Bodensee-Wasserversorgung

Another one of the outings that CDC (my language school) planned for the CDC students was this trip to Bodensee-Wasserversorgung (Bodensee-Water Supply). It is the water treatment facility that treats the water from the Bodensee and sends it to millions of Germans. The tour was pretty cool. When we got to the facility we all had to get badges to come into the building. Security is a top priority. If something were to happen at the facility, millions of Germans would be without water. When we finally get into the building, we sit down to a light breakfast of butter pretzels and, of course, delicious water. We got these cute little glasses that we got to keep as souvenirs and, if you were thirsty, you just got up and got some water at this cool blue water fountain that supplied fresh clean water. It was so delicious!

The tour continued and we got to see where they sent the disinfectant gas through the water and where the water ran through the filtering silt, sand, and gravel. We also got to see where they stored the water that was ready to drink.

As you can see, the facility is situated on top of this big mountain. We got a bus ride to the facility but we walked down the mountain when we left. I wouldn't have normally minded but the trail was muddy and I was wearing what I call my "city sneakers". You know, those sneakers that are comfortable but that you don't want to get dirty. I was careful and my sneaks survived the trip. I got some awesome pictures on the way down. Take a look. It was gorgeous!

Actual picture from my camera. Awesome right?

The views in Germany are awesome! Another actual picture from my camera.

Schwarzwald

Black forest!!!!!! Okay, who hasn't imagined going to the black forest. This magical place covered in the most beautiful tress. I mean, this is where cuckoo clocks are made! So cool. The CDC (my language school) organizes outings for their students every Saturday. On Saturday, August 6th the CDC gave the choice of 2 trips. The Shwarzwald or a trip to Zuruck. I love nature so I chose the Schwarzwald. It was a decision I did not regret.  The Schwarzwald covers a large area so there are multiple places to see the Scwarzwald. The CDC took us to a town called Triberg which is about an hour away from Radolfzell (the Bodensee) by train.

Once we get to Triberg, we had to walk...but it was more like climbing. You see, we were going to see the highest waterfall in Germany. Not the biggest, just the highest. So we had to walk uphill. Way uphill...into the Schwarzwald. My gluteus maximus was burning after that day. It was a nice way to burn off all that Nutella I ate for breakfast. So we walk up through this town, Triberg, to get to this waterfall.

The main part of Triberg. Lots of shops that had things made out of Schwarzwald wood (like cuckoo clocks). Also, a lot of delicious pastry shops. Do you see how steep it is?!

It was so worth it. You are so high up that you feel you could just fall off the earth. At the entrance to the waterfall park they were selling Erdnüsse (peanuts) to feed to the Eichhörnchen (squirrels). I was under the impression that they were so used to human contact that they would just come up to you and grab the peanuts...I did not see one Eichhörnchen the entire trip except for the wooden statue outside the entrance to the waterfall.

The only squirrel I saw all day. WB carved into the statue. Was someone from West Bend, Wisconsin here?

There are actually several waterfalls that make up the entire waterfall in Triberg. All of them extremely beautiful. The forest was so green and lush and the waterfall sent mist all through the air. It was beautiful.

German paradise

Me at the top of the world

Me and my fellow CBYXers at Triberg Schwarzwald. Such a happy family!

Unexpected Wisconsinite Culture Shock

So, in all of these seminars before Germany and even once we got to Germany, the program warned us about culture shock. The entire time, however, they were talking about culture shock we would experience in another country. I had no idea, however, that I would experience culture shock with my fellow CBYXers that were from the same country as me. We come from all over the country. The first hour I was in D.C. with my fellow CBYXers, one of them asked me where I was from. I said "I'm from Wisconsin" to which she responded "That explains it". I asked her what she meant and she said "Well, that explains your cute little accent". I hadn't really travelled to other places in the country before so I guess I never really thought about whether or not I had a Wisconsin accent. I always thought I didn't have one...but I guess I do. At first it was really getting on my nerves that everyone was bringing it up and asking me to repeat the words "bag" and "go". I was about to scream. But then I realized that I wasn't the only one with an accent in the group and, really, what is an accent anyway besides a slightly different way of saying a word. I realized that they were not bringing it up to hurt my feelings but merely to have some fun with me. Me and my fellow CBYXers go "oot and aboot in the city" together and have so much fun now. So now I play along with the joke and have even been compared to Bobby's mom from the show Bobby's World (see video below). Having an accent doesn't mean you are uneducated or any less sophisticated than anyone else. It just means you are more special and MUCH more interesting than those without accents. Dontcha Know!

