A Much Needed Update...

Since it has been a good couple of months or so since I last did an entry, anticipate this post to be rather lengthy. Please stick with me and read it all! I apologize for the lack of updates. I don't really have an excuse, I just never got around to it.

But anyway, classes have been in session for quite some time now. In fact our Christmas break begins in two weeks. It's going to be weird to not be finished with a semester, but still getting about two or three weeks off from classes. In fact, one of my classes (my German politics course) is basically done in a couple of weeks, and only meets one more time after Christmas.

When I think about this semester in terms of stress levels compared to the stress I usually feel back home at IU, I can't really even call this stress. I mean, I don't want to say I don't have work to do for my classes, however I have such a large amount of free time that I don't ever have the stress of getting it all done. (With the exception of now until next Wednesday. I had some problems getting a book from Amazon to deliver, so now that it FINALLY arrived, I have 5 days to read a 230 page book in German.) But really, as long as I do my readings and show up to class, I really don't have much other work to do. I mean, I have the occasional presentation to do or an occasional midterm, but they're so spread out and I have so much time to prepare, that I don't ever really feel stressed. It actually feels foreign to have so much free time, that in order to help fill up the time, I've been doing a bit of independent reading. I just finished reading the first Harry Potter book in German! Now, this really wasn't much of a feat, seeing as Harry Potter is a children's book, therefore uses rather very simple language. But still, it was a fun read and I'm about to start the second one.

Since the last post, I've gotten to do something rather cool, that I didn't anticipate to do before I arrived here. For my politics class, we ended up going to Strassburg in France, to visit the European Parliament.  I don't have a huge interest in any form of politics, but it was still a great experience, witnessing the European Union's Parliament in action. One thing that I found fascinating was how they've handled the various language usages. Their policy is everyone should be able to communicate in their native tongue, therefore they have people constantly translating and you can listen to whichever language wish through a set of headphones. In order to be employed at the parliament, you must be fluent in a minimum of FOUR languages. I find it troublesome enough to learn one foreign language, let alone more. I guess I'll never work for the European Parliament. One aspect of this excursion that tripped me, was which language I should have used when I ordered a coffee. As in, I don't speak any French, and I hate assuming they can understand German or English. Luckily my one year of French in high school allowed me to assemble "coffee with milk, please" in French (shout out to my high school French teacher, Mr. Rottet!). However, any following questions I was unable to answer, so I just nodded and handed them my money.

I want to take a minute to discuss my progress in the language. I have to reflect sometimes back on what I've done to improve my language skills. Grammar-wise, I definitely understand nearly all concepts on paper, and when I think before I say something, I can effectively utilize them, however, if I am just freely speaking as I can, I am aware of the numerous mistakes I'm making. But awareness is definitely a step of progress. My reading comprehension is also definitely improving. I would say nearly every aspect of language learning has, with the exception of my vocabulary. I am exposed on a daily basis to numerous amounts of unfamiliar words. You would think that just by being here I would naturally pick up a huge amount of vocabulary, but that simply hasn't been the case with me. Yes, I've picked up a few words here and there, but not as much as I had hoped I would by now. About a week ago I've decided to find a new method to learning vocabulary. I've bought a small notebook that has a line down the center. I write new words on one side, the English translation on the other. Then in my spare moments (sitting on the bus, etc) I quiz myself. I've only just begun this basic method, but I think it'll be helpful. It definitely can't hurt. In conclusion, I've gotten much more comfortable using what I already know (sometimes in rather creative ways), but I haven't learned much new stuff that I can continue to grow with.

I know I have so much more to share, but I couldn't think of more at the moment. I'll try and think of them and post another entry in the next couple of days, hopefully this weekend.

Feel free to leave a comment requesting a particular topic, event, or my thoughts on any aspect of studying abroad! I'll be happy to share them!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

My Class is Nearly Finished!

I'm writing this post at a time when I'm down in the dumps. Here's why.

Before coming here, all I could focus on was what was up and coming. I was super excited about all of the adventures I was going to have, all the great experiences and memories I'm going to make. But now that I'm here, it's like I'm randomly just started living someone else's life and stopped living my own. I've left behind an entire year back home with my wonderful friends at IU. I see them posting pictures and other things that I would normally be experiencing right now. But I'm not.

