Europe from home

Europe and the United States are two completely different countries, but they have at least one thing in common veterinary medicine. In both countries veterinarians work to improve the well being of animals. It's been a little over a month that I've been home from Europe and I still reflect back on my experiences. It was a great opportunity to see veterinary medicine from a different perspective. Visiting Europe opened up new job opportunities I didn't realize we're out there. It was a wonderful experience getting to visit zoos, research facilities, farms, and vet schools. Somethings were the same and others completely different. In just one month we visited more facilities in veterinary medicine than I have been to in the past four years. A few of my favorite highlights were: the small animal clinic in Utrecht, the mud walk in busum, all of the different zoos, and seeing the Holstein Calves. Each facility showed something a little different even if it was the same type for example the zoos. We were warmly welcomed and able to experience things differently than from the United States. I was amazed by the small animal teaching facilities. It was a wonderful clinic and great place for the vet students to learn veterinary medicine. The mud walk in busum was educational and a fun energetic was to start the day off. We were able to learn about wild life while receiving a spa treatment. The zoos were a great look at behind the scenes caring for exotic animals and every day management. It was amazing to see the different enclosures and how animals were separated from people without bars and with a more pleasing view. I also really enjoyed learning about all of the care provided for the dairy cattle, it was great seeing the equipment, and procedures that were used to provide care for them. It was also a wonderful experience getting to meet the European vet students and see the vet schools. The vet students were a lot like Aggies, overwhelmed at times and enjoy relaxing after working hard. It was also cool to see how the curriculum was very similar. We all start with anatomy and end with clinics. They had wonderful anatomy facilities with lots of windows and computer screens to add to their education. They also had amazing models and molds to study. Europe was a great experience that has opened my eyes to all of the roles and wonderful opportunities in veterinary medicine.

Times to remember...

Germany... seems like forever ago since I was there.  The summer has been so busy so I never had a chance to get culture shock in either direction.  In Germany, we were always on the go which was good and bad; I would have loved to spend more time at some places (like the Zoo and Wildlife Research Center), but then we wouldn't have gotten to see as much.  When I got back to the states I almost immediately started working at a veterinary clinic keeping the time rolling away until the Fall semester starts back up in a few weeks.

What to mention about Germany...  There are a few majors things that stand out; going behind the scene at the zoo elephant house and feeding the baby elephant -- awesome; BergWeek at the Leipzig Vet. School -- party every night; seal dissection -- messy but very interesting; and just getting to visit all the different Vet. Schools over there -- they all had different perspectives to offer.

As for the free weekends, they were just long enough to give you a break, maybe get some laundry done, and see some more of the culture of Europe.  Depending on what you like to do, I would really recommend Zurich and up into the mountains -- glaciers, hiking trails, and beautiful towns to see.

Overall, be prepared to go, go, go the entire trip, but don't worry you'll really get the hang of the public transportation over there.  If your going with a large group of classmates, try to plan out your free weekends ahead of time including the trains or buses that get you there and back to the next meeting location; check times and connections if you can.  There are lots of things to see and do and not enough time to do it all, so pick your favorites and one or two new, strange, of different kind of places to do and you'll always have something to talk about.

Post-trip perspectives

So I actually wrote this like a week and a half ago and forgot to post it! Welcome back crazy hectic vet school brain....it's been a while....

Every time I look back at a picture or think of my time in Europe, I can’t help but smile. I’ve been abroad before, but every experience has been different. When I went to Israel, it was all about immersing myself more into my culture and religion.  In South Africa, I felt like I gained an appreciation for wildlife and conservation that I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else. This trip, I came back with a revitalized view of my soon to be career in veterinary medicine.  I felt like this trip truly forced me out of my established comfort zone; I got experiences with animals I rarely work with (lots and lots of cows, poultry, and pigs) and I had to deal with people from completely different cultures.  Before this trip, I don’t think I realized just how independent I was capable of being.  I had never really traveled for an extensive period of time by myself but on this trip I spent 3 days completely by myself exploring in Paris. I also managed to get myself from Amsterdam to Paris, from Paris to Lisbon to meet up with my sister, from Barcelona to Frankfurt, and from Frankfurt home to Texas.  This did involve me nearly missing my train to Paris, being completely confused by the setup of the Paris airport, a delayed connecting flight, and finding my hotel in Frankfurt. I think if I had attempted to do this a few years ago, it wouldn’t have been possible…I’m pretty sure I would have completely broken down over the simplest thing!  All the traveling around Europe we did during the program definitely gave me the confidence do this on my own.

