Admission & Financial Aid Adele Loomis '18

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Hi, everyone! My name is Adele Loomis--yes, like the singer; no, I can't sing to save my life, although I can lip-sync most Adele songs by popular demand. I'm a junior at Amherst, hailing from small-town Kansas and majoring in economic history. I've also studied German throughout college and am currently studying abroad in Göttingen, Germany, where I'm improving my language skills and, much more importantly, re-learning how to ride a bike. (The saying 'it's just like riding a bike' is a lie!)

When I'm at Amherst, you can find me running through Amherst's extensive network for trails for track and field, reading with my feet up in Frost Library, popping into town to grab freshly made fro-yo at GoBerry (just a couple blocks off campus), or, most likely, sitting in Val dining hall and drinking chocolate milk.

I also work for the Music Department as a concert usher and elementary school band tutor; am a design editor for The Amherst Student, our weekly independent student newspaper; and am a member of Amherst Green Athletics, making our athletic department more sustainable.

If you have any questions about Amherst or something I write in this blog, definitely reach out to me at <aloomis18@amherst.edu> and I'll be happy to talk!

Rock on,

Adele

This semester (my junior spring) has probably been my favorite at Amherst in terms of academics. It helps a lot that by now I know what professors want and how to participate in class discussions, but I’ve also been lucky to have a bunch of great professors this semester and subjects that I find really fascinating.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed nearly all of my classes in my five semesters here, and for the classes I didn’t enjoy as much or got sick of by the end, I at least felt like I learned something valuable from each one. That sense of value is important, I think, because homework at Amherst will take up a lot of your day—you’ll want to spend that time learning about subjects you enjoy.

Here are a few of my all-time favorite classes at Amherst so far. As you’ll see, a couple are related to my history major, but others are totally random courses I ended up unexpectedly loving!

European Art and Architecture, 1400-1800 – This was an intro-level art history class with Professor Courtright, surveying the periods of European art from the Renaissance to classicism. I began the class as someone who found art museums horribly boring and thought analyzing painting and sculpture just involved making things up. I ended the class so excited to visit Europe for the first time and see some of these amazing works in person, and now I enjoy visiting museums and understanding the pieces I see through the context of what I learned in this class. I wasn’t even mad that this class was at 8:30 a.m.

Economic History of the United States – I chose my history major after taking this class with Professor Barbezat in the fall of my sophomore year. The class is exactly what it sounds like: analyzing events like the American Revolution, westward expansion, and post-Civil War Reconstruction through an economic perspective. When I realized that I genuinely got excited to begin each reading for this class, I decided to stick with history.

Intro to Computer Science – This makes the list because in the year since I took the class, I think I’ve forgotten just how traumatic it was to try to find the tiny error in my problem set that was causing the entire program to fail. With hindsight and some distance from those long frustrating nights, I’m very grateful I got an introduction to Java so that I can more easily teach myself more languages in the future. Professor Crystal Valentine has moved on, but I really appreciated how energetic she taught subject that could easily become dry.

Riot and Rebellion in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa – I’ve really enjoyed African history since taking a class on South African history last year, and this upper-level history seminar is probably my favorite Amherst class so far. There are just four students, which I love because all of us can easily participate without worrying that we’re hogging the discussion, and Professor Redding guides the discussions with questions that make me think about angles for interpreting events that I wouldn’t have considered on my own. After doing case studies on rebellions from the First Chimurenga in Zimbabwe to Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, I now have a much more balanced, less Eurocentric sense of world history.

I could go on, but I think those four classes in particular have taught me to see the world and the U.S. in new ways that will benefit me throughout my life, making them the most rewarding of my education so far.

It’s about that time of year—midterms. It’s been a busy week, and in trying to find a topic to write about from this week’s events, the main thing I could think of was the assignments I had completed. So, because I remember being a high school senior and trying to envision what college-level work looked like with mixed emotions of fear that it would be completely unmanageable and excitement that I’d be challenged, I want to dedicate this week’s post to discussing a few of my favorite assignments so far at Amherst.

