Saturday, May 18th marked our last day in Germany. I had stayed up late the night prior, so 7 AM came bright and early for me. We took the bus to the Munich airport, where security took way longer than I thought it would. However, we thankfully made it to our gate on time. As our flight took off, I felt a little sad that my Germany trip was coming to the end.

That was two weeks ago today. I’m now back to my normal American life, but I am already missing my time spent in Augsburg and Germany as a whole. Reflecting back on this trip as a whole, I learned a lot and saw a lifestyle so different from my own. Even on day 1, I noticed the difference in things like transit and food, and the depth my information about these things grew deeper every day I spent there. There were things I loved, like the fantastic public transportation, and things I did not like, like paying €3.40 for a glass of water.

Some highlights of this trip for me were spending time with the University of Augsburg students, touring Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich, and Landsberg. First and foremost, I loved spending time and getting to know the Augsburg students. Most of the time when you’re traveling, you don’t get the chance to establish bonds with the people there. Due to this being an exchange program, we did, and it was great! I think that made this experience that much more valuable. I enjoyed touring Neuschwanstein Castle despite the hike that made me realize how out of shape I am. It was like seeing something out of a movie, and the area captured the charm of a place that just does not exist in the US. Our day in Munich was a very fun day. There was so much to do that I would love to come back to Germany just to visit Munich again and do all there is to do! Landsberg was a highlight because it was a very chill day, and we just got to walk around this beautiful city with new friends.

Although I learned a lot of things on the trip, I’ll only highlight a few. Something I learned a few days in is that Americans are way louder in public than Germans. I’ve always known the stereotype that Americans are loud, but I first really noticed this when we were taking the tram one day. Our group was split into two just by what seats were available. I was sitting quietly on my phone a few minutes in when I heard a group of loud people talking, and this is loud relatively because everyone else was dead silent. I turned to my left and realized that loud group was just the rest of the American students, and I only noticed because I was not a part of it for once! This is not to say that German people cannot be loud either, not at all, but there are just different customs there for when it is appropriate to be loud.

Another thing I learned is that there is a much higher emphasis on environmentalism in Germany than in the US. Something I encountered in everyday life there was the recycling bottles thing. Whereas recycling bottles in the US is seen more as a good thing to do, there is a required deposit paid on bottles there that heavily incentivizes recycling. Even if you don’t recycle the bottle yourself, it is considered polite to leave the bottle right next to the trashcan. That way, people who return that bottle for the deposit do not have to search through the trash. This, of course, is not the only environmentally friend thing there. More public transit is better for the environment than relying primarily on cars, and in fact the EU is banning gas powered cars in 2035. The attitude is so different from America where plastic is king and people get very upset over paper straws. There are a few reasons why this could be so, like just a difference in cultural values, different political concerns, different lifestyles, or even a combination of a bunch of little factors. Something that even came up during the company visits is that the War on Ukraine has increased the desire for less of a reliance on fossil fuels because Russia is a large provider. It’s a very complicated thing.

Overall, I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. I will never forget the experiences I had and the friendships I made in Germany. I hope to continue traveling across the world in my future, and view this as a start!