For spring break during my semester abroad, a few other students and I decided to go to Munich and then Berlin. We more or less went individually or in small groups and tried to meet up as we could while in both cities.

I took the train to Munich and met up with the others, and we went on a tour of the city the following morning.

The legend behind this church is that the architect made a deal with the devil, and the church was built in only 2 years. The deal was that there were not allowed to be any windows, so from the following footprint of the devil, no window is viewable due to the pillars.

I had also contacted some people via couchsurfing and one guy had time to meet up with us. Vladimir and I met up with Sebastian and he took us to a bar. I drank too much. After a long night, Vladimir and I made our way to the hostel we were staying at. I got into my room and started to climb the ladder to my bed which was in the top bunk. I wasn’t paying attention and I had my arms completely outstretched which created a heavy weight on the side of the bed. The next thing I knew, the entire bunk bed was lying on top of me, pinning me to the floor. I had managed to pull the entire bed over and it kind of twisted my ankle as well as giving me a concussion. I woke up everyone in the room, not to mention the guy who was sleeping in the bottom bunk. They made sure I was okay and helped me put the bunk bed upright and made sure I got into it properly. I didn’t realize I had hit my head so hard, and I went to sleep.

The next morning Vladimir and I went to the Deutsches Museum.

After a while, I was noticing my concussion. My ankle hurt which made walking annoying, but a headache really started to hit me. I felt dizzy and just couldn’t concentrate, and I ultimately ended up sitting out the last hour or so on a bench.

Later in the day, we took a car via a carpooling website to Berlin. Just outside of Munich, we got rear-ended by the car behind us in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. I later had to sign a witness slip for the driver, but otherwise we got to Berlin fine.

I couchsurfed the entire time I was in Berlin, so I didn’t catch up with the others all too much. I either went around with my hosts or just walked by myself.

I went into the Neues Museum on the Museum Island.

 

I then went into another museum, but I am honestly not sure which one it was anymore.

After spending a good few days in both Munich and Berlin, I met up with the other international students and we carpooled back home together. I pleasant spring break!

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Much later, I returned to Munich to hang out with the couchsurfer that I met up with while there during my spring break. I didn’t get a concussion this time!

We mostly just hung out, had some beers, and walked around the city—nothing too exciting, but it was pleasant.

Since I was so close, though, I took the opportunity to check out the Dachau concentration camp. Everyone knows Auschwitz, but this was another major camp and the first one the Nazis made.

It was quite a humbling experience to see the size of the cells and cots that prisoners were subjected to. I hope nothing like that will ever be repeated.

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On one fine summer day, the other international students and I went to a specific part of the Black Forest: the “Troll Forest.”

I thought it was a mistake in translation when our German guides told us where we were going, but they meant what they said. There were lots of wooden sculptures and signs regarding trolls throughout that section of the woods which was quite entertaining.

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Straddling the German-Swiss border is Konstanz—another city that we all went to during the weekend together.

I went swimming in the lake, and it was freezing! You can’t see it in the picture, but in the distance, there was still some ice on the water. The others said I was crazy. Maybe they were right…

In any case, I didn’t swim long: only a few minutes.

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Another weekend, we took a bit of a farther journey from Pforzheim to Nuremberg.

 

Nuremberg is a very pretty city, but one of the main reasons we went to the city was to see the Nuremberg Trial Courthouse, which showcases the Nuremberg Trials against the Nazis. I regret to say but it was one of the most, if not the most boring museums I have ever visited.

There was certainly no lack of documented information but looking at pictures of a courtroom or observing copies of court papers is just simply not my idea of a good time. Since that museum was kind of the main attraction for us, it kind of spoiled the otherwise gorgeous city for me.

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Stuttgart is very close to Pforzheim, and the Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest is held there every spring. The spring festival is basically like Oktoberfest but during the spring and with fewer people so it’s more feasible to visit. Quite a few of the other international students and I went there and had a beer or two.

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In my effort to check out as much of Germany as I could while I was there, I also went to Hamburg for a long weekend by myself.  I really liked it! A lot of German architecture can be a little drab after a while. I understand that it was necessary to build a lot of housing very quickly after the war, so a lot of buildings tend to be gray concrete. I found Hamburg to be quite refreshing with its large emphasis on brick buildings.

One of my first experiences in Hamburg was biffing on a skateboard. My couchsurfing host had a roommate who skated a lot, and I mentioned that I used to skateboard when I was younger. He asked if I wanted to ride one with him, and I foolishly agreed. They lived at the top of a sloped road, and we went down it. It had been so long that I was not any good at stopping, especially on a downhill path, and I just went tumbling head over heels. I spent the next few days in Hamburg with scabs on my knees and hands, but I was otherwise fine.

I really enjoyed talking with my hosts there. While I was having a good time traveling around with the other international students, I was feeling a little down. I felt very lonely because it seemed like everyone else was really clicking with each other. It’s hard to explain because I certainly was invited to hang out at plenty of events and nobody seemed to dislike me. It just seemed like a lot of other people clicked a lot more. I felt like the others were hanging out with each other a lot, hooking up with each other, and generally had more similar interests than I did (I never really felt like going to the clubs they did, and instead spent many Friday evenings in my room in my apartment). My host lamented that he often felt the same as well because he was often traveling around a lot, and it’s hard to develop bonds with people. Even though the other international students were pretty much in the same boat as I, they still seemed to connect with each other more, but regardless, his words still made me feel better. I did end up making some friends that I still talk to every now and then, so it turned out all right I suppose. I just couldn’t shake the sensation of being a wallflower in the international group. But now I’m rambling—on to Hamburg!

The Hamburg Dungeon was pretty cool. It showcased a lot of the darker history that took place in Hamburg. It was difficult for me because they only had one show in English each day, and I didn’t have enough time to make it, so I went into one of the German viewings. My German was okay at that point, and I could understand a fair amount of what was being said. The frustrating part was that they often involved an audience member, and for some reason, they kept picking me. I normally love that, but my German was certainly not that good, and I had to continuously and awkwardly decline their demands for me to be the audience member to partake in that segment of the show.

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Another weekend, I went to Mainz to go to an anime convention that I had happened to see advertised. I couldn’t quite convince anyone else to go with me, so I went alone.

The convention was pretty small, and I got pretty bored very quickly. I had already purchased my return ticket, though, so I needed to wait it out.

I wandered to a booth where you could paint whatever you wanted. A group called Freigeist was inviting people to simply paint for free. Without much else to do, I decided to paint a canvas.

That would turn out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made; I ended up meeting some of my best friends through the group. This eventually prompted me to return to and move to Germany (and deal with the foreigner’s office…), but that’s another story for another time!

My semester abroad in Pforzheim, Germany, came to an end, and I flew back to Laramie, Wyoming, to finish off my bachelor’s degree.

I am super thankful that I had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad in Germany. I had never previously paid much thought into visiting Germany, but it turned out to be nice enough that I moved back. I made some great friends and had an amazing journey, and I am still living in Germany as of writing this.

Auf Wiedersehen!