BAILEYEnglish Education Undergraduate |
BAILEYEnglish Education Undergraduate |
As of today, I have been back home in Buffalo for just under a week. In that time, I have felt a poignant mixture of joy and loss. By the end of my trip, I was beginning to long for home. I missed my family and my fiance, but I also began craving small things that I never would have expected to miss so profoundly: being able to get into my car and drive anywhere I wanted, my air conditioner, and time alone. As close as I became with my cohort, I am still an introvert at heart; I was ready to hole up in my room for a couple of days and recharge my social battery. Finally arriving home after an entire day of travel felt like such a relief. It was wonderful to eat some Buffalo wings (the best wings in Western New York are Barbill's cajun honey butter barbeque wings, and I will not accept criticism on this point), drink a cold sour beer, and surround myself in ice cold air conditioning before sleeping in my own bed. Even going back to work felt oddly comforting. Something about the everyday aspects of my life, like a shift at Wegmans or dinner with my parents, felt special and precious in a way they hadn't before. Aside from bringing me a greater appreciation for the world around me, traveling abroad helped me to appreciate the simple aspects of my life in an entirely new way. There is something beautiful about the everyday that I hadn't recognized until being separated from my creature comforts for three weeks.
Once I had reveled in everything I had missed for a few days, the sadness of leaving behind one of the greatest experiences of my life sank in. Saying that this has been life changing sounds corny and overdone, but I honestly don't know how else to describe my trip. I will never forget the inner peace I felt while hiking in the Swiss alps, the exhilaration of paragliding over mountains, or the laughter my cohort and I shared at a wine festival in the Black Forest. I am so happy to have met the people I traveled with and feel proud of myself for maintaining a positive attitude even on the days I felt homesick. To any potential IPDS students who are considering applying - put in your application. I was anxious and unsure of myself when I applied, but taking this trip was one of the best decisions I have ever made. You will not regret taking a chance on this program. To my fellow cohort members and my group leaders - thank you for the experience of a lifetime. Prost!
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Tomorrow, my cohort and I will be departing Germany and heading back home to Buffalo. As I reflect on the past three weeks, I feel deeply grateful for the experiences I have had and the bonds I have formed. Before leaving, I felt very nervous about the fact that I didn't know my cohort very well; we had weekly meetings to get to know one another, but we weren't close friends. Now, this group of people feels like a second family. Traveling truly does bring people together and I couldn't have asked for a better group to go across the world with.
My biggest takeaway from my time in German schools is the opportunity we have as humankind to communicate and form a better world. Although I deeply love teaching, I believe that our American education system is fundamentally flawed and inequitable. Because I admire many political systems of European countries, I anticipated falling in love with nearly every aspect of German education. I was surprised to find that there were actually some things that I believe America has more detailed, actionable solutions for - particularly special education, differentiation, and communication with parents. I of course do not mean to disrespect the schools I have been welcomed into; I have observed many practices that I feel America could benefit from. Their approach to teaching languages early in life is what I admire most. I also appreciate that they use technology in moderation, teach students to resolve conflicts amongst themselves, and allow their kids plenty of time to play outside. Both America and Germany have valuable practices that the other nation could benefit from. This realization was extremely valuable for me as both an educator and as a human being. Because I sometimes feel so frustrated with our education system, I tend to have a "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality. In reality, every country and society has their strengths and weaknesses. I am looking forward to applying what I have learned here to my own teaching back home, and I hope that our German host teachers were able to gain some knowledge from us as well. If we can all come together as a larger whole, we can make education better for everyone. This has been an incredible experience and I will forever be grateful for everything I have done during these three weeks. I am, however, looking forward to arriving in Buffalo tomorrow night - I get to see my family, hug my fiance, and eat some good Buffalo pizza. After a week of observations, school visits, and tours of Germany, the entire cohort was happy yet exhausted. Our host teachers were kind enough to organize a weekend excursion to Freiburg, a beautiful city in the Black Forest. We all drove up to Freiburg with our hosts on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a lovely dinner and game night. On Saturday we spent most of the day lounging by the lake; we ate delicious snacks, tanned, swam, and chatted for hours. We ended the night with a trip to the city's famous wine festival, which was one of the highlights of my trip. The weekend concluded with a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning before we all headed back to our host homes.
Since we arrived in Germany, our cohort hasn't been able to spend quite as much time together as we did for the first leg of the trip. After ten days of constantly exploring with this group of people, it felt strange to suddenly be separated, so this weekend was exactly what we all needed. We were able to talk, laugh, and share plenty of food and wine. Our German host teachers were also able to put aside their work to enjoy a couple days of rest and relaxation. One member of the German cohort observed that they almost never have the opportunity to go an entire day without working, so the trip to the lake was beneficial for both of our groups. As incredible as this experience has been, traveling can be both emotionally and physically tiring. Being surrounded by an unfamiliar language and new experiences is exciting, but also overwhelming. It is so important to pause and take care of your mental health while abroad. This weekend was a perfect opportunity for our two cohorts to come together, rest, and find common ground. There is less than a week now until I'll be arriving back home in Buffalo. The homesickness is starting to set in, but I am also going to miss my cohort so much. We have become such a close-knit group and they truly have started to feel like my second family. Here's to enjoying our last week in Germany! Today has been a chaotic day to say the least. Our cohort was supposed to meet each other in front of a train station before heading to a local Waldorf school to visit. I unfortunately took the wrong train and ended up being very, very late. Getting home wasn't much better - I ended up arriving at the wrong station with 1% phone battery and only a halfway-decent idea of how to get to my host home from there. Thankfully, I was able to call one of my friends from the cohort and send her my location. One of our group leaders, Brandon, was kind enough to pick me up and take me back home. Although this was an extremely anxiety inducing experience, it made me fully appreciate how difficult it can be to navigate new spaces - both literally and metaphorically. In a situation at home, I could have simply used Google maps, hopped in my car, and driven to my destination. Here, I had to cope with signs in a foreign language, an unfamiliar railway system, and perpetually late trains. I truly appreciate the community I have built with my cohort and that I was able to rely on them to help me when I got lost. Traveling has been so deeply rewarding, but it is also full of obstacles and stress. My advice to future IPDS travelers: always bring a portable charger, use the buddy system, and don't be afraid to call someone for help. It's better to be a little bit embarrassed about missing a train than completely lost in a foreign country. Rely on your group members to guide and help you; those relationships will be fulfilling and comforting while you get through both the wonderful days of travel and the trying ones. |
AuthorHallo! My name is Bailey and I am a recent graduate from the English Education 7-12 program here at Buffalo State. Traveling abroad has always been a dream of mine, so I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. I firmly believe that education is a dynamic, collaborative, and innovative field. Gaining new perspectives from German educators is going to be a life-changing experience - I can’t wait to get started! ArchivesCategories |