Summation of Munich: My Last Blog

Wow, I cannot believe I'm back in the States. Sometimes it's still hard to grasp the fact that I was gone for a year, have come back, and already finishing my first round of exams at Clemson. Sometimes it doesn't really feel like I ever left. But then I look around me and see so many familiar places, but oddly have this lesser connection to them than I once had. It's a weird, heavy feeling. But it brings me peace knowing that I was able to really live and create a new home so far away.

But alas, I am home. And it feels good to be back. However, Munich was a place that became extremely special to me and I will extremely miss it and the people I kennengelernt habe :)

I had to write a 5-10 page paper for a study abroad class after I got back, and decided to use it as my last blog since I never wrote about my last month in Munich. It's really long (obviously), but I feel that it summarizes the experience and concludes in a way that gives Munich the justice it deserves when being spoken of.

Thank you so much to everyone who kept up with my blogs during my year abroad. I can't tell you how much that means to me, and how helpful it is when trying to explain my "second life".

You guys are the greatest :)

Liebe Grüße

Jessica

  

My paper:

During the 2011 to 2012 school year, I completed a year abroad in Munich, Germany. I applied to a program called “Junior Year in Munich”, which is partnered with Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. I decided to study abroad with this program instead of one offered by Clemson University because of the opportunities it presented, and the freedom they gave in the classes available. As a Biology student with an interest in combining this particular field of science with German, there were not many options available. Every class offered by JYM was in German, and each professor was a resident of Munich, having already taught at a University at some point in their lives. If the student wanted to study only at the University of Munich, they are encouraged to take whatever they want, despite their major. The Junior Year in Munich program is well-known throughout Munich and Bavaria, with contacts to some of the most prestigious researchers and businesses in the area, greatly increasing the chances of receiving an internship or research opportunity. JYM also offered a class called “Undergraduate Research Project”, which allowed the student to do research in any field they have interest in, in whichever language they feel most comfortable with.

There are two universities in Munich—University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich, both of which have outstanding reputations. The University of Munich is located in the heart of Munich, and a five minute bike ride from the largest student apartments, which is where I resided during my stay in Munich. It has a reputation of being strong in the arts and sciences; however, the sciences have a central focus around biology, chemistry, and physics. Their Physics department alone ranks as one of the hardest physics departments in all of Europe. The Technical University of Munich is known for their hard-working engineering students. As one of the world’s engineering powerhouses, if not the world leader, the TU creates many of the engineers working for their beloved BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and Lamborghini corporations.

I chose the University of Munich because I wanted to focus on the more liberal side of my education, due to the fact that my entire college career has been focused on the sciences. I had purposely waited to take my General Education requirements, so that I could take them in another country while studying abroad. However, the Biology department at LMU is also very strong; therefore, if I had wanted to take a Biology course of some nature, that would have easily been a possibility.

I chose Munich, Germany as my study abroad home for many reasons. I have always known that I wanted to study abroad in Germany, due to the fact that I have always had a very strong desire to know the language. As an American, it is very easy to go an entire lifetime without learning a second language as English is the common world-wide language. Foreign languages have become a last priority in a society pushing to become world powers with advancements in as many developments as possible. However, it has always been my opinion that the ability to communicate with someone in their native language holds just as much value as mastering the scientific world. To be able to hear someone’s view on life and share their story through words and phrasing that may be totally foreign to one’s own, is an incredible concept. However, the concept itself was never enough for me. I wanted to know how it felt because I was quite sure it was change who I was as a person as well.

Deciding on which city was easy—I had already narrowed it down to Berlin and Munich. The church I am a member of in the United States has sister churches around the world, and there were only two in Germany at the time. That factor was extremely important to me, and helped me narrow down the search tremendously. Once I found the Junior Year in Munich program, I knew where I wanted to go because of the fact that every opportunity they offered was something I was dying to experience. I had found the perfect fit.

I travelled to Munich three weeks early to live with two different host-families from the sister church in Munich. My first week was a train wreck of getting lost without a cell phone, not understanding a word of German, feeling unbelievably alone, wondering if I could really last for one whole year away from home, meeting so many new people that the excitement turned to being completely overwhelmed, jetlag, unusual food, Oktoberfest, being allowed to drink beer for the first time, and so many more experiences.

After the third week of living with my second host family, I moved into student apartments called Studentenstadt, or Students City. It was a hard transition because I had never lived by myself before, and I had not me a single soul in Munich except the host families I had spent time with. My host brothers, Dorian and Erik, helped me move in to my new apartment and set up as much as possible. As per request, Dorian stayed longer and walked with me to get dinner to help me feel more at ease about living by myself.

During the next few weeks and months, I slowly but surely started transitioning well into the German society and culture. It was a shocking to live in Munich as an American and constantly be reminded that the city was not my home. I always felt like I stuck out more than every once else. I was absolutely convinced that when Germans walked by me on the street or saw me sitting in class, they would immediately know that I was not one of them. When I would finally work up enough nerve to speak German, my accent would forever give away the fact that I was, yet again, not one of them, and their English responses gradually wore down any linguistic ability I was desperately trying to build confidence in.

In this struggle to learn the language and actually speak it with others, I learned the most about myself, my personality, my triggers, my mindset, and my outlook on so many different areas of life. I would take it to a completely new level of personal when a German was not respecting the fact that I wanted to speak German. I constantly told myself that if they wanted to learn English then they needed to travel to America, where English is always spoken. I would have angry German conversations with them in my head, in order to make myself feel better about the fact that no one seemed to want to respect my leaving home for a year to learn their language. Obviously this is not a piece of character I cherish or am proud of, and its constant occurrence left me frustrated beyond reason.

