I had the most fun traveling, getting to know the beautiful country of Germany in great detail, and experiencing all the wonderful opportunities it had to offer. I traveled all around the country and visited many different places including Neuschwanstein Schloss in Füssen (the castle Disney based Cinderella’s Castle on) and Oktoberfest in München, and have tried lots of authentically German foods including Schnitzel, Black Forest Cherry Cake from its origin town Baden Baden, and Mannheim’s own Spaghetti Eis (ice cream made to look like spaghetti).

Mannheim is a very beautiful city and I am very glad to have chosen to go there. The Wasser Turm is a key symbol of the city, and proves much more beautiful in person than in photos. And while many of the other, older building were destroyed during the war, Mannheim still amazed me with its beauty every day. The fact that I attended University in a Palace certainly helps that.

In addition to the beauty, another wonderful aspect of living in Mannheim was the transportation. Mannheim has a wonderful public transportation system consisting of Buses, Trams, and Trains that can take you anywhere you could want to go. Because Mannheim is a fairly large city, the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) is a main stop for ICE trains, essentially bullet trains, which makes going places like even easier, and much faster. It was by one of these trains that a friend and I were able to travel to Switzerland to go skydiving!

I also made a number of new friends while in Germany. With my friends I had wonderful adventures, going out onto town together and travelling. The nightlife in Mannheim is very active, and created a great opportunity for social bonding. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to travel abroad in Germany, and will remember this experience for the rest of my life.