Now, I know I'm incredibly lucky to be able to be studying abroad here and gaining these wonderful things, but that doesn't make the fact I'm missing out on my life back home any easier. As I'm wrapping up my first month here, it's crazy how quickly time actually has gone by. You think you've prepared  yourself emotionally, but there really isn't away to fully be ready for it. I know that in 10 months I'll look back and miss my life here, but now it seems like such a far away dream that I'll be back home. I really  must sound like a spoiled child right now. I apologize.

Anyway, on to more positive things. I'm basically done with my intensive German class! Tomorrow is the last day, and we literally are only watching a movie. It's barely a school day in my eyes. As exciting as it is, I look back on what I've gotten out of this class, which is actually a lot more than I realized while actually taking the course. First, I definitely gained more confident speaking German. I mean, that does not mean at all that my German is anywhere near where I want it to be, it just means I'm less afraid of being judged for incorrectly saying something or having a thick American accent. For those fellow foreign language learners, losing the fear of judgement is actually kind of a big deal.

Secondly, I've gained more confidence on grammar concepts that before coming here, were completely an obstacle to be overcome. For example, Konjunktiv II. It's something that exists in English, but it is way more developed and intricate in German. I've been working on trying to integrate it into my speaking skills (with moderate success) but it still remains a topic that I've mastered only on paper (well, mostly mastered).

Thirdly (and this one is the corny one), I've met many people that I wish I could get to know better, but sadly many of them are leaving at the end of the week. They were only here for this particular course. Perhaps our paths will cross again in the future, and I wish you the best of luck in your futures.

Lastly, I've gotten 3 credit hours for a 400 level German class completed in 3 and a half weeks. Like, that probably sounds stupid, but that's the quickest and possibly most effective 3 credit hours I've ever completed. Hurray for me!

Outside of class, there isn't a whole lot to report. I'm in the process of setting up an audition with the Freiburg Student Orchestra next month. They're playing Beethoven 7 at their next concert which REALLY excites me. (I wrote this post while listening to this symphony :D) It's one of my favorite Beethoven symphonies. So hopefully that goes well. Also, this past weekend I spent quite a bit of time with the Pfaffenweiler community band (which I've talked about in my previous post) and that was interesting. I played at the reopening of a hall which had recently received renovations. I was again publicly welcomed to the community and to the band. Then Sunday, the band traveled about an hour and a half to this village of re-built farmhouses from the 1600s. It would have been really a pleasant experience, except the whole day was basically the sky peeing on us and me trying to stay dry, and then also marching awkwardly with my oboe. (Luckily it was NOT raining during this time). Overall, it was definitely a good, relaxing weekend that allowed me to recuperate. It is still exhausting living a majority of the day in German. I hope soon it's not. But it's unlikely.

Things I am looking forward to in the upcoming future?

• No classes. No early mornings. Sleeping in.
• The other IU students and I are planning a trip to Europa Park (well, I think we are going to)
• Time to just sit and read while drinking coffee. I'm enjoying Eragon in German right now. :D
• Hiking through the Black Forest. I hope to accomplish this soon, before it gets too cold.

Random Thoughts

This is probably going to be a short post. I just have had a few thoughts that I felt were worth sharing.

Monday was my first rehearsal with the little community band here in Pfaffenweiler.  I had no idea what to expect, but what it was was not it. I'm used to a punctual rehearsal, where basically everyone is ready to go right at the official rehearsal time. Here, that was most definitely not the case. It was nice that it was so relaxed and such, but there comes a point when it is too relaxed. It bothered me. And then comes the moment when we finally played our first note together. There was no tuning note, there was nothing. Just the conductor (who happens to be British, actually!) asked for us all to play an F. And we did. Except I'm pretty sure many of them were playing an F# or an E instead of a unified F. It was literally impossible to even try and match anything. So I basically just played my nearly in tune F (I always do pre-rehearsal tuning. Normally the tuning note at the start of a rehearsal is simply a confirmation and getting adjusted to the ensemble pitch level.)

This whole F exercise thing lasted for like 20 minutes. And it improved slightly, but still not enough for me to even here a single note. But then I'm handed the music of the first piece we are rehearsing, and it's a band arrangement of Jupiter from Holst's "The Planets". Now, even though the ensemble sounded terrible playing it, it was the perfect piece to begin with. It took me right back home to my high school, when Jupiter is always played at graduation. :D

So the rest of the rehearsal continues, and I'm just doing what I'm told to. The conductor would make ensemble suggestions and would work on stuff, and literally everything I agreed with and knew, which was comforting to me, knowing that my instruction to this point has been universal. My only annoyance was the ensemble's ability to play quietly. When the music said piano, they all played mezzo-forte, to forte. They don't pick up quickly which bothered me.

