University of Leipzig

 

Today we had the opportunity to do a presentation about Texas/Louisiana to the university students. Our video we covered some of the basic stereotypes that one might have about Texas; for instance, the idea of Texas being flat and everyone riding horses and having ranches. Afterwards we were able to answer questions that the students had. One interesting topic discussed was the cost of tuition in the United States being expensive and being seen as a privilege. Also we talked about traffic and how it is very common for families to have multiple cars due to the inefficiency of the public transportation in many Texas cities. Another controversial topic was gun regulations. Many of the Texas student’s family  had guns for various reasons, including protection and hunting, while only one student at the university had a gun, used for hunting.

After the presentations a few students went to a local park with the students from the University of Leipzig. We continued conversations that were started early and learned more about each other and different aspects of growing up in a foreign country.

So let me tell you about the lunch we had. We went to the University Mensa which is the German version of a cafeteria. If you have ever been to any public educational institution in Texas, you’ll know that our food is barely edible, let alone tasty. But here in Leipzig one could mistake their cafeteria for a mini restaurant. They had five or seven different types of food ranging from a legit pasta bar, vegetarian section, and at least two different types of meat, and a fish station. It was practically heaven. I completely enjoyed both my meals and they were beyond awesome. 

That evening we went out to a pub for dinner.  It served tradition German food. A few students from the university joined us and we were able to further continue conversations about the United State versus Germany.