Jonathan Brown, German, 2017

The Arrival

Leopold's House in downtown Wiesbaden

I arrived in Wiesbaden on June, 11 at 3:00 German time after flying for almost 24 hours. I was very excited to meet the family I would be living with for the next three weeks. I soon met Leopold, my host partner, and his father just outside of luggage claim in the Frankfurt airport. At first it was awkward, but on our way to the house both Leopold and his dad warmed up. The first night they decided that we would have a barbecue at the house but do nothing afterwards since they knew that I was tired.

The Dad and Leopold at the Barbeque

The barbecue was mainly German Bratwurst and chicken. I fell asleep at 7:00 that night and I was both excited and nervous for the upcoming month. The next day Leopold and I woke up at 7:30, something we did everyday since the family has a strict morning routine, and had two pieces of toast and coffee. Then we walked a couple of blocks to the Humboldt Schule. The school atmosphere was very lively and different from MBA's. The layout of the school was very compact and students from the first to the twelfth grade were rushing to wherever they needed to be. Throughout the three weeks we spent about a third of our time going to school and the other parts going on day trips or walking around Wiesbaden.

Wiesbaden Day Trips

During our time in Wiesbaden, the group of Americans, which included MLK and Harpeth Hall people, went to the nearby cities of Mainz, Frankfurt, and Rudesheim. In Frankfurt we went to the top of a skyscraper, which is uncommon in most of Germany. For lunch we had the the curry wurst After that we crossed a bridge of the Rhine River, which by the time I was familiar with because I went boating with my host father a couple of times in the area. We then headed back on a train to Wiesbaden.

Frankfurt

The next week we toured Mainz, which is across the Rhine from Wiesbaden. The city was much smaller than Frankfurt, but still larger than Wiesbaden. There I also had currywurst from the fair grounds that they were setting up for a festival that night. We then went to the Gudenburg mueseum, and since the actual museum was closed we made prints in the active part of the museum. I enjoyed my time in the Mainz, which gave me a chance to experience in scale of German cities. My favorite day trip was the final trip to Rudesheim, which is a very small German town that contains very skinny uphill streets and typical German architecture.

Rudesheim

From the town we took a gondola to the Statue of Germania on a large hill above Rudesheim. The view from the statue was very beautiful, as was the ride up the hill through the vineyards of Rudesheim. When we were in the city I went with three other MBA students to a small German resturaunt. There we had the Rudesheim schnitzel. I enjoyed trying the schnitzels that different cities make as a way to expierence the unique cultures of each town. Furthermore, I went with Leopold one of the weekends to visit Berlin. His cousin showed me around the city and we visted the various landmarks, such as the Brandenburg Gate, the East Side Gallery, the Muesem Insel, and the Reichstag building. I noticed that most of Berlin is very rundown and bleak, which was a direct result of World War II.

The Riechstag

Travel Week

For the fourth week of our trip Herr Dougherty took us to Munich and Vienna. Munich served as a good example of Bavaria. There we ate at a large German Beer Hall. Herr told us to order pig leg, which was excellent after a long day of walking. The next day we went to Dachau. It was very depressing to see firsthand one of the most infamous camps in the Holocaust system. After the Dachau tour, we took a train half an hour out of town to see Allianz Arena, the soccer field where Bayern Munich plays. We also went to the Olympic park and hiked up a large hill to get a better view of the entire park. 

Olympic Park

After Munich, we traveled by train to Vienna, the capitol of Austria. I was very impressed with the decadent architecture of the city. In Vienna we visited many famous cafes, went to various famous museums such as the Leopold Museum, which had a painting by Edward Munch, an artist that I had focused on in art class the previous year, and saw the Hundertwasser house. Our trip to Vienna was a highlight of the trip for me since the entire city was beautiful and we saw most of the city in our limited time. Moreover, I was able to expierence an entirely different culture from that of the Germans, but I could also draw similarities between the two which gave an idea of the contrasting cultures of European nations.

Schonnenbrunn Castle

I would like to say thanks to Mr. Paolicchi for making the trip possible, and also to Herr Dougherty for planning the trip and taking us to the most important museums and sights in Vienna and Munich. Moreover, thank you Wilson family funding the trip and giving me an opportunity that I will likely never forget. I made many meaningful relationships with both my host family and kids I met at school. My confidence in speaking the German language also increased, as did my knowledge of German culture and lifestyle.