Personal Narrative: Moving To Germany

Akin to a castle, the youth hostel nestled on top of a hill that was an expedition to climb. At the base of my temporary home was a small cobblestoned town with old fashioned houses that seemed preserved in a private history. Walking down the wooden steps and grassy dirt pathways that led us to the town, we 19 Americans began to explore a German town that we'd never heard of, and that we may never visit again. Travelling to Germany has been the highlight of my life, as the desire to explore cultures and languages is a spark I've been carrying for years. The three weeks I experienced ignited that spark into a flame. In Germany, I witnessed the current-events I'd read about online come to life. I was able to see Syrian refugees who were starting over in a new land, with a language as foreign to them as it was to me. The host family that I stayed with was originally from China, so in addition to being immersed in German, at home I was exposed to Chinese, and in addition to that, one of my friends on the exchange was originally from Portugal! …show more content…
The sense of adventure that I have always had seemed to magnify ten fold. Talking to locals and getting compliments on my German accent gave me courage in my abilities. At the local Mtille4 I purchased some Germanized snacks, and the cashier didn't even blink an eye as to whether or not my tongue was wrapping itself around strange vowels and sandpaper consonants. Those were the things that made me so proud, things that really made me realize I was making tangible progress in the language I was working so hard to