Thanksgiving and Moving to Berlin

First off, I would like to apologize for not having posted in so long! I have had so much going on this past month that I kept forgetting to write a post but I promise from now on I will be updating this blog at least once a week!

This year was definitely one of the most unique Thanksgivings I have experienced. Since it is (obviously) not a holiday that is celebrated in Germany, I had school on Thanksgiving day. Because of this I was not able to celebrate on the 28th, but my French teacher wanted to have a Thanksgiving party in class that day! First, I gave a presentation on America and the history and traditions of Thanksgiving. After that, we went down to the little cafeteria and ate the pumpkin and apple pies I had made for the class. It was really funny to see the German kids in my class try pie for the first time, since there is no such thing as pie in Germany. They kept calling it cake no matter how many times I told them it wasn't which was pretty funny. The next day, Friday, was my last day of school in Riesa. My class gave me a nice little note that they had all signed along with a picture of the class, which I thought was really sweet. I was cooking a big Thanksgiving meal for my host family the next day, so Friday afternoon I baked another pumpkin pie and apple pie and prepared the stuffing. Let me just tell you something about making an entire Thanksgiving dinner in Germany: it is much easier said than done. First off, I have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner before, I have helped but never done the entire thing on my own. Secondly, since Thanksgiving is not a German holiday it is nearly impossible to find some of the ingredients and tools that you need. Pie is not a thing here, so I was not able to find a pre-made pie crust or pumpkin puree. Because of this, pie making was about a three day process. I had to make homemade pumpkin puree, which I accidentally ended up making way too much because I used two pumpkins because I wasn't sure how much it would make. Also, I had to make homemade pie crust, which is apparently a very hard thing to get right on the first try but luckily mine turned out well. Since there is no such thing as a pie pan here I had to use a cake pan but luckily, it all worked out! I am actually very proud of how well my completely made from scratch pies turned out and they were definitely worth all the work because I got to share such an American tradition with German people and it was so great! The only bad thing about it though is that my mom and grandmother have now put me on official pie making duty for the following Thanksgivings because of how well they turned out! Ok, so I just realized how much I rambled about my pie making adventures and struggles, so I'm going to move on to the rest of Thanksgiving now...  On Saturday morning, I prepared the turkey and started cooking it. I had a few hours after that to pack and start to get ready for my move to Berlin the following day. Around 2, I started making all the side dishes. My host mom and I realized that we were going to have way too much food for the five of us (my host family, one of my host grandmothers, and I), so we invited Chacho (the other exchange student from Texas in Riesa) and his host family, who are the best friends of my host family, to come to dinner. Luckily they were able to make it and it was so great to be able to celebrate with them! Luckily, all of the food turned out great and I still can't believe I was able to pull it off, by myself, in a country where there is no Thanksgiving short cuts. The only thing that didn't go so well was my attempt at carving the turkey. Obviously, I had never done it before so it didn't look so pretty but that's ok because I managed to get all the meat off. In total, we had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, squash (which no one knew what it was so that wasn't really eaten but that's ok), green beans, corn, rolls, and pumpkin and apple pies for dessert. So, all in all I think my first ever time cooking Thanksgiving was a success!

Sunday, the day after I celebrated Thanksgiving with my host family, I moved to my new host family in Berlin. It was very sad to say goodbye to the family that had taken me out of a bad situation and opened up their home to me. I am so grateful for everything they did for me and I will never be able to thank them enough. Luckily, the train ride wasn't that long, only about an hour and a half all together. First, I took the train from Riesa to Leipzig where I had to connect to Berlin. My local coordinator met me at the train station in Leipzig and it was really nice to be able to say goodbye to her. After about a 30 minute wait with Sandra, I boarded the train headed to Berlin. When I finally got to Berlin, I was greeted by my new host mom, my host brother, and one of my two host sisters. We went back to the house and had a nice lunch then after I went for a walk with my host sister Celina. That night, my entire host family, including my 16 year old host sister's boyfriend and my host mom's boyfriend, and I all went out to a pizza place for dinner. So far I absolutely adore Berlin and my host family is amazing! Later on, I'll write a post about Berlin and all the amazing things here! But I think I have written enough for now, so here are some pictures of my German Thanksgiving!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

My pumpkin and apple pies!

The turkey (pre carving attempt)

The table!