Permanent Hosts

This just in! I just found out who I will be staying with and where that will be for the last 10 months of my year in Germany. I will be staying with Familie Dulz in Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt. That is the capitol of Sachsen-Anhalt. Score! I feel so bad, however, because they had sent a really wonderful email to me way back on July 25th and I only saw their email today. I had to set up a gmail in order to set up this blog. I don't usually check it since I really only set it up to blog. But I checked it today on a whim and saw their email. I feel so terrible that I didn't respond sooner. I am definitely going to check that email much more often. I also found some other emails in their too! My friend just finished her thesis for graduate school and she sent me an email about that and an acquaintance of mine in Germany sent me some tips on studying abroad. I promise to check my gmail more often and treat it like a real email. Feel free to write to it!

Insects

Radolfzell is arguable to the most beautiful little city I have ever been to...but the insects here are out of control. The city is really old and has huge flowering plants. Seriously, Radolfzell has some of the biggest rose bushes I have ever seen! They are huge! Because of this, the city has tons of insects. The yellow jackets are out of control and really persistent. They get in your face and will not leave you alone. I was eating a sandwich and one just landed on my sandwich and started to eat it. I blew on it multiple times very hard to get it off but it just hung on and acted like I wasn't even there. I eventually had to take my saran wrap and pick it off and squish it. I also got stung for the first time in my entire life here in Radolfzell by the lake. I was a little worried at first since I didn't know if I was allergic (since I had never been stung before) but I was glad to find that not only am I not allergic but also that bee stings aren't even that bad. I would prefer, however, not to be stung. One of the members of our group even resorted to buying a swatter and carrying it around with him. One would think that that is ridiculous but I am actually mad that I didn't think of that myself first. He has killed 23 yellow jackets so far.

And then there are the spiders! They are huge. I live on the 3rd floor of my house and they just sit outside of the windows. I used to be deathly afraid of spiders but am now simply disgusted by them. Twice now, I was just getting into bed when I spotted one in my room and had to get a chair and heavy folder of mine to end it's life. Ewwwwww! They don't disgust me so much that I am unwilling to open my windows but they are annoying nonetheless and wish they would just go away. Can't wait for winter!

Fresh Air

The Germans love fresh air! I don't think they would mind it if their windows were incapable of closing. They always have their windows open. The first few days I lived with my current host, I would accidentally leave my windows closed when I left my room only to return home to find them open. I actually really enjoyed it accept the one my host family would always open was the one all the spiders were by. I have since learned to open the other window so that they don't feel the need to open the spider ridden one. But yeah, even in the middle of the night, the window in my Toilette is open. I often sleep in my room with the window open. My lungs love the fresh air!

Radolfzell Host Family

And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for. This is the post about my living conditions for the first 2 months of my year in Germany. As I have said before, all the CBYX participants stay with one host family for the first 2 months of the program while they attend intensive language school. For me, this host family lives in Radolfzell. Okay, I have to tell you the best part of my living arrangements first. I live literally one block away from language school where I have to go every morning. One block! Most of the other participants have to take a train or bus to the city. I am so lucky. The Carl Duisberg Centren (CDC) here in Radolfzell is a well know part of the city (because the city is so small) and a lot of the host families have hosted students before. My family is no different. they basically host one student after another. They are an older couple and are really nice. They speak no english which is really good for my German language progression. I live in a 100 year old house on the 3rd floor. As I said before, the couple takes in one CDC student after another. The door to my room even has CDC inscribed on it to denote that this is where the CDC student stays. My set of keys also has CDC written on it. This is not to say that they don't value me since I am one of many students that they have hosted. They treat me very well but I am well aware that I am not the first or last student they will host. They have been hosting for at least 15 (if not 20) years. I have asked them why they decided to host so many students. They said they do it for the culture and experience. I think that that is very nice of them to accommodate so many students.