For some context, I went to public high school in rural Kansas with about 400 other students, most of whom have stayed in the state if not in our hometown. A.P. classes weren’t offered while I was there, and I probably wrote a total of twenty pages’ worth of essays in my entire four years. I had always considered writing to be my strong suit, but had no idea how my skills would translate to college with so little academic practice—let alone math and science, subjects I enjoyed but felt less confident about.

Basically, I was very nervous when I began freshman fall at Amherst. Throughout my first semester I hesitated to speak in class, having the sense that everyone else somehow knew much better what they were doing. Essay assignments of three or four pages felt like extremely serious tasks requiring the best possible writing I could muster; I spent five or six hours editing each one and always submitted my papers terrified that they weren’t any good. It was only at the beginning of my sophomore year that I started to understand what was expected and how to evaluate my work, and I began to enjoy academic writing much more as a process of discovery than as a test of ability.

I really enjoyed writing one paper for my South African History class sophomore spring. We began with the early interactions between native Africans and Dutch sailors, then traced Dutch and British colonialism up to independence and the ensuing struggle to end apartheid. I researched the post-apartheid economic policies of the newly elected African National Congress to better understand why they rejected Communist policy after having been allied with the Communist Party of South Africa from the beginning of the fight against apartheid.

This semester, I’m taking another class in African history called Riot and Rebellion in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa—a small history seminar focused on writing a research paper at the end of the semester. I’ve spent time this week ironing out my research proposal, which will revolve around the genocide of the Herero people in present-day Namibia at the hands of the Germans in 1904. I’m actually really excited for the project and the opportunity to do some research in German while learning more about how African societies reacted to European colonialism—and being excited for the project, I’ve realized after taking a look back at the last several years, is pretty substantial growth since I first started at Amherst scared of a three-page paper.

It’s winter! After a warm January, wintery weather hit Amherst in full force this week. A foot of snow buried campus a few days ago, and snow fell relentlessly over the weekend too. I’m feeling a little cooped up because I haven’t been able to go running outside, but have also been staying busy as the semester picks up.

When the big snowstorm hit, I spent the day inside decorating my room with photos and memorabilia from my semester in Germany—tickets from museums, churches, and flights, plus my very first train ticket, which I hadn’t realized I’d kept. It was funny to see tickets from places I almost forgot I’d been, like the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam.

Later, my friends and I gathered for a cozy girls’ movie night and watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Dirty Dancing. I’ve given up my years-long dream of having Patrick Swayze teach me how to dance, but the dance scenes are still incredible!

This weekend was my first time hanging out in the new Greenway dorms, which just opened this fall. They’re on the south end of campus overlooking the soccer fields, so they’re as far away from my dorm as any building can be on Amherst’s small campus. They’re also very different from any other Amherst dorms, which makes them pretty cool. All four buildings are sleek and modern with small, quirky common spaces for students. There are lots of little spiral staircases and nooks, so I’m still pretty confused about where all of the staircases lead and which floor and building I’m in at any given time. But there are a couple large couches and TVs perfect for watching movies!

I spent Saturday afternoon with my track and field teammates in the Women’s and Gender Center, a space in the student campus center that provides resources and hosts discussions about issues pertaining to women and to all genders. The Center’s director kindly invited our team to use their space to make Valentine’s Day cards for our friends and family and provided craft supplies. Eating Hershey’s kisses and fighting with glitter glue was a pretty ideal way to spend a snowy weekend afternoon, and I made a doily-backed valentine to send home to my family and dog.

Aside from the snow and the Valentine’s Day fun, this is shaping up to be a pretty normal Tuesday. I’m still applying for summer internships in business, and this afternoon I’m meeting with a professor to discuss a topic for a research paper I’ll be writing this semester about riots in colonial and postcolonial Africa.