Everyday Life

Having now been in Germany a little over three months, things have begun to settle into everyday life. I'm over my "honeymoon phase" and have begun to accept that I'm going to be here for seven more months. Homesickness has been a very big obstacle in this stage of the year, but I've settled into a routine and everything is starting to feel normal again. Except for the fact that I can hardly understand anyone. Adjusting to the language has been much more difficult for me than I expected it to be. Everyday I pick up new words and phrases and I am starting to be able to understand people better but I am still having a lot of trouble speaking. German is such a complicated language and a lot of the time I feel like I will never get the hang of it, especially the grammar. I so desperately want to be able to speak and communicate with the people around me but it is just taking so much more time and effort than I ever imagined to get it would to get to that level. But I'm sure it will get better with time and practice. Anyways, I have two weeks left in Riesa before moving to my new host family in Berlin. There is so much going on in these last two weeks that I'm sure the time is going to fly by. On Wednesday, I'm going to Leipzig with my host family and we're meeting Kevin, a boy from my exchange group, and his host family there. Kevin and I have the same local cordinator who will also be there. I think we're all going ice skating together but I'm not sure. Anyways, it will be really fun. Then, next Thursday is Thanksgiving. On Thursday, my French teacher decided that we're having a little Thanksgiving party in class even though it has nothing to do with French. I'm really excited to share Thanksgiving with the kids in my class and I think I'm going to try and bring in a pumpkin pie and an apple pie for the class. Since Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Germany, we still have school that day, so I will not have time to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for that night. Instead, I'm going to cook a big Thanksgiving meal on Saturday for my host family and host grandparents. So far this proves to be easier said than done. Since Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Germany, it has been very difficult trying to find all the right ingredients needed for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, such as a large turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie ingredients, etc. Hopefully, I will be able to find everything and make it as authentic as possible! The day after this big Thanksgiving celebration, I say goodbye to Riesa and my incredible host family here and head up to Berlin to start the next chapter of my exchange year! It will be very bittersweet to leave Riesa and the people here but I am so excited to go to Berlin and experience life in Germany's capital!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Herbstferien

So for the past two weeks I have not had to go to school. Why you may ask? Because Germany is amazing and has a two week long fall break called Herbstferien. For the first week of break I didn't have much planned and mostly hung out at home. We were dog sitting for some friends who were on away on vacation and it was so great to have a dog in the house again, I miss mine a lot. I went on a day trip to a place called Festung Königstein with my host family. It is an old fort about 20 miles from the Chez Republic border and the view was absolutely breathtaking. The fort overlooked a river and a couple small towns as well as the mountains. All that combined with the fall colors made for a gorgeous view. On Monday, I took a train to Dresden by myself for the day and went shopping and walked around the city. It was really fun to explore the city on my own. I love public transportation in Germany because it makes it so easy to do things like go to Dresden for the day! A few days later I drove all the way across Germany with my host dad to visit friends in Wiesbaden, a city outside of Frankfurt. We spent a night with them in Wiesbaden and then walked around Frankfurt the next day before driving back to Riesa. That night we went to a party at a the house of the friends we had dog sat for. It was really fun to see all of them and get to know them better! On Tuesday of the second week of break, my host family and I went on a trip to Hamburg. It is an absolutely gorgeous city! The first night we were there, we were walking around a mall because it was rainy outside. We go into this little shop where they sell tickets to all the events in Hamburg. Long story short, we somehow managed to get 4 tickets to the sold out Bruno Mars concert that was starting in an hour. We hopped on the train to get to the arena and got there about 20 minutes before the show started! Sadly, I wasn't allowed to bring in my camera so I don't really have any good pictures of the show but it was absolutley amazing nonetheless! The next day, we walked around the harbor and downtown Hamburg some more. On Thursday, we left Hamburg and drove to Rostock, a city on the Baltic Sea. First we went to a beach town called Warnemünde and walked around for awhile. Then, we went to the friend's house where we stayed for the night in Rostock. The next day, we went into downtown Rostock and walked around for awhile. We then started the long drive back down to Riesa. All in all, Herbstferien was amazing! I got to see so many places in Germany and I had a great time spending time with my host family, I'll miss them!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

The view from Festung Königstein

Wiesbaden

Frankfurt

Hamburg

Warnemünde

Rostock

You Know You're an Exchange Student in Germany When...

• your diet mainly consists of carbs *cough* bread *cough* 
• you drink more apple juice than you do water
• you have fresh bread with an assortment of cheeses and deli meats every night for dinner
• your main way of communicating with people is nodding and smiling when they speak to you in German because you have no idea most of what they said 
• you don't have a clue what's going on in school and have accepted that you probably won't get any credits at your American high school
• you're tired all the time
• you walk/bike/take public transportation everywhere
• you get lost a lot
• all the stores, except some bakeries, are closed on Sundays 
• you have no hope of ever understanding German grammar or ever being able to use it correctly 
• Ritter Sport chocolate is your life
• other exchange students are like family
• the middle of October is as cold as the middle of winter at home and you have still not accepted that it's going to get even colder
• there are pharmacies everywhere, like at least 1 on every street in downtowns 
• people just call you the American
• you still can't get used to being able to drink beer and wine

The list could go on and on and I'm sure there are many things I have forgotten. Also, I have some big news, I have just received my new host family! In December, I will be moving to Berlin! I am so excited! Berlin is the capital of Germany and is also it's largest city (3.5 million people, wow) and it looks absolutely beautiful! I will have a host mom and a host dad and three host siblings, a 16 year old sister, a 15 year old sister, and a 12 year old brother! Even though I am very excited for my upcoming adventures in Berlin it will be very sad to leave the family I am in now. I love them so much and I am so incredible grateful for everything they have done for me. Because they took me in on such short notice they were only a temporary family until December. They have made me feel so welcome and at home here even though it was only for a couple of months and for that I will be forever thankful. 