This struggle pushed me to pursue the actual reasoning behind Germans always wanting to speak English with Americans, or those from English speaking countries. I knew that once I took the extra time to understand exactly why, then I would be able to respond more calmly, and even begin feeling more confident every time the situation reoccurred. These are the reasons that were forever given to me: Germans just love to practice their English! The majority of their Master-level classes are in English, making every chance they have possible to practice, essential for not just their own pleasure, but their academic success. Another reason is that America is a gigantic media influence with the film and music industry. Everywhere one goes there is some form of an English influence, causing Germans to be even more aware of the language. And the last and final reason: because it is “cool” or “fun” to speak English. Germans love a challenge and due to the complexity of our frequently-used phrases and idioms, they are first in the line to master the language.

The other huge struggle I faced while living abroad, was dealing with an unbelievably large awareness of the fact that I am an American. Having lived in America my entire life and never really leaving the country, being an American is not something I have thought about very much, and especially never something I had been conscious of on a day-to-day basis. I found myself wishing that I could just for one day not bei the “American girl”. I learned the stereotypes of Americans as seen by Germany’s society, and I became ashamed of many of the ways my country handles itself. Politics and obesity were two reigning subjects that I had to become very well-informed and well-versed in. A lack of knowledge in many subject areas is also an unfortunate stereotype of Americans, which pushed me to actually watch and read the news, read classic literature books in English and German, and travel to other countries in order to gain my own personal perspective of what I saw and thought.

This initial response was done to “fit-in”, to mesh with the German culture, to not stand out in a crowd of thousands thanks to my American accent and constant corrections of German (and English, let’s be honest) grammar. However, as time progressed, I found that I actually wanted to know more about the world and gain an opinion on a variety of topics that had previously never interested me. I became excited to venture into many new worlds, and not be afraid to stand up for the opinions that I had taken the time to formulate. I stopped trying to “sound smart” when not knowing the answer to a question, and would answer honestly that I was not sure at that time, but was interested in learning more regardless.

I began having mature conversations with people from many countries about incredibly sensitive matters, such as religion, politics, and world events. For the first time, I would joyously initiate such discussions just to hear someone else’s point of view, and to learn, rather than trying to prove myself right, and show that my point was better than the other person’s. I came to the conclusion later on in the year that having a calm, respective conversation between two Americans is much harder than two Germans having the same conversation. This is mostly due to the fact that the American personality tends to be very outgoing, passionate, assertive, and strong-willed, without necessarily knowing how to properly handle certain strong emotions. Germans, however, are notorious for being more reserved, held-back, with a much dryer humor, allowing them to not let emotion interrupt the desire to have conversations concerning a sensitive subject.

Not only did I expand myself in relationships with people, but I started travelling to various places around Europe and even the world. Most people dream of travelling at a young age, as much as possible, for as long as they can or their wallets will allow them to. I used this great opportunity to travel to five different countries, and multiple cities throughout those countries. The countries from Europe were France, Switzerland, and Germany. The other two countries I visited outside of the European Union were the Czech Republic and Kenya. Every travelling experience taught me something new and incredible about myself and different cultures.

The most impactful travelling experience I had abroad was my trip to Nairobi, Kenya in Africa. During the winter and summer semesters, I applied for an internship at a faith-based organization called HOPE Worldwide Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya. I was accepted and we planned for my stay to include five weeks of service. They housed me with one of the single ladies who worked at HWWK, which pushed me to deeply immerse in their culture. I was not living in a nice hotel, or eating food that I recognized. I left a freezing cold Munich with snow on the ground and arrived to one hundred degree weather, a language I did not understand, and an unbelievably annoying amount of mosquitoes. I could not recognize any of the food they ate, and my body’s refusal to consume this unusual food forced me on a five week diet of peanut butter sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, and mangoes. It was an incredibly hard adjustment, which pushed me out of my comfort zone more than ever before. I had just lived in Munich for six months, but there was no comparison in the struggle it takes to adjust to these two very different cultures—Kenya wins by a landslide.

For the first time in my life, I was in a cluture in which my race was the minority—to the point that everywhere I went I was stared at, talked to, touched, and called a “mzungu”, or “white person” in Swahili. In America, if anyone’s race is mentioned, especially those of the minority, it is considered very rude and highly offensive. When I realized new acquaintances were calling me “white person” more than by my first name, I had a very hard time not becoming offended. It took time before I realized that they were not trying to offend me, they were just excited to see someone of a different race in their country. Between the constant travelling, slums of Mukuru, meeting new people, sleepless nights, and constant reminders of the poverty and corruptness the population lives in, I was living in a continually magnifying culture shock. Even to this day it is still hard to comprehend their way of life, beliefs, customs, and mindsets. However, their ability to love deeply and be honest with strangers is something I deeply admire and wish our culture could utilize more.

Studying abroad allowed me to see my home and other cultures with completely new eyes. Every time I met or now meet someone from a different culture, the first questions I ask will be about their belief systems, their customs, their opinion of politics, and whatever else I can think of to gauge their awareness of the world around them. I have learned that due to the variances in language and culture, each country has a very particular and unique personality that no other country possesses. As an American, I know that when I travel to Germany I need to be respectful of certain laws, expectations, and habits that only their country practices. I do not view that awareness as annoying because that is their home, that is who they are, and I, as someone who is not German, should be more than willing to respect their way of living. However, I also do not believe that my respectfulness should be taken advantage of, or my courtesy ignored with negative comments about my own country. The hardest part of living abroad was conversing with others who made disrespectful and hurtful comments about America. That has really taught me to be mindful of people travelling to America to live or for vacation. It has always taught me to respect their wishes during their stay due to their sacrifice in wanting to travel the entire way to my country.

