My name is Kori Sye and I am a
Chemistry major currently finishing my sophomore year at North Central College
in Naperville, IL. This December I will be traveling with a group of students
to Germany and we will be residing is Berlin and Erfurt while making trips to
many locations across Germany. I decided that I wanted to go on the December term
study abroad trip so that I could get the experience of traveling abroad and
learning about another country without spending an entire term overseas.
After learning that going to
Germany was an option for the D-term trips, I knew immediately that I wanted to
go on the trip. I have German heritage and I have always wanted to learn more
about the German culture. Although both my father’s parents were German, they
did not practice traditions German growing up in America. My grandfather told
me that as a young child he spoke German with his family but during World War
II he and his family decided to stop speaking German and stop associating this
the German culture in order to show that they were not aligned
with the Nazi party. His family went as far as changing their last name from
Sychowske to Sye in order to hid traces of their German heritage. I have always
wanted to know what my family would have been like if my grandparents were able
to embrace their German heritage and pass down some of their traditions. In
Germany, I would like to learn about some of the family traditions and see how
my ancestors lived.
I would also like to go to Germany
because I have heard the about wonderful culture and beautiful scenery from my
aunt and uncle. Their family has been involved in a Germany society in Chicago
for many years and has visited Germany many times. My cousins have been
involved in German dancing since they were young, and my cousin Nikolaus
traveled to during two summers ago. I have attended some of the German
society’s events and seen some of the German traditional dancing. This family
has also showed me several pictures from their trips and talked about all the beautiful
places they have visited so I have always wanted to visit Germany. I would like to
travel across Germany so I can share my own experiences with my family.
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| My cousin Nikolaus visting Bremen, Germany. |
I also want to learn about the
Germany economy. As an Economics minor, I am very interested in seeing how the
cultural differences in Germany have an effect on the economy. I would like
to learn how Germany went from a financial crisis rampant with hyperinflation
after World War I to having with one of the highest nominal GPDs and being a
leading exporter today.
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| The Federal Ministry Finance located in the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus Berlin headquarters. |
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