Greetings from Salzburg, Austria! While my program does not end til mid July, for other students this is their final week studying abroad, thus making this my last blog post. To be frank, I am only halfway through my program and have spent majority of my time outside of Freiburg, so I do not have the privilege of looking back on my experience and communicating it to you all, which was essentially what I was chosen to do. So, I will attempt to summarize my time here and give you a little insight into IES Freiburg - Environmental Studies.
For starters, most abroad programs start promptly after Winter Break in mid to late January at the latest. For better or for worse, this particular program starts late February - as in February 27th, which is basically March at that point - and goes til July 7th. This is primarily due to Germany’s semester structure and is similar to the Australia program. As a result, you have around 2 months at home after finishing up fall semester finals at GW before your program and about a month before you start school back in the States in August. I personally love spending time with my family and the extra month was perfect for my timetable, but it is important to note that it took my out of internship season in the summer. On the other hand to play devil’s advocate, spring and summer in Freiburg is the best time to live or travel in the city.
Which brings me to my next topic - Freiburg as a city. Freiburg is a university city and is primarily comprised of students, professors, and the elderly. That being said, when school is not in session, there is absolutely no one - and I mean no one - in town. During the first three weeks I was in Freiburg, school was not in session and it was still winter. Needless to say, it was rather depressing and isolating. As time went by and school resumed, the city changed over night and suddenly everyone was outside walking around, laying on the grass, eating at a cafe, and just enjoying the local culture. So if you do go on this program or are considering it, keep this in mind that it gets better. In addition, Freiburg is situated right near the French and Swiss borders, thus making Basel or Frankfurt the closest airport. The airport is only a 3-4 hour bus/train ride away, but it does make traveling more expensive. I pay from 5—70 Euros just to get to the airport (sometimes total, other times one way), thus increasing the cost of my weekend travel. If small towns in the middle of nowhere are your thing, then Freiburg is perfect, but if you are looking for a National airport type situation like DC, you will not find that here.
If you read absolutely nothing else on my blog or even in this article, I ask that if you are considering this program READ THIS, IES Freiburg - Environmental Studies is a extremely niche program. I am a sustainability minor, avid hiker, rather athletic, environmentally conscious, and needed classes in environmental sustainability. That being said, this was the perfect program for me and even I was left in the minority oftentimes. I do not look like a walking ad for REI nor am able to go straight from class to the local rock climbing club (some people in this program are I promise from experience). I am actually rather too crunchy for DC when I think about it, but here I am the least environmentally conscious person and easily the least outdoorsy. Almost everyone I have met in this program is vegan for environmental purposes and is more focused towards biology. As an international affairs major with one of my concentrations in International Environmental Studies, I am interested in the environment and have taken plenty of geography and sustainability courses. The classes in this program completely work for me and are not only interesting but complete majority of my concentration requirements. That being said, do not apply to this program unless you are extremely interested in sustainability. You will not be taking a general European art history class, but rather taking weekly excursions into the Black Forest to measure tree cores. I would recommend this program to biology and environmental science majors and not to international affairs majors. I enjoy it, but I do miss policy classes and talking about anything other than the environment.
Finally, it is important to know that Freiburg is a very niche, small college town. You will not find a single American brand or store besides Lush and the Body Shop for some rather odd reason. This is not Berlin or any other major city, so majority of the population will not speak English. I have bought and ordered many things on just the hope that it works out. It is possible to get by with little English and to even pick up some German along the way; however, I just personally saw no use in trying to learn German and going back to advanced Arabic in a matter of 5 months. If you do know enough German, your skills will immensely improve and this may be the best way for you to buff up your language skills and pronunciation. Which brings me to my final point, Germany is a leading world country, but it still suffers from severe social issues. The Germans are rather direct people who have absolutely no shame when it comes to staring and being what Americans would call “blatantly rude”. I personally do not mind their direct nature, but it is the staring that you should all be warned about. Particularly as a young woman who goes most places by herself, the staring is non stop and gets old rather fast. While it is not nearly as bad as anywhere in the Middle East, some parts of China, or India, it is enough to drive a person mad. While Germany does have equal pay for men and women, they struggle immensely with social relations between men and women. I personally would not walk around alone late at night on a Friday or Saturday. Freiburg is a safe city, but as a woman it does make you feel uneasy walking around at night especially when near a group of 20 year old boys. Cat calling is much more present here than in the US, so just be prepared if you plan on doing this program or go anywhere in Europe that is.
Like I said, I am still in the middle of my program and have yet to discover the niche parts of Freiburg. IES Freiburg - Environmental Studies is a phenomenal program for extremely environmentally conscious biology or environmental studies majors. I have and still am enjoying my time here, but have found severe cultural differences that you would not think of when you picture living in central Europe.