And (of course) I’ll be preparing for more snow to fall tomorrow, because Massachusetts. :)

After a busy end to my semester in Germany, I’m back on campus at Amherst and writing from an armchair in Keefe Campus Center, watching snow pile up outside through the window. With the second week of spring semester underway here, I’ve started reflecting on my time abroad and noticing what feels different about campus after a semester away.

It’s incredibly strange to be surrounded by so many familiar landmarks, executing a familiar daily routine, while feeling like a different person. My beloved blueberry mango breakfast smoothies at Valentine Dining Hall taste exactly the same; my teammates and friends still congregate on the second floor of Frost Library; one particular showerhead in the women’s track and field locker room still has one rogue jet of water that streams directly into your eye.

I’m more grateful than ever for all the friendly faces I encounter around campus. Walking into Keefe this afternoon, I settled in the upstairs fireside room and saw a track teammate and a fellow South Dormitory resident from my first year. Seeing acquaintances I didn’t keep in touch with throughout the semester, but enjoy spending time with when I run into them, has been one of the best parts about returning. The library is especially great—I’m much happier doing homework surrounded by friends than alone in my room, but in Germany poor Wifi reception in the university libraries meant I usually worked off campus. Frost has never been so appealing!

I’m living in Porter House, Amherst’s German theme house, which is a community of German majors who agree to speak German within the house to practice their language skills. Tonight is the first Kaffeeklatsch of the semester—a casual gathering where German speakers and professors drink coffee, eat German bread and cookies, and, of course, speak German! It’s a lot of fun because it’s an opportunity to interact with professors outside the classroom and to meet German speakers across all levels of the department, from students in their first semester to seniors writing theses in German. There are also two teaching assistants from Göttingen living in the house, and their accents are so familiar that it’s funny to hear them in the U.S. after being so used to hearing those voices in Germany.

Classes at Amherst require so much more time out of class than my abroad classes (this seems to be true of almost every abroad program I’ve heard of), so it’s been an adjustment getting used to reading so much material every day. The good thing is, all of my classes are conducted in English. I’m much less stressed about working through a long reading in my native language!

I’m taking classes with three professors I’ve had before—all some of my favorites at Amherst—as well as an Intro to Climate Change lecture with a new professor. It’s my favorite geology/earth science class at Amherst, and I’m enjoying working with data more than I normally do as a humanities-focused history major. I think the process of adjusting to life in the U.S. will take a while, especially given the political climate, but I’m happy to be back.

This Advent season has been strange for me. It’s the first time I won’t spend Christmas with my family, and it’s hard to imagine the holiday without my parents and brother. I was really happy, though, that my mom was able to visit me this past week in Göttingen! I'm glad I could spend some time with her during the holidays, and her reactions to the city showed me just how much I’ve adjusted to living here and how many aspects of life here I’ve figured out.

When she walked out of the city train station, my mom’s jaw dropped at the hordes of bicycles stretching out across the plaza. She later commented that it’s no wonder few Germans walk with earbuds in, because “they’d probably get run over by a crazy bicyclist!” In September, I remember walking carefully on every new street while trying to sort out the designated lanes for cyclists and pedestrians—it felt like cyclists were always whizzing by as I hastily jumped out of their way.

She also experienced that marvel of modern transportation that is the Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s high-speed train system—so quick and comfortable, but expensive and always delayed. Getting the hang of buying a ticket, finding the right train, and taking a non-reserved seat onboard took me a few embarrassing tries.

She and I took the train to Esslingen, Germany this past weekend to visit an old high school friend of hers, a German lady who spent a year in the US as an au pair. We stopped by Esslingen’s famous Christmas market, including a medieval section where people dressed in period costume sell fake swords and Renaissance Fair-worthy gowns in stands adorned with iron cauldrons and antlers. I sampled “Eierpunsch” (egg punch) to make sure it was not in fact eggnog, and then we headed to our friend’s home for dinner.

