Well... January is coming to a close, and February will be here in a matter of days. I can't begin to tell you what January has been like for me, but i guess if I had to describe it in a few words, I would call it life-changing! I know, i know... the whole " life changing" part is what is supposed to be happening while I am in Germany, but to be honest my life has been completely flipped upside down- And I'm not even close to leaving! I'm guessing that the mere prospect of me going overseas and leaving all the people and events and organizations that I love... Has changed me.. and I feel like I'm starting to look at normal activities and circumstances from a new perspective. I never ever have looked forward to something so BIG in my life... Its so amazing to just live these months before my departure with such joy. Even though the road to where I am now, has been pretty complicated and tough... (and i know... it will get tougher) - It has been totally worth it!
One major helper in this process has been this girl at my school, Malina, who is going with Rotary to Spain! Even though we're going to different countries- without her I wouldn't be going anywhere, and she knows what this process feels like and we just help each other day-by-day. I strongly recommend that anyone going to another country on foreign exchange should go through the process alongside someone else. Oh yeah, also- this other girl named Ane at my school, a foreign exchange student from Norway, is helping me out a ton and has inspired me incredibly in the last few weeks! thank god for her :)
Anyways... to think about all That I've accomplished so far. SUPER-LONG applications- check. Rotary sponsor- Check. country selection- check. Now all I need to wait for is my exact placement which I'm not that worried about. I'm not going to waste my time thinking in excess about who I'm going to be living with and what school I'll be attending... that's a long way away! As far as where I'm at now- I'm, learning the German language by myself. I feel as if I'm grasping the basics... I can't stress enough how helpful it is if you already are learning another language- I would be clueless if I didn't know french! I have numbers, alphabet, some basic vocab/phrases/transitions, and I've been really focusing on conjugations of irregular verbs. The whole cases thing tripped me out at first, but I understand the concept behind it now. (dont get me wrong i still have no idea when to use der, die, das, eine, einer,ect...) Ha- Believe it or not I'm feeling good about the learning... I've found that i love languages and am hoping that that mentality will stay with me while I am struggling to speak in Germany) oh quick note- just realized that I know quite a bit of french... sure there are things that I dont know and my vocab would be super limited if I went there, but now that Im learning german, I constantly am finding that I know how to say all the things Im learning in French.
So I've talked way to much so far, These observations have just been on my mind. I'm hoping that these next few months will pass quickly and anything that needs to happen... will happen!!! until next time!
One major helper in this process has been this girl at my school, Malina, who is going with Rotary to Spain! Even though we're going to different countries- without her I wouldn't be going anywhere, and she knows what this process feels like and we just help each other day-by-day. I strongly recommend that anyone going to another country on foreign exchange should go through the process alongside someone else. Oh yeah, also- this other girl named Ane at my school, a foreign exchange student from Norway, is helping me out a ton and has inspired me incredibly in the last few weeks! thank god for her :)
Anyways... to think about all That I've accomplished so far. SUPER-LONG applications- check. Rotary sponsor- Check. country selection- check. Now all I need to wait for is my exact placement which I'm not that worried about. I'm not going to waste my time thinking in excess about who I'm going to be living with and what school I'll be attending... that's a long way away! As far as where I'm at now- I'm, learning the German language by myself. I feel as if I'm grasping the basics... I can't stress enough how helpful it is if you already are learning another language- I would be clueless if I didn't know french! I have numbers, alphabet, some basic vocab/phrases/transitions, and I've been really focusing on conjugations of irregular verbs. The whole cases thing tripped me out at first, but I understand the concept behind it now. (dont get me wrong i still have no idea when to use der, die, das, eine, einer,ect...) Ha- Believe it or not I'm feeling good about the learning... I've found that i love languages and am hoping that that mentality will stay with me while I am struggling to speak in Germany) oh quick note- just realized that I know quite a bit of french... sure there are things that I dont know and my vocab would be super limited if I went there, but now that Im learning german, I constantly am finding that I know how to say all the things Im learning in French.
So I've talked way to much so far, These observations have just been on my mind. I'm hoping that these next few months will pass quickly and anything that needs to happen... will happen!!! until next time!
