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Last November we shared Sienna Bendall's (IAFS '27) beginning of her journey abroad in Regensburg, Germany on a Global Grants scholarship for the 2025-2026 academic year. With her experience abroad coming to a close this summer, her experience was one worth sharing once again. Over two semesters she built lasting friendships, learned much about German culture and language, traveled all across Europe, and found a real sense of community in a world that began to feel like a second home.

When Sienna returned to Regensburg for her second semester after a month back in Boulder followed by traveling to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Luxembourg City, the weather was a nice surprise with increased warmth, longer sunlight, and overall a much different atmosphere than when she left the cold and dark Germany before the break. While in Brussels she had the opportunity to see the , but was unfortunately unable to enter as it was closed for the weekend. "It was exciting to see something that I had learned so much about in class in person." As courses begun for the second semester she had the opportunity to visit the countryside with her international German theater group to work on their performance for the semester. "It was a lot of fun to experience a small town while speaking German. I even learned how to make flower crowns, which turned out to be surprisingly easy." Sienna shared how interesting it was to return to Germany after a short stint back in Boulder, saying "it feels like my second home now."

The next month continued with fun travels to Paris, Copenhagen, and Hamburg with friends. "It is so nice to be able to decide on any weekend to travel to another country" she says. Later her Italian friends shared the difficult experience of making homemade gnocchi, which "did not turn out well," and taught her that "gnocchi is just one of those dishes that is better bought at the supermarket or enjoyed at a restaurant." She continued to enjoy local experiences in Regensburg with visits to local museums and sections of the city she had yet to visit, alongside multiple visits to , a festival local to Regensburg where she enjoyed traditional German music and dancing, "it reminded me of a smaller Oktoberfest." One of the biggest highlights from this portion of her abroad experience came with running her first ever half marathon. Running through the old town made her feel like she was truly part of the community, and seeing one of her professors and her friends cheering alongside the course made the experience all the better.

As the summer heat ramped up, Sienna found comfort in jumping in the , the second longest river in Europe. "I cannot count the number of times I have sat on the bank or gone in the water, which has actually gotten warm enough to enjoy swimming in." One of her favorite things in June came with the , where universities in Regensburg come together to create an event featuring four music stages, club information, food stalls, and even free items from local companies. "It was so culturally different because the university essentially hosted a large party on campus from 1 p.m. until late into the evening. It was definitely an experience I will remember." As always, her travels outside of Regensburg didn't stop and came with visits to Zurich, Basel, Vaduz, Katowice, Krakow, Prague, and Budapest. These visits marks her officially traveling to every country where Germany is one of the official languages, as well as all of Germany's neighboring countries. The month ended with a trip to Poland to visit a friend from her first semester, and it was incredible to catch up. "Studying abroad has given me friendships that I know will lead to future travels and reunions."

July marked Sienna's last month in Regensburg, with a packed final month of events, travel, and hanging out with friends as it wrapped up. At the beginning of the month she finally had her performances with her theater course for a production of . It was a lot of work to put on four performances in German, but the difficulty and enjoyment of the experience will stay with her forever. One of the most fun events of the month came with Pride in Regensburg. "It was similar to Pride in the United States, but people were not as crazy with their outfits. It was cool to see another culture’s way of celebrating Pride." She also camped with friends near Eibsee, hiked the tallest mountain in Europe in , and ate lunch at a mountain hut in Austria. Her final trip of the semester came with a beautiful experience in Spain seeing gorgeous architecture and experiencing the World Cup final outside a beer garden, "it was such a cool way to watch the final, and it is a memory that will stay with me forever." It was difficult for her to say goodbye to the friends she made over the year abroad, and especially difficult to say goodbye to the city itself. "I had my last swim in the Danube, my last German pretzel, and my last time getting my Pfand back. Studying abroad has been a great experience where I met so many great people and learned so many things about different places and cultures. I am so happy I was able to do it."

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