Had I not studied abroad, I would not have learned any of what I have written in this paper. I would have stayed another year at Clemson University, which would have been great, but I would have never really gotten to know myself outside of the only two environments that have shaped me. I have gained new strengths, found various weaknesses, found families that have taken care of me around the world, and I have grown more mature and confident in who I am and the life I want to live. I know study abroad will not be the only impactful event of my life, but it has certainly prepared me for every significant experience that has yet to come.

Praktikum beim Klinikum Schwabing - Kinderklinik

Hi everyone! I decided I really wanted to write a Blog about my internship this month, especially since it’s kind of consuming my life. I also have to write a ten-page paper about it saying how it contributes to my career goals and what I’m learning in Germany. I think I’m going to use this blog as a basis for what I want to say and then just translate it at the end. And this way I can share my clinical experience in Munich with anyone who would especially be interested in German medicine, or doing an internship in the future. I hope you enjoy going through this journey with me, although I must forewarn you all that this blog may be obnoxiously long (but what’s new, right?).

Picture of the front of the clinic: 

Picture of the outside of the Kinderklinik:

I began my internship on June 1^st of this month and will be there until the 29^th. On my first day I was absolutely terrified of going because I had no idea what to expect, especially with the language. I didn’t know what my responsibilities would be or whether I would be able to handle everything. There was another “Praktikantin” going through the training the same day as me, which really helped me a lot. Her family is from Turkey, but she was born and grew up in Germany, and therefore also knew perfect German (well, you know what I mean). She was really nice, and helpful, and we got put with a lady from Yugoslavia named Irine. 

Irine is the best because she has such a lovely attitude, she’s patient, and she’s just a loving person. She is in her fifties and lives near the clinic with her husband, who is also from Yugoslavia. She has three children all living back at her home and she says they go to visit frequently because they miss it so much. She’s already been at the clinic for twelve years and has three to go until her contract is over. She said when her contract is up she and her husband will be moving back home. She says she loves Munich, and it’s beautiful, but it’s not home. She also got into the habit of calling me “Amerika Jessica”. The way the Germans speak my name and America out sounds really similar, and every time she said it she would giggle at herself and smile. It was adorable.

A lot of what we were trained to do at the clinic is how the machinery works and learning the different parts of the clinic. Machinery meaning when the dishes need to be washed, we need to know how to turn the wash machine on, where the detergent is, etc. What I’m doing is called a “Plegepraktikum”, which means I do the behind-the-scenes work. I don’t work directly with the patients like the other students do, because they’re actually at the University learning for something medicine-related. However I am the one that goes in and cleans up the patients rooms, gets their dirty laundry, changes out the beds, delivers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, etc…so that interaction time is also enough to get to know them a little.

There are however two rooms that I’m forbidden to go into without very special permission. They call those patients “Therapie-Mädels”, which means therapy girls. I thought they were possibly girls who just go through basic counseling in dealing with depression, family issues, etc until one day Irina and I were preparing breakfast and she told me to hide the bread knife behind the breadbasket. I asked her if it was just to keep the kids from getting their hands on it, and she said not really because they can’t reach the counter anyway. She then said it was to protect the therapy girls from themselves. I just stared at her and she asked what I’d thought the girls were in the clinic for. I kind of just looked away. 

One of the rooms is for girls who have attempted suicide, and the other is for anorexia and bulimia. The first room is on suicide watch and there are cameras located throughout their room, which allow them to be monitored at all times from the office. The anorexia/bulimia girls have a super strict diet, and everything they eat has to be recorded and monitored. They are also required to drink a ridiculous amount of water every day. The youngest girl is twelve and the oldest is sixteen. I have eaten breakfast with them a few times and recorded their food and liquid intake, so I knew about the eating problems, but I guess part of me just had a really hard time believing that kids at that age could struggle with such intense diseases. And what also amazes me is that these girls are remarkably pretty. Like “above average” kind of look. And the crazy part is that despite the beauty they already have, they still ended up in a clinic to help them with a very serious disease.

Other patients that have passed through are kids born with diseases like Down syndrome, undiscovered diseases that they are still trying to figure out, babies born with serious health problems, serious cases of Diabetes, random pains throughout the body, alcoholism, Epilepsy, over-exhaustion, etc. The reasons and issues range from the smallest complication to serious ones. I’m also always really surprised at how many teens have to come in overnight because they blacked out from drinking too much, especially recently while the UEFA cup has been going on and Germany was dominating. 

This clinic is also the section for the people who have regular insurance in Munich, therefore a lot of them come from different countries, which makes communication harder sometimes. In Munich, health insurance kind of supports the wealthier side more. For example, if you drop by the doctor’s appointment to ask a question about something during the same time as someone with the higher insurance, they will get to go before you. If you’ve been waiting and another person comes in with higher insurance as well, you will have to keep sitting and waiting until that person has been checked on as well. 

I’ve enjoyed however the international interactions, and have even been able to translate for people between English and German, which seriously makes you feel incredibly smart. In the last week of my internship, there was a lady there with her 5-year-old son, who has Epilepsy, and every time I walked by their room I thought I heard her say things like “Come here, baby-cakes” and “Darling, yer gonna be fine”, but I wasn’t sure. Turns out she is from Texas, but was born in Germany on an American military base, came back here for school and married a German. Not to mention, her German was crazy perfect.