I have my own room at this hosts house. It is pretty big. I have a bed, two desks, a sofa and my own attached bathroom with sink and shower. My Toilette is just down the hall. Germans often have separate rooms for showers and toilets. Although the Toilette is not attached to my room, I am pretty sure that I am the only person who uses it. I also have a kitchen area! They turned the room into a sort of dorm for the person who stays in it. I have cupboards, a counter, a countertop burner, and a mini fridge! I also have my own set of silverware in my room. My host mother sets my breakfast outside of my door every morning at 7:30 so that when I wake up, I just open my door and eat it in my "dorm" room. She is also very generous with her breakfasts. I always get yogurt, lots of bread, Nutella, cheese, and deli meat. I am stuffed when I walk to school.

My sofa

My bed (don't hate on the wood paneling)

Desk #1 (although it might help my German, I have not watched one bit of TV since I got here. There is so much else to do!)

My kitchen area

View from my sofa window

View from my sofa window

Desk #2 (I usually eat breakfast here)

View from my Desk #2 window

Die Toilette

My attached shower

Disclaimer!!!!!! Although my room is nice here in Germany, it still doesn't hold a candle to the room that I call home back in the US. So there you have it, my home for the first 2 months in Germany.

Sparkassenakademie

View from our plane at about 7am Germany time

I know that because of my procrastination, my blog is not exactly chronologically ordered right now but I promise to become better at putting up the posts as they happen so as not to confuse you all. I wanted to post about where me and the other CBYXers stayed for our first night in Germany. We all flew into Frankfurt via Lufthansa. I was pretty impressed with Lufthansa. I had been told that they were known for losing people's luggage but I and other CBYXers had no problem with our luggage (although one participant had a big wet spot on his duffel bag when it was returned which we can only hope was water). The food was good (for an airplane) and the cabin was clean. The program knew that after a 7 hour flight, the participants were in no shape to take a bus to their host family and mingle with their hosts. Because of this, when we landed in Frankfurt, we all got on buses and went to the same location. We went to Eppstein and stayed at this place called the Sparkassenakademie. It was basically a seminar site that companies could use for training and what not. The place was complete with dorms. really nice dorms! So, we fly into Frankfurt around 8 in the morning on Monday Germany time (2am D.C. time which was what we were all used to after the D.C. orientation). We were asked to resist the urge to fall asleep so that we could sleep soundly that Monday night and wake up on Germany time Tuesday morning. It was not an easy task. Our first day in Germany consisted of checking in to our beautiful rooms and then doing any number of activities that GIZ had planned to keep us awake. All 75 participants had their own rooms complete with their own bathrooms with showers. What a nice welcome to Germany. This was only for one night however. It was our first day of German food, German people, and German buildings. It still didn't feel like we were in Germany yet, at this point. We were safe in the confines of those walls...we all still had each other and were among many Germans that could speak English. Although we had landed, we had not yet arrived in Germany. Our first night in Germany I went to bed at 8:45pm and woke up the next day at 9am. I would have overslept breakfast were it not for one of my hall mates slamming their door. Thank you whoever that was. I would have been MIA had you not done that.

The red dot is Eppstein

The outside of the Sparkassenakademie in Eppstein. You might notice that the blinds of the windows are on the OUTSIDE of the building. This is what I have noticed about all the houses I have seen in Germany so far. It makes sense. At certain times, the blinds could even act as protection for the windows.

So I woke up on Tuesday August 2nd after 12 wonderful hours of sleep had breakfast and sat through one more presentation about what to expect and then the afternoon came. The group of 75 was split into 4 groups of about 20 people and we all boarded our respective buses and headed off to our language schools. For me that was the Carl Duisberg Centren in Radolfzell...the language school that became coveted by all the other CBYX participants. It is a small town setting situated right on the Bodensee. It offers the perfect setting to ease into the German culture and is a great venue to practice German language.

One of the activities that GIZ had to help us stay awake was an outing to a Burg (castle fortress) not to be confused with Berg (mountains). the walk through the city was short but the city is very idyllic and the castle was really neat. The castle was situated on a hill and even had sheep grazing on the hill! How awesome is that?

Can you imagine seeing this outside your window every day?

