The Casual "See-You-Later's"

Well, its getting very close to that time. That big time. That some-smart-sounding-synonym-for-big time. And no I am not talking about any prior stress about the name conundrum of some British king-to-be, nor am I talking about the Breaking Bad series finale (although that is a pretty gargantuan deal). I am talking about Friday, where I pack my bags and leave for D.C. only to be whisked away to Germany soon after. In order to send me off right, my parents helped me throw a party titled as "Aufwiederschwimmen" (in layman 's terms, "'til we swim again"). It was quite a joyous occasion, many of my closest pals were there as we enjoyed some German-colored revelry. The walls were adorned in black, red, and yellow, and the party-goers sipped from glass bottles covered in lederhosen cozies. I could not have asked for a better way to spend time with the people I loved. Many tears were shed, and several hugs were given, but still, the entire party seemed to be a pretty happy occasion, and avoided most melodrama. Never before have I been so appreciative of my friends. I hope that all of my friends understand how much I love them and how much I love their existence. They are a firm rock in which to place trust that allows for one to have the confidence to go to Europe. After the party was over, and the din of the crowd had been reduced to clanking of dirty dishes, I opened many of the gifts that my friends had left for me. I never asked for gifts, and I also required that all gift-givers would be instantaneously removed from the premises. But alas, I did very much appreciate everyone's gift. I received some stationary so people would force me to write along with a beautiful travel journal. Not to mention my friend John, who decided for some ridiculous reason to give me his prized Vaporeon/Jolteon Pokemon shoes...I hope my tears thanked him. Once again, I cannot state my gratitude. My friends have been with me through every faux pas and dumb mistake, every laugh and smile, and I hate to leave them. But I can earnestly promise that I will try my best to include them in my life over the next year, and that when I return the friendships that have glued us together over the years will still be holding tightly. I wish all of you the best of luck and jovial times in the next year. Stay beautiful always, and don't forget to be awesome. I leave Friday.

Host Family and Stay

Hello everyone!!

I have not posted in a while, mainly because I have had a little to post. But after months of agonizing patience, hitting the "refresh" button on my Gmail inbox, and hours spent on the internet finding skin-hued gloves to hide my obviously nerve-bitten fingernails, I have finally found out where my adventure to Germany will take me! That's right, I now know the details concerning my host family, or Gastfamilie, in German.

I will be staying in Bad Essen, Germany, which is a tiny town consisting of 16,000 people in northwestern Germany. Bad Essen can be seen on this map that was obviously drawn by a four-year-old. It is about an hour away from the Netherlander border and about halfway between Hamburg and Cologne. Bad Essen is beautiful town surrounded by foothills and permeated by the Mittellandkanal, a small river tributary. A minute mountain range runs along the southern third of this small village, and citizens are encompassed by the beauty of the area. When I originally applied for this program, I hoped to be placed in a large city such as Munich. However, this placement has given me a change of heart, being in a smaller town, I will most likely be receive a much more personal and a very German experience. Many international cities in Germany, such as Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, show visible signs of American globalism and contain McDonald's, Subways, etc. Being in Bad Essen, a smaller town that probably won't have any five-euro-footlongs, will allow me to have more German experiences and let me more fully engage in a purely German life.

For security purposes, I am not going to release my host families' members' names, so from this point on, I will refer to my host brother as Johannes, my host father as Richard, and my host mother as Clara (and if you picked up, these are all coincidentally the first names of German composers). Richard and Clara both work in the health industry and enjoy hunting, traveling, and riding their two horses. Johannes, fifteen, is an excellent tennis player and will be going to the same high school I will be attending. I will be attending the local Gymnasium, which is the equivalent of an American college-preparatory high school. The school is only a ten-minute bike ride over a river away, which is exceptionally fantastic, compared to the current thirty-minute commute on the deathtrap the street signs call "Germantown Parkway." I do not know much about what I will be doing in my school, except that I am 100% certain that everything will be in German. Stone. Cold. German. Hopefully my host brother will hold my hand as I make my way through the German crowds. My school looks like a pretty interesting place, the only video of it that I could find on the internet contained five students running around in banana costumes giving bananas to the faculty....so it seems as if I will fit right in!

If you would like more information about Bad Essen or my stay, please leave a comment or message me, I will be glad to talk about the Fatherland!

Countdown to Frankfurt: 25 DAYS