Journey to Aalen: April 2015

Hey everyone,

Not too long ago I was able to experience a German Easter with my host parents. The week before that was a very different week however, as all the tenth graders in our school, and most of Baden-Württemberg got to spend a week off of school to go work for a week in a company of our choice.

As we all know, Easter was not too long ago, and I can say it seemed pretty similar to how my family does it in the US. The day before Easter my host mom made some delicious Easter bread and I helped her hake some cool looking Easter eggs as well. On Easter, normally my host family would participate in a church service in the morning; enjoy a homemade breakfast with different kinds of breads, cheeses, meats, and toppings like butter or Jelly. Then the kids of the family would go out in the garden to look for some Easter eggs with candy inside. After relaxing around the house a little, reading, and enjoying the time in the sun, we went down to Königsbronn for a nice walk around the town. It is a small town just south of Aalen, with a small lake to go paddle boating or swimming or mini golfing, but also gives these really nice trails around the town which you can end up looking over the little town.

One of the biggest differences started on the Friday before Easter, (Good Friday) everyone got the day off and so everything was closed for that day. It is the day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. The break continued until after Easter Monday, before everything opened back up again. (Of course, there are somethings open during the break, but most every German stores and restaurants are closed).

A week before we went on our two-week break the tenth grade class, I included, had to participate in a one-week internship at a company of our choice. Every student choose a company or organization of their choice to go work for a week. I chose to spend my week in the Aalen hospital working on the nursing floor. We were required to wear scrubs every day, which was somewhat cool in that feeling alone. My job was to work with the other nurses to clean rooms, refill medical supply cabinets, check patients pulses, blood pressure, temperature, and bring documents around the hospital. Although it did not seem like I did much, I did get to see a lot that the nurses did, which was just a taste as to what all their duties are. Although there was some down time, I still enjoyed my time there. On the last day, I asked if I could follow around the station doctor to see what he does on a daily basis. While we were walking around, I got to see how he took blood, learned a little bit about what all they are checking for when they take blood, and see how he checks up on patients. This to me was one of the most fascinating parts of the internship as it showed me what the other parts of being a doctor are. Although I was not in the station that I am looking to go study in, Orthopedic, I still did get to learn quite a bit as to how everything worked, and even a little bit as to how a German hospital works.

Doing this internship has really helped me to decide which path I want to follow later in life. I have found that doing things which help other people, while being really interesting for me as well is Orthopedic surgery. I am plan to go to UCCS next year to start on this journey studying pre-med.

I really have to say thanks to everyone again for allowing me and helping me along this fantastic adventure. Without my family, friends from back home, host family, friends from here, and AFS I would not be able to learn and enjoy this spectacular adventure. I really hope everyone is enjoying what I have to say, and learning a little bit about Germany too. If you have any questions or comments, or suggestions please leave them in the comments below!

Thanks everyone,

~Michael Steiner~

Wanderern zu dem Limesturm in der nähe von Aalen.