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The medieval section of Esslingen's famous Christmas market.

A typical dish for the region was on the menu: Maultaschen, ravioli stuffed with spinach and some type of minced meat. Apparently, Maultaschen first became popular as a way to skirt around the Catholic custom of not eating meat on Fridays. If your priest came to dinner on a Friday and you served these ravioli, he couldn’t tell that they contained meat because of the camoflauging spinach. I thought this was hilarious, and whatever their origin, they were delicious!

As a highlight of the trip, we visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, a neighboring city and manufacturing center. The massive nine-floor museum takes you from the horse-and-buggy days to ugly station wagons to the future of renewable energy, with tons of authentic cars from each era. My mom and I liked this flashy red car from the 1930s best.

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Who wouldn't want this car?!

I don’t think it’s possible to leave the Mercedes-Benz Museum without wanting to own a cool vintage car.

At the end of the weekend, my mom headed back to the U.S. full of delicious German food and slightly better at navigating the trains, leaving us both with wonderful memories.

Wishing you all happy holidays and einen guten Rutsch im neues Jahr!

Germans didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving last week (my fellow Amherst exchange student and I cooked lasagna—we weren’t ambitious enough to attempt a turkey) but I did have a mini-reunion over the holiday weekend with a couple other Amherst students studying abroad! My friend Nate is in London studying biology, while my friend Leonie is immersed in Spanish in Madrid.

One thing that didn’t sink in for me before going abroad was that although many of my closest friends are also in Europe, we’re all in different countries and it’s not actually possible to see each other very often. I visited Madrid a few weeks into my stay in Germany, but since then we’ve been visiting the same cities (like Amsterdam), except on different weekends. I hadn’t seen Nate and Leonie in months, so it was a very exciting reunion.

We met up in Paris, which was a good halfway point for all of us, and immediately after arriving we went in search of affordable food (not as easy as we expected!). We spent our first day exploring the Montmartre district, which was a very popular neighborhood where artists like Picasso lived in the early twentieth century, and saw the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur.

As we headed toward the famous cabaret house Moulin Rouge, we had one of those crazy, what-are-the-odds moments. We paused to cross a narrow street and made eye contact with a guy crossing in the other direction. After a few moments of disbelief, we recognized him as a fellow Amherst student who’s studying in Berlin. We joined him in his search for an affordable croissant and discussed the pros and cons of studying abroad, like the struggle to stay warm when it’s always raining in Germany.

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Nate Sacks '18, me, and Leonie Rauls '18 struggling to fit ourselves + Notre Dame in the picture.

Later we walked down Champs-Elysees, through a massive Christmas market that seemed to extend most of the avenue. We found the traditional mulled wine (Glühwein), Nutella crepes, gingerbread, and chocolate-covered fruit skewers, but because it was Paris, there were stands selling champagne and Prosecco too. Weirdest of all, we saw a children’s ride with a “Thriller” theme, featuring a giant statue of an evil Zombie Michael Jackson in a Santa Claus suit.

As we wandered through the many state buildings and galleries clustered in the area, we stopped by the Hôtel des Invalides, a complex of buildings including the army museum and a chapel hanging the tattered flags of enemies the French defeated in battle. Nate and I wanted to see the Invalides building itself, with its large dome and two-story temple-like design in front. We each studied the building as part of an Intro to Art History class with Professor Nicola Courtright, one of my all-time favorite Amherst classes that showed me how to appreciate and understand art. Ever since that class, Nate and I have been excitedly tracking down as many paintings, sculptures, and buildings that we studied as possible. We were surprised to notice that the Invalides was more of a dull marble color in person than the gleaming white we remembered from photos.

Sadly there was nowhere near enough time to see all the sights Paris offered in just one weekend—it is definitely a city that, once you visit once, makes you want to stay longer or return as soon as possible! 

