Being a military brat, my family moved around quite a bit. I lived on both coasts, the Midwest, and out of country (Bahrain and Germany). Don't get me wrong, all of these places created the person I am today and taught me amazing things. But I would have to give credit for a majority of my development to living in Germany.
At first, I was so devastated when I found out we were going to live in another country. In middle school I thought that the world was going to end when I left my friends. But when I got there, my outlook quickly changed. I met new people and I made new friends. It was the start of my freshman year in high school. Of course, I took the opportunity to learn German. (Actually, I wanted to continue with Spanish, but my mom made me take German instead.)
Making new friends was easy, something I learned to do from moving around when I was younger. Living in a village with very few Americans, however, was slightly intimidating. Luckily, a lot of the Germans that lived near me had to learn English in school, especially the younger people. Matthias, an old man that lived across the street from us, learned English entirely by listening to the radio. He helped us a lot when we first moved there by showing us the village and telling us about things to do.
Most villages have their own little shops, stores, and restaurants. My village was very cute, we lived next to a butcher shop, a bakery down the street, and a "Brennerei" which is a brewery for schnapps.
(Schnapps from my village)
I became enthralled with German culture. It amazed me that I could wake up in the morning and walk next door to grab a sandwich from the butcher shop and then walk down the street to buy a pastry for breakfast before getting on the bus to go to school. I loved the German festivals (most of which take place in the Fall), not to mention Christmas markets. In the region where I lived, every village had it's own festival depending on what the inhabitants thought it was famous for. My village had "Schnapps Fest". Some of the bigger festivals in my area (or an hour or two away) were "Wine Fest", "Pig Fest", "Fasching". (Fasching is similiar to Marti Gras and happens right before Lent.) I loved the little stories that went with som festivals.
(Pig fest in Wittlich, Germany)
The story behind "Pig Fest" is that the village was once completely surounded by a wall and a gate. The gate had a single key that they locked if they were going to be invaded. One day they village was about to be invaded, but they couldn't find the key. So they jammed a carrot in the gate keyhole to lock it and went to assume defense positions. But a pig came along and ate the carrot out of the keyhole, leaving the village without their first line defense and they were conquered. So now, every year they get revenge on the pigs by putting them on a big spit, cooking them up, and eating them for a huge festival.
(My family, helping bottle wine.)
During my time there I got to travel so much. I visited several German cities and quite a few of the surrounding countries. It helped me open my mind to and have a vast appreciation of different cultures. It also has helped me with many opportunities that I have received today, like going to the Air Force Academy, the opportunity to be immersed there for 3 weeks this past summer by continuing the language, and possibly (fingers crossed) the opportunity to study there for a semester abroad. I have so much to thank my time in Germany for, I'm forever grateful for it and it forever has a special place in my heart.
(Street art in Berlin)
