Five years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, I got the opportunity to meet a young girl named Jasmin. She was a foreign exchange student from Germany who was placed in my small town of Nelson, Nebraska. Coming from a small town there wasn’t a whole lot of people, so anybody new was a big deal, and a new girl from Germany? Now that was cool. Her and I became good friends over the year that she was in Nebraska. We did our best to give her the full small town Nebraska experience, and she was always willing to take on something new! When the year was over, it was sad to see her go and I thought that I’d never see her again. At that time I never would have imagined that in college I was going to get the opportunity to study abroad and travel Europe! As soon as I found out that I was going to get to live in the Czech Republic for three months, I knew that I had to make a trip to Germany and visit my old friend.
I finally got the chance to venture to Hannover, Germany to see Jasmin this last weekend. This time it was just me and my roommate Megan for the adventure. The journey itself was a little rough. Both on the way there and on the way home to Olomouc we had to take two different buses and a train overnight (each trip was about 12 hours each.) But it was so worth it! Jasmin and her family were so sweet and welcoming and I’m so glad that I was able to see her again after all this time. We first met up with Jasmin and her younger sister Lisa early in the morning on Saturday, after a long trip, and we all went out to a café for breakfast! Most the time was spent catching up and discussing language and cultural differences. After this we explored her city a little bit and went to the market where her father ran a little meat shop as their family business. We picked up a few things here and a few things at the grocery store and headed back to her home. She had a little room set up for us, and it was so nice to not have to stay at a hostel or air b&b for once!
As soon as we got settled in we decided to take a little half hour nap… which ended up taking about three hours! Once we were rested up we ventured out to the cutest little lake about a half hour from the small village of Osterwald that they lived in outside of Hannover. The weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fun eating ice cream and taking photos. Jasmin and Lisa even got this strange fish sandwiches like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I tried a little bit of Jasmin’s and it was very good! When we got home we began to prepare for a little BBQ… And let me tell you, it was SO nice to have a home cooked meal. We’ve been eating so much amazing food here in Europe, but nothing compares to good home cooked meal in my opinion. We prepared a few different German dishes, and Megan and I helped cut up some vegetables for the salad. It was nice enough out that we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy our meal and I got to meet Jasmin’s dad, mom, boyfriend Rene, and little brother Michael.
When Jasmin was in America she got to try out volleyball and basketball, and it was a fun new experience for her. However, back in Germany she plays a game called Handball and we were able to go watch her play! The game was so interesting to me. It was played indoors on a court, and was a little bit a cross between basketball and soccer. The ball looked like a small soccer ball, about twice the size of a softball. They were allowed to dribble the ball down the court similar to basketball, however when they picked it up they were allowed three additional steps. They scored points by throwing the ball into a soccer-like net guarded by a goalie. Jasmin’s team came out on top and I even got to see her score a couple points! After this we enjoyed another nice sunny day by going to an ice cream parlor and taking a walk around the park. For dinner we went out and got a kebab dish with the option to have the meat over French fires, on a bun, or on a tortilla. I chose the French fries of course!
The short two days went by too fast, and I wish I had more time to spend in Hannover, but it was truly an experience I’ll take with me for a lifetime. It’s so much fun to have friends all over the world, who knows maybe one day one of my new European friends will come visit me in America! Jasmin told me she has plans to come back to Nebraska in 2022, when her host sister that she stayed with graduates high school! I’m looking forward to meeting back up with her in the future, and I’m thankful for a friend like her.