Ever since the presidential election, I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about it in this blog. I don’t want to get into my thoughts or analysis here, but I do want to talk about what it’s been like living abroad and being surrounded by the international reaction.

Unsurprisingly, my handful of German friends were very eager to ask my opinion when they next saw me. Every time I walked into a class, I braced myself for the questions. And when I ate lunch with other international students, we all wanted to talk politics. What did surprise me, though, was the relative lack of surprise or harsh judgment. Given that I’d heard unanimous support for Clinton before the election, I was expecting people to say, “Wow! How could Americans be sodumb?”

Instead I found that everyone was genuinely interested and listened to my attempts to explain the dynamic of living in the Midwest with an open mind. They were surprised, for sure, but also familiar with the rise of right-wing extremists in their own countries. Rather than judging the U.S. electorate, they said sympathetically that they were worried about similar results in their own countries in upcoming elections or referendums. That was the first time I’d heard anything about nationalist movements directly from the perspectives of people living in those countries, which made a much bigger impression on than reading it in the news.

I was also struck by realizing, even more strongly than before the election, that I did not know a single person in Germany who supported Trump or was pleased he had won.

In the days right after the election, I found myself feeling grateful to be living in Germany instead of in the United States during that time. While I heard from American friends who were scared and hurting, the only people I interacted with face-to-face wanted to exchange rational analysis, not emotions. It was reassuring to see that the rest of the world recognized the importance of Trump’s presidency, but at the same time continued with their lives more or less as if nothing had happened.

Although my Facebook feed remains flooded with political posts about Trump’s cabinet and potential policies, people have mostly stopped discussing it here. When it does come up in conversation, it’s in my German language course, where all of us are foreign students learning German as a foreign language and where the conversations revolve around exchanging information from our different homelands. And in that class, it calms me that despite our origins in China, Armenia, Belgium, Zimbabwe, France, Russia, Chile, and more, we as young students are much more similar to one another than not. 

At a time when Americans are questioning what will happen with our NATO alliances or our relationship with Russia, I haven't experienced any mistrust on an individual level, only mutual respect and a desire to learn more about the other person.

I know, I know…it’s only the beginning of November and way too early to start celebrating Christmas! But since Europeans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas is a HUGE deal here. I’ve spent the last two weekends exploring new cities, and I’ve already noticed holiday spirit popping up.

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Two weeks ago in Amsterdam, red and gold lights were strung across the streets in the city center.

This past weekend, I traveled to the nearby city of Braunschweig with a group of other international students. Braunschweig is in Lower Saxony, the same region as my university, and all students can take the regional trains for free! The city wasn’t quite as decked out as Amsterdam, but we came across a couple of cozy markets that made the chilly Saturday feel warmer. 

First we wandered through a French market, sampling gigantic cheeses, quiches, and chocolate croissants. Then we discovered two more “traditional” markets, with very cute food stands offering sausages, smoked salmon, and a drink called Glühwein that I’m now a little obsessed with. A staple at all Christmas markets in Germany, it’s essentially warm red wine, which sounds gross, but hear me out. It’s flavored with cinnamon and cloves, more like a cozy spiced drink than wine, without any bite. And it tastes exactly like an afternoon curled up by a roaring fireplace. I will admit that the flavor is a little overwhelming, and one cup was more than enough, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep buying it at all the other Christmas markets I see!

What I really enjoyed about the holiday markets was how much care each business put into their display. Many of the food stands were made of real wood with sturdy overhangs, spacious interiors, and hunting- or nature-themed decorations. 

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A stand at the holiday market selling smoked salmon, freshly made over a crackling fire.

 In addition to the food stands, there was a small stage where a local German band performed a few cheerful songs. Everyone was sipping Glühwein or beer and enjoying the festive atmosphere, live music, and company of friends. My friends and I left the market very excited to visit more in the future!