So Much to Write About

A lot has happened since my last post, the biggest thing being that I have switched host families. I am not going to go into detail about what happened but I have moved on and am now enjoying my new family. My new host family lives in a town called Riesa. It is in East Germany, about halfway in between Dresden and Leipzig. I have a host mom and dad and two host brothers, one is 14 and the other is 17. However, my 17 year old host brother is currently studying abroad in Ireland for the year. I love it here so much and my new host family is absolutely incredible! Because the switch was so sudden, this is just a temporary placement and I am only here until December 1 unless they decide to keep me for the rest of the year. I really hope I am able to stay here because it is so great here and I love this family so much! Too much has happened since I have been here to go through day by day so I will just write about the big things. Getting to Riesa took about 6 hours. It was an incredibly long day of travel and I had to take 3 trains to get here. When I arrived in Riesa, my host brother met me at the platform and then we went outside to meet his parents at the car. That night, I went with my host parents to a birthday party of their friend. It was so much fun and everyone I have met here is so incredibly friendly and welcoming. The party was so great and everyone was just so happy. Some family friends of my host family are also hosting an exchange student this year. His name is Chacho and he is Mexican/American. He was also at the party and it was so great to meet him! We have a lot in common and it was great to be able to have a conversation in English without having to hold back or speak slowly. I didn't have to start school until that Monday, so I had a 4 day weekend to relax and get settled in. The next day, I went with my host mom to get all registered for school and then after lunch I went with my host dad to meet his friend, Kevin Kuske. Kevin is a 3 time olympic gold medalist for the German bobsledding team! He had his medals with him, 4 gold and 1 silver, and I got to see and hold them! It was so amazing to meet him and I never thought I would have the opportunity to hold actual olympic medals! After meeting with Kevin, we were driving through downtown and the Minister of Defense was in town campaigning for the big elections this weekend. We got to meet him and speak to him briefly! It was so cool to be able to meet such an important member of the German government! On Sunday, I went to my host brother's handball match in a town about half an hour away. We had some time before the match started so my host parents and I walked around town and then had coffee. The handball match was really cool. I had never seen handball before and it is a very fast paced game. The next day, Monday, I started school. I am attending Städtisches Gymnasium Riesa and I was put in my host brother's 9th grade class. The next day, I went to Dresden with my class to see a play. It was a really weird play about werewolves and I didn't understand what they were saying at all but it was still really fun. The next day, Wednesday, I went with my host parents and their Lion's Club to tour a brewery about and hour away. Chacho and his host parents were also there, as well as the third exchange student in my town, a boy named Andrés from Ecuador. That was a lot of fun and it was great to get to know them better! That Saturday I went to Dresden with my host family and my host grandmother! Dresden is absolutely breath-takingly gorgeous. We took a horse and carriage ride around the historic downtown and then we walked around! That night I went to a wine fest in a town a town called Meißen with my host parents. There we met Chacho and his host parents. It was so fun and the festival was huge! It took up all of downtown and there was probably at least a million people there! On Monday, I started in a new class. I had been moved up to the 10th grade so that I could be with people closer to my own age. Also, i was put in an 11th grade English class. My new class is so great and everyone is so nice and friendly,  I have already made some really good friends! We only had school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because Thursday was the German Reunification Holiday so we had Thursday and Friday off. This is the day in 1990 when East and West Germany were reunified as one country. After school on Wednesday, I went with some friends to my class to a café where we hung out for a while and had coffee and talked. Then we went to a the movies and saw The City of Bones, in German of course. Luckily, I have read the books so I could keep up with what was happening pretty well even though I couldn't understand much of what they were saying. That night, I went to my first German party. However, since I have not been in Riesa for very long I did not know many people at the party so it was kind of awkward, but whatever, it was still fun. Today, Friday, I have just kind of relaxed at home and I went to run some errands with my host mom and then we went to and ice café (ice cream café) and had ice cream and talked for awhile, it was really nice. In a few minutes we are going over to Chacho's host families' house for a bonfire and tomorrow we are all going to a Dresden fußball (soccer) game together. I'm so excited, it will be my first professional soccer game ever! Also, Dresden fans are notorious for being the "meanest" and most obnoxious fans of the Bundesliga, so this will be interesting! In a week or two, I can't remember which, we have fall break for two weeks and my host family and I are going on vacation to Hamburg! I am so excited and I will post lots of pictures! 

All in all, my new host family is so amazing and I am having such a great time with them. I am so thankful that they decided to take me in on such short notice and I couldn't have asked for a better family! Also, I love this beautiful, amazing country with all my heart and I am so thankful for the opportunity to be here!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Ludwigsburg to Riesa

Meeting the German Minister of Defense!

Meeting Kevin Kuske!

Brewery with Chacho (right) and Andrés (center)!

Ich liebe meine neue Gastfamilie! 

The carriage we took around Dresden!

Dresden is beautiful! 