But, despite the obvious not so goodness of the ensemble, it was comforting to be back in a familiar setting, doing something that I know how to do well, in contrast to basically everything else going on in Freiburg, where I feel I know nothing. The good thing about that, is my host mom has been so nice and has been helping me try and find an orchestra of slightly higher caliber in Freiburg that I can play in. I'm not sure I understand anything exactly right, but I think a neighbor of ours is going to try and get me in to play Beethoven's 7th next month, and I literally almost cried tears of joy, cause that's totally my favorite Beethoven symphony. Gah. I'm dying just thinking about the possibility.

Okay, well it's late and I'm tired, so bye! Thanks for reading and stay posted!

So the adventure continues...

It's been over a week.  In that week I've felt all sorts of emotions. Some good, others bad. German culture isn't freakishly different to American, so there hasn't been a whole lot of culture shock (as I had anticipated) but time here seems to be moving slower.  Like every day feels really long, and the weeks therefore even longer. As I talked earlier, it's also been very exhausting. But on to my week...

So I ended up only taking the short story seminar, but it was a mistake. The literature is just flat out too hard for me right now and it isn't engaging at all, sitting there. I would have moved to a different seminar, but I have to attend all 10 class periods to get my point, which I need for the credit transfer back to IU and I missed the first day of all the other seminars, obviously. So I'm stuck there for another week. At least it isn't an entire semester. That would have been a problem.

Speaking of the semester, I also have a rough schedule worked out for when normal college begins. If all goes as planned, I will only have classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This is so exciting actually. It will be the first time in my whole life I didn't have school Monday through Friday. You have no idea how happy this makes me feel. I mean, German university classes typically only meet once a week, so that made that pretty easy, actually.  The classes I'm interested in taking are a literature course taught at Uni Freiburg. I anticipate this to be the roughest, because this class is obviously for natives, and I am assuming it involves just lots of reading and I'm slow at reading German.  But it'll really be good for my vocabulary I believe. (I don't think it'll be like this short story class, where it's freakishly hard texts. It's all works by the same author I believe)  I am also then taking a German politics class, which I think would help me just to understand their whole government system better. Theirs is way more complex, it seems, then ours.  I'm also going to be taking a couple more classes at SLI. A pronunciation class and something else, that I forget at the  moment. Oops. There is also another class I'm going to take, but it has yet to actually be decided. I'm not sure.

This isn't much of an accomplishment, but I convinced two other Americans that I was German. I fessed up eventually. As in, when I started speaking English and didn't have an accent. But it was fun. When I would say something and they didn't understand, I would ask another IU student to act as a translator. :D I had way too much fun doing that. One said I didn't have German accent from around Freiburg and he thought I was from up north. Haha. Americans.

Another highlight of my week! I met up with a German who went to Jasper for a semester and we had coffee! We just sat and spoke German and it was fabulous.  Also, tomorrow I'm meeting up with a couple of friends who were a part of the JHS exchange, from when I came here in summer 2011. Again, we're getting coffee. (As a coffee addict, Germany doesn't help ease me off of my addiction. No shame. No regrets.)

Well, that's all for now! I don't suspect anything new will be happening this coming week. I'm forward to next weekend, though. It means I'll done with that stupid short story class. That'll be a relief.

Till next time!
Taylor

Week One: Check!

I've been here already over a week. It has been one loooong week for me. We began classes, I've met the mayor of Pfaffenweiler, I've been to the local street fest, and most importantly, I've already felt an improvement in my German.  While this week has been packed full with many exciting and fun things, it has also been one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. Let me put this into perspective: in America, I am able to function, communicate, and do nearly everything with not really putting for much thought or effort, because I grew up in an English speaking world and it just is normal and instinctive to me. But here, every small detail I have to think about and exert a tremendous effort.  Just trying to understand the workers at the bakery how much I owe can actually be slightly strenuous. (I mean, not really. But more effort than it would take in America.) Also, in my classes at the Sprachlehrinstitut (the language school at the Uni-Freiburg) there are international students from all over the world. Imagine this: it's hard a lot of times for us to understand non-native English speakers when they speak English because of their thick accent and such. Try attempting to understand thick foreign accents of a foreign language but in that foreign language. I mean, for example, an Asian accent in German.  That takes way more effort than understanding Germans speaking sometimes.

