1st Assignment: My Reasons for Studying in Germany

Last December, I had the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time to the country of Nicaragua. It was an absolutely amazing experience and I knew that I would definitely have to take another D-Term trip.  When it came time to make a decision, I knew almost instantly that I wanted to go to German, although until I sat down to think about it, I never really understood why. So, here are some of the reasons I want to go to Germany:

1. It’s a chance to try speaking German with native speakers. 

I took two years of German in high school and I've been self-studying on and off for the past few years, however I always run into a snag when trying to talk to others in foreign languages. Due to my personality, I tend to be very shy about speaking a foreign language. On this trip, I won’t be able to escape with speaking English; I’ll be in Germany, I’ll need to speak German. For that reason, I view this trip as a personal push to step outside of my comfort zone and try speaking German to native speakers.

The original German poster for The Threepenny Opera

2. It’s an opportunity to learn more about the culture and history.

Speaking honestly, I know very little about German culture and history. However, about two years ago, I stumbled onto the culture via German language musicals. I was introduced to shows such as Elisabeth, The Threepenny Opera, Mozart, and Rudolf, just to name a few. While they may not have been the most fair or realistic representation of German ideas and ideals, it sparked my interest and has lead me to wonder just what the popularity and subject matter of these musicals says about Germany as a whole. Also, one of my favorite German bands, which we'll discuss in a moment, tends to have quite a bit of social commentary in some of their songs, and I was always curious just how much their opinions and voice matched the voice of the German people.

3. On a slightly more dorky level, I want to go on this trip because I like German music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Oomph!

One of the reasons I started taking German classes in high school was because I had grown to love German music and I wanted to be able to understand the music I was listening to. While I do enjoy classical music and I think it will be simply amazing to see anything related to musicians such as Brahms and Mozart, I also enjoy more modern German music. As I mentioned before, one of my favorite bands is a group by the name of Oomph!. They're known for a style of music known as Neue Deutsche Härte (or "New German Hardness"), which if you’re curious what that sounds like, the band Rammstein (who are also a German band) performs in that style. As can be seen by the two images to the left, Mozart and Oomph! are very different musicians, but I feel that a country's music, both current and past, can say a lot about it's people and I'm interested in seeing just how these two very different artists both represent Germany and the German people.

In conclusion, I don’t really have one overriding factor that makes me prefer Germany over another country. However, all my small reasons add up and make Germany an obvious choice for me.

Word Count: 573