The shifts in the clinic are always around eight hours or so, assuming a full shift has been worked. The “Krankenschwestern” (or nurses) are in charge of each station and are also responsible for everything that goes on. The Bereichsleitung (head of department) is above the Krankenschwestern, has the final say on everything, and is also the one that determines our work plans/schedules. There is “Frühdienst” (early shift) in the morning from 6-14.30 and “Spätdienst” (late shift) from 12.30-21.00. I have basically the same job for each one; it’s just a different time of the day, with different meals being served. 

My main goal in applying for this internship was to gain a personal and realistic perspective on German medicine, application, execution, ideology, and work environment. I am also very interested in becoming a doctor one day and always assumed I would attend a medical school in the United States. However, after living in Munich for a year, I’ve considered studying elsewhere. I was hoping that by doing an internship with this teaching clinic, I would be able to make that decision much easier. However, as I now write this portion of the blog on June 24^th, it hasn’t become much clearer to me. I also decided to not sign up for the TestDaf exam next month, which is what allows me to study later on at the University. I think there is a bigger part of me saying to wait, that I can always take the test later, and to not go through the money and time if it’s not something I really desire to do. I feel like I will be back in Munich for something though. Right now I’m just not sure what.

Germany has a different approach to medicine than we do in America. They focus more on “Homöopathie”, whereas as we get a little crazy with drugs at times. Germans tend to focus on the more natural methods, and the less drug use, the better. I have actually seen that here throughout the clinic when each kid is taking their dose of medicine for the day. It’s never pills—it’s always some form of a liquid/nutrition/energy/hydration mixture. I kind of always wonder how our society would respond to using such methods when we are already so used to take pills for almost everything. And at this point I wonder if switching methods would even be beneficial anymore. 

As I’m writing this I’m in my last few days at the clinic. I just finished a Sunday shift at the clinic. It was okay…I’m tired of the language barrier. Today was a little frustrating because one lady and I had a miscommunication, and I wasn’t allowed to explain myself. I was so flustered I’m not even sure if I would have been able to at the time. The lady, who is German, wasn’t sure about some of the food in another food wagon, and asked me about ir. I told her that normally someone else turns that one on to heat up the food, and I therefore wasn’t exactly sure of how it worked. She went ahead and turned it on, saying we would get it later. 

After the food was finished she had gone to sit with the Therapy Girls to watch and record their food and liquid intake. As I was pulling out the tray, I noticed the girl’s name on the paper was someone who’d previously eaten at lunchtime. I remembered wondering how she got food because I hadn’t given it to her, assuming that she was on some special diet from someone else. I went to the lady to ask about the girl and the food, and she immediately got extremely irritated. She asked me where I got the tray from, and I replied that I got it from the food wagon. She then asked, “And then what do we do with that food from that particular food wagon?” I realized she was being condescending and immediately shut down linguistically. I kind of stared, completely caught-off guard by her response, and she got up, slammed her board down, and led me back to the food wagon. She then told me that that food wagon was for patients with diabetes. “If they have diabetes, what do we do with the food?” she asked. I still wasn’t sure how to respond because I was still so taken-aback by how she was acting. When I didn’t answer in the two seconds she gave me, she then pointed to the eating table not too far away and said to just take it there. She then just walked off and didn’t look back.

I stood there completely dumbfounded. Part of me was fighting anger and the other part was trying so hard to let it go. I know I’m supposed to just let it go, and assume it was just a small communication problem. However, its times like these that really make me want to go home. When speaking German I’m not allowed any time to think about what I want to say because if I don’t answer right away, it’s assumed I didn’t understand the question and “I can answer in English if I want”. It’s a very demoralizing feeling to battle with. Not all cases are like the one from today, and some are truly me not understanding exactly what is being said. But I am getting to the point where I am ready to not have this language battle anymore. In a way it’s even helping me prepare myself for going home. My vocabulary and way of speaking isn’t necessarily the brightest in English, but it is mine, and I miss that being enough.

As I’m writing this last part of this blog now, I am in the Deutsche Bahn headed toward Bamberg for the weekend to visit some of my friends from Clemson. I’m really excited to hang out with them, and get out of Munich, because I haven’t left to go sight-seeing since I went to Kenya in March. It’s too easy to travel around here to not take advantage of traveling opportunities. I think I’m also finally starting to let it sink in that it’s the last day of June, and I’m going home in exactly one month. And now I have the feeling that I just want to travel everywhere.

Anyway, last section, I promise. I finally finished my internship yesterday, and the last week went really well. I really enjoyed a lot of the patients this week and none of the students were there, so I got to learn how to do a lot of the stuff they normally do, like taking the patients temperatures, blood pressures working with the diabetes patients, while still doing the work I normally do. I was very exhausted every day, but also really proud of the fact that I stuck out working seven straight days in a row, with eight hour shifts, all in German, along with school and my research. It was really tough, but the week is over, and I am going to enjoy the time I have now in Bamberg, because I need to.

After finishing up this internship at the clinic, I can say with 100 percent certainty that I want to become a doctor and work with kids. I’m not sure what specialty exactly—whether infectious diseases, inborn diseases, eating disorders, etc, but I definitely am heading in that direction. Medicine is a wonderfully rewarding job. It’s a lot of pressure, and schooling, but for me, I think it’s the field I find most worthy of pursuing. 

So until the next blog, which I will make about my weekend in Bamberg, I wish you all a wonderful weekend!

