This past summer, I was lucky enough to travel all over Germany with 25 other North Penn students and 2 North Penn teachers.  After hosting a German girl in the fall of 2016, I jumped at the opportunity to go and visit her. I found out in the spring that I was selected to go on the 19 day German exchange. I was very happy to be picked to go on the trip, because only 26 students were chosen to go. As a sophomore, I was at the bottom of the list. Going into the trip, I only knew a few other students, but I made so many new friends, and now I have a few more friendly faces to wave to in the halls.

I’ll admit, I was somewhat nervous about going to a country where I didn’t know a word of the language. Yes that’s right, I went on the German exchange without knowing any German. I had taken Spanish for 3 years, and I am now taking it for a fourth. Many people assured me that the Germans have been learning English since kindergarten, and I would have no trouble communicating, but I was still nervous that while the other students on the trip were practicing their German, I would often be left out of the conversation. Both of these were the case. I had no trouble communicating with anyone, but sometimes I was confused when I couldn’t understand anything. Luckily, three other students who went on the trip who hadn’t taken German, so I wasn’t alone.

We left from North Penn on June 20th, and took a bus to the Newark Airport. On only our first day, I realized how hard it was to travel with 28 people. Luckily, Herr Baker and Mrs. Miller did a great job keeping us organized, with the help of the buddy system. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any sleep on the plane, and with the 6 hour time difference, everyone was very tired. After a few train rides, we arrived in Salzgitter. North Penn has a partner school in Salzgitter, so all of us were staying with host families. I was excited to meet my host, Caroline. After spending 32 hours awake and traveling, I was happy to finally go to sleep.

The five days we spent in Salzgitter were amazing! We took day trips to beautiful cities nearby such as Hamburg, Bremen, and Hannover. I also got to spend a lot of time with my host family learning about their town and daily life. Caroline was 18, so she could drive, and one of the coolest things I got to do was go with her on the autobahn, which is the German highway with no speed limit. All of the hosts also made sure to organize many fun things to do with all of the Americans together throughout our time there.

Our next stop was Dresden. We were only staying for one night, and we stayed in a hostel. The city of Dresden is so beautiful, and we got to see many things there. We saw a ballet, went hiking, went shopping, saw churches, and explored the city.

After our short stay in Dresden, we took 6 trains to Berlin. We stayed in another hostel in Berlin for 3 nights. Our group took up a whole floor, so we had a lot of fun hanging out every night together. It rained almost the entire time we were in Berlin, so many of our plans got changed. Some of my favorite things were the Brandenburg gate, the DDR museum, and the Berlin wall. One of my highlights of the whole trip was being in Berlin on the day that gay marriage was legalized in Germany. We got to see a gathering of people with pride flags and presidential candidate Martin Shulz give a speech.

Our final stop on the trip was Aalen, where we stayed for 9 days. North Penn also has a partner school in Aalen, so we were staying with host families instead of in hostels. I stayed with Alissa, who I had hosted 9 months earlier. It was so nice to see her again and meet her family. I really enjoyed walking through the town with them and learning the history. Throughout our 9 days, we traveled to nearby cities such as Nürnberg, Lindau, Munich, and even a day in Austria! We also go to spend two days in German school, and it was so interesting to compare and contrast it to North Penn.

Overall, my 19 days in Germany with North Penn were some of the best days of my life. I learned so much about other cultures and customs. Before June 20th, I knew not a single word of German, and now I know a few. I am grateful for all of the new friends I have made, both German and American. The food, the people, the experiences, and the destinations were incredible, and I wish I could go back!