About Me.
My name is Maxine Rieder and I am currently studying at Elon University in North Carolina. I am focusing on a Project Management major with a German Studies minor. My interest in the German language and Germany stems from my father. He was born and raised in Northern Germany, making me half German. I am so grateful to have dual citizenship. German culture has always been present from learning German table manners, watching the world cup, cooking traditional dishes and even traveling to Germany every year to visit my Oma and Opa (grandparents).
Berlin was somewhere I never visited. It always sparked an interest in me due to its history. With this in mind I knew one day I would study there. This then became reality during Fall 2021. Before living in Berlin for 3 months, I was aware of cultural differences between the US and Germany from my father, but also many I experienced because I had been going to Germany since I was born. Some of these included the importance of punctuality, unfriendliness towards strangers, staring and more. This didn't stop me, but instead taught me more cultural differences I would not have learned during my classes at Elon or any Culture Shock book.
This Portfolio was created for my Study Abroad class to show my learning of my host country. This will be described through Cultural Awareness, Language, Importance of History and more. Something I found very relevant in my time abroad was the history in Berlin and Germany. Germany's history following World War 2 stemmed into a wall dividing East and West Germany along with splitting Berlin as well. This wall was up for nearly 3o years separating Communism and Western views. Berlin, the largest city in Germany, being split caused tension. West Berlin was an island in East Germany with economic success and political freedom, where the East side did not have his. Today, there are parts of Berlin that were completely destroyed, whereas other areas were left unharmed (West Berlin). When in Mitte (the center of Berlin) you can find Museums and Memorials everywhere. This ranges from the Jewish Museum to the Topography of Terror. There are parts of Berlin where they have the wall still up, along with the rest of Berlin having 2 bricks representing where the wall once stood. This shows what Berliners and Germans see every-time, being reminded of their past. I interviewed my father on his time growing up in a divided Germany.
