Submitted by Bradley Leifheit on the 2016 winter session program in Leipzig, Germany sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
So now that the first week is officially over, I have a lot to say. Leipzig itself is absolutely amazing. It feels a little like a tourist destination, but it mostly feels like a very homey city as well. The public transportation has been a godsend. The trams run so frequently and it takes no time to get to any destination within the city. So far we’ve started classes and, not surprisingly, most of us are in the lowest level class. However, those of us who are here have only 1 to 2 semesters of German experience whereas the rest of the international students have 5 to 10 years’ worth. The food here is absolutely amazing as well. Everywhere you look, they have some sort of wurst, or sausage. It’s one of my favorite things to eat at home, but it definitely doesn’t compare to the wurst here.
Between Leipzig and our excursion to Dresden, we’ve seen so much history. That’s what gets me the most. In America, anything and everything we see in terms of architecture and history in general can only be, at most, 240 years old. In Germany, you have a combination of modern architecture and architecture from over a thousand years ago. We went to the Military History Museum when we visited Dresden this weekend, and inside they have a huge section of the Berlin Wall. It was the most intense experience I’ve ever had. Standing on one side, I could feel just a small bit of what the Berlin residents actually felt when trapped behind the wall. It’s absolutely mind blowing and I can’t wait to see more in architecture, museums and overall history in Leipzig, Berlin and Munich.