Well, This is the End...

After 10 long months of being in Germany my year abroad has finally come to an end. I got home on June 14th so I've already been back about a month and it's been a whirlwind of emotions. Coming home after being in a different country for so long was very disorienting at first. The reverse culture shock of coming back to the US was even worse than the culture shock of going to Germany. I also miss Berlin a lot, especially the public transportation system and the freedom it gave me. I was so used to being able to come and go whenever I wanted and having a way to get around and having so many amazing places to go in the city and it's been hard adjusting back to small town life. It's been so nice being back with my family though. You don't really realize just how much you love your family until you leave them for a long period of time. I've come to appreciate them so much more, distance really does make the heart grow fonder!

Also, I realize I've been super bad about updating my blog and haven't posted anything since spring break so I have a lot to catch up on. May 21st - 25th was the CBYX End Year orientation in Berlin. All 250 CBYX high school students plus the CBYX Young Professional students were all in Berlin and it was so fun to get to finally meet the people from the other groups! We got to do so many amazing things during End Year and we got so to experience so many amazing opportunities that not many people get to! On the 22nd, all of the CBYXer's went to the US Embassy. This was the first time we had every all been together and there was such an excited atmosphere as everyone met for the first time. We spent to afternoon at the Embassy mingling and getting presentations from various Embassy workers and the Ambassador to Germany. It was such a great opportunity to meet these people and learn more about their jobs, especially since I am very interested in pursuing a similar career. After our afternoon at the Embassy, we walked over to the Bundestag where we got to meet with some members of the Bundestag and have our questions answered. Also during this time some of the groups did fun presentations for the Bundestag members and those were really fun to see. After the meeting, we had dinner in the Bundestag and then got to go up to the roof and go up into the dome. The sun was setting as we were up there and it was so beautiful and it was definitely an experience I will never forget. The next day, the 23rd, we had a very early start so that we could get to the Bundestag by 7:00 in the morning. This day we got to sit in on a Bundestag session and experience what they're like. I was very lucky and I had the amazing opportunity to sit on the floor with the members of the Bundestag. Only 30 of us out of all 250 had this opportunity and I am so grateful that I got to experience it! The rest of the CBYXer's were up in the balcony's during the session. Also, Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, was there! We didn't get to personally meet her but she was only 30 feet away from me! It was so cool and all of the CBYXer's were freaking out that she was there. After the session at the Bundestag, we had about five hours of free time before my group (CIEE) met up at a Biergarten for the evening. The last full day of End Year, the 24th, we spent the day at the hostel talking about the year and about re-entry back into the US. That night we had a big BBQ and a super hilarious talent show along with people's anonymous confessions from the year. During the talent show we had our little graduation ceremony and everyone received their certificates of completion. It was such a great night and it was the perfect way to end our last group orientation. The next morning people said their goodbyes and left Berlin to go back to their host families. It was really hard saying goodbye and a lot of people were crying and it was so difficult because during the course of the year our group has gotten so close and we are practically like a family. Knowing that that might be the last time we ever saw some of these people was so hard.

The week after End Year, we had a four day weekend so my friend Ashley and I went on a trip to Prague, Czech Republic. We had such an amazing time and Prague is such a gorgeous city! We got to see so much and I'm so glad we went because it was probably one of my favorite places I have been to during the year. It was so beautiful and if you ever have the opportunity to visit I highly recommend it! After getting back to Berlin after Prague I only had about two weeks left before I had to go back to the US. These couple of weeks went by so incredibly fast. I was so busy with packing, which was very stressful by the way. You don't realize how much you have accumulated through the year until you try to pack it all up and still keep it under 50lbs. I'm so glad my mom took my winter stuff home with her when she came to visit because there was no way I would have been able to fit it all considering one of my bags was exactly 50lbs and the other was a few pounds over. When I wasn't packing during those two weeks I was usually running around the city trying to get last minute gifts and souvenirs to bring back for people, this mostly consisted of chocolate and various candies you can't get in the US. My last weekend in Berlin was the largest festival of the year, the Karneval der Kultur. I am so glad I got to go to this! It was so much fun and there were so many people. I went with Nico, the other person from my group who lived in Berlin. We had such a great time and it was the perfect way to spend the last weekend in Germany. On the night of the 22nd, the night before I left Berlin, I went out to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe with Alessandro and Estelle. They were the other exchange students at my school and they were definitely my best friends in Berlin. I'm so glad I got to see them one last time before I left and we had a great time together! On the morning of June 23rd, I said my goodbyes to my host family which was really hard because they were so amazing and I am so grateful to them for taking me in to their family. After saying goodbye I headed off to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) with my insane amounts of luggage to catch my train to Frankfurt. After arriving at the Frankfurt Hbf I met up with Nico and headed over to the hostel. Only eight of us decided to go to Frankfurt a day early because we live too far away to be able to get there in time for the flight the next morning. We had a lot of fun together that night and it was really nice because I got to get to know some people in my group a lot better. The next morning we all went to the airport together. We were quite the sight going through the Frankfurt subway with all of our luggage, we got a lot of stares. After getting to the airport we met up with the rest of the group and checked in. Luckily we didn't have to wait around very long and we were able to board pretty soon after getting through security. Also, we were all sitting in a big group in the plane which was really nice because it definitely helped pass the time by being able to talk with friends. After a long eight hours we finally landed in DC where we said our final goodbyes, picked up our luggage, and went to meet our families. Seeing my family after a year was probably the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life. It was so incredible to see them and to be able to hug them and there were lots of tears and excitement and it was a very emotional time. Now that I'm home, I probably won't be posting that much anymore, I think my blogging days are pretty much complete but I will probably occasionally post in the future about how this year has impacted my life, so keep and eye out for that! This year has been such a roller coaster but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have learned so much and I have grown so much as a person and I am so incredibly grateful to the US Department of State and the German Bundestag for funding this program and giving me and so many others this absolutely incredible, life changing experience.

Until later adventures,
Dani♡

In the Dome on top of the Bundestag!

CBYX class of '13/'14 graduation at the US Embassy!

Representing North Carolina!

Selfies with Tom Miller, the Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Berlin!

I love my CIEE ladies! ❤️

Old Town Square in Prague

Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral 

Learning a traditional Czech dance in Old Town Square!

Overlooking Prague

Prague with Ashley!