Schafe! (Sheep)

Seenachtsfest, Kontstanz

So tonight me and all the other CBYXers went to this thing called Seenachtsfest in Konstanz which is about a 25 minute train ride from Radolfzell and right on the Swiss border. Ever since we landed in Radolfzell we have seen flyers for this festival...it's kind of a big deal. It's basically like every festival you have ever been to in America (except bigger and without all those animals). Lots of food. lots of rides, lots of people, lots of wine and stuff. It spans across the Swiss border so you can either enter on the Swiss side or the German side. It costs around 16 Euros to enter on the German side but it is free on the Swiss side. You can't go to the German part of the festival if you don't pay, however. So me and my friends just went to the swiss part...no need to spend more money than we need to. Plus, with the money we saved we all got Bailey's iced coffee drinks at this cute little café back in Kontsanz. Anyway, the night ended with these spectacular fireworks from both the German and Swiss sides. It was really cool how they coordinated it. It was like a fight in West Side Story. First the Swiss gave an awesome show, then the Germans gave an awesome show. Then the Swiss fired back with more fireworks (there were even smiley face fireworks). Then the Germans fired back with another show. Finally, both sides went off at the same time. It was a sight to see. Me and my friends were just standing in the street with all the other people but, coincidentally, it was a great place to see the fireworks. Some German guy kept talking to me during the fireworks. He was nice and was just telling me how the Swiss and Germans made a battle out of their fireworks. He wasn't creepy or anything...he was just being friendly. When the fireworks were over, however, he came up to me and offered me a joint. I politely told him that I didn't smoke anything. He said it was no problem and went on his merry little way. Now I feel sad that he had to smoke his joint all alone. What can I say, I am a heartbreaker.

Washington, D.C. Orientation

My luggage July 28th, the morning I left West Bend

My luggage in my affordable hotel

Okay, So I realized that in all the excitement, I forgot to inform you all about the orientation seminar in Washington, D.C. It started on Friday the 29th of July. I flew in a day early on the morning of the 28th because I scheduled a meeting with my Congressman that day. CBYX likes the participants to meet with their congressional representative and just say hello. CBYX is congressionally funded and it helps to put a face with the program.That turned out to be a bust because he was held up with voting on something. Luckily I had gotten a killer deal on my hotel for that extra night I was in D.C. CBYX provided lodging at Georgetown University for the seminar but if you flew in early, you had to provide your own lodging. I found a hotel that had rooms for $100 per night in D.C. It was in D.C. (not a nearby state like Virginia or Massachusetts), in a safe area, and cheap! I had won the lottery! It was called the Windsor Park Hotel and it is a great deal for the money. It is within walking distance of Dupont Circle. If you are ever making a budget trip to D.C. I recommend this hotel. My friend had warned me before I left for D.C. that the heat and humidity was almost unbearable and, boy, she wasn't kidding. It was so hot and muggy in D.C. and I guess it is always like that in the summer.


So I arrive needlessly early in D.C. on Thursday and sleep in my cheap hotel for one night. It wasn't all that bad. I got a sub from Potbelly and some chocolate covered Flips and had a little picnic in my hotel room while watching Millionaire Matchmaker. All that coupled with the AC cranked up was a recipe for heaven. On Friday, I grabbed all my luggage, checked out of my hotel, and had the receptionist call a cab. The cab arrives and takes me to Georgetown where this whole Germany thing finally gets to start!!!!!!!! I arrive a bit early with all my luggage. I will admit I brought one bag too many but all the floss I brought took up a lot of room in my luggage. Future dentist here and I am very particular about the floss I use and was not about to give up my favorite brand for a whole year. Plus the floss will get used leaving space for gifts in my luggage for the return trip to the USA. So I arrive and see some people that I had recognized from the CBYX Facebook group. I am drenched in sweat and feeling like a total diva with all my luggage. This was not how I had wanted to meet my fellow CBYXers. I guess nothing in life happens how you want it to, though. I made the best of it. I dropped my luggage off in the luggage room and walked to an air conditioned room with my fellow very early CBYXers. We got to talking and getting to know eachother.

The course of the D.C. seminar ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. It was filled with presentations on what to expect when we got to Germany and how to act as an ambassador of the US. It was also a good time to get to know each other. I was really surprised to see how different we all were. All different career fields and college majors. And, most of all, all different personalities.