Anyway, enough rambling of how strenuous it is, my week has been seriously amazing.  Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday, except we all also finally figured out a German cell phone. For me personally, I just wanted to do the cheapest option as possible. I literally just bought an inexpensive phone and a SIM card and activated it, coming only to 30 Euros total, with 10 Euros on my Pay-As-You-Go phone.  Remember the really bad phones from around 10 or so years ago? That's this one. But it was cheap and basically only for emergencies. On Tuesday, we also registered for our classes at the Sprachlehrinstitut (SLI), which was exciting.  Before arriving, we all took an online placement-exam.  I got a 53% on that exam and was actually depressed at how low I scored.  But that little dinky score actually placed me in German 10 of 13! I was rather pleased with myself.

On Wednesday, we had our first class.  It began with basically an hour and a half of introductions, talking to each other, getting to learn who is who and so forth.  It was a total of 3 hours, with a half hour break in the middle.  Afterwards, I seriously felt pleased with myself, because it was the first time I felt I effectively communicated for an extended amount of time in German and had no struggle and just spoke fluidly.  After reflecting on it though, the class was actually too easy for me.  The teacher speaks freakishly slow, and even to me her slow speed sounds comical.  It eventually led to me and the other IU students in my class asking what we should do or what she recommended. (She hinted several times that us that we were basically amongst the top, no bragging intended. :D)  And on Friday, she said we should be able to move up to the next level on Monday, which is both exciting and a bit intimidating.

Outside of class, I've been spending time with the other IU students, just getting to know each other and the city better.  There is a LOT of English being spoken with them, and I basically said on Monday, there will be no English from me anymore. I came here to speak German, not English. I hope the others follow suit.

Outside of all of that, last night was the grand opening to the Schneckenfest.  It was similar to the Strassenfest, for those back home in Jasper, but yet not. Imagine just a more fun, better environment, version of the Strassenfest. I mean, for Pete's sake, you can just walk around holding a glass of wine or a beer and it is totally acceptable and normal. Plus the food is better.

Really quick, here are just a few things I'm looking forward to in the next week.

1. Seminars in the afternoon (more classes. I'm planning on attending a short story seminar and a German morphology)
2. Planning my classes for the rest of the semester at Uni-Freiburg
3. No English

Thanks for reading! I hope it wasn't too boring and please share and keep coming back!

First Days

Warning, this post is a bit long. Please enjoy it all!

So, I've been here for four days already, and it's been amazing.up to this point. After arriving late Thursday night and a good night's rest, I woke up on Friday for my first real day.  It's only been a few days but it feels like it has been months and already a bit foggy as to what exactly we did.  But I know after a nice breakfast with my host family, Shannon and I went for a brief tour of Pfaffenweiler, Jasper's sister city and my home for the next year.  At the end of the tour, we stopped by someone's home to pick up a card for me to use as a bus pass to visit Freiburg the next day, because I hadn't received my own (I received it finally on Sunday).  The language up to this point was definitely a struggle.  Between the local dialect throwing me off, people speaking really quickly, and me just not being super good or comfortable at German, I just couldn't really function yet in German.

After finishing the tour, Shannon and I decided to begin putting a puzzle together.  We swap a bit between English and German in this conversation, and I gained a tiny bit of confidence in the language.  After awhile, Shannon's sister, Laura, arrived and she was really nice.  They were making plans for the night to go to a wine fest in a nearby village, Breisach. Of course they invited me and I decided to go.

We then got ready and headed to the fest, where at first just Shannon and I walked around and drank a couple of glasses of wine, which definitely was delicious.  We eventually met up with Laura (this time with several of her friends) for awhile.  This is when I began to realize, that when someone spoke directly to me, I could usually understand what they were saying.  When there was a group of people and the conversation flew by quickly, I simiply could not yet comprehend it.  After being at the wine fest for awhile, Shannon and I left and went home, speaking a mix of German and English again (but more German than before!)

The next day, Sunday, was the day Shannon and I went to Freiburg.  She took me on a good city tour, showing me where I can buy normal, necessary things for living and such.  For lunch, I had my first currywurst ever! It was so good! Also, something that is very common for Germans to do is eat their french fries with mayonnaise, instead of ketchup (though ketchup is still normal for them).  And let me say, from an American's point of few, french fries with mayo is totally delicious. I recommend it.

