The biggest piece of advice I would give to someone who is planning to study abroad on this Plus3 program is to take in every moment. The program is only two weeks long, and the itinerary is jam packed. It will be difficult to quickly get over the jet lag and deal with the early morning company visits, but your time abroad really does go by fast, so take a moment to enjoy every activity on the itinerary. After just two days of being back home, I miss it already.
While in Germany during my Plus3 study abroad program, I was nonstop eating food. One of the main things I heard you had to do when abroad is try new food, and so I constantly was trying new food during every meal.
During my Plus3 study abroad program in Augsburg, Germany, it was way easier to interact with locals than I had expected. It was my first time leaving the country, so I initially expected there to be a huge language barrier between us students and the Germans. Turns out, many of them spoke English.
The best thing about Engineering the German Way Program was that everyday was completely different and exciting. Every morning we would get up early and either cook breakfast or walk to the bakery close to our hotel to pick up croissants and pretzels and other delicious pastries. Munich also had the most delicious orange juice I have ever tasted, and I craved it every morning. During the week our class schedule was different every day, but we would usually start class at 9am.
One of the main reasons my trip was so memorable was because of the amazing people I met on the trip. For our program we were assigned 4 German buddies that helped us explore and be familiar with Munich and take us to the activities planned for us. Our 4 buddies were students in the school we were attending in the master’s program. From the first day when they picked us up at the airport, we quickly became friends with them.
For Engineering the German Way, everyone in the program stayed in the Living Hotel in Munich. The rooms were meant for two people to share, with each person having their own twin size bed. We all stayed on the same floor only a couple of doors away from each other. Each hotel room had two twin beds, a bathroom, small kitchenette, closet space, one desk, and a safe. The kitchenette had a mini fridge, stove, sink, pots and pans, plates, and utensils. This was very convenient for being able to cook meals in our room without needing to buy any cooking ware ourselves.
There are many pieces of advice that I would give to other students planning to study on this program, especially now that I’ve had time to reflect. The first piece of advice that I would give to others planning to study on this program is to get to know your fellow Pittsburgh students who are participating in this program with you. The people around the Plus3 Germany program are really what make it stand out from the other programs. By getting to know your fellow students, you can really begin to build a family abroad.
Interacting with the people of Germany was one of the biggest positives of my experience studying abroad. Every person I had the chance to talk to welcomed me to the country with open arms. The people of Germany were more than happy to share their customs, traditions, and experiences with me. The students and faculty of the University of Augsburg, where I had the chance to study while I was in Germany, were the best hosts that any student could ask for.