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Hindsight is 20/20

This trip to Berlin and the Netherlands was extremely eye-opening. I learned so much about architecture, as well as the other topics that the other people in the group were covering. There was a sharp contrast from America to Berlin to Holland that stood out to me, in all the different topics that we studied, that I really enjoyed discussing with the rest of the group. It opened my mind to not just the architecture and history, even though I did mostly focus on that, but also to culture, business, politics, art, science, food and many other subjects that I did not realize had such a strong foundation in Europe.
As I look back on my trip, I am extremely satisfied with everything that I did. Not only did I enhance my interest in architecture, but I also became interested in all the other aspects of the societies we became a part of as we studied abroad. I was also able to open my perspective to see the world the way the Dutch and the German see the world, and how this perspective affects each individual part of their society, including politics, architecture, etc. However, I do wish that I had done some research on the other topics that we studied before going abroad so that I could compare what I researched to what I had actually seen. Unfortunately, I was so focused on architecture that I really didn’t research much about the other social, political and cultural aspects of the places that we visited. I will say that I felt more prepared in terms of research for the Netherlands because I took time to read Why The Dutch Are Different, which was extremely helpful and provided for a very good source of comparison to everything I actually saw. I wish I had found and read a similar book for Berlin before coming, but I will keep that in mind for future travels.
Overall, I was able to enjoy all the museums that we visited and even visit a few on my own. I was also able to pursue my own interests and visit the places I had researched about before coming in both Berlin and the Netherlands. I successfully optimized my trip by focusing on a topic that could be applied to almost every excursion that we had as a group and has a strong history in the locations we visited. Architecture was a very prevalent topic in both Berlin and the Netherlands, almost especially the Netherlands and came up either on its own, through my previous research, or was specifically brought up in tours, which was truly amazing. Especially when comparing architecture from one place to another, which brought about an even sharper contrast between America, the city of Berlin and the Netherlands. This trip was an absolute pleasure to be a part of and since we were given enough free time to explore on our own, I was truly able to have the experience that I most wanted, both educationally and personally.

By Anjali Ramohalli

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