We ate lunch in a traditional German Gasthaus—an inn with a restaurant and brewery, like a bed & breakfast but with more focus on beer and sausages. Most of us tried Currywurst, which is a GIANT bratwurst covered in a sweet ketchup-like sauce with a bit of curry seasoning. When I say giant, I mean that these bratwursts are served on full-size plates but stick out off the plate on both ends. French fries or boiled potatoes usually come on the side—the Germans love their meat and potatoes. I’ve been amazed at how many different variations of potato dishes exist here!  

By the time we caught the train back to Göttingen, it had already been dark for several hours (thanks, daylight savings) and felt much later than it was. We were worn out from walking all day, but full of hearty food and festive memories!

Last week, I took a seat in my history class next to a couple of German girls. When we started chatting, they noticed my accent and asked if I was American. I had barely nodded ‘yes’ when one girl demanded: “Wirst du wählen?” “Are you going to vote?”

I had to ask her to repeat herself because I wasn’t expecting such a pointed question so early in the conversation. Once I understood, I told her that yes, I had already voted early. She proceeded to explain that she was majoring in American Studies, had watched every presidential debate, and was anxiously awaiting the outcome of the election. She wanted to know why anybody supported Trump and whether I thought he would win.

Since coming to Germany, so many people have asked me about the 2016 presidential election that I almost expect a question in every conversation. What really surprises me is that both Germans and other international students don’t just ask to make small talk—they know about Clinton’s e-mails and Trump’s “locker room talk,” and they genuinely want to know how Trump became so popular. The conversations are always one-sided—no one understands why so many Americans support Trump.

I imagine that conversations at Amherst are pretty similar. As far as politics go, Amherst is solidly liberal—as someone who grew up in a small, conservative Midwestern town, it felt as blue as the sky when I first arrived. Now I’ve realized that there are Republicans on campus, too, but the dominant voices are almost always left-leaning.

Opinions vary about the political culture on campus. Some of my classmates, like my sophomore year roommate, wish we had a stronger culture of activism. Others think that Amherst students go over the top when it comes to social justice.

I’d say that I see protests and other forms of activism a few times per semester, but that important conversations are constantly happening because we have so many student-run publications and it’s easy to publish your views. As someone who shamelessly loves all things printed, I make sure to read each edition of The Amherst Student, Amherst’s weekly independent student-run newspaper, and The Indicator, our magazine for social and political commentary. I can’t even begin to name examples of insightful pieces that made me look at an issue from a fresh angle, or that kick-started campus-wide conversations.

Amherst’s political culture definitely isn’t perfect. Conservative ideas are rarely taken seriously, and academic conversations can feel like an echo chamber that never leads to concrete action.

But I’m grateful that Amherst has given me the chance to learn so many new points of view. I had barely heard of cultural appropriation or transgender identities when I arrived at Amherst, and hearing my classmates’ experiences and views made me more aware of daily struggles that are often internalized or not discussed.

I’m preparing for an American cultural evening at the International Office for this coming Monday night before the election, so I’m looking forward to learning more international students’ views on U.S. politics over brownies and Cotton Eye Joe dancing!

Hello readers,

I finally started my semester last week and am settling into a routine here in Germany. I’m writing this from a café on a Tuesday afternoon, which brings me to my main observation about classes at the University of Göttingen: they don’t happen every often. Three of my four classes only meet once a week. My Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are almost totally free.

It’s been hard for me to figure out how to spend the extra time, and I realized that’s because I never have to look hard for things to do or people to talk to at Amherst. So in today’s post, I want to discuss the place I spend most of my time at Amherst: Frost Library.

First off, I’m not in class at Amherst much either. I’ve never taken a lab science class, because spending three hours in a lab sounds unbearable and I just can’t bring myself to do it, even though I know I should. So I’m usually in Frost Library for one- or two-hour chunks throughout the day in between classes.