The seminar was filled with lots of useful information and even some laughs aided by the fact that CBYX's partner company in Germany is the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit which is abbreviated GIZ (insert joke here). The 75 of us CBYXers stayed in the Georgetown dorms in Copley Hall for Friday and Saturday night. For such a prestigious university, I was expecting dorms that were, I don't know, better? I'm guessing they were probably freshman dorms. They were two people to a rooms and the shower/bathroom was shared with another room via connected doorway. the University itself is gorgeous and it's reputation speaks for itself but the dorms were a bit of a surprise. I was on the second floor of Copley hall with 70% of the other participants. the 2nd floor lounge was where it was at. We hung out in there and chatted and shared hopes, fears, and expectations for the coming year. It was also where a lot of us texted our friends for the last time on our phones seeing as almost everyone's phones were going to get deactivated in about 48 hours. Sooooo sad! I have had my phone number since I was like 15 and Verizon refused to suspend my contract for a year even though I was moving out of the country for a year so I lose the number. Let's see if I return to them for cell service when I come back. Jerks. 

Copley hall

Anyway, not much else to say about the seminar other than on Sunday we packed our stuff up and headed to the Dulles Airport to head over to Germany. The flight lasted about 7 hours. I didn't sleep a wink. I, instead, made conversation with the person sitting next to me (a fellow CBYXer) and then proceeded to watch a Harry Potter movie on my laptop which ate up a big chunk of time. I was so lucky. I got an isle seat in the way back of the plane right by the bathrooms. I only sat next to one person while everyone else in the plane had to sit next to 4 other people or 2 other people. It made for an easy flight. We landed in Frankfurt at about 8am...and then it hit me. Everything is in German!


Before I close this post I would like to mention that on every flight I have ever taken I can't help but look at the wing of the plane and think of that famous Twilight Zone episode called Nightmare at 20,000 Feet where a gremlin proceeds to try and break one of the engines of a plane. Only one man on the plane can see it and everyone thinks he is crazy. If you don't know what I am talking about, check out the video below and check out the entire episode sometime. At the very least you get to see William Shatner before those ridiculous Priceline commercials. I don't get scared on planes at all and even quite enjoy plane rides but I just think about that little gremlin while flying. He's so misunderstood.

Dining Out

It needs to be said that going out to a restaurant with your friends in Germany (and most of Europe) is much easier than in the United States. The service in the US is better because the servers work for a tip. In Germany, the servers do not work for a tip but it IS customary to round up to the nearest Euro for their tip. Because of this, they really don't treat you as nicely as they should. Even if you don't leave them that small "tip" they make a regular wage comparable to other customer service employees so they really don't care. If they are in a hurry and you are in their way while walking to the bathroom, they will let you know. You may be asking yourself why I said dining out in Germany is easier. Although the service sucks, paying is SOOOOO much easier. Unlike in the US where the waiter or waitress rushes to give you your bill and doesn't even ask if you want it split (and acts like it is an inconvenience if you do), the servers in Germany bring the bill to the table and get each individual person at the table to pay. They have a little leather zip bag with all size bills and coins in it to make change for you. It is unusual to pay with a debit/credit card in Germany but using cash is much easier here. They have built their consumer world upon using cash unlike the US where people use plastic wayyyyy too often.

Reichenau Weinfest

Okay, so I had to post this before I forgot all about it. The Carl Duisberg Centren (my language school) organizes some outings for the students at their school. Our first Friday in the town of Radolfzell, a nearby island called Reichenau was having their annual Weinfest (wine festival). It's basically a wine festival with lots of food and lots of wine. I am not much of a drinker but decided that I would go since everyone else in the CBYX program was going. I figured I would have some wine as well. As I said before, Reichenau is a nearby island in the Bodensee and we needed to get their by ferry. When the water is low in the Bodensee, the island is actually a peninsula but when the water is at normal levels, Reichenau can only be reached by boat. We took a train from Radolfzell to a nearby town called Allensbach. From Allensbach, we took a ferry to the island Reichenau. It cost 5 Euro round trip and took about 10 minutes to get to Reichenau from land. Once we got there, all the CBYXers split up into their little groups. I was with a group of 5 or six people. We got some wine and popped a squat on the grass and just drank some wine and chatted for a while. It was really nice. I got a little hungry and went looking for food. I came across a stand that was selling a half chicken for 4,50 Euro. Which was sehr preiswert (inexpensive). Side note. Germans flipped the use of commas and periods so 4,50 Euro means 4 Euros and 50 Euro cents. It's best not to calculate the exchange rate when traveling to a country in the European Union since the dollar is better used as kindling for a fire compared to the Euro at present. So you have to think of it as 4 dollars and 50 cents for my half chicken. It was so good!

