a thank you letter

This essay was written by me as my AFS post program essay, and I also chose to publish it here, as it sums up my exchange. For my AFS exchange, I was placed in the small town of Husum on the North Sea, which is about forty five minutes from the Germany-Denmark border. I was...

The Pancake Debate

How do you make your pancakes? Like thin crepe wannabes or like thick, hearty, American PANCAKES? What do you put on top? Jelly, butter, or maple syrup? Your answeres to these questions dictate how I think about you and your culture and determine if we can be friends or not. Ok, but jokes aside, how...

The Belgian Stereotypes are True

When I thought of Belgium before my Europe tour via wohnwagen (camper) started, I envisioned pommes (French Fries), and chocolate. I honestly had no idea what the country had to offer, and I was pleasantly surprised. We visited three towns in Belgium, each with its own surprises. Gent Gent surprised me the most out of...

Sturmflut

As my mother and I got on the topics of tsunamis earlier today, a memory from early in my exchange popped into my head. Sometime in November of 2018, between learning German, going to school, and adjusting to the almost daily rain, my German companions notified me that a Sturmflut would happen at the Dockoog...

Luxembourg

My blog about Luxembourg will be about as proportionately long as the country itself. In short, we drove through the country on our way to France, and the entire country was one big traffic jam. I was in a gas station, but I failed to see anything remarkable or unique. I didn't even take a...

Medieval market

On a very sunny, humid, and hot day in June, I went to my first Medieval Market clad in a floor length mideval style dress. Reagrdless of the heat wave that it became in the relentless midafternoon sun, Silas and I saw mock fights, ate nougat, and drank beer in medieval attire and fashion. I...

My embarressing stories from France and the most stereotypical photo ever

France My time in France was short-lived, but full of witty anecdotes. We initially drove through a part of it while getting to our camp site (just over the German/French border on the German side) and this was where things started to go very wrong. I needed to pee. I hadn't peed in hours and,...

What Traveling across Europe in a Camper is REALLY Like

Two adults, a teenager, and a dog set out in a camper to see Europe. This is that story. (Broken up into several posts). This is part one. Germany (The beginning) We started at home in Husum, Germany, packed for two weeks, and drove to Lüneburg, a town about 30 minutes from Hamburg, in Lower...

10 Reasons Why Berlin is the Best City in Germany

Recently my boyfriend and I decided on a whim to take a weekend trip to Berlin. That is not the norm for us, as we normally plan our trips weeks in advance and save money specifically for the event. The whole idea for this getaway came about because Silas, afore-mentioned boyfriend, saw an advertisement for...

how to deal with homesickness and more while abroad

When you think "Study Abroad" you probably picture instagram models lying on exotic beaches or posing by the Eiffel tower, latte in hand. However, living abroad for a year is not always Eiffel towers and beaches. I won't lie to you, studying abroad is really challenging a lot of the time, and if you think you...