Although I was anxious to fly as far away from home as I have ever been, the process of getting to Augsburg was shockingly smooth. Unlike trips I have taken with my family in the past, everyone was ready on time and we all made it to the airport, starting us off on the right foot. We got through TSA with ease, and our group collected at our gate. To pass the time a few of us on the trip played card games and talked about what we were most looking forward to on the trip. About 2 hours of chatting later, we began to board and made our way from Pittsburgh to Newark for a short layover.

After getting off of our first plane we walked around Newark’s airport, which was far larger than I had expected. After taking in just how the airport was and grabbing some food to hold us over, we all waited outside our gate again, anxious and excited to begin our long flight to Munich.

Once we were boareded and all set for takeoff, the flight was extraordinarily smooth. The United staff was extremely pleasant, and the food was far better than I expected for something served on an airplane! I was given cheese and crackers as an appetizer, a pasta dish with salad, a roll, and a small desert cake for my entree, and a breakfast sandwich all before getting off the plane. I particulaly enjoyed the pasta dish the most. The plane was also equipped with built in movie screens to pass the time, so I was entertained the whole time I wasn’t asleep.

Now that I am here in Germany, I am really looking forward to getting to know the students at the University of Augsburg and broadening my perspective on the world. I think that hearing their experiences with the world from an entirely new point of view will open me up to new ideas I never would be able to think of in the United states.