Back in The States

By Kelly Enright

I have officially been back in the United States for a week. I’ve had plenty of time to think about my trip, and each time someone asks me about it I exclaim, “it was awesome”, and that is the truth. I have been meaning to write this last blog entry, as a kind of as a closure to our trip.

I must be honest, because my reasons for going on the trip were a little selfish. I am a German minor and really just wanted to see Germany again. I’m not too interested in studying abroad for an entire semester or year, so this was perfect. I’ve been to Germany once before, and it’s not everyday someone can travel to Europe! Also, I was convinced to take this class because I’m obviously in the J-school, so I would gain some great experience while abroad. In the end, the trip was much more than I expected. A group of 6 students and 2 professors went to Munich, and that right there is a little scary! As a group of students, none of us were “best friends”, and a few of us had never even met. So traveling to a foreign country with people you don’t really know is an adventure itself. And throughout my entries, I discussed my many “German Adventures”. We were all challenged with getting to know one another, from sharing rooms to navigating the public transportation, to sharing a pretzel because you are stuck on a train and that’s all there is to eat! But we all managed to get along!!

I was a little worried that we wouldn’t have time to be tourists, but we definitely did! We held meetings and class time and also had plenty of work to get done, but shopping, eating, and experiencing were all very important aspects of this trip! You can’t be in Germany and work all day! On many days Whitney and I took many different “adventures”, as I’ve called them, and we became great friends on the trip. We both learned you can get to know a person very well when they are in a new situation, and for us it worked out!

The professors on the trip were awesome. I believe it was the second day when I asked if we could drop the “dr.” and just call them Tanner and Sidel. Well, they accepted and were dubbed with nicknames. Both of them had great advice and made sure we stayed on task throughout the trip. I know that was more than a challenge between the late nights out, various meetings for the broadcast students and the random trips we all took to experience whatever we could. All of the J-school profs are great, but I feel we were very lucky to have such awesome ones on our trip. We all really got to know each other and had a great time!

Our project hasn’t been finished, but we will have it all finished by the end of June. Keep your eyes open for an iSite. It will be another quick glimpse into our trip. If anyone is interested in this class for next Maymester, make sure to speak to Dr. Andrea Tanner. If you have any questions for me personally, feel free to contact her and she can direct you to me!! I think anyone interested needs to go on this trip next year!


Travel Update: For those of you who read my blog about being very frustrated the day before I left Munich, here is what happened on Tuesday (the day I flew home). First of all, it was pouring outside. I’m not talking a little rain, I mean buckets of water pounded down with every step we took. Whitney and I were outside of a souvenir shop 30 minutes before it opened, and they let us in to shop! We were off to a good start! Next we were waiting outside of Kaufhof, a large department store, waiting for them to open also! We went in and purchased what we needed and were off to the hotel to grab our luggage and head to the train station. When we got on the train, I realized that my bags were packed full and I had just purchased two large bags of stuff to bring home! Whitney and I managed to repack my suitcase in the middle of the train. This involved lots of laughing, grunting and strength to close my suitcase. It also needed both of us to sit on it! The Germans around us were really looking at us like crazy Americans after this!

Now I will tell you something very embarrassing, but it’s all part of the experience so I have to share! When we stepped off the train at the airport, I felt a rather cold breeze on my bum. As I reached back to figure out what was going on, I discovered a rather large rip in my favorite pair of jeans. Well, how awful!! After we laughed and I borrow Whitney’s jacket to cover up, we entered the airport. This is where we separated, as Whitney didn’t have much time before she needed to be at the gate!

We both made it home safely, and the German adventures have ended. But weren’t they fun? I hope everyone enjoyed reading the blog.