Julie the Everywhereist

When I arrived in Munich for the beginning of my exchange semester, I thought I knew exactly how the next four months would proceed. If only someone had told me then “Julie, just wait.”

My name is Julie. I am a fourth year student in the Bachelor of Modern Languages and International Studies from Québec, Canada. In August, 2018 I left Canada for the first of two exchange semesters— first in Moscow and then in Munich. I am addicted to travel. Travel for me is about education, and I always say that the people I meet make the trip. Meeting locals, struggling to remember their language and discovering new places off the beaten track is not a hobby to me, but a lifestyle choice. My goal is to travel to at least five countries in every continent before I die, so far I have covered North and South America, Europe and am halfway through Asia.

At the beginning of April, 2019 I arrived at Munich International Airport, bags in hand, to study abroad for the Summer Semester at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. This was not only my first time in Munich, but the first time I had ever been to Germany. On this day I rode the U-Bahn for the first time, got lost three times, took possession of the keys to a nice room in the old Olympic Village and argued with a superintendent about a sleeping bag (in German of course). I have discovered that Munich is not a city you can ease your way into; you must jump headfirst.

When I chose to study in Munich it wasn’t well researched at all. My university has partnerships with many German universities, however, LMU has by far the largest department of Communication Studies, so the choice was already made for me. My impressions from the first month and a half here have been largely positive. I have met many wonderful people from all over the world, experienced the biergarten culture of Bavaria and begun the last semester of my undergraduate studies. But of course, living abroad is not easy. There have been problems with administration and German bureaucracy. But my only real regret is that I didn’t pack a better raincoat. Will the sun ever come out?

I cannot wait to explore more of Munich and the surrounding area. Hopefully this semester continues as well as it has started.