So, just as I am finishing eating, it starts to drizzle a little...and then that drizzle turns into a torrential downpour. Luckily I had brought an umbrella since it had been raining on and off in Radolfzell non-stop that week. Some of the other people I went with, however, were not nearly as well prepared so I always end up sharing my umbrella and keeping only half of my body dry. Anyway, my three friends and I were not going to let a little rain stop us. We stayed and went into a covered area where some men in Lederhosen were singing some well known German tunes. I can't, for the life of me, remember what they were but all the Germans knew the songs. Eventually me and my friends end up at this long table that was only partially covered by a Regenshirm (umbrella). We sit and collect our thoughts when this nice German couple start talking to us. By this time me and my friends had had one or two glasses of wine and our tongues were a little looser and our courage was a little greater than usual. We were talking to them in German and they were kind enough to tell us that we were doing a good job at it. At one point one of the couple's friends pulls some jerky out of his bag (yes, pulled bare food out of his bag) and tells us to try it. We were hesitant at first but went ahead and each bit off a piece. Now, I know food and I certainly have never met a piece of jerky I haven't liked but this was the best jerky I have ever eaten. They said it was made with beef, pork, and was 60% fat. He warned us not to have jerky like that too often since it was so fatty and unhealthy. Nonetheless, it was delicious.

Liz, Adam, and I at the Reichenau Weinfest.

Right before we head back to the dock my friend Adam and I decide to split a serving of fried mushrooms. Mushrooms + fried = delicious. At this point we have had enough wine and unhealthy food to last the rest of the year so we head back to the dock to catch the last ferry home for the night. We are waiting in line and I start to feel through all my pockets to make sure I have everything. At this point, I feel like someone had hit me over my head with a steel baseball bat. I had left my wallet somewhere in the wine festival! These are the thoughts racing through my mind. OMG you freakin' idiot! I just lost my wallet in a foreign country with my money, debit cards, train pass, bus pass, American driver's license, and last but not least the ticket I needed to get on the last ship home. How do you say "deep sh*t" in German? I started to panic. My wine festival buddy and fellow CBYXer, Adam, thought that maybe I left my wallet at the last food stand we were at which was the fried mushroom stand. Nothing that good ever comes without a price. I bolt back to the stand through hoards of people faster than I have ever bolted before. I make it back to the stand and see a very nice girl and realize that I had forgotten the word for wallet in German. I now realize that it is "Brieftasche" but at the moment I needed to improvise and said, while folding and unfolding my hands in the way a wallet would open and close, "Haben Sie eine Wallet gefunden?" Which means "Did you find a wallet?" She had realized what I meant and said that she had seen it. She had given it to her boss (or some kind of superior) for safe keeping and didn't know where her boss was at the moment. Me and this girl then proceeded to run in and out of crowds of people for about 10 minutes looking for this woman. When we finally find the woman she gives me my wallet and I start to yell "Vielen Dank! Vielen Dank!" and hug the girl who found my wallet in the first place (which might have made her uncomfortable). I head back  to the dock for the ship and, as I walk, I look through my wallet and NOT one thing was missing from it. I now realize that I would really have liked to give that girl who helped me 10 Euros or something as a gift of gratitude but in my adrenaline rush I forgot to make an offering of such. I hope she knows she has some good karma coming her way. The lesson of the night was always bring an umbrella with you and never accept candy from strangers...but if a stranger is offering you some beef jerky go ahead and eat it...nothing bad will happen.

