Coming from such a rural campus, seeing the University of Augsburg was a complete shock to me. It’s not like I had never seen a rural campus before, as I toured plenty whenever I was choosing where to attend college for myself, but none of those campuses were quite like what they have here in Augsburg.

The campus itself manages to maintain both a modern and classic style, with some buildings showing age and character as if they’ve been around forever, and other newer buildings showing innovation and progression over time. The statues and artwork around campus also represented this clash of styles, some more abstract and some more historic. I particularly really liked the pond on campus, as it broke up the concrete and cement and allowed for real wildlife to exist on campus.

When we toured around Augsburg, we learned more about just how much life the city has. Everyone in town was oddly friendly. Not that we don’t have friendly people back home in Pittsburgh, but it just seemed as though everyone was a little more aware and respectful of other people around them. One thing in particular that stood out to me was people’s respect for the city itself. While there were far fewer trash cans around than I am used to, there wasn’t much litter on the streets at all.

We then went to an Italian restaurant, which was pretty good for being in Germany. I ordered a margherita pizza that came out tasting like a regular plain cheese, but it was still very good. The restaurant itself had a charm to it. There was no flashy sign on the outside of the building, but rather it felt more like a hole in the wall. Even with the small differences, I would say that this was pretty similar to an Italian restaurant I would have back home in Pittsburgh, which was absolutely fine by me.