Love, Jessica

An Overview of my trip to Kenya

Hey guys! So we have this yearbook that we're working on for our program and they asked me to write an article about my time in Kenya. This is what I wrote and wanted to share it with all of you as well. I hope you enjoy!

"It is difficult to describe my journey to Kenya in one word, or even in one sentence. However, if I were to attempt to summarize my experience in one word, it would be “extreme”. If I were to summarize it with a sentence using a quote from the famous Nelson Mandela, it would be: "We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right."

After having already lived in Munich for almost six months, traveling to Nairobi, Kenya for five weeks was one of the most incredibly challenging adjustments I have ever made. I left a world of pristine and immaculate “Ordnung” and entered a country of disorder, chaos, and more dialects than there are words in the English language. I went from being the awkward American meshing with German culture to the “mzungu” (or white person in Swahili) that was constantly gawked at. I stuck out more than I ever have. I understood not one world of the language. I left a country with snow still on the ground, and entered one in which most people have never even seen snow.

For five weeks I worked with a faith-baised organization called HOPE Worldwide Kenya, in Nairobi, which serves to better the community in as many ways as funding allows. The three programs I worked with while I was there were Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Shujaa, and Blood Safety. The OVC Program works with the Nairobian kids living in the Mukuru Slums, a city just outside of Nairobi. I was able to spend the week getting to know the kids, doing home visits, taking pictures, and seeing firsthand how they live and survive day-to-day. I learned that these kids hardly ever have enough to eat. Some of them are orphans. More than half are infected with HIV or AIDS. Most die before they become adults from disease, sickness, or hunger. Only a few are able to move on to high school because they cannot afford any higher education. But I also saw that outside of the slums was a completely normal lifestyle, with malls, a city skyline, grocery stores, etc. Nairobi was actually a lot more developed than I had previously thought.

In the second week I worked with Shujaa, which is Swahili for “Hero”, and aims to help decrease the number of sex workers and truckers infected with HIV and have a greater awareness of the repercussions, side-affects, and dangers of infectious diseases. We travelled to the northern parts of Kenya to check on different counseling centers, namely Eldoret, where many of the Olympic track champions are from.

Blood Safety, with whom I worked in the third week, is a program that serves to help raise awareness of safe and responsible blood donations throughout Kenya. Here we worked with teens and college students in teaching them how to effectively communicate safe blood donations with various tribes throughout Kenya. I learned that there are very religious tribes throughout Africa whose religion does not believe in donating blood because it is holy, and should be left in the body.

                       

If I were to paint a picture of what I personally experienced after living in Nairobi Kenya for five weeks, these are the words I would use to complete the portrait:

Matatus (or buses) that drive way too fast, on sidewalks and (almost sometimes) over people, coffee so good that it gives Germany a run for their money, children with beautiful faces in sad living conditions that smile more than people I know in good living conditions, friendliness beyond compare, battles with mosquitos that I always lost, going to the city center and actually thinking that I would be able to find my way around, people selling food, drinks, and anything you can really think of on the side of the road (and knocking on the window of your car when you try to avoid looking at them), three hour traffic jams when it should only be a fifteen minute drive, a very large faith in God with Bible scriptures posted everywhere, Ugali (staple food, made of flour and water) that sticks to your stomach like super glue, washing laundry by hand and dishes in the bathroom sink, ruining my new shoes from Paris while walking home in the mud after a monsoon, long dresses and covered shoulders in 100 degree weather, incredibly beautiful dresses from Ghana of every striking color, weddings with thousands of people and somehow still plenty of food, searching far and wide for normal foods like pizza and ice cream because I could not recognize anything else, Manji Digestive bisquits, DUST EVERYWHERE, wearing my Rafiki tank top during an African Safari, Spanish soap operas translated into English, an incredible national pride in Kenya, a rhythm so good with dancing that makes us all look bad, Shang (equivalent to Bayrisch or the Southern Accent), constantly being asked how many words in Swahili I remember (which were none), freaking out with joy after realizing half of the words from Disney’s “The Lion King” are actually Swahili, AFRICAN SAFARI in Maasai Mara, seeing a crocodile eat a dead hippo, almost being attacked by a monkey, calling home for only two cents per minute, no Wi-fi anywhere, getting up at 5 am and going to sleep at 9 pm, thinking I was going to blow up every time I lit the gas stove, consistently random power outages, driving all over Kenya and seeing the country side, mud houses, the best mangos in the world, genuinely real deep-hearted conversations (due to no distractions), and even partaking with the kids in begging the adults to finish one more episode of Spongebob Sqaurepants (oh, the things you miss when you are far from home).

The five weeks I spent there passed alarmingly quickly, and the above list will never be able to fully describe the incredible time that I had in Kenya. Living there genuinely helped me grow as a person with every new experience, good or bad, allowing me to see life differently than I had seen it before. I was able to learn about a culture that I had only ever seen on television or read about in books. I gained my own perspective, instead of simply accepting the perspectives of others. Not only did I gain that outlook, but I also took part in their lifestyle, which is a lifestyle that some of them will never know anything outside of. I built relationships with lovely and genuine people, which included everything from chatting with strangers in Mutatus, worshiping with friends at church, and sitting in the dirt in slums with kids while singing songs and playing games. I lived in a way that pushed me out of my comfort zone numerous times during the day. I lived in a way that exhausted me to the point of going to bed every night earlier than I did as a child.

Overall, I would say Kenya taught me that there is no right way or wrong way to live life, one way is not better than the other, and that a person’s living situations and environment do not determine their value or worth. In Kenya I think it shows their strength in their ability to endure unbearable heat and harsh living conditions. Despite the odds, they find joy in the little things, and find joy in life itself. Kenya taught me to value the time I have in life, whether long or short, whether at home or far away, because there is always some time left to do good where ever one is in this world."