Last Week of Language Camp and Host Family!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I've been really busy these past few weeks but from now on I hope to post at least once a week. So the last week of language camp went by so fast but it was so fun! We did a lot of activities and prepared a lot for going to our host families. On Wednesday, we met the mayor of Bad Laasphe and then had free time in town for the last time, it was really bittersweet. Then, on Friday night we had a talent show that everyone had to participate in. Since I am probably the most untalented person on the face of the Earth, one of my roommates, Mackenzie, and I just went up on stage and ate German chocolate. It was fantastic. Also, my German class went up and sang/screamed one of the songs that we have been singing in class all camp to help with pronunciation. The talent show was so fun and it was definitely a great last night bonding activity for everyone. The next day, Saturday, was the day we left our American bubble to go to our host families. It was such a sad day and everyone was sobbing and hugging each other. I was in the last group to leave so I had to say goodbye to the people who were leaving on the 12:30 train. This included my best friend at camp, Katy. It was so sad to say goodbye to her and I really hope that we find a way to meet up sometime because we are placed so far apart. After the 12:30 group left, everyone that was being picked up by their host families got to meet them in front of the schloss. I was really happy for all of them but it was really awkward just standing there watching everyone meet their families knowing that would be me in a few hours. It was good that I got to see that though because it helped me know what to expect when I met them. A little bit after everyone who was being picked up left, the remaining 15 of us got in taxi's and headed down to the Bad Laasphe banhof. Our train to Marburg didn't leave until 2:30 so we had some time to go to the grocery store and get some snacks for the train. When we finally left, we had about an hours ride to Marburg, where we split up and took our separate trains. My next stop was Frankfurt. There were three other people with me, Aaron, Daniel, and Tyara. In Frankfurt, we had to say goodbye to Aaron so that he could take his train to Mainz. After about a 45 minute layover, Tyara, Daniel, and I got on the train headed to Stuttgart. After about an hour and 20 minute train ride we finally arrived in Stuttgart where we met our host families. After saying goodbye to Daniel and Tyara,  I had to quickly run to the train going to Ludwigsburg with my host family. It was great to finally meet them but it was definitely kind of awkward. That night, we had dinner and then walked around downtown Ludwigsburg. The city is so gorgous and still can't believe I'm going to be living here for 10 months! On Sunday, Lea's best friend, Helen, and her parents came over for a BBQ. It was really nice to meet Helen and to bond with my host family. On Monday, we went to the Pferdmarkt (horse market) in Bietigheim. It was so much fun! There was a big parade and then there was a big festival. After walking around the festival for a little bit, we walked into downtown Bietigheim. It is such a beautiful city! On Tuesday, I went into Stuttgart with my host mom and one of my host sisters. They showed me how to use the train that will take me to school and we also picked up my train passes for the next couple months. Then, we went to my school to pick something up from the office. I didn't get to see much of the school but of what I saw it was really nice! I can't wait to start school on Monday! After that, we walked around downtown Stuttgart. There was a big wine festival going on and it was super cute! Stuttgart is such a beautiful city and it's so big and I'm so excited to be going to school there! It's such a nice change from small town Hillsborough! On Wednesday, I went to Schloss Ludwigsburg with my host mom and my two host sisters and we went on a tour of the castle (in English thankfully). The castle is so gorgeous and has such an amazing history behind it. It was so cool to get to walk around the inside and see how royals lived hundreds of years age. Yesterday, I went to the Ludwigsburg town hall with my host mom and sister to apply for my visa. I have to go back next Thursday to finish everything and then after that I'm good to go for the year! This afternoon, we are going to a birthday party of family friends. I'm really excited to get to meet people and experience my first German party! I am having such a great time even though it has been very difficult and overwhelming with culture shock and the language, I hope once I learn more German and am able to speak it that everything will be a lot better!
Tschüss,
Dani♡

I'm in Germany!

Hello everyone! I have officially been in Germany for a little over 2 weeks and I love it here so much! I have been at Language Camp at Schloss Wittgenstein in Bad Laasphe for the 2 weeks I have been here and I still have one more week here before I go to my host family. Because I am constantly surrounded by other Americans and speak English all the time (except in German class) it still hasn't really hit me that I'm actually in Germany. It's kind of like I'm in a little American bubble. It especially hasn't hit me that I'm going to be here for another 10 months.

So a lot has happened since I last blogged. Our plane ride took about 8 hours. We left D.C at 5:20 pm on August 10th and arrived in Frankfurt at 7:20 am on August 11th. Then we drove about 2 hours to language camp in Bad Laasphe. We were all super exhausted and by that point had been awake for about 24+ hours. When we got to language camp we got all our stuff moved up into our rooms and then we had a brunch and then walked down into town. The rest of that day we just slept and did some simple welcome orientation things. The next day we were all still super tired but we took the language exam and were placed in our German classes based on our knowledge of German. Since I have never taken German before I decided to op-out of the exam and be placed in the lowest level class. I'm really glad I am in this class because my teacher, Tim, started from the very beginning and it has been really helpful, especially in terms of pronunciation and basic grammar. There are 7 other people in my class and they are all really nice and we have a lot of fun together. Language camp is pretty routine for the most part so instead of going through what we have been doing day by day I'll just give you a basic overview of our daily weekday schedule.

