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Student Travel: Northern Germany
By Andrew Nish
neib@mscd.edu

Photo by Andrew Nieb • neib@mscd.edu Outside the castle Wasserburg Gemen, near Münster, Germany.

In May 2006, I traveled with a group of 24 students from Metro’s German program to northern Germany for a three-week study abroad program.

The program was organized and led by German professor Gudrun Clay. We were enrolled at the internationally renowned Akademie Klausenhof, which specializes in teaching German as a foreign language. After many months of planning, coordinating and price haggling with airlines, Clay created a program that meshed language instruction with historical and cultural excursions as well as cultural exchanges with other students at the academy.

At any given time, between 100 and 180 men and women from all over the world live at the academy and learn German. Metro students all had a private room with bath, at the edge of the botanical gardens-like campus that bordered a forest. Meals were eaten family-style, providing a great opportunity to talk about the many types of food and how the food was served.

Students were encouraged to ask questions and give answers in German by any means necessary, using English only as a last resort. We were encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to practice our German speaking skills in the classroom as well as during leisure time. Many of the other students studying at Akademie Klausenhof did not speak English, which made it necessary to communicate in German. Many animated conversations emerged from mundane topics, with excitement radiating from the satisfaction that students were actually communicating with one another in German.

The daily excursions provided an opportunity for students to learn about Germany from historical, cultural and economic perspectives. We visited many sites in northern Germany, ranging from a fishing village on the North Sea with a walk in the mud flats of the low tide, to the breathtaking tour of the Gothic Cologne Cathedral.

Other highlights included a tour through Europe’s largest inland harbor in Duisburg; a boat trip on the Rhine river, flanked by medieval castles; a folk festival complete with rides, food and street performances; and a visit to the town of Münster, where the peace proclamation of the 30 Years’ War was signed in 1648.

The opportunity to participate in this study-abroad program was a unique and enriching experience, one I would recommend to anyone with the opportunity.