Preparations

Preparing to live in another country for a year is a daunting and anxiety-inducing task. Some people shrug their shoulders and go with the flow. I am not that way. I am literally losing sleep over packing. I am trying to fit my life into 3 bags. Some people can manage with one or two. I need three. The thought of buying clothes while in Germany makes me sick. The exchange rate is NOT in my favor and clothes are very expensive in Germany. I would like to buy just a few items while abroad, not a new wardrobe! I am thus trying to fit as many clothes into my suitcases as possible along with everything else I am trying to bring. Think of all the things you use on a daily basis...now try to imagine fitting all those things into 3 suitcases. My travel power strip with international plugs took up almost half of one of my suitcases all by itself. I swear that my belongings have doubled in size and weight now that I am trying to fit them into a confined space. One also needs to do a little research. Like what kind of plugs do they have in Germany so that you know what converters to buy. Seriously though, if we all already speak different languages, can't we at least all use the same outlets? It would make things a lot easier for me.

I also have been reading articles on Germany and have booked my flight and hotel in DC. For a one way flight to DC and one night at a hotel I only ended up shelling out $200. This is pretty cheap considering hotels in DC are pretty expensive. You can find hotels outside of DC for cheap but then you have to get a cab or bus into the city. Not my cup of tea. After using an online coupon code, I ended up getting my hotel for $100 for the night and it is in the heart of DC.

One thing I have done to make the trip back to the United States in 2012 easier is I bought a mini wardrobe from the thrift store. That way, when I return home, I can leave those clothes back in Germany (because they are so inexpensive) and have more room for the things I will be taking back to the United States.

Travelers tip. I bought almost everything I needed for Germany on eBay. Soooooo much cheaper than going to a department store. I bought my outlet converters, travel books, and everything else I needed at much lower prices on eBay. Check it out!

Sacrifices

As amazing of an opportunity that the CBYX program is, it is not without it's sacrifices. The program is a scholarship program, yes, but it does not cover every single nickel and dime associated with traveling abroad (nor should it). The program generously covers basically every expense associated with the program with the exception of personal expenses associated with leisure activities and personal items such as souvenirs. daily transportation, clothes, mail to family, and the like. In order to afford to go, I had to sell my car (which I loved). I was never the person to dream of having a BMW or Mercedes. I always just wanted a Prius. Being a Biology major and an environmentalist, the Prius called to me with it's insanely high MPG like a sea siren to a ship bound sailor (over dramatic?). Well a year ago, I finally got one after working multiple jobs and saving like a fiend for several years. It was a 2005 Toyota Prius and anyone who knows me knew that I desperately wanted one. I finally was able to buy one outright only to end up selling it a year later to go on this trip. Don't get me wrong, a car is just a material possession and is nowhere near as important as the experience I am about to have. My car was a casualty I was glad to have made in the process to travel abroad to Germany. Memories and experiences like the ones I am about to have are what enrich your life...not things like cars and technology toys.

Side note. I should seriously consider becoming a used car salesman. I sold my 2005 Prius for $2,100 MORE than what I paid for it when I bought it over a year ago and I put no money into it besides oil changes and new brake pads.. This does not mean that I took anyone for a ride (pun intended), however. That car was in perfect condition and was worth every penny. I sold it for less than what Kelly Blue Book quoted it at. The reason I was able to make a profit was not necessarily in how I sold the car. It had more to do with how I bought the car. I had test driven the car in 2010 after it had been on the dealer's lot for several months. They wanted to make a sale I was not going give in to them unless they agreed to the price I was willing to pay for it. I was a hard ass and ended up leaving with the deal of the century (seriously though).

Me saying goodbye to my lovely car for the last time.

There are also other sacrifices associated with a year abroad. I am going to miss out on a year of my family and friends' life. A year of birthdays, Christmas, New Year's, and other special occasions. My brother also just had a baby girl which makes me a brand new uncle and godfather. I am going to miss out on the first year of her life. When I come back she is no longer going to be a baby. She will be a toddler. My brother eased the worry a bit when he told me not to feel bad because I was making myself into someone his daughter would be proud to call her uncle. That was very touching and hopefully true in the coming years.

