Thanksgiving Dinner

by Sandi Kadric ‘20

On November 24, 2018, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Germans who accompanied us. Everyone at the event wore formal clothes like suits and dresses. Before dinner, we introduced ourselves to other friendly Germans. The organizer of the event, the President of the Carl Schurz German-American Club Neil van Siclen, introduced himself. Then, we could select our food from a variety of options. There were green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, casseroles, turkey etc. that came along with a salad bar.  You were welcome to eat as much as you can (I had four plates). There was vegan and vegetarian friendly food as well. While we ate, everyone introduced themselves to the table and had conversations with each other. It was mostly German, but we could also speak English when something was too difficult to translate. The table was diverse with people from different age groups and from different areas of Germany. After the meal, we played a little quiz game with prizes. The Dickinson participants were really good: three of the four contestants received a prize. At the end of the evening, people went to the bar and ordered some drinks. It was a nice evening where we made some fun memories.

Cooking in Bremen

by Liz Bodenman ‘20

One of the biggest differences between being a student at Dickinson and a student in Bremen is the access to healthy eating. While Dickinson has multiple difference spots on campus from which students can quickly get nutritious ready-made snacks and meals, Uni Bremen only has a few eating spots with limited open hours. Therefore, it is impossible to depend solely on the university to provide oneself with food, making cooking an essential skill to have when studying in Germany.

To ease the transition of going from American convenience to German independence, the Durden Dickinson in Bremen Program provided us with a professional cooking instructor and a night of fun food experimentation! To add to the experience, Uni Bremen students interested in studying at Dickinson for the year were invited to cook with us, thus making it not only a time to learn new cooking skills, but also meet new people and further enhance our German speaking skills.

After spending the evening shopping for ingredients, bustling around the kitchen, and enjoying the fruits of our labor together, we concluded that cooking is far easier and more enjoyable than it may seem for those of us who are beginners (or let’s face it…those who are too lazy to make a nice meal after class).