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...

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...

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...

The Sun Finally Came Out and I’m a Podcaster!

It feels like I haven't seen the sun in months. I wake up, it's dark. I bike to school, it's dark. All day, it's cloudy. I bike home, it's dark. The only time of day with sun, approximately 45 minutes, takes place in the morning when I'm at school. When this happens, more often than...

“Unsere Heizung ist Kaputt!” and I’m Becoming my Mother

Today I woke up and something about my house seemed...cold. Not just the-its raining constantly and I haven't seen the sun in 3 months because it's Northern Germany- cold. The -our heat system is definitely broken- cold. As I was sitting on the couch this afternoon, writing blog posts and such, it only seemed to...

Regression to the Mean

I won't lie to you, undertaking the challenge of becoming an exchange student doesn't come without its ups and downs. Although it will probably be the best year of your life, one of change, reflection, and growth, there will be days where you question why you decided to be an exchange student in the first...

All I want for Christmas… is snow!

Northern Germany doesn't get much snow. Most of the time, it is only cold and rainy here. Like a perpetual November that doesn't go away. Today, however, while my boyfriend and I were eating brunch, we got the news that snow was predicted for an whole hour this evening. It has only ever flurried this...

Thanksgiving: Deutsch und Vegan

As half of being an Exchange Student is sharing your Culture with your Host Country, I took November 22nd as a prime opportunity to do so. With the entirety of my family celebrating Thanksgiving together in the States, I decided to make my own celebration. In the middle of November, I began finding recipes, making...

Sometimes the Smallest Adventures are the Most Fun.

Here is a small collection of memories I have made in Germany. To some, they might seem small and insignificant, but to me they are the quintessential example of my exchange year, as they have taken place in my new home of Husum with people I now consider family. Fut-yes In the small city of...

Kalt und Müde

Some days all Germany has alloted me is being cold and tired, or so I thought. One of these such days was the 23rd of September. That day was the last day of the Late Orientation camp for AFS exchange students in the Northern Germany region. When the last activities were finished and the last...