1: Week 1 Reflection (Thomas Carroll

    The first day we were in Germany, after the long day of travel and airport shenanigans, I was greeted by the sweetest little German lady ever. Immediately, certain things shocked me that I did not expect to come from my host family experience. Most notably, my host family turned out to be a host person, and that host person spoke very little English. As we drove from the AiB complex to our home in Ippensdorf, my first trial of study abroad became very apparent. As some of you have come to know, I ask a lot of questions, so when my excited questions were met with the wall of language leading to misunderstanding and frustration, I felt as though I was trapped in my own body. 

    Fear set in when I realized that I would be arriving at her house soon with no way of asking courteous questions or establishing the rules of her home. When we finally arrived, we walked into the house and communicated with a series of points and hand signals followed by the occasional use of a translator. She served me dinner in a dark room, but then left me to be by myself with only her sun lit paintings and my thoughts as company. I was genuinely regretting everything and was becoming increasingly worried for my ability to have a relationship with my host mom. 

    Luckily, my first impression with Eva could not have predicted a more opposite future. After sleeping through the night and living out successive days in bonn, Ms. Eva and I began to have a much better relationship. We learned better ways to communicate and ultimately learned to laugh at our barriers rather than be hindered by them. One dinner in particular, I had come prepared with translated questions about Germany, German history, her upbringing, and german customs, and without having communicated this prior, she too came prepared with questions about America, American view of Germans, American customs, my hometown and upbringing, and my experience thus far. We sat for hours and just discussed life with each other and ultimately established the most unlikely of friendships. 

    My relationship with my host mom is far from what I could have expected. Where I had thought I would dread coming home, I now miss her when we are away on excursions. She has been texting me both motherly sentiments, desiring me to be safe and drink water, while also sending me addresses to her favorite bars in every german city. So, I would say that while my relationship with my host mom has been challenging and was difficult to cultivate, it has also been one of the most worthwhile things about my experience thus far. I am excited to go home after our weekend in amsterdam to tell her about my journeys, and to here how she is. 

    Apart from my host family experience, one of my favorite things about the trip has been the people I’m doing it with. I feel like I sit in a very specific corner of campus at Texas A&M and without this study abroad program, I most likely would have never met any of my peers. Apart from separate involvements, I am also just older than a lot of the people here which has been funny at times, but hasn’t effected relationships in the slightest. I enjoy that while groups have semi-formed within the cohort, I feel welcomed in all of them. The people truly have enhanced this experience and made this study abroad a highlight of college for me thus far. 

    In terms of my favorite activity that we have all done together, while it is hard to pick just one, I would have to say that the East Friesian tea ceremony was my favorite. Now that might sound weird, because we’ve done a lot together and that seemed more like a learning experience rather than a bonding experience like volleyball on the beach, but through the East Friesian tea ceremony, I learned so much about my classmates that I would not have otherwise. I believe that this experience was made interesting by the interest and attention given by everyone. That old woman was able to share her heritage and history with us, and even through a language barrier, we were able to see her wit, passion, and expert tea knowledge. Additionally, as we went through the museum, I loved hearing the insight of my classmates towards the creepy dolls, porcelain prostitute dogs, and old maps. While learning to appreciate this east friesian practice, I also got to appreciate the minds of my peers and the complexity of their interests. For that reason, it stands out in my week. 

    The word “change” is very complicated. I believe that change can be desired, but often not. I believe that we should all pursue change when referring to our perspective and cultural knowledge. For this is the point of our trip, to resist it would mean closing your eyes. But I do not think we should necessarily desire change to our character, ethics, values, or personality. For myself, these things are established and rooted in something much deeper and much more unchanging than a soul-searching journey abroad could ever provide. Brick by brick, I have sought to establish my character to be one that is universally and objectively good. For this reason, I believe I have grown, but I will continue to resist personal change.

    I have grown to be more empathetic of other cultures. Being the Out-Group for the first time, I have seen the difficulty of navigating a country, culture, and system that is not your own. I believe that my time in Germany will allow me to advocate for foreigners to the united states and be a more welcoming host in the future. All in all, Germany has been sick and I’m looking forward to the rest of our time together

Best,

Thomas Carroll