A few weeks before I left for Bamberg, I switched my phone’s temperature gauge to display Celsius instead of the States’ favored Fahrenheit. Within a day, my browser was littered with entries like “14 Celsius to Fahrenheit” and other versions of that search as I struggled to understand what weather to expect for the days ahead.
Still today, I am sure, Google’s algorithm is trying to figure out why someone in Macon, Ga. was so curious about temperature conversion rates for such a compressed period of time. Perhaps it was a novice meteorologist, or maybe it was for a grade school project about weather systems. Or it was a 21-year-old who didn’t know the difference between 15 and 20 Celsius.
As it turns out, it’s roughly the difference between wearing a sweater and a long-sleeve shirt.
Luckily, frühling is ramping up across Bamberg, Germany as trees and shrubs don more and more green buds and fledgling leaves with each sunny, spring day that passes. Standing in the checkout line at a nearby Aldi, I saw bees whizzing through the fresh blooms on a tree and was instantly brought back to springtime in Macon. The fragrant azalea bushes, the falling cherry blossom petals, the fresh growth everywhere. In a few short weeks, I have been told, there will be blooms and blossoms galore around Bamberg. And, sigh, pollen.
Of course, the ubiquitous green film will not last forever. It will eventually get washed off in cacophonous but cleansing midafternoon summer storms, but until then, I can revel in the beauty that typically encompasses Mercer’s well-manicured campus starting in March.
In mid-March, the Mittefastenmarkt, or mid-lent market, had a stall with cherry blossom sprigs for sale. The sight of the flowering branches was yet another reminder of home in an otherwise long week. I may have missed the famed International Cherry Blossom Festival, but the tradition of hanging painted eggs on the cherry tree sprigs is a similarly cherished activity around this time of year.
Those moments were immensely comforting. Yes, I am thousands of miles from the uncomfortable humidity that permeates through Middle Georgia for seven months out of the year, but I am in an environment whose natural beauty is like Macon’s and whose traditions similarly honor the beauty of the environment.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as co-Editor-in-Chief. When he isn't studying, he enjoys going for runs and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
