Hello from the other side...of the Atlantic

Well, I have been here a week and finally feel like I am starting to settle in here. Honestly, it has been a hard week. It took much longer than I thought it would to settle into the time difference and the daily endeavors. I did not expect this, but I am much more homesick than I expected. I miss the expected and I miss my fiance. We knew this would be hard, but the time difference has made speaking difficult. I admire those who maintain relationships when their significant others are abroad.

Anyway...Heidelberg is amazing! The scenery is gorgeous, and it's history is absolutely rich. Heidelberg has been here for well over 1100 years and that is preserved, rather than destroyed for new developments. There is an energy in the town that you feel. You can almost feel its history in the air. Plus, the people here are quite lovely. Most speak some level of English and like to help when they can. Also, Americans are loud. SO LOUD. Germans here speak at a quiet level that really is respectful of all other conversations. 

On the educational front, expanding my perspectives on music therapy has been quite attainable already. When speaking to students and professors, their approach is quite different. Each semester is broken down into essentially 5 week blocks, and there is an academic focus and a musical focus in each one. Plus, when speaking to the students and professors, their view and approach on music therapy does differ from those of us from the US. There is a focus on improvisation here that is refreshing. It is taught in multiple blocks and regarded as a primary therapeutic technique. This is different in the US where improvisation is a technique that is discovered more within the clinical experience. Here, all academic core is taken care of during public school before attending college. The benefit to this is that the student can focus entirely into their major of choice. This also allows educators to teach more expansively on different aspects of the upcoming career. 

Settling in has been a struggle but I am looking forward to the next few weeks in Germany and what they have to hold.