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