Nathan Evans, Business, Technology and Engineering: The German Way Summer 2023
This study abroad program first started on Zoom so that we could be introduced to the faculty and begin lectures. This meant that there would be more free time for activities while in Germany. During this first week, we were told that Germans have a tough exterior and not very “friendly” at first but will open up after spending some time with them. From hearing this, I thought that it would be difficult for us to make friends while abroad because most of our group had not traveled outside of North America so I figured that we may be viewed as outsiders. However, my worries were extinguished the very first day.
After getting picked up by our “buddies”, which were German students that were assigned to help us adjust to the culture, we decided to go out to Hofbräuhaus. This was the first time seeing everyone on the trip in person, so we introduced ourselves and began sharing stories and jokes. From just the first night, we began bonding with not only the people from Pitt, but with the German students. Even though we grew up in completely different countries with different norms, we had so much in common.
After class, we often didn’t want to spend a ton of money going out, so we decided to hang out at a small river near our hotel. Here we would bring a speaker and hang out with each other. This became such a routine that we began to invite the German students to come. Not only did we invite the buddies, but we invited their friends and other students that we met in the school. The school in Munich was very different from Pitt because the students were given much more freedom. Just in the two weeks that we were at this school, there were 3 separate events that were hosted at the school. We met lots of other locals because we were the only Americans in the school at the time, so everyone in the building knew of us. This helped because everyone wanted to talk to us, to see how we liked it in Germany, and to practice their English. Usually after these events we would invite our new friends to join us back at the river that night.
The final instance that confirmed that the majority of Munich was friendly was when we traveled to the Olympic Park. It was a fairly nice day, so the park was packed with people enjoying the weather. As we were about to leave, we saw a basketball court and a few guys in their 30s playing. Even though we were all wearing jeans and khakis we asked if we could play against them. They were happy to play with us, and for the 30 minutes that we played, I felt like I was back in the United States playing a pickup game at Trees in Pittsburgh.
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