The Final Countdown

So, it’s been quite a while since I’ve last updated. I think the last time was not long after I got back from Nairobi, Kenya. That’s really weird to think about considering now we’re already halfway through June. I’ll do my best to get caught up from the last three months.

Since Kenya transitioning back to Munich has been really, really strange. It’s a weird feeling because I kept thinking after Kenya I would be flying home, all the while knowing at the back of my mind I still had a full semester left to complete. Realizing that was really unfortunate because living in Munich is fun, and exciting, when there’s a lot of time to travel and hang out without the worries of school. School is just something that’s super stressful and the thought of having to start first semester of my last year in college only two weeks after coming home is rather daunting.

And this semester school has continued to be challenging, but in different ways from what I’m used to in the United States. Normally I would have mounds of studying, homework, online assignments, lab reports, etc, but that's not how they do grades here.  It's normally one or two grades during the semester that make up your entire grade for the class.

I’m taking two classes at the University of Munich, one in English, and three at JYM (my program). At LMU I’m taking a Walt Whitman course, which I love, and we’re reading through “Leaves of Grass”. I’m also taking an introduction to film analysis in German, but the teacher is actually American (with phenomenal German), so that’s kind of awkward but encouraging. He’s a German-learning inspiration haha. At JYM I’m taking my second German Grammar course, second semester of independent research about childhood obesity and comparing American and German societies and cultures, and an overseas internship. The internship was actually something I recently just started. At first I was taking Spanish 1 at the University (which is miserable to learn when it’s taught in German), but then about a month ago (after I’d applied to a few clinics in Munich) a lady from Klinikum Schwabing called and asked if I’d want to do an internship with them for a month. I definitely said yes and dropped my Spanish class.

I started working at the clinic on June 1^st and I will finish on June 30^th. The shifts are longish (about 8 hours) and it’s in German..but it’s okay because I like the work and the opportunity to see a German working environment. The routine is always the same, which I find nice with the language. Too many changes and things happening at one time is hard for me in English, and if it were in German I’m pretty sure my brain would start fighting back eventually. Studying medicine here is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. However, if I don’t want to actually practice here it may be a little pointless to go through the schooling. Although the “tuition” is literally almost no money. Those  will be some fun decisions to make in the near future.

I like the clinical setting a lot, and enjoy the environment, and the method of medicine used. However, I’m not sure if it would ever be something I could truly excel at due to the language. I don’t understand German sense of humors, and I can’t be myself with German-speaking kids like I can with English-speaking kids, obviously. And that’s hard for me because I go from someone who loves spending time around children to feeling super stressed on how to properly communicate with them. It would become more about communication and knowing what’s going on than building relationships.

Can you tell I’m completely torn between two completely different worlds? It’s so frustrating. But just even having the opportunity to decide is something I’m grateful for.

The month of April went by very quickly, and was used up getting transitioned back into Munich and German. They had their spring version of Oktoberfest during that month, which is called Frühlingsfest, or Spring Festival. We went a few times, and one time as a big group from my program, which was really fun. I actually finally bought a dirndl and was able to put it to good use. I have no idea if I’ll ever have the opportunity to wear it in the States (outside of Halloween), but hey, a dirndl is a dirndl. And they’re super awesome.

May was a very exciting time because there were lots of visitors from the States. The first was a friend from Clemson named Victor, whose doing a study abroad program for a month in Trier, Germany. He came to Munich a week early to hang out and see everything. Markus and I picked Victor up from the airport and showed him the city on the first day. I was amazed at his determination to see everything on the first day, despite the jetlag.  Even that night in Studentenstadt (where I live) he came around 10 o’clock that night and grilled with us. The week was fun with him because I was able to be a tourist with him and go see lots of places. We took him to BMW World, Olympia Center, Monday night rollerblading through Munich, Hofbräuhaus (the most famous brewery/restaurant in Munich), hiking in the Alps, and many other fun adventures. I still had school so he did a lot of things on his own too. He’ll be back again sometime in the next few weeks before heading back to the States.

Jarrod and Stacey also visited during the same time that Victor was here. I was so excited to see them, even if it was for a day. I was supposed to meet them the first night for dinner, but that had absolutely not worked out. They didn’t have a cell phone or internet outside of their inn, which created many problems. Jarrod just messaged me to meet them at a beer garden at 6:30 pm. Two problems with that: I had babysitting until 6:45 pm, still had to take the transportation to where they were staying, and I had absolutely no idea which Biergarten he meant because there are a ton in Munich. We later found out he meant the Hirschgarten one, which he thought was the only one that existed at the time (haha Jarrod).

The next day they picked me and Victor up from my program’s building and we drove out to Dachau Concentration Camp together. It’s the concentration camp that has the “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free) on the entrance gate. Honestly, I probably could have walked there and assumed it was only a few old buildings if I hadn’t seen the information center and the Arbeit macht Frei gate.
It’s crazy because the place is definitely dated, but it’s beautiful around the camp. I think the most intense part for me was when we were walking back from the crematory and found a small hedged path that led to the back of the woods. There were memorials and graves of the countless bodies that had been buried there. On various headstones or monument stones it stated in Jewish, German, and English “Don’t forget”. Even as they were telling everyone these stories of what happened to people in various places throughout the camp it’s still hard to fathom that anything could have happened in a place that appears so unthreatening and even normal. I guess I’m not sure what I thought a concentration camp was supposed to look like.

