Jena: Small town, many experiences
Hello to all from the wonderful country of Germany! That’s right. I am not currently studying on campus at Concordia, but am studying abroad for a year in Jena, Germany. But first a bit about me before we dive into the fun-filled life and struggles of studying abroad.
My name is Heather and I am a junior this year at Concordia. I come from a small town near the Twin Cities called Victoria, Minnesota, but grew up in nearby Minnetonka, and am double-majoring in german and history.
Why study in Germany, do you ask? Well, for starters many of my ancesters came from Germany, and my last name is German: Hetzler. I have been studying German for about 7 years now, and figured it would be a good experience to test my skills (and they have been at times) and give studying abroad a shot. So here I am!
After an eight hour plane ride from Chicago to Frankfurt, I had the fun of trying to find my way from the airport to the train station and buy my train ticket to Jena. After asking some nice elderly ladies for help finding the correct track for my train, I ended up running up and down staircases with my suitcase and the ladies to find my train! Five minutes later, I was on the correct train with about 30 seconds to spare! And in all the panic I was speaking German! My first test and I passed!
After three hours and a train change in Weimar, I made it to Jena and found my mentor. For the next week my mentor and I ran all over Jena doing paperwork to get me “official” in Jena. Talk about a lot of paperwork!! But I am now all situated, and am glad I only had to go through that once!
So many things have happened so far in the first two and a half months, or so, since I have arrived. I have hiked up the mountain behind my dorm numerous times to capture photos of the city below, I have been to an Onion festival in Weimar (amazing food if you like onions!), and have been embarrassed a few times in some of my classes from not understanding what was going on. But such is life here in Jena. As there are many joys to studying abroad, there also come many challenges. We just need to face them.