Monday, Wednesday & Friday

7:30- Wake up and get ready
8:15-8:45- breakfast
9-12- German class
12:30-1- lunch
afternoon- either we go to the Planum (room in the school) for culture seminars or we have free time, it is usually a mix of both
6:30-7- dinner
night- either free time or small group lessons, sometimes a mix of both
10:15- room check

Tuesday & Thursday
The same as Monday, Wednesday and Friday except we have afternoon class from 2-3:30 instead of Planum or free time. Except on these days afternoon class is usually watching a German movie.

On weekends, our schedules and activities vary. Also, our curfew is 12 instead of 10:15. Last Friday night, the 16th, we all went to the Beer Fest in Bad Laasphe. It was really fun and I had my first ever beer. The next day, Saturday, we went to Marburg for the day. It was my first time every taking a train and it was a really cool experience. Marburg was amazing. It is such a beautiful city and it has so much history. We had the day to do whatever we wanted so I explored the city with some of my friends. We walked all over and found a bunch of cool little shops. Then we went to a cafe for drinks and it was so cute. It was right on a river and we sat in the little garden behind it. However, as we left, we noticed there were Neo-Nazi and anti-socialist posters on the wall of the cafe. So we accidentally had drinks in a Neo-Nazi cafe... awkward. After that we walked up to the Marburg Schloss (castle). It was so beautiful and it was on a hill that overlooked the entire city. I have never experienced anything like it and it was absolutely breathtaking. After that, we walked back into the city and had dinner. Then we took the train back to Bad Laasphe. When we were back in Bad Laasphe my friends Katy, Ashley, Arron, and I went to a bar called Roots and had Apfelwein (apple wine) and talked and just had a blast. On Sunday, we got to sleep in and we had a brunch at the Schloss. In Germany, all of the shops are closed on Sundays so it is a very relaxed day. So instead of going into town we had some culture activities in the Planum.

This weekend, there was a festival in Bad Laasphe called the Altsadt Festival. It started on Friday, so Friday night we walked down into town and went and had dinner. I went to a restaurant with my friends Katy, Ashley, and Emily and we had schnitzel and pizza. Then we went to the festival and walked around and looked at all of the different stands and had some beers. There was one tent where there was a band called the The Henhouse Ramblers and they were having a "Hillbilly Hoedown". They had confederate flags and the Texas and Kentucky flags everywhere and they were wearing western shirts and cowboy hats and boots and playing American country music. It was absolutely hilarious. Yesterday, we got to sleep in and then we had some group activities in the morning. That afternoon we had free time and then around 7 we went back into town for the second day of the festival. Of course, the second we left to start walking down it started raining so we ran up to our rooms to grab our raincoats and umbrellas and went into tow anyway. It rained lightly all night but it was still so much fun! Today, we slept in late and had a late brunch. After brunch, we had a culture/information
session in the Planum about host families. After that we had free time for a few hours and I skyped with my family and my grandparents. Right now I am about to head to dinner and then tonight we have small groups.

Our internet here is really bad here but I hope to be able to post again before I leave for my host family on Saturday. I know this post has been a very basic overview of everything, and I am sorry for that, but we have done too much to post in detail about everything! I am having such an amazing time and I love the other 48 CBYXers so much! (The fact that there is now 48 others instead of 49 others is a whole other story in itself that I may or may not post about but long story short someone got sent home already.) I love Germany!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

Pre Departure Orientation

The past two days I have been in Washington D.C for Pre Departure Orientation. Yesterday, we arrived at the hotel around 2:30 and I said goodbye to my family. It was really sad and there were a lot of tears and I will miss them so much! I  got all of my luggage to my room but it ended up that I had been given the wrong room key and was actually in a boy's room. So I had to move all of my luggage up to the second floor to my room. After that, all of us CBYX kids hung out in the lobby until the German kids arrived. Then we had dinner with them and it was really awesome to meet them all! They are all so nice and I'm super excited for them to spend the year in America! After dinner we had an orientation where we told the Germans about America and they told us about Germany. We also did a bunch of icebreaker games and I somehow ended up winning a rock, paper, scissors tournament out of all 100+ people. I'm still not sure how that happened.... After the meeting we went back to our rooms and got to know our German roommates. Mine's name is Elisabeth and she is really nice!

Today, we woke up early and had breakfast. Then we had another meeting where we talked about stereotypes and then broke into small groups and talked about our hopes and fears and just got to know each other. After that we left the hotel and went to a mall and had lunch. Then we all went to the State Department and listened to some speakers from the Cultural Affairs department and some of the people who run CBYX. After the State Department the Americans and the Germans split up and we went to the Holocaust museum and the Germans went to the White House and the Smithsonian. The Holocaust museum was really interesting but also really sad and sobering. After the museum, we went to Old Town Alexandria where we had dinner and then had free time. It was so fun and I got to know a lot of people! I think I will make some really good friends and I can't wait to be with them at language camp!

Here are some pictures from D.C. so far!

I have the pictures from the State Department on my phone and I haven't put them on my computer yet but I'll post them when I upload them to my computer! 