The next group that visited Munich was two of my childhood friends, Tyler and Lauren. Tyler just finished studying abroad in Paris, France (he’s also the one I visited), and his family and younger sister came to travel with him during the few weeks after he’d finished up with school. I met with them on their arrival day after a long test at my program, and we went to the Englischer Garten and met with some friends for one of their birthdays. It was so nice because the tables were set up right by the river and everything David made was so good. Frischkäse and Bretzen is seriously the best combination in the world. We ate a ridiculous amount of food and then went to bed early because of how tired we all were.

During the next few days I showed them the city center as well, we went to Olympia Center to have a picnic and watch a really random (but free!) concert, Schloss Nymphenberg, Hirschgarten (where we ate a ton of Bavarian food), Hofbräuhaus, Rischart, shopping on Kaufingerstraβe, Viktualienmarkt Biergarten, BUBBLE TEA FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AND IT WAS AWESOME!, and a bunch of other things. It was really fun being able to hang out with them, and I was kind of jealous they’re already heading back home and finished with their second semesters. This semester and the workload are seriously dragging. I just want the work to go away. L

During the second weekend in June I was able to take off from my internship and travel to Zurich/Aarau, Switzerland to visit the lovely Simone for her 19^th birthday. She invited a lot of her friends from all over and we all crashed at her house in Aarau for the weekend. It was seriously a lot of fun, and her parents are adorable, and so nice. Hearing Swiss German gives me have a deer-in-the-headlights look, but I loved trying to understand what they were saying. To my ears, personally, it sounds harsher than regular Hochdeutsch (what’s taught in the schools, and internationally), but I’m also a lot more used to hearing Hochdeutsch than anything else. Even now German sounds a lot softer than it did when I first got here.

Anyway, we spent a lot of time hanging out, playing games, and watched one movie every night. One thing I’ve noticed too about people that I’ve met here too is that a lot of quality time is spent together. They don’t watch movies as much, or go out to eat. If they do go out to eat, they sit and talk for a while, and just relax. Their pace with everything is always so relaxed and calm. Even the average working person living here works around 32 hours per week, and still makes an excellent salary. That’s not the point of going to Simone’s, but it’s my current stream of consciousness. Also on the way back from Aarau we passed the Rhein River, which is something I learned about in high school, which made me extremely happy. I took lots of pictures. I know this isn’t the most exciting blog I’ve ever written, but I’ll try to write more in the next one, after I’ve finished up my internship and have extra time to think through what I really want to say.

Until then, thanks for reading! About one month and fifteen days until I come home. J

 Love, Jessica

Last Week in Kenya. Blood Safety Week 5.

               As sad as it is to say, I am officially writing the last blog of adventures from my time in Nairobi, Kenya. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by! I still feel like I have just gotten here, and the thought of going back to Munich feels incredibly strange. I kind of feel like I don’t belong anywhere right now and that I’m just floating from country to country. I am really excited to be returning to my German home though, and start the second semester in Munich with friends and the church. I can’t believe this semester is only about three months long. How is this one around two months shorter than winter semester?? 

                During my last week and few days I have been placed in working with Blood Safety, and continuing what I started before the Maasai Mara safari last week. Out of all the programs I’ve worked with, I actually feel like I’ve been of the most help to them. This being so mostly because of my familiarity with Facebook, online sources, and having the perspective and mindset of international college students. The blood program they have is actually very, very good, and I have learned so much from them. However, they are not self-supported yet because they are fully funded by CDC. In five years, those funds may run out, and they are trying to continue their program without having to depend on big organizations like CDC. So for all of you reading this, please go on to Facebook and like their page! We are still trying to set everything up properly, but your support would be greatly appreciated! It’s called “HOPE worldwide Kenya Blood Safety”. The name is kind of long, but it works.

                Sunday the 24^th I was able to spend more time with campus after church. Because their campus group is very large, they have family groups (based on what university they attend) that they meet in every week and plan activities with. Because Fridah and Serah are close, I started spending a lot of time with Serah, and was added to her family group. One of the girls in Serah’s group, Angela, and her mom invited us over to their house and made us lunch for free. It was soo nice. Her mom made SO MUCH FOOD. I really wish I’d been that girl and thought to have taken a picture of it. We had a gigantic pan of rice with potatoes, greens, and pork. And it tasted incredible. 

                After we ate, Serah, Tony, and I went outside and started washing the dishes and taking pictures. It was actually a lot of fun, they are really wonderful people to be around. And when we were done washing, everyone left, and Tony, Serah, and I decided we wanted ice cream from town. So we walked around for a long time trying to find it. We found this fast food place that looked so much like McDonald’s and bought ice cream from there. Fridah is a health nut and every time I eat something unhealthy she says something, which I find endearing, and we have a lot of fun with it. She does the same with Serah, so Serah and I took photos to show Fridah exactly what she was missing out on. She just said we were ridiculous haha.

 Tony was in charge of washing :)

 I was rinse, Tony was wash, Serah was rinse again.

                Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I stayed at the office and helped with the Blood program, so a lot of time was spent on the computer, while also getting my classes for Munich and Clemson figured out. It’s really weird that I am signing up for my classes in the Fall before I sign up for my classes that I’m supposed to be starting in two weeks. I like the German school system a lot though because it’s relaxed. I have always felt that American universities cause an unnecessary amount of stress on students, even making study abroad an extremely difficult process to pursue. Being in Munich has given me such an appreciation for academics again because we are able to engage so much more efficiently with our work, due to the fact that we aren’t cramming ten million facts and biological systems into our heads every week. I actually have time to breathe and appreciate my college years. I can actually live outside of a classroom and studying in the library. And for years that are supposed to encourage personal growth, I feel like getting outside the classroom and learning is just as important (if not more) than being inside the classroom.

