My host family (wearing traditional attire) and me after our final dinner in Holzkirchen

Author: Joshua Marvine | Majors: Political Science, International Studies | Semester: Summer 2023

This summer, I spent six weeks studying German through the University of Kansas German Language Institute in the idyllic Bavarian town of Holzkirchen. I chose this program because I wanted to be completely immersed in a foreign language–and small-town life twenty minutes south of Munich with a host family offered exactly such immersion. Another benefit of this program was the chance to travel throughout Germany, spending roughly two weeks in Cologne and Berlin, before finally settling into village life.

We had few opportunities to speak English around Holzkirchen itself, but none whatsoever in class. For about four hours a day, we had to navigate classes taught entirely in German. And we couldn’t expect to get by with just the basics, instead discussing topics ranging from art, to history, to politics. Having to think about college-level material in Germany was so useful for developing my language skills because I started developing a German inner monologue! The first time I dreamed in German was a strange experience.

I was not prepared for just how beautiful Bavaria was. The kind of beauty I saw in those mountains went beyond a nice sunset or lakeside view you might stop and take a picture of. It was a type of natural beauty that beckoned you to take in as much as you possibly could, whenever you could. I found myself waking up at 6:30 in the morning to swim in a nearby glacial lake, multiple times! I accidentally ran a 5K jogging on a forest trail between Holzkirchen and its even-smaller neighbor, a tiny hamlet called Otterfing. I swam in the near-hypothermic waters of lake Tegernsee, near the Austrian border, after hiking I-don’t-know-how-many miles through the Alps. Bavaria wasn’t just beautiful–it was the kind of beautiful that kept forcing me to push my body to its absolute limit just to make sure I could experience as much of it as I possibly could. I don’t know when I’ll be back in Southern Germany, but no matter how long I wait to return I will never regret each drop of sweat, each cut and bruise, every bug bite, that I received to experience the absolute most of its natural wonder.

My advice to other students, in Holzkirchen or anywhere else, is to do as much as you can. A study abroad experience is, by its design, fleeting. It is up to you as a student to make sure you leave with as deep of an experience as possible. There were absolutely days where I was exhausted, but now that my time in Germany is over, all I can think about is how I could have done more. I would recommend this program to any German students who want an immersive language experience that also provides plenty of opportunity for travel throughout Germany. The only thing I wish I’d known before leaving was more German: it felt like I kept embarrassing myself in those first couple of weeks acclimating to the country.

The first thing I did when I returned home was to have the one experience I couldn’t in Germany. An experience so foreign to German culture that it could cause shock or convulsions if the average German experienced it. I sat in an air conditioned house and ate a taco with extra-spicy salsa.