28.10.07

Paderborn

Last weekend (20th and 21st) I went to nearby Paderborn. I was there to help out with the interviews with the students who are applying for the Congress-Bundestag Scholarship to participate in an exchange to the United States.

I definitely got a lot out of the weekend. One of the strangest feelings was knowing that not too long ago I was on the other side of those interviews, that I had those same questions, that I wanted to be an exchange student.

I was basically there to answer any and every question the students had about life in America or being an exchange student. Talking about the best parts of an exchange, such as all of the funny little cultural differences, the new people, the challenges, and the rest of those general-and-cheesey-sounding-but-completely-true things really reaffirmed my confidence in my decision to do this exchange year.

It was also interesting to see the objects that they had to bring to represent their hometown. It's charming how each little German town has so much pride in whatever speciality or festival it's famous for. You can add that to the list of charming things about Germany: train rides, Sunday afternoon coffee and cake, the cobblestone pedestrian zones in the middle of cities, and hearing Germans try to pronounce the word "squirrel".

On top of all that, I got to see another nice city in Germany.


The cathedral in Paderborn, one of the most Catholic cities in Germany.


A fountain in the Füßgängerzone (pedestrian zone). I think it's funny that Germans who have been to America find the malls the coolest places to shop and Americans who go to Germany find the outdoor version awesome.

2 comments:

joycelim said...

Isn't Marcus from CS is in Paderborn atm??

Kevin said...

Yeah. I wanted to meet up with him but he was out of town.