After lunch, Shannon and I headed over to a local brewery beer garden for an AMAZING beer.  It is called Inselhof Radler, and has a very present and tasty lemonade type flavor. Oh my, it's the best beer I've had in my life to date. I definitely recommend this as well.  After finishing a tasty beer, Shannon and I heed back to Pfaffenweiler for awhile.  I decided to watch a movie in German, and I chose The Devil Wears Prada, because it's one of my favorite movies of all time.  Halfway through the movie, my host mom decided to join and finished it with me.

Shortly after the movie, Shannon and I returned back to Freiburg (this time with her friend) where we had dinner.  We just hung out for awhile in Freiburg, drinking a little, then returned home. Originally the plan was to watch a movie, but I was tired and just returned to my bedroom.  It is really exhausting trying to constantly understand a foreign language, and communicate in it.

The next day was a super easy day, with not much to do other than go and show my face at the IES office and receive some information, then go to a welcome dinner for the IES students from the IU Customized Program.  It didn't last long and was nice to finally meet all of the other IU students.  The real fun began the next day (today).

So then today, the first real day of our program.  It began with an orientation session, which lasted about one and a half hours.  We mainly just talked about a few preliminary things and such.  We than began the city tour, where they showed us the important places that are necessary for life in Germany. I had seen most of the places a couple of days prior, but it was nice to see it again.

At the end of the tour, the six of us decided to stay together and have lunch.  It was nice because it was our first real time alone to just get to know each other.  During lunch, we spoke pretty much strictly German and it was super fun, relaxing, and low-stress.  I've discovered it is definitely easier to speak German with other Americans than with native German speakers. Weird.  After finishing dinner, none of us really wanted to venture off alone or go home, so we just went to Vauban, where most of the IU students are living.  We played some volleyball, switching between English and German when talking. After awhile, we stopped and just started talking, asking each other about our travels, thoughts so far, etc.  From here on out, it was all pretty much in English.  I think it was mutually agreed today was to form some bonds and get acquainted with one another, then tomorrow we will be back in all German.  This whole just hanging out and talking thing lasted several hours, when we finally returned back to busier parts of Freiburg to do some preliminary shopping, getting notebooks, folders, etc.  We enjoyed a nice dinner, where I personally had a nice cheese pizza, but different than what you think of in America.  It is really flat and just bread and cheese basically.  Tasted really good and really cheesy, just as I like it.

So yeah, that is my experience to this point, being probably more detailed and boring than necessary, but everything is currently new and I want to talk about it all! Please stay tuned!

Departure and Arrival

Finally, the day has come! My journey technically on early Tuesday morning (around 3 AM, actually) when my mom, sister, and I headed to Chicago to spend a couple of days there before my flight on Wednesday.  This is the uninteresting part.  We just did a few tourist-y things in Chicago, such as go see the bean.  However, the next day I said my final goodbyes to my mom and sister (and it was way sadder than I would have predicted) and then at around 9:15, I finally boarded the Turkish airport, where I had nearly 11 hours to just sit there.

On the flight, I actually sat next to a really nice Turkish lady who offered me gum and Doritos.  Though, as the flight went on she started to annoy me, asking me stupid questions such as "Where do I plug in my headphones to watch a movie" and then she would always ask to get up (she was next to the window) and be gone for 15 or 20 minutes, then disturb me again to sit.  Finally we just swap seats cause I wanted to sleep.  I thought I'd watch several films on this flight, but I really only watched about 20 minutes of Identity Thief.  I had too much on my mind to focus on watching a movie.

So then finally I land at the airport in Istanbul, Turkey.  This was the part of travelling I was most nervous about.  I don't speak any Turkish and was definitely  not confident in my German.  Somehow, though, I managed to figure out exactly where to go with literally saying not a single word in any language.  I literally just spent 2 hours sitting there, looking at a screen waiting for it to say "TK 1709 Stuttgart -- Go to Gate"  We actually boarded 20 minutes late, but still managed to only leave 5 to 10 minutes late.  This flight I sat between two German men.  They talked over me most of the time and I just awkwardly sat there.  I was nervous about this flight for the same reason as I was in the airport.  What surprised me though, was that the flight attendants spoke not Turkish and German.....but Turkish and English.  As in, if you didn't speak Turkish or English, you were basically SOL.  Phew.

