Alexandra Thompson, Grade 11
UWC Mostar
In a spur-of-the-moment decision on a winter's day, I decided to book a trip to Hamburg, Germany. I began my journey on January 6th, 2020, leaving my home for a friend's home for a short stay lasting two nights, and joining another who was also travelling to stay in Hamburg the same day. My flight landed as darkness was about to paint the Hamburg sky- a sight that was welcoming to any stranger, and somehow felt like home before the wheels had touched the ground.
After a heavily turbulent flight that had me quite literally on the edge of my seat, it was great to feel grounded- and the ground in general- being alongside sources of hope, comfort, and deep love. I felt I had accomplished something in a small way. It was my first time in Germany, and the first time meeting my UWC friends outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arriving in a city that has a population quite close to the same as my country - Northern Ireland - its size surprised me. Hamburg's population of around 1,790,000 ("Hamburg, Germany Metro Area Population 1950-2020") was just shy of what I considered large. Northern Ireland's 1,897,893 in 2019 ("Northern Ireland Population 2020") could almost be fully condensed into a singular city.
I found it a magnificent place; it seemed to house absolutely anything I could possibly imagine. Walking through a park to get to the station to take us into the center of town, the nip in the air livened my senses. For Northern Europeans, the cold wind originating from the coast that sweeps through the nearby cities is no problem, but for others not used to the cold at this time of year, it can be a bit hard to get used to.
On the last night together, we ate in a local pub, where we received free champagne, and had a lovely waitress, whom we got chatting to for a little while. We talked about the fact that all of us- including the waitress- was not originally from Germany, and how we got to meet. We took this opportunity to eat 'traditional' German food, which was quite an experience. I have never tasted anything like it and was glad to have taken the opportunity to do so. I highly recommend trying traditional food, and giving everything a shot, especially talking to the locals! The mindset I had was to do as many things as I could there that were unique to the place, as I would not have another opportunity to do so, and it was well worth it. The local people seemed welcoming, yet busy, but humoured me with my very basic grasp of German.
One of the most-recommended 'to-dos' in Hamburg is visiting the Warehouse District, dating back to the 19th century. This city is absolutely perfect for architecture enthusiasts.
Whilst taking the train to the airport, I spent a lot of time gazing at the scenery, and I somehow felt I had not noticed it before, regardless of the time I had already spent in a pensive state, focused out the window. Even though both my home city and Mostar have rivers running through their center, I felt that the Elbe was much calmer, with the larger body of water bringing some different kind of stillness to the hectic nature of the city. The city is teeming with canals, which gives a sort of 'flow' to its eccentricity.
After a heavily turbulent flight that had me quite literally on the edge of my seat, it was great to feel grounded- and the ground in general- being alongside sources of hope, comfort, and deep love. I felt I had accomplished something in a small way. It was my first time in Germany, and the first time meeting my UWC friends outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arriving in a city that has a population quite close to the same as my country - Northern Ireland - its size surprised me. Hamburg's population of around 1,790,000 ("Hamburg, Germany Metro Area Population 1950-2020") was just shy of what I considered large. Northern Ireland's 1,897,893 in 2019 ("Northern Ireland Population 2020") could almost be fully condensed into a singular city.
I found it a magnificent place; it seemed to house absolutely anything I could possibly imagine. Walking through a park to get to the station to take us into the center of town, the nip in the air livened my senses. For Northern Europeans, the cold wind originating from the coast that sweeps through the nearby cities is no problem, but for others not used to the cold at this time of year, it can be a bit hard to get used to.
On the last night together, we ate in a local pub, where we received free champagne, and had a lovely waitress, whom we got chatting to for a little while. We talked about the fact that all of us- including the waitress- was not originally from Germany, and how we got to meet. We took this opportunity to eat 'traditional' German food, which was quite an experience. I have never tasted anything like it and was glad to have taken the opportunity to do so. I highly recommend trying traditional food, and giving everything a shot, especially talking to the locals! The mindset I had was to do as many things as I could there that were unique to the place, as I would not have another opportunity to do so, and it was well worth it. The local people seemed welcoming, yet busy, but humoured me with my very basic grasp of German.
One of the most-recommended 'to-dos' in Hamburg is visiting the Warehouse District, dating back to the 19th century. This city is absolutely perfect for architecture enthusiasts.
Whilst taking the train to the airport, I spent a lot of time gazing at the scenery, and I somehow felt I had not noticed it before, regardless of the time I had already spent in a pensive state, focused out the window. Even though both my home city and Mostar have rivers running through their center, I felt that the Elbe was much calmer, with the larger body of water bringing some different kind of stillness to the hectic nature of the city. The city is teeming with canals, which gives a sort of 'flow' to its eccentricity.
Bibliography:
www.macrotrends.net/cities/204341/hamburg/population#:%7E:text=The%20current%20metro%20area%20population,a%200.06%25%20decline%20from%202019
www.ukpopulation.org/northern-ireland-population
www.macrotrends.net/cities/204341/hamburg/population#:%7E:text=The%20current%20metro%20area%20population,a%200.06%25%20decline%20from%202019
www.ukpopulation.org/northern-ireland-population
www.unitedworldwide.co