Tschüss,

Dani♡

Last Day and Packing

Today is my last day in Hillsborough. Wow. Where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday I was freaking out about finishing my application. Now, in a few short hours I will be leaving my home, family, and friends for a year of adventure and self-descovery in Germany. I absolutely can not wait to begin my year in Germany but it is also very sad to be leaving everything I have ever known behind. It still hasn't fully sunk in yet that I'm leaving, it feels very surreal even though most of my things are already packed up. Speaking of packing, it has not been as hard as I thought it would be. I'm not bringing very much, just enough to last me until I can buy some new things that fit better into the German style. Also, I have decided to check two 28 inch suitcases instead of one, along with my carryon and backpack. In my carryon I have everything that I need for Pre Departure Orientation in D.C. so that I do not need to open my big bags until I get to Germany. In the first of my checked bags, I have everything that I will need during language camp. It is all lighter weight clothes that will be comfortable during our three week language camp at Schloss Wittgenstein in Bad Laasphe when we first arrive in Germany. In my second checked bag I have all of my heavier clothes and shoes that I will not need until the weather starts to get cooler. I also have all of my extra toiletries and miscellaneous items. I decided to check two bags instead of one so that I can fill each one about halfway on my way to Germany so that I have a lot of room left so that I can bring things back with me after my exchange year. I think this is better than only bringing one bag and then having to ship things at the end of the year because checking a second bag is a lot cheaper than shipping and it also gives you a greater space and weight allowance than shipping does. Well, I'm going to go finish the last of my packing now and go drive around Hillsborough and Chapel Hill one last time and spend some time with my family. This may be my last post for a little while because Pre Departure Orientation in D.C. is going to be very busy and I don;t know if I will have time to write a post. Also, we are going to have very limited internet access at language camp. I will try my best to write a post in both D.C and at language camp to update everyone on the beginning of my adventure!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

T-minus 12 days

So as of today I have 12 days left in until I have to be in D.C for Pre Departure Orientation and only 11 days left in Hillsborough. It still hasn't really hit me yet that in a little over a week I am actually leaving my family and friends for a year. I have so much to do in this short amount of time and it is beginning to become really overwhelming. I am currently in the process of finishing up my online English 3 class and I still have to write the final research paper. Also, I have yet to begin packing. Well actually that's only sort of true, I have my suitcases laying in the middle of my bedroom floor, empty, with the entire contents of my closet strewn on the floor around them, so it is safe to say that packing is not going very well at the moment. Tonight some of my friends are coming over for a little going away party. I can't believe that this is the last time I will see most of them for a whole year, the thought that I am actually leaving is still so surreal to me. Also, I got my school information a few weeks ago but I forgot to make a post about it. I will be attending Mädchengymnasium St. Agnes next year with my host sisters. It is a private Catholic all girls school in Stuttgart. I don't really have any information other than that but I am really excited! I currently do not know what grade the school will put me in. They are trying to decide where it would be best to put me because of my lack of German. I really hope that I will be put in the 11th grade so that I can be with girls my own age, but I am open to wherever they decide to put me. It seems like a really nice school and I am so excited that I will be going to school in the middle of such a big city! I can't believe how fast time has gone by and I can't wait to start my adventure in Germany!

Tschüss,
Dani♡

I got my host family!!!

After months of nervously waiting to receive my host family, I finally did today! I will be living in Ludwigsburg, Germany, near Stuttgart. I have a host mother named Rabea, a host father named Markus, a 14 year old host sister named Lea, and a 12 year old host sister named Emilia. They like sports, traveling, and music. They also have two guinea pigs and a dog. I am so excited, they seem so amazing! We have so much in common and Ludwigsburg is a beautiful city!

Ludwigsburg Palace

Ludwigsburg Christmas Markets 

A different view of the Ludwigsburg Palace

Ludwigsburg

Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival

I am so unbelievably excited and thrilled to be living in such an amazing city with such an amazing family! 

Waiting

So there has not been a whole lot of news recently in terms of Germany but I haven't updated my blog in a while so I thought I would. I am still anxiously waiting for a host family and I hope that I get one soon! I would really love to be somewhere in Bavaria, preferable around Munich, but I am open to being placed anywhere! I just hope that I am placed with a family that I fit really well into. My only other exchange updates are that my passport came in the other day and I bought my luggage! It is all starting to feel so real and I can't believe that in 70 days I will be in D.C. for orientation and will be on my way to Germany in 72 days! It's coming up so fast and it still feels far away but at the same time I am panicked by how close it is. Until then I will be spending as much time with my family and friends as possible and try to soak up as much of America as I can!
Tschüss!

