When I was a sophomore in high school I decided I wanted to be an exchange student, and not to just any country either. To me the only country I had a desire to live in, besides the good old USA, was Germany. For me, Germany was more than just another country in Europe, Germany was my history it was where my family came from. So, my sophomore year I applied to be an exchange student and was accepted into a program called CBYX, or Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange. This is a scholarship program run by our Congress and the Bundestag, or Germany’s congress. Every year 250 high school aged Americans and 250 high school aged Germans are picked to receive this scholarship. People ask me all the time why I chose Germany as my country to spend a year in. Was it because I received a scholarship, was it because of my family, or did I take German in high school? To be honest there is no one answer as to why I feel in love with the beautiful country of Germany, but I’ll try and name a few.
One, my family history. My grandfather died before I was born and as a way to try and connect with him I decided to look into where my family came from. The more I discovered about Germany the more I feel in love with the country. I dreamed of one day going back to my family’s homeland and really getting to see where I came from in person, instead of just through books and the computer.
Two, the food. A lot of people don’t know but Germany has amazing food. Some of my favorites were schnitzel, Berliner (similar to a doughnut), Herring salad, tuna pizza, potato pancakes, and potato bread. My all time favorite had to be Dӧner. Dӧner is basically a Turkish gyro, have become very popular German street food. You cannot walk more than a few feet anywhere in Germany without running into a Dӧner shop. While living in Germany it became my favorite food and I constantly crave now that I’m back in the states!
Three, the German landscape. Germany itself is a breath takingly beautiful country. They have gorgeous mountain tops to crystal clear rivers. Every weekend in Germany was another adventure waiting to happen. There were always more places to see and go. On one of my holidays from school my host family and I went to Bavaria, do not be mistaken this is not all of Germany, and hiked the country side just taking in all of Germany’s beauty. I go to see Schloss Neuschwanstein, or Cinderella’s Castle, the Rhein River, Bigesse, and many more beautiful places. The German citizens also work very hard on keeping their country very clean. I don’t remember if I ever saw a piece of trash on the sidewalks ever while I was there. Germans also emphasize being eco-friendly, they all recycle and compost.
If these weren’t all reasons enough to make you want to travel to Germany yourself, I have one more reason you should. The German beer! The Beer in Germany was incredible, the amount a flavor that is German beer is remarkable. Germany is where I found my love of beer, I enjoyed going to beer gardens and breweries while in Germany. My friends knew I loved the German beer so much, that for my goodbye party they took me to my favorite brewery. While there we were able to tour the facility, learn how the beer was made and their history, and sample as many and as much of the beers they made there. I definitely recommended visiting one of the cleanest, friendliest, and enjoyable countries out there. I know if you do take the trip you won’t regret it.