Finally I arrived in Stuttgart! Here I had to go through customs, which took like 2 seconds.  The man asked me why I was there, laughed at my "Checkpoint Charlie" stamp from when I was there in summer 2011, pointed at it and showed his partner, then gave it back to me. Um.  Excuse me for being American wanting a Checkpoint Charlie stamp three summers before now.

Baggage claim.  This was way more stressful than it should have been.  I seriously stood there for 20 or more minutes waiting for mine to come around on the belt.  I was getting some serious worries that neither of my two luggage bags were there.  But finally they both came, next to each other. :D  After claiming my baggage, I walked through a door where I was instantly greeted by Shannon (my host-sister) and her father.  Ater a two hour drive to Pfaffenweiler, I was finally at my new home.  They briefly showed me around my floor (Yes, floor.  I basically live alone in the basement, complete with my own bathroom a TV!), we sat down briefly and drank a beer, then I went downstairs and slept finally.

So it's late here and I'm tired. Soon I'll update and talk about my first couple of days here! It's been a great day, though.

Final Days

So, the time is almost here. I'm about to say goodbye America and hello Germany! I leave in just about 7 days a 20 or so hours. In less than a week, I will be in Chicago, enjoying my last few hours in my favorite American city! Pretty soon I will be having a big post about my experience with the flights over here. I just hope for a smooth sailing travel day.

In the time since my last post about 2 months ago, I've finished pretty much all the pre-departure stuff that needed to be completed. I've packed, taken my German placement exam (which was terribly difficult!), and even began saying my goodbyes. The emotions are growing intensely. They're probably exactly like you'd expect, really excited and really scared. I've just come to accept that no matter how prepared I am or not, it's going to be full of fun and I'm going to learn a lot about myself and learn a lot of German. I don't know how good to expect myself to become, because it really depends how well I am able to apply myself while there. It's not just about being there. It's also about taking the initiative, doing the work, and trying hard every single day. I know there will be days I am completely frustrated. There will be days I just don't want to speak German and speak English instead. My fluency will come from pushing those aside and just doing the work. It's definitely possible. Countless people before me have succeeded, so why can't I?

Anyway, the excitement continues and my next post will be from Germany! Stay tuned!

Taylor

Ein bißchen Deutsch, ja?

Warning! The following post is in German. I will, however, have a copy of it in English for everyone.  I just want to prove I can facilitate some use of the language before I depart in 64 days, 23 hours, and 8 minutes.

Heute abend habe ich ein paar Blogs von anderen Leuten gelesen, die ein Jahr oder Semester in Freiburg studiert haben.  Das war ein Fehler.  Es gab mir nur mehr Angst.  Und machte ich aufgeregter als gestern und vorgestern.  Ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich fast ein ganzes Jahr in Deutschland wohnen werde.  Ich habe mich errinnert, dass ich ein Placement-Test machen muss. Ich bin nicht bereit.  Mein Deutsch ist nicht gut genug und ich denke ich werde in einer schlechten Gruppe sein.  Diese Woche habe ich viel gemacht um mein Deutsch zu verbessern.  Ich hörte deutsche Musik.  Ich schaute Videos auf Deutsch. Hoffentlich werde ich okay sein. Okay, das Ende. Tchüss!

Tonight I read a few blogs from other people who studied in Freiburg for a semester or a year.  That was a mistake.  It only gave me more fear.  And made me more excited than yesterday or the day before.  I can't beleive, that I will be living in Germany for an entire year.  I remembered, that I have to take a placement exam. I'm not ready. My german is not good enough and I think I'll be placed in a "bad" group.   I did a lot this week to improve my German.  I listened to German music. I watched videos in German.  Hopefully I will be okay. Okay, the end! Bye!

Also, a friend of mine, Valerie Gregorash, is studying this year in Nagoya, Japan. Please check out her blog! It's going to be exciting! valinnagoya.blogspot.com

The anticipation is getting too great to handle -- Flight plans

I still have just over 72 days before my departure time.  I'm taking a few music classes this summer to finish some stuff before departing, and I had thought that these classes would keep me distracted and make time fly by. It's not.  I have way more free time than I thought I would and so I'm spending so much time just trying to keep myself occupied.

That's besides the point.  I believe I've forgot to talk about my flight plans! So here we go.

I depart from Chicago at 10:15 on August 27th.  There is a freakishly long flight to Istanbul in Turkey, where I will have a few hours layover before flying to Stuttgart, where my host family has so generously agreed to pick me up from! I will officially arrive at my foreign home late in the evening on the 28th of August, where I will have a couple of days to orient and settle myself before orientation stuff begins on the 31st, I believe.