CBYX and the Application Process

So I just realized that I haven't actually explained what CBYX is or about the application process behind it. The Congress- Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (a.k.a CBYX) is a program jointly funded by the US Congress and the German Bundestag. The program was founded in 1983 in celebration of 300th year anniversary of the first German immigration to the United States. It was created to strengthen ties between the United States and Germany through citizen diplomacy. Every year, CBYX sends 250 American high school students to Germany on a full scholarship for approximately 10 months. The German equivalent of CBYX, Parlamentarisches Patenschafts Programm (a.k.a PPP) sends a similar number of German high school students to the US on a full scholarship for approximately 10 months. In the US, CBYX is broken up into five different regions, each region being run by a separate exchange organization. The Northeast is run by AFS, the Southeast, my region, is run by CIEE, the Midwest is run by FLAG, the Northwest is run by ASSE, and the North-central region is run by YFU. Each region has a different application and selection process, but they all send 50 students. Each exchange organization has a partnership with an organization in Germany that helps with the selection and placement process.

Since I am with CIEE, I do not know the specifics of the other organization's application and selection process but I have heard that they are similar. CIEE, along with the other organizations, releases their application in late summer. It is a very long and daunting application but is well worth it in the end. For the CIEE application, we had to write 250 word or less responses to six different short answer questions. These questions were things like why do you want to be an exchange student, describe your family life, discuss your relationship with a close friend, describe your participation in an activity, describe a non-academic situation where you have faced defeat and how did you deal with it, etc. Along with the short essays, we had to write a letter to our future host family, get two teacher recommendations, get your school transcript, and put information about us, such as hobbies and extracurricular activities. The whole point of the initial application is for the organization to get an idea of your personality and to decide who they would like to offer interviews to. My biggest advice for the application is to just be yourself and to let your personality shine through but also take it seriously and don't procrastinate on it because the application is a huge part of the selection because this is where they make the most cuts and you don't want to just throw together your application last minute. From the applications, the organization chooses semi-finalists that they would like to give in person interviews. CIEE chooses around 100 semi-finalists, but other organizations pick different amounts. To get an interview is a huge accomplishment because this is the stage where the most cuts are made. This year CIEE had about 1,000 applicants and they only offered 100 interviews, this is why you want to make sure you do the best on your application that you possibly can. I have a whole post dedicated to the interview so I'm not going to put a lot about it in this post but it's really fun to get to meet the other semi's in your area. My biggest advice for the interview is to be yourself and to prepare for the individual interview ahead of time. I did a mock interview with my Dad ahead of time and had my parents drill me on questions that might be asked to help me prepare. In the end you never know what they're going to ask but it helps you relax a little more to go into it knowing you are as prepared as you possibly can be. Also, dress nicely for the interview, it never hurts to overdress and make a good impression. Even though they say it is casual, most of the kids wear dress pants and a nice dress shirt/ blouse/ blazer. After the interview there is a few weeks until they announce finalists. The wait during this time is killer but it's best to try and relax and take your mind off it. It will not help you to obsess over your interview answers and how you think you did because that will stress you out and by this point there is nothing else you can do. After the finalist and alternate notifications come out there is a lot of preparing to do for Germany. I am currently in the middle of this process and it can be very stressful at times but it is all so worth it. I would also like to say, if you are not accepted don't put yourself down, you are not a failure! It is amazing that you want to go out and explore the world at such a young age. There are not many high school students that would even think about leaving their family and friends for a year to study abroad and you should be very proud of yourself for wanting to experience that. If you are not accepted, take that extra year in America to prepare to apply again and use it as a year of growth. If this is something you really want and are really passionate about you will find a way to make it happen.

I'm sorry this post is so long, but I really hope that it helps future CBYX applicants! Good luck to the 2014-2015 applicants!!!

The Insane Pre-Exchange To-Do List

Even though I still have a little less than 5 months until I leave for Germany I already have an insanely long and time consuming to- do list. While applying for CBYX I did not expect the amount of things you need to do to after being excepted in order to prepare for exchange. I'm so glad that I am starting to prepare now instead of waiting for the last minute like I usually do. If you are thinking about being an exchange student, especially on a scholarship, make sure you are aware of the amount of work that goes into making an exchange year possible and that it's not just an application and boom you're studying abroad. There are so many different components that goes into preparing for exchange and it takes a lot of hard work, passion, and determination!

My Ever-growing To-Do List:

• finish the CBYX secondary application and have it mailed to CIEE by March 27th (this app is 23 pages long and is killing me)
• apply for a passport
• start saving/fundraising spending money
• buy important travel items such as luggage
• START LEARNING GERMAN!!! (I currently know about 5 words and absolutely butcher the pronunciation of them)
• work out credits with my high school
• get a residential/student Visa
• work out banking in Germany
• finish second semester with all A's
• take online classes over the summer (most likely AP English 3 and possibly pre-calculus)
• buy things I will need for Germany such as cold weather clothing and electrical adaptors
• get an international plan for my phone
• start planning what to pack

I'm sure there are many things I am forgetting and I know as departure gets closer there will be more and more things to do but I am so excited to study abroad next year that I don't care about the million things I have to do to prepare because it is so worth it!

I'M GOING TO GERMANY!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CBYX AND WILL BE LIVING IN GERMANY FOR MY JUNIOR YEAR!!!!!! I honestly did not think that I was going to be accepted and I was hoping to at least be an alternate. When I got the email I couldn't believe it when it said I was a finalist! I was on the bus on my way home from school when I got the email and I just started freaking out and crying. Then I called my parents and texting all my friends! I can't believe this is actually happening and I am so incredibly thankful for this experience! I am so excited to find out my host family and to leave for Germany! Here is part of the email!

