2019 GAPP Trip
October 7, 2019
“BK Gang”
Bubbly water, under cooked bacon, and freaking castles. Yes, all yinz know that it is time for yours truly to talk about my trip to Deutschland.
The trip started with the shortest fight I have ever been on in my life, of like an hour and a half from Pittsburgh to Chicago. We then had to wait for roughly four hours. We all tried to eat together at Chili’s, but half of the people ditched and went to the glorious McDonald’s. I ended up paying $15 for a burger that wasn’t that good.
We boarded the flight to Germany after a minor debacle about our carry-on luggage being too big, but that isn’t important. We all found our seats and did some seat trading and everything was good for a few minutes. Then a random woman, who will end up making another appearance in this story, accused me of taking her seat. Dane Irvine and I diffused the situation after we had to explain how numbers and airplane seats work. I ended up watching a season of The Big Bang Theory, a season of Friends, and the European Golf Tour with no sound because-of course-there was no sound. The inflight food was a sketchy teriyaki chicken and rice which was nothing to write home about (ha you get it, I was going away from home). I tried (tried being the key word) to fall asleep but I was interrupted by a certain crazy lady. She got into an argument with, who I later figured out was her brother, about him spilling coffee on her while she was playing with his children. She ended up yelling at her brother and saying that his child was “not special.” I eventually got a solid two hours of sleep on an eight hour flight.
The plane landed, so that meant we had to go through good old passport check. The lady asked me zero questions, and I was on my way to Weiden, Germany. The group of us met our Germans at the school. My German was the man, the myth, the legend Kevinuous Maximous. Kevin, for yinz who never met him, is good at literally everything. Since we did a large amount of stuff whilst we were in Germany, I am going to highlight the major events. The first major thing I did was going to the “sand mountain.” I don’t remember the name of the thing but there was a pool, and I almost died of dehydration because I physically couldn’t drink the carbonated water without dry heaving. The next day we went to a small amusement park and went go carting which was pretty lit.
The school was pretty cool. It was effectively a giant cube and was the newest school in the town. There was this giant stage in the lobby thing where we went to play Cards Against Humanity at way too loud of a volume. The kids stay in the same room for the entire day and the teachers rotate classes. Also, the lights were motioned activated in the halls and in the bathrooms which was annoying. I did get stuck in the dark whilst in a stall but thankfully someone walked into the bathroom. The classes were pretty boring because I couldn’t understand 80% of what the teachers were saying. The English teacher would harass me because I spoke English and it was actual hell because I was trying to do an assignment for Mrs. Walls. I never ended up finishing the assignment.
As a group we went to Regensburg, where we had a college student give us a tour. I think you can guess how that went. Another day, we went to a castle in Falkenburg which was effectively an advertisement for the hotel that is now inside of the castle. The highlight of that trip was Gabe Webb uttering the infamous words that will live on forever.
“Hey guess what, we’re in a freaking castle.”
We went to Munich where we got to see a lot of Asian tourists, an environmental protest which resulted in an idiot with a sign trying to get in every picture and video. The main highlight of Munich was Large Kevin and I running around the city and me buying a coo coo clock. We went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. The feeling that a person gets whilst at one of the most horrendous places in history is indescribable. We flew out of Berlin where we saw the Brandenburg Gate and some major sights. It was pretty tourist centered which wasn’t that great.
Kevin’s family and I went to some pretty lit places. In one weekend we went to Nurnberg, which was probably my favorite city I visited whilst in Germany. Shout out to the dude that asked me if I like German or American Jesus better and tried to pray for Kevin and I. The city just had an energy that felt very welcoming and friendly.
The other city that we visited was Prague, Czech Republic. The highlight of the city was the architecture as a whole. Whilst in Prague I saw my favorite out of the 50 million churches that we saw in the St. Vitus Church.
The entire German trip was a life changing experience. It put the world into a different perspective to me. Although Kevin and I live on opposite sides of the world, although we grew up speaking completely different languages, we were able to become great friends.
Questions with GAPP Participants
Junior Gabe Webb
What was the reason that you went to Germany?
“To have a life changing experience.”
What were you looking forward to see in Germany?
“Castles.”
What was the biggest difference that you noticed between the U.S. and Germany?
“People are weird and cooler houses.”
Describe your stay as a whole in Germany?
“Unforgettable and freaking awesome.”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
“We went to a freaking castle!”
Kevin Hälsig (My German)
What was the biggest inconvenience when I was at your house?
“Getting you to eat food as a whole.”
What was something that we did while I was there that you would not have done?
“Go carting, I love it it is insane.”
What did you do to prepare for me to come to Germany?
“Cleaning up my room, planning stuff to do.”
What did you expect me to be like?
“Quite person who doesn’t talk much, closed personality. Liked sports.”
Is there anything you would like to add?
“I would say that I had a great time while you were in Germany and I hope you come back some day.”
