Cultures of different counties have always been an interest of mine. My trip to Italy last spring with the school’s Concert Coir made me even more enthusiastic to travel to different countries and explore them first hand. I have always felt that you can only learn so much from looking at pictures and reading textbooks. By going and looking at the places you read about and experiencing bits and piece of the place’s culture, you can form a more complete picture in your mind. You get your other three senses involved instead of only using two.
Germany in particular holds an interest to me because I am 75 percent German. This trip will allow me to learn about the history and customs of my ancestors. Also this school year my family is hosting a German exchange student. Traveling to another culture will give me a brief taste of what it is like to go to another country and interacting with people whose primary language is not your own. Another reason I chose Germany is because there are important music composers that come from Germany and I would like the opportunity to see a concert while there. I am also interested in learning about other parts of world culture that Germany has made. Lastly, my dad is always traveling to Germany for business and I am curious about what kind of culture he experiences when he has to travel.
During this trip I expect to learn about important times in history that has contributed to why Germany is the way it is today. I am also is interested in learning about Martin Luther in a different light other than as one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Most of all I look forward to learning about the history of the places we are going and seeing, and experiencing the sites with all five senses. I also expect to experience a different way of life with different types of foods and daily life style. I also hope to go to an orchestra concert with the orchestra playing music by a German composer.
This class will be fulfilling my intercultural requirement that I need to graduate. The other reason for this class is the class allows me to take a class outside of the field I am majoring, but am still interested in studying.
