trip and I am ultimately sad to go. This was my first time in Europe and although I was excited, I did not expect to love it here as much as I did. I realized I want to do an entire semester here. Two weeks was honestly not enough to explore such a vibrate country.

First, I will talk about some  of the things I really enjoyed. To start the public transportation system is unmatched. Not only is it extremely cheap but it is very convenient, clean, and reliable. Because most individuals take the tram, there are very little actual cars. This makes the city less busy, has cleaner air, and transportation faster. Another thing I loved was how affordable most food, clothing, and drinks were. Although there is a slight up charge for foreign debit cards, everything was normally a few euros cheaper than in America. This did not make much of a difference in two weeks but definitely would for a semester or longer. Not only was the food cheaper but the portions at restaurants were ginormous so you could get 2-3 meals out of them for like €10. While on the topic of food, the regulations are significantly stricter on what is allowed in food. This meant the food was so much better for one’s body overall. I lost weight on this trip, and we ate out 3 meals a day for 14 days. I also did not once feel crappy after eating food. As someone who is so into health and fitness, this was such a positive thing for me. I could go on for days about what I liked but the transportation, prices, and ingredients in food were the top three.


Next, I will discuss some of the things I did not enjoy. First and foremost, they do not have free water. In fact, water at most places was just as expensive if not more expensive than other drinks. This was super annoying and got expensive paying €5-10 per time we went out to eat. And to make matters even worse, they did not have water fountains. I will say though that the tap water was safe to drink so this isn’t a complete deal breaker. I also did not like the fact that you had to pay for the bathrooms. Some of us would just climb over or wait for when we went to a restaurant to avoid paying. I think that if one lived here, it would also not be a big deal. Lastly, I hated the language barrier. Now don’t get me wrong, this was by no means anyone’s fault but mine. Most people spoke English and were kind, but I felt so ignorant and disrespectful coming into someone else’s country and not knowing their language. It also has the potential to be dangerous if one cannot communicate with someone or read the road/street signs. When I go back, I will know a lot more German that’s for sure!

Overall, I loved Germany so much and I truly hope I will be blessed enough to do an entire semester.

Signing off

Kat Listwak