A seven month adventure and a sudden departure

Lyric Elliot (JYM 2019-20), Wayne State University, reflects on her time in Munich on the program and the sudden conclusion to her study abroad, sadly interrupted by COVID-19

Lyric was an exceptionally active student, who came to Munich early to join the LMU intensive language prep course. During the semester she had multiple language partners and friends and joined both the LMU choir and orchestra. She also had an internship already set up at an Apotheke for the second semester during the break when she had to suddenly pack everything to fly home along with the rest of her cohort. This reflection was printed in the JYM Illustrated 2019-20 class yearbook.

I was so distracted by preparing for JYM that the departure startled me. In the months prior to leaving, I was still taking classes, working, and fundraising, but I would get these reality checks, getting my passport, buying the plane ticket, taking the placement exam - that made what seemed like such an intangible experience became more palpable as the months, then weeks, and suddenly the days flew by. The flight itself was a suffocating experience. Not because the impossibly close seats required me to sit practically inside of the ribcage of my neighbor, but because it was my first flight, ever, and it was international, seven hours long, and carrying me away from my family and into the arms of an unknown land.

My first impression of Munich? The U-Bahn. Once we figured out how to get tickets, the toughest challenge that we faced was navigating the S-Bahn, then the U-Bahn to find the JYM building. To this day, I have no idea how we managed it, dragging a year's worth of luggage, a broken wheel on Jozzi's luggage, and a broken foot on Paige's body. Patricia greeting us in the JYM building was the most liberated I felt since we boarded the plane. After about 12 hours of no food, the first meal that I ever had in Germany was, you guessed it, McDonald's (insert American stereotype here). After eating, and receiving our packets, we were off again to our home for the next year (or seven months), Studentenstadt.

First impressions of Stustadt? Small room, big windows, and space pod bathrooms. My room was located on the 14th Stock, and had the most incredible view overlooking the Englischer Garten. Speaking of the windows, I was so shocked that they didn't have any screens. The timer on the stove was also odd. The biggest shock of all: no water in the toilet bowl. The first night was just me, my sleeping bag, my airplane neck pillow, and the tangible smell of whoever had lived in my room before me.

I was among the group that arrived early to do the language prep course, and it was the best decision I made. For my B1.2 course, my teacher was a lovely Bavarian woman, Frau Annette, who spoke quickly, biked religiously and adventured spontaneously. On the third day of class, she made us climb the 299 steps up the tower of the St. Peter's parish church ("Alter Peter)". By the end of her class, I felt well acclimated to the speed of the conversation and being an active participant.

I made the most incredible friends in this language course. Affectionately named "Flag Friends" - ein Koreaner, ein Norweger, Zwei Amerikanerinnen, Zwei Franzosen, Drei Niederländer, Zwei Spanier, und vier Italienerinnen - our class stayed together long after the course was over. We attended all of the LMU and MESA programs, events, activities, and icebreakers together. We also had dinners, parties, and potlucks on our own where we got to introduce one another to our countries' various recipes. For every country that I traveled to outside of Germany, I was hosted by one of my friends.

The prep course also helped me through the culture shock. Don't ever stand in the bike lane. Bavarians say "servus" and "ciao" when they get on and off an elevator. Don't talk too loud on the U-Bahn. German dogs don't need a leash. There will be bees in the bakeries. The city is shut down on Sunday. Stick to only reusable bags. Pharmacies are not convenience stores (in America we have CVS, in Deutschland Wir haben die Apotheke und Müller). Eggs are not refrigerated. Cashiers at Aldi throw your groceries down the checkout. There are only two squirrels in the city, but a thousand pigeons and Marienplatz has mice. In the Englischer Garten, you can be a nudist and a surfer, just not at the same time. Most importantly, be sure to check your chocolate, it might have an entire shot of rum in it.

There was also the adjustment period of being introduced to an entirely new selection of microaggressions. Several people asked me what part of Africa I was from (I'm not). My Erasmus friends were repeat offenders in trying to stick their hands in my hair. It was nice that the JYM advisors warned me beforehand about the way Germans stared in public, but still, experiencing it was uncomfortable. I think perhaps it is because, while Germans stare at everyone, they stare much more at people of color. As an African American, who also has an excessive amount of hair, I was stared at quite often.

When JYM courses began I wish I had known in advance how different it would be from the American course format.

It was a big adjustment for us to have a majority of our grades be a major presentation or just one or two exams. That being said, I think that each course was so interesting and insightful. The best parts were the excursions with Frau Holighaus and Frau Reis. It is one thing to learn about German history and traditions in class, and another thing entirely to be able to hear about it from Germans, visit the monuments and concentration camps, and actually go to recycling centers and water treatment plants. My favorite course, hands down, was Goethes Italienische Reise with H.P. I was so happy each week to openly discuss in a class all of the literature, poetry, and philosophy. Although there were numerous things that forecasted the COVID demise, the beginning of the end, for me, was when we had to cancel our own Italienische Reise because of the outbreak in Italy.

How was it when the program was canceled? Unreal. I would love to say that I handled it with dignity, but that is not true. My immediate response was a rebellion. So many of us were committed to staying in Munich, even if the program was discontinued. At the last JYM party, I think I can only describe it as a celebration of anguish. We were laughing, talking, some of us filled with rage, others numb with disbelief. We wanted to be supportive of one another, but it was so difficult when we hadn't even come to terms with it for ourselves. In less than a week, I had to get my affairs in order and return to the states.

I think I felt it the hurt the most when returning my violin rental to Herr Erben. I had just paid the rental for another three months a few days prior and he was so confused as to why I had to return it. He asked that morning "Warum geben Sie das zurück?" I told him "ich muss weg." Not understanding he said "Nehmen Sie es einfach mit." I replied "Das kann ich nicht mitnehmen. Ich muss Deutschland verlassen. Mein Programm ist gestrichen. Ich kehre nach Amerika zurück." He took it back, stared at it for a moment and said "Das werde ich behalten. Sie werden es wieder abholen." It was such a small gesture but it really had an impact. The same day I had to cancel my internship at the Schützen Apotheke, inform my friends from Orchestra, Erasmus, and LMU that I was leaving, and that night, I attended my last Choir meeting, standing 6ft apart from my friends in the darkness on the steps of Luitpold park and singing "Die Nachtigall."

Though the experience was cut short, there was so much that I was able to do and experience thanks to JYM. After stressing out in biochemistry for the last four years, Munich taught me how to breathe again. I mastered public transportation, I became an acclaimed karaoke superstar, I did yoga, I walked the walls of castles, I was adopted for Christmas in Italy, I brought in the New Year by frolicking in France, I sat in the ships of Vikings, and I drank the Oktoberfest Bier of Bavarians. I expanded my world beyond the barriers and international borders and I look forward to the day when I can do it all again.