Cameron Kiebort, Business, Engineering, and Technology: The German Way Summer 2023
My colleagues and I stayed at the Living Hotel Am Deutschen Museum during our study abroad program in Munich, Germany. A living hotel allows you the opportunity to live in places where you would not necessarily buy or rent a room. Our trip was two weeks, so this option made the most sense. I have never had an experience staying in a living hotel before. In my hotel room, there was a bathroom, two beds, a kitchen, silverware, plates, bowls, a large closet, and a desk with a TV. I had everything I needed in one room. There were also other perks to staying in this hotel. For example, our hotel provided breakfast every morning and housekeeping once every week. I was always on the move so having these resources was very helpful.
There were fourteen students on my trip including myself, so everyone shared a room with one other person. Roommate assignments were randomly given unless you gave a preference, and I gave a preference to stay with a peer I knew previously. It made the adjustment to living in a new country a little bit easier because I knew someone. Also, my peers and I all got rooms on the same floor. This helped me to get to know the other members on my trip a lot better.
The only downside about staying here was that Hochschule München (HM) was about an hour’s walk from the hotel. HM was the University where I took classes during my time in Munich. Since walking there would take way too long, some of the students who go to HM taught me and my peers how to use the S-Bahn and the trams. S-Bahn is a German abbreviation for the word Stadtschnellbahn which translates to “urban rapid rail.” This version of the subway was way faster than the NYC subway. We took the S-Bahn from Rosenheimerplatz to Hauptbahnhof Central Station. At the station, my colleagues and I would grab breakfast and run to catch one of the tram cars going in the direction of the school. By the end of the first week, I was a pro at taking the transit system.
My favorite thing about the hotel was the fact it was next to the Isar. The Isar is a river that flows through Munich. The water comes from Karwendel, which is one of the largest mountain ranges that is a part of the Alps. It is 300 km (~186 miles) long. Lots of residents hang out at the river’s edge or ride their bikes along it. One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen is the river surfers. Lots of Munich locals take surfboards to certain parts of Isar and surf on it because the river has waves. The river itself is very clean, so lots of people swim, too. There are also lots of Beer Gardens located along the Isar which are a staple in Bavaria. Beer Gardens consist of long wooden tables often located underneath shade. There are vendors that sell beer and food next to the tables. It is typical to sit next to a complete stranger at these tables, which is different compared to restaurants in America. Overall, it was a really cool experience to participate in the Isar culture.
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