first posts from Bonn

The most surprising part of the trip so far is how quickly everyone is adjusting to this new environment. Being surrounded by all the other awesome Aggies here has really helped this process for me. Im grateful for how friendly, funny, and easy to get along with all the bioscience students are as just meeting and establishing relationships with other A&M students was a slight concern of mine going into this program. We’ve also gotten to meet some Germans here going out on weekends, which were pretty entertaining interactions. I was not expecting them to be so fond of Americans. They were especially excited about Texas. It was interesting figuring out what the stereotypical Texan was to them. One guy asked me if everyone walked around with a gun at all times or just sometimes. Its funny looking back a few months ago at my own stereotype of the typical German (Lederhosen and Oktoberfest) and comparing it to my views on the culture here now. The people in Bonn are very kind and polite but express it differently than in Texas. Ive gotten a few strange looks after giving an automatic smile and nod to everyone I pass. But as I get more and more accustomed to the culture here, I know my views on Germany and even America will continue to develop as well.

AIB

Last Friday, our bioscience crew took part in an Intercultural Communication class put on for us by AIB. Apart from getting free pizza (which was essentially the same as delivery pizza in America but way more exciting since its “German pizza”), we discussed cultural differences between America and Germany. It was really funny how many random negative aspects of our home country we immediately yelled out. Everything from the excessive power of big corporations and politicians to the popularity of nike shorts symbolizing conformity and our need for constant comfort. The German teacher seemed a little surprised we didn’t have as many positive things to say at first. It was also interesting talking about the different styles of communication we had. Germans seem to have a much more direct approach when they want to get a point across, as opposed to many Americans who see this as somewhat impolite and will just keep hinting at things they don’t want to directly say. I look forward to discovering more of these differences and maybe not standing out here as that ignorant American as much.