The other day, a friend of mine and I got brunch together, and spent a significant time just chatting in German.  It was so much fun and doesn't help my excitement, other than just make me want to leave more.  I really hope my language abilities are enough for me to just dive in and speak only German.  My host family I'm sure will be very encouraging and patient and helpful.  It's a good thing I have a few days to just acquaint myself before jumping into orientations.

It is a weird assortment of emotions, thinking about what is coming up in 72 days.

Less than 100 days!

So, nothing really new to update, other than I officially have a host family! It's possible I might even be able to meet them this weekend, because they'll be in Jasper for a few days to pick up their daughter Shannon, who studied at Jasper High School for the year.

Rather exciting news! Also, less than 100 days until my flight departs for Germany! Excited! I'm attaching a link to a countdown I have going. Cause I'm a nerd. :D

Departure Countdown!

Preparations

So, now that my Spring semester is basically over, here's an actual update of my preparations.

First of all, a brief summary of my scholarship/financing situation.  Seeing as none of my music scholarships will apply to my overseas study (since it is a performance scholarship and this is a non-music study abroad), financing my time abroad has been a serious concern.  I've been super lucky with this so far.  I'll be living with a host family, which is FANTASTIC for multiple reasons.  1) It eliminates the cost of monthly rent. 2) I'll get an inside look to real German culture, not just the student life culture. 3) I'll be away from Americans, who will try to speak English with me. It's pretty much accepted that a home stay experience is better for foreign language acquisition.  So, not only will that cost be eliminated, I've also received a few scholarships, which are currently paying for 2/3 of my tuition.  All I have left in terms of expenses up to this point is the rest of tuition, my flight over there, and then the daily spending money of life.  That's not bad at all, if I may say so.  And who knows, maybe I'll be lucky and score some more surprise cash!

Secondly, I'd like to discuss my preparations with the language.  In anticipation for a year abroad, I took on three classes at IU this semester.  A grammar course, a literature course, and an intermediate conversation course.  It's been, by far, the best semester in terms of furthering my language abilities.  They're in no way close to the level I am aiming for, but I made some serious progress.  I'm planning on doing some independent reading this semester, which will hopefully continue to help me! I've got a couple of ideas. Either I'll read one of the Harry Potter books in German (I have all seven :D) Or I'll read this murder thriller book I found a couple of months ago at a used book store.  I'm excited about that.

Finally, the office work of preparations.  I've had a few forms to fill out here and there.  A couple of orientation meetings and such.  I feel like there hasn't been much official office work to do. I'm sure it'll come.  I've also been searching flights and such, aiming to leave around August 27 or 28. The program officially starts the 31st.

So yeah, that's about all I have for an update now.  I promise it'll get more interesting around the end of August! Keep checking back! :D

Hello! It has now officially been approximately two weeks since I have learned of my acceptance into the Freiburg Academic Year for 2014-15!  I am completely excited to begin my adventure in Germany for a year long study abroad.  My intentions for this blog will be to keep my friends and family back home in the states updated on what I am experiencing and how I am doing.  I will include all sorts of exciting pictures and personal experiences, that will (hopefully!) make you jealous and dying to visit me in Pfaffenweiler/Freiburg.

Up until now, all I've been able to do is research ways to prepare for a study abroad.  I've watched videos on other people's experiences, discovered ways to make the experience enriching, and all it's done is make me more and more anxious to just hop on the plane and land in Germany.  Seriously, though, it's really helped me learn what to expect and how to handle some common situations that will be foreign to me.

Really, applying for the program was rather easy.  It was an online application, where I basically just put in my information, wrote an essay, and applied for a few scholarships and hit submit.  A week or two after the deadline, I received an e-mail asking me to set up an interview time.  This was the part I was most nervous about in the application process. The interview, naturally, was conducted in German.  Sure, I felt I knew the basics of German, but I in no way have any form of confidence with it.  Regardless, the interview went surprisingly well and a few weeks after I received my acceptance e-mail.

It's now just been a waiting game. I have a few forms to fill out, a few advising meetings, etc.  It hasn't really felt like I'm able to do much yet.  I'm doing my best to improve my German as much as possible, to feel as prepared as I can for next year.

That's all for now, updates will be slow, seeing as I'm not there yet.  But I'll update occasionally with how my preparation is going!

Keep checking back!
Thanks!

Taylor