{"id":1242,"date":"2018-01-11T10:54:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T15:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian\/?page_id=1242"},"modified":"2025-06-05T10:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:59:14","slug":"matthew-bodwell-in-freiburg","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/alumni\/matthew-bodwell-in-freiburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Bodwell (’18) on his Fall semester in Freiburg"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Freiburg, as seen from the Schlo\u00dfberg, a small hill on the edge of the city center. (Photo: Matthew Bodwell)<\/p><\/div>\n

I was privileged to spend the fall 2016 semester of my junior year studying abroad in Freiburg, Germany in completion of the IES Freiburg Language and Area Studies program. While I had many wonderful experiences, I will share five of my favorite memories during my time abroad, in no particular order.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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The Black Forest is a natural wonderland a short train ride away from Freiburg. (Photo: Matthew Bodwell)<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Exploring the Black Forest (Schwarzwald<\/em>)<\/h6>\n

On one of my first days in Freiburg, I was given a tour of the Schwarzwald<\/em> by my host father, Bernd. The trees, mountains, rolling hills, valleys, and small villages were a calming welcome to a beautiful region. Bernd told me that he loved Freiburg because one can enjoy both the city life and the great outdoors with ease in the same day \u2013 and I soon learned how that made this place so special.<\/p>\n

2. The Freiburg Minster (Freiburger M\u00fcnster<\/em>)<\/h6>\n

The Freiburg Minster (Freiburger M\u00fcnster<\/em>) is a beautiful cathedral located in the Freiburg city center. It is frequented by many visitors who attend religious services, learn about the building\u2019s history and architecture, or grab a snack at the markets at its base. <\/em>I enjoyed climbing the stairs to the top of the M\u00fcnster <\/em>with my friends and taking in the expansive view of Freiburg that it provides.<\/p>\n

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Matthew with his friends attending a SC Freiburg soccer match in Freiburg. (Photo: Matthew Bodwell)<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Attending an SC Freiburg Match<\/h6>\n

One of my goals while studying abroad was to attend a game between teams playing in the Bundesliga<\/em>, the top soccer league in Germany and one of the top leagues in the world. Toward the end of my stay, a few of my friends in the program and I were able to land tickets for a match between SC Freiburg (Freiburg\u2019s soccer team) and SV Darmstadt 98 at Freiburg\u2019s Stadium, Schwarzwald-Stadion<\/em>. Our tickets were inexpensive and allowed us to stand in the home fans’ section (Stehplatz<\/em>), where we enjoyed a game with rowdy fans that ended in a nail-biting 1-0 Freiburg victory on a penalty kick.<\/p>\n

4. Strolling through the Christmas Markets<\/h6>\n

At the Christmas markets (Weihnachtsm\u00e4rkte<\/em>), one can shop for different hand-made goods, watch street musicians perform, and enjoy a variety of snacks such as sweet, roasted almonds (gebrannte Mandeln<\/em>). I was shown the Christmas markets by my host sister Stella, and visited them many more times with classmates, friends, and family!<\/p>\n

5. Exploring Nearby Countries<\/h6>\n

Freiburg is located in southwest Germany, which makes countries such as France and Switzerland only a short bus or train ride away. I enjoyed making day trips to these countries with my friends and host family, where we visited destinations such as the European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and the Swiss Alps.<\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions<\/strong>: Eating D\u00f6ner<\/em>, running alongside the Dreisam River, and skateboarding in the Dietenbachpark in Freiburg.<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/h6>\n

My study abroad experience came full circle in June 2017, when my host parents Karin and Bernd, who were visiting friends in the United States, were able to make a stop in my hometown of Concord, New Hampshire and spend time with my family. During their stay, we shopped in Concord, explored the White Mountains, and swam in Silver Lake.<\/p>\n

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Matthew\u2019s host parents Karin and Bernd atop Cannon Mountain in Franconia, New Hampshire during their June 2017 visit to the United States. (Photo: Matthew Bodwell)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was privileged to spend the fall 2016 semester of my junior…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":331,"featured_media":0,"parent":26,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_prepend":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append_before_footer":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-1242","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1242"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2332,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1242\/revisions\/2332"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/26"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/german-russian-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}