Dear Danielle,

We would like to be the first to congratulate you on your acceptance to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship Program! CIEE is thrilled to have you among our 50 students chosen from the Southeast United States. Now that you have made it through the selection process, we must begin preparations for the year ahead.

I am still in shock and it hasn't sunk in yet that I WILL BE IN GERMANY FOR A YEAR!!!

YES said No :'(

So the other day I received an email from YES Abroad saying that I was not chosen as a semifinalist. It was so heartbreaking but I will definitely be applying again next year if I don't receive CBYX this year.  Luckily, the other three members of SDAC were all chosen as semifinalists! I am so happy for them but I wish I was going to be joining them in Maryland for the IPSE. But luckily there is still a tiny sliver of a chance that I might make the IPSE! I called YES yesterday after school to ask if there was anything I could improve on in my application for next year when I reapply. They said that my application was really good and that there just wasn't enough semifinalist spots. So then I asked if they do alternates for the IPSE and they do! She said that notifications for semifinalist alternates come out on a rolling biases all next week and she said she would make a note to keep me in mind for an alternate spot! I really hope that I become an alternate and that someone decides not to go to the IPSE so that I get the chance to go! I want YES so badly and it is awesome knowing that it may not be over for me yet!

CBYX Interview

So yesterday was the CBYX CIEE interview in Charlotte, NC and it was soooo amazing! All the other semi's who were there were so awesome and we all got along really well. It was so great finally getting to meet everyone. The interview was pretty laid back and I think I did well in my individual interview. It was kind of intimidating and I was so nervous, especially because I had the first interview, but I think I had good answers, I just hope they were good enough to get me accepted! For the group evaluations I didn't even realize we were being evaluated until after they were over because it was really laid back and we just played some ice breaker games and got to know each other. It was so fun and everyone is so amazing. It's so sad to think that not all of us will make it to Germany because everyone deserves it so much and would be amazing exchange students! After the individual interviews and the group evaluation we had a two hour lunch break. After the break we all went back to the school where the interview was being held for an information session with our parents. One of the ladies from CIEE did a presentation about the program for about a half an hour and then we got to ask questions to the alumni's and the CIEE people. It was great to get to hear their experiences in Germany and I think my parents are a lot more open to CBYX now that they know a lot more about the program. We found out yesterday that CIEE has moved finalist notifications from March, 29th to March, 13th so I only have a couple of weeks until I know if I will be spending next year in Germany!

CBYX Semifinalist!!!

I have big news, I am a CBYX semifinalist! I got an email today during second block at school. I was shaking as I read it and then I saw that I was a semifinalist and I have not been able to stop smiling since! Here is the email.

Dear Danielle,

As you know, the Congress-Bundestag Scholarship provides 50 scholarships for students from the Southeast United States. We had an unprecedented number of applications this year, which made the review extremely competitive. We were impressed with your application and after careful review, would like to offer you an interview. We are interested in learning more about you and your desire to live and study in Germany.

Following this announcement, you will receive an invitation to our selection events in cities throughout the Southeast. At that time, we will also provide more details regarding the exact location, dates, and times for the interview and information sessions. 

Our locations for this year’s selection events include:

• Atlanta, GA

• Richmond, VA

• Charlotte, NC

• Winter Haven, FL

• Lexington, KY

If you do not wish to continue to the next round of selection, please let us know by Tuesday, February 12th, 2013. Congratulations on your advancement to the next round! We look forward to meeting you in person!

All the best,

CIEE Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program Selection Committee

I am so insanely excited and happy and I can't stop smiling! I hear back about semifinals for YES within the next few weeks and I really hope to make it! I have my interview for CBYX on February 23 in Charlotte, wish me luck!

Hello!

Hello! My name is Danielle, but everyone calls me Dani, and I am a hopeful exchange student for the 2013-2014 year, which will be my junior year of high school! I have applied to study abroad through two state department funded scholarships. My top choice scholarship is the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Scholarship (a.k.a YES Abroad). This scholarship sends 65 high school students to countries with significant Muslim populations. YES sends American students to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali (semester only), Morocco, Oman, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey and sends high school students from these countries and many others with significant muslim populations to the US. My top country choices are Thailand/India (tied for top choice), Turkey, and Malaysia. This scholarship started after 9/11 to start to rebuild American-Muslim relations. I really hope to receive this scholarship because it would be such an incredible experience! The second scholarship I applied for is the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX). This scholarship sends 250 high school students (50 from each region) to Germany. I am in the Southeast region so I applied through CIEE. I hear back about semi-finalist notifications for both scholarships during the beginning of February, so wish me luck!

If you are a prospective exchange student and would like to learn more about YES Abroad and CBYX here are the links to the websites. I really encourage to apply for these scholarships because a year abroad is an incredible opportunity and it will change your life for the better!

YES Abroad:

http://yesprograms.org/

CBYX:

http://www.usagermanyscholarship.org/