Hanging out in Frost is ideal (read: I can easily distract myself from my work) because fresh faces are always coming through. Each of Frost’s six floors have sort of their own personality, and Amherst students usually find a floor they like and stick to it. The floors are quieter the farther from the ground floor you go. The first floor is the loudest, most social floor, where you can chat with Frisbee players and residents of Marsh House, Amherst’s arts theme house.

My personal favorite is second floor—it’s a bit quieter than first floor but still totally acceptable to laugh at Buzzfeed articles or quiz your friends about U.S. geography. (I was shocked to learn sophomore year that a lot of people have a hard time telling the states in the Midwest apart.)

Another key feature of second floor: it’s just one flight of stairs away from Frost Café on the first floor. Far enough to keep me from being tempted to spend all my money on snacks, but close enough that a giant warm chocolate chip cookie is never too far away on particularly chilly February days.

I’m really missing Frost today, because the university libraries here are not nearly as pleasant for doing work. That’s not to say Frost is some magical beautiful place—it’s a gray rectangular building that stands out for being ugly among all the gorgeous brick architecture at Amherst. And inside, the tables and chairs look like they’ve seen many years of Amherst students writing essays. But I love that Frost is always full of friendly faces and groups of chatting people, and that it’s a place I can sit for hours and see a steady stream of classmates.

In contrast, my German university’s libraries have a lot more space for individual computer work and not as many tables for groups to gather. It’s quieter, and people seem to get in and out as quickly as possible. I guess the German efficiency is something I can learn from!

Hey everyone! Since I’m studying abroad this semester, I thought I’d use my first blog entry to tell you all a little bit about my temporary home in Göttingen, Germany.   I’m enrolled at the University of Göttingen through an exchange program with Amherst’s German Department. Every year, Amherst receives two German teaching assistants from Göttingen, who sit in on classes, lead language practice activities, support students with writing essays or preparing presentations in German, and live in the German theme house, Porter House. In return, Göttingen receives two American students. The program has worked well for me, because it means that I already know four German students in Göttingen! That reassured me when I first arrived and realized that despite my excitement for studying abroad, it can be lonely and exhausting at times.

One thing I really enjoy about Göttingen is that it feels like a college town, just like Amherst. Bike riders are everywhere, and posters for concerts, pub nights, and political marches plaster every streetlamp. Most businesses and restaurants lie within the “Innenstadt” (inner city) that was ringed by a protective rampart in the Middle Ages—it’s now mostly blocked off to vehicle traffic, so pedestrians and speedy bikers compete for space in the narrow streets. A lot of buildings are half-timber houses, meaning they’re built from wood and filled in with plaster. This is one of my favorite styles of architecture and I love walking through the city every day surrounded by these Fachwerkhäuser!

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Here's the view from my room, looking out onto a typical German street with colorful plaster houses.

Another great aspect is the amount of student programming. In particular, my experience so far is that the university prioritizes incorporating its many international students and bringing them into conversation with one another. This afternoon, I met with other American exchange students to plan a cultural evening, sharing our food, poor dancing (Cotton-Eyed Joe and the Electric Slide), sports, and politics. Later in the semester we’ll have Irish and Ukrainian nights!

I’ve met a lot more international students here than I expected. I probably should have realized that I’d interact with a lot of exchange students, but when I pictured studying abroad, I always thought I’d be surrounded by native German speakers. Instead, since I’ve been taking an intensive language course through the ‘German as a Foreign Language’ department, I spend every morning with kids from all over the world. What’s nice is that speaking German with other non-fluent speakers is wayyyy less stressful than with native Germans. And it’s also less tempting to lapse into English, because often the person I’m speaking with doesn’t understand English too well and German is our common language.

As this week wraps up, I’m actually preparing to start classes Monday, the 17^th. The German university system breaks down into winter and summer semesters, not fall and spring. My semester technically ends in early February, so I’m finishing early to start the spring semester on time at Amherst. I’m excited to see how classes at a German university compare to Amherst—more about that later!