Written by: Nick Chinn | Summer 2023
Butler Honors in Germany
This summer I had the honor of traveling abroad to the beautiful country of Germany with the Honors College. I heard about this trip last year but due to scheduling conflicts I was unable to go at that time. I have always wanted to visit Germany, in fact I was supposed to go on a school trip to Germany in high school. But, that was in the year 2020 and you can probably guess why I wasn’t able to go on that trip. That’s the reason why I jumped on this opportunity when I was able to, and I couldn’t have chosen a better group of people to go abroad with, I had an incredible time.
Throughout our trip we had many scheduled activities, and those were amazing experiences. But, I had the most fun when we had entire free days that we were able to use to explore the places that we visited. On one of these free days a group of us decided to see some of the tourist destinations around Munich.
The first place that we went was the Olympic Tower in Munich. The 1972 Summer Olympics were held here and it was such an interesting place for us to visit. One of the most striking things that I experienced in Germany was the scenery that we experienced throughout almost every activity that we took part in, and the Olympic Tower was no different. When we arrived we took an elevator up to the top and it took nearly a minute to get all the way to the top. This tower is 291 meters (about 950ft) tall! We all took advantage of that and the stunning backdrop that Munich provided and took some pictures. Of course we also stopped at the gift shop on our way out, and our group probably single handedly boosted the German economy with all the souvenirs that we bought. Overall, the Olympic Tower was a super fun experience that we were able to check it off the list of places that we visited in Munich.
The final place that we went on this day was actually right next door to the Olympic Tower. We went to the BMW Museum and I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t super excited to visit this place. I’m not a huge car guy, but my expectations were definitely exceeded. The BMW had a very interesting blend of history as well as innovations that pushed the future of auto technology forward. There were cars from way back in the day as well as cars that had yet to be fully released to the public. But, by far the best thing there was this technology where you could get your face scanned and then your AI generated face would be broadcast to the entire museum on a screen where your AI character would drive a futuristic car through space. It was… interesting to say the least. And of course we had to stop by the gift shop.
I had so much fun on this free day and it was definitely one of the best highlights from my trip. This day was kind of a representation on how study abroad is beneficial. Even if things seem like they aren’t up your alley it is still important to get out of your comfort zone with some new people and have new experiences. I would recommend studying abroad for anyone who is thinking about it.