                This past week, starting on Tuesday or Wednesday night, was the beginning of ‘Mosqueeto’ week. By the way, Kenyans don’t say mosquito like we do. They stress the ‘qui’ part to sound like ‘quee’ and it cracks me up. The first time I heard Fridah say it, I thought she was joking. And then when I told her what we normally say, she asked why because it’s not spelled the way we pronounce it. She has a point. I don’t know why we don’t say it like Kenyans. Anyway, mosquitoes started invading Fridah and mine’s room and I could not sleep. The first night was awful, and I think I got around two hours of sleep. Every time I would start to dose off, I would hear the buzzing noise again, or freak out and think one was on my arm or face. I could not believe how persistent they were. AND THEY DIDN’T DIE. These mosquitoes are crazy. Nothing works when trying to kill them. 

                On Thursday I was allowed to go to Nakuru with Margaret to do Blood Safety training for a group of youth around my age and a little older. Nakuru is a very nice city, smaller and quieter than Nairobi, and just pleasant to be in. They are near Naivasha, which is the gigantic lake with flamingos, and a very popular tourist attraction. We arrived early around 10 am (even though we were two and a half hours late…oops), and went on with the training all day from there. I actually had so much fun doing the training with this group. I honestly wasn’t even that sure what we would be doing with them, or what the trip was for because I was told I was going at the last minute. There were about twelve or thirteen of them, and all were there for the purpose of learning about safely donating blood and how to get involved in running blood drives in their areas. 

                My favorite part of the entire workshop was that Margaret assigned us animal names at the beginning according to the first letter in our first name (mine was Jaguar) as way to help us remember each other’s names. I thought they would think it was too silly. However, they loved it and had so much fun with it. Any time Margaret forgot to use their animal name they would correct her and make her use it. And these were 23ish-year-olds. Most people around that age don’t have the liveliest of attitudes concerning workshops and ‘icebreakers’ (I know I don’t), so I found it quite refreshing to be with a group that just had fun together. Not to mention, Margaret is awesome and loved spending time with her. Not to mention she did an excellent job in handling the workshop and running everything. And every time we went to get food for dinner or lunch she would eat Mango milkshakes with me. Fridah wouldn’t do that…and Fridah if you read this I’m TOTALLY right. J Oh and by the way, I even got a wedding proposal from the guy named “Baboon”. He informed Margaret that he was coming back to Nairobi with us so that he and I could get married. It was awkwardly funny because he has a playful personality.

Just some of the pictures from the workshop:

 Margaret leading one of the sessions.

 Acting out various situations that can occur when talking to someone about donating blood.

New friend haha.

Keeps the blood fluid in motion. This is after the blood has been centrifuged.

 Fancy pipettes, and very good at measuring.

 Teamwork.

                Friday we traveled back to Nairobi, passing through the Rift Valley once more, and I took so many pictures. I really enjoyed our conversation of just getting to know each other, talk about where each person is from, how it’s different, each other’s families, and God. I’ve just loved working with a faith-based organization. It’s so encouraging to walk into work every day knowing that that part of my life is accepted and even a preferred conversation topic. I feel like I can be myself a lot easier, especially when everyone plays 21 questions with me about who I am, where I come from, and why I’m in Kenya. Because at the end of the day, everything I am, and came from, and the ultimate reason I had the opportunity to go to Kenya was because of God and deciding to have a relationship with Him. I don’t even know if I’d gone to Germany had I not made that decision because I would have been too afraid. 

Some of my favorite pictures from the journey back to Nairobi:

                With that being said, Wednesday, March 28, was my second spiritual birthday, or two years since I got baptized and decided to really start living my life as a Christian. It was such an exciting day for me to reflect on how much my life has changed since the day I got baptized and now. Within that time, God has changed, mended, broken off, and created so many relationships in my life (not to mention since September I’ve probably met over 1,000 new people. I’m not kidding), I’ve been able to travel and spend time with sister churches in Europe and Kenya, I’ve been learning a new language and even been able to communicate with Germans about who they are in their own language (which was my ultimate goal), brought me closer with my parents, given me a new appreciation for home when all I’d wanted to do was get outttt and start over, helped me appreciate school again, given me a direction with my life and career goals, and just helped me find freedom from everything I didn’t think I could start over from. I truly feel like at this point I finally understand what it means to have a peace that ‘passes all understanding’. It’s really hard at times to stay faithful, but it’s literally the most worthwhile thing I've ever done with my life. Hopefully that didn’t offend anyone or make the uncomfortable. Regardless, thank you for reading that if you did. It’s very important to me. 

                In my last few days left in Nairobi, I did some shopping, spending time with friends, and finishing up any last work for Blood Safety. The rainy season started about two days before my flight left, which was really interesting. The traffic is already pretty bad during certain times, but it becomes a little disastrous after the rain comes. And it was kind of funny to see how cold everyone thought the weather was, even though I’m pretty sure it only got down to the fifties (Fahrenheit). I loved it though, and eventually it prepared me to come back to the cold weather in Munich. It was sad to tell everyone goodbye, but exciting know that this end creates a new beginning, which will eventually lead to a new beginning at home. It’s crazy how little time it takes for things to change to the point where you have to readjust again. 

                I think this is all for now. By this time I am already back in Munich and I’ll be sure to update on life here soon! I hope you’re all doing well and have a great week!

Jessica