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Culture Clash 4–So hard to say goodbye
Photo Credit: Ercan Sahin
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Written by Jens Kopper
After almost one whole school year, the feelings about going home are more than mixed. Of course seeing my family is something I look forward to the most, but leaving the school and Pittsburgh is kind of sad.
Pros:
First, I’ll be more than happy to see my family at the airport. Of course after such a long time, we’ll have a lot to talk about. The same goes for my friends, and I’ll have so many stories to tell everyone. I’ll also like to have a nice pretzel right at the airport and after that, go out to eat.
I missed the food of Germany badly here, so I’ll be more than happy to eat a nice Schnitzel and have a good Doener/Kebab.
My family has also planned a “Welcome Back” party, which is combined with my brother’s 18 birthday. This will be the first time I see my class and we’ll have a lot of fun that weekend.
If you have read my column for a bit, you may have noticed my little obsession with American sports. I really look forward to keeping up with college football, baseball and college basketball games with my friends. It would be nice to have a lot of the conversations about these sports in my class. Another big thing my friends and I plan to do is have a music day. I know it might sound strange, but while I’ve been here, I’ve tried not to listen to German music, so I could get more used to English. So, my friends are coming over and we’re going to discuss the new things that I’ve come across while being here.
I’ll also have summer break and my family and I are going to go to Venice and go camping. It’s a great place to go, and after all these super big pizzas here, I’ll love the first really slim, original Italian pizza.
Cons:
Of course I am going to miss a lot of things. Even the smallest things, which seem so normal here, I’ll miss.
I’m of course going to miss the school, and even though I go to a great school in Germany, I’ll still miss the Obama Academy. I really enjoyed the teachers and how nice they all were. They helped me survive my classes. I also like the students here and the new friends I have made.
But school is not everything. In Germany I live in a much smaller town, even smaller than some neighborhoods here in Pittsburgh. That means that I’ll really miss the big city life. For example, going out to places like the hockey arena, downtown, a baseball and football game or heading down to Oakland to hang out. There is always something to do in my hometown in Germany but I will have to take a bus/train to go to the bigger city, where things are going on. It may sound a little bit of stupid, but I will also miss American TV. Not only ESPN or NFL Network, but even just the movies and shows all being originally in English. Back in Germany, I’ll have to listen to bad German synchronization.
Anyway, going back will not be easy, but it will be exciting and a lot of fun. But most of all, I hope I slide back into the German culture easily.
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