Bill Blomfelt
Bill Blomfelt
Ripon College
Participant in the 2010 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
Program: Ripon College Exchange Program: University of Bonn - Spring 2009
Graduation: May 2010
Major: English, German
Spells, Firebombing, and Unification: Things One Can Learn While Studying Abroad in Germany
What is study abroad? Study abroad is not a vacation abroad. Rather, it is personal growth stimulated by academics and interaction with foreign culture and language.
My study abroad experience was enriched by enrolling in a variety of university courses in Bonn with German students, from history of the Catholic Church in Germany to analyzing the functions of magic in literature, among other courses. I strived to not only solidify my foundation in German literature but also to attain knowledge of other interesting subjects I had yet to explore.
Excursions expanded my knowledge about German culture and history, for example a Dresden and Leipzig excursion, Dresden being a sign of Germany's reconstruction after the devastating firebombing during WWII and Leipzig serving as an important city in voicing people's desire for German unification during the 1980s.
This was a particularly profitable experience because I encountered this with European exchange students, with whom I was conversing in German and talking about our different backgrounds.
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