Being back in the U.S. has been a little bit of a culture shock.  I often catch myself thinking about how things were in Europe and how I’d like to go back a few months and experience it again!  I know that in most of my conversations this summer I have somehow managed to bring up Europe….”well in Germany they…” or “Did you know that in Europe….?” I just can’t help but miss all those beautiful cities and the awesome people I was privileged to meet.  I am already hoping that I will going back sometime soon and making a mental list of all the places I want to visit again/all the places I didn’t get to see yet.

I wouldn’t change this experience in any way. Everything worked out just the way it was supposed to, even the things that didn’t quite go perfectly as planned. 

Blast from the Past...Cheesy...I know.

Howdy all,

So apparently I am the only one still needing to do my returned to America blog.  Busy summer, even more busy school year but here she goes:

I think I want to live in Germany!  Holy moly, I loved every minute...ok a few minutes I really didn't like...but come one....I loved it!  The students (and everyone really) were super (pronounce it Supah!)!

Anyways,  I cannot wait to go abroad again and immerse myself in more cultures.  I miss spargel fresh from the fields, awkward cheese platters, and the beer.  Oh the beer.   I am officially a beer snob and it took a lot for me to drink a light beer made in the states when I got back.  I am now thinking about learning to brew my own (my bro-in-law does home brew).  My first brew shall be a Berliner Weissen.

Well, I really really really have to go study. Thanks Germany (and Europe) for hosting us and being so wonderful! I will return....soon!

Figments of my Imagination

This is the official reminiscing blog:

I apparently can not stop talking about The Europe Trip
It was the best thing i've ever done in my life!

The experiences that happened over there honestly changed me
As far as career, it helped me realize that I did really want to go into research
And i'm currently planning on going into Lab Animal Medicine


But really, the most important thing to me, is the relationships that we made while we were over there
Making new best friends, due to going through these experiences, was the best thing ever

It made me really happy that when we all came back, we were all so very close
We recently had a kickball game and we were all on a team together, Napoleon's Army

Reminiscing on the Summer

   Once the glow fades and the last bags are unpacked with their contents put away the realization sets in. The trip is over and normal life ensues. The experiences that we had start to become foggy to where only the big important ones are remembered. It was an indrecible experience that will never be forgotten and things were seen and done that would never have happened here, in the US.
   One of the biggest changes that took place was how my view of Veterinary Medicine has changed. What I once thought of as an exact science has developed into an open mind willing to accept multiple views on how Veterinary Medicine works. With this knowledge  I feel as though my education is no longer limited to that which I receive in the classroom or at clinics. 
   The experiences had and the friendships made cannot be described in a few paragraphs or even a few pages, it would take a whole book to document everything. By far it was an experience I will never forget and one that I would recommend to anyone that even might be entertaining the idea of going that they do as much as possible to try and go. I know many people are concerned about the cost but truly and honestly the debt or work required to make the money is well worth it. Plus with vet school being so expensive the extra expense really doesn't add up to being so much.
   Overall it was an eye-opening learning experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. The time spent there was not even close to enough and the things we did are ones that I would have never dreamed of doing. It is something that I believe is almost necessary for our Veterinary education and will enhance our skills as Doctors considerably. In all it was a time period of my life I will never forget.

Looking Back.

It is hard to believe that it has only been three months since I was carrying my super heavy pack around Europe. Where did the time go. As soon as the trip ended, I felt strange..as if I should be going somewhere and doing something each day. It was hard to slow down at first, but as time passed, I had time to share my photos with friends and laugh about Nordeney. Which is still a bad word among some of my fellow vet students.

Unlike some of the other students, I only stopped in the states for 2 weks and then headed to Obihiro, Japan to study dairy cattle reproduction and medicine. Because of this, I really didn't have much time to reflect or to think about all of the wonderful experience and feelings that I had along the way.

Looking back and thinking now, it was wonderful, strange, hard, and beautiful all at the same time. I am a big believer in the fact that Americans do not go aboard often enough and that learning and experiencing other cultures is paramount to our growth as human beings as well as veterinarians.
I am thankful daily for the opportunity to take this trip and I hope that others will be able to continue to experience Germany as I have. Thank you Neils and Dr. Wasser for a wonderful experience that I will never forgot. Long live Spagel, Sausage, Black forest cake, and of course the large amount of German beer!!

Kris
Class of 2015
August 29th 2012