Details About The CBYX Program

"So what exactly will you be doing over there?" This would be the second most asked question after I tell people I will be going to Germany for a year. The first question, of course, being, "Do you speak German?" The 4 months between when you are accepted into the program and when you leave consists of reading selected articles from Cultural Vistas, brushing up on your German language, uprooting your life (which is actually very liberating), and any number of other things. The program starts with an orientation seminar that starts in Washington DC and concludes in Frankfurt, Germany. This seminar lasts only a couple of days and prepares the participants for everything from culture shock to perception about Americans and so on. The 75 participants are then taken to one of four language schools where they will take 2 months of intensive language courses to prepare them for the German language and culture. This is why German language proficiency is not required to be accepted into the program. This is also where the participant will live for the first 2 months with a host family. I was selected to live the first 2 months of my year in Germany in a city called Radolfzell (also called Radolfzell am Bodensee) to attend the Carl Duisberg Centrum Sprachschule. It is a little idyllic German city situated in southwest Germany right on the Swiss border. It is nestled on the largest lake in Germany called the Bodensee but for some strange reason it is called Lake Constance in English. I found it just a little ironic that I live a stone's throw away from Lake Michigan and now I will be living on the largest lake in Germany.

Radolfzell am Bodensee

I have no doubt that I will have a blast in Radolfzell. After the 2 months of intensive language study, participants move to their permanent host stays for the remainder of the year (10 months) where they will experience a semester at a German university and then complete a 5 month internship in their career field. The semester of school starts in October and concludes in January. The internship starts in February and concludes in July. At this point in time, CBYX is unable to notify participants of the exact city they will be living in during the last 10 months of the program. As of right now, CBYX can only tell us what Bundesland we will be living in. I found out that I will be living in Sachsen-Anhalt.

Their is also a mid-year seminar in January when all the participants and program advisors can meet up and share experiences. The last two weeks of the year are kept clear so as to allow participants time to travel and explore Europe before they depart in mid July for the end of year seminar in New York city. And then I return to home sweet home!

Personal Experiences With the Program

Although I haven't even left for Germany yet, CBYX has already given me some experiences to look back on. My history with this program is long and, dare I say, inspirational to look back on. I was first introduced to the program in 2005-2006 during my senior year of high school by my German teacher Laurie Wanta. I had expressed a desire to study abroad in Germany but had nowhere near the financial means to do so. It is a difficult thing to have a desire to do something but not have the financial means to do so. That is what is so great about this program. CBYX is a scholarship program and allows self proclaimed "poor students" like myself to experience another culture that is more easily experienced by my wealthier student peers. I am a first generation student working my way through college and I would simply not have the means to study abroad were it not for a program like CBYX. It is just that simple. But I digress. As I was saying, my first experience with CBYX was when I applied for the high school level program during my senior year in high school. My german teacher Laurie Wanta suggested I check out the website for the program. I knew that, had I been accepted, it would have meant taking a 5th year of high school in Germany. I was not sure what I wanted to do after high school and thought that CBYX would be a good experience and would allow me more time to figure out what I wanted to do upon my return to the states. I am the first to admit that that is a bad reason to want to study abroad. Studying abroad through a government funded program is not a time to figure things out necessarily. A program like this benefits students who have clear career goals. This is probably why I was chosen to have an interview but ultimately was not chosen for the program.

So I moved on and went to college and studied Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Washington County in good old West Bend. It was not until 2009, however, that I had remembered from my first experience with CBYX that there was a college level program. I immediately did an internet search for "CBYX college" and stumble upon Cultural Vistas' website. From there, I filled out and submitted my second application since the high school application. By January the following year, I was notified by email that I was not even selected for an interview. I have always believed that everything happens for a reason and knew that if I was not selected this time it must mean that I still was not ready to embark on this incredible journey to Germany.

Not entirely discouraged by my rejections, I started and submitted my 3rd application to the CBYX program in December 2010 while I attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. To my delight, I got an email in January 2011 notifying me that I had been selected for an interview. At this point I was hopeful but did not get my hopes up for fear that this application would meet the same fate as its 2 predecessors. I completed my interview in Chicago in February and felt pretty good afterwards. Still not letting my hopes get too high, I continued to check my email every 20 minutes in March waiting for my notification email. Well, if you read my previous post titled "Application Process" you know that I eventually found out that i was accepted for the 2011-2012 CBYX program. Who knew that a process I started almost 6 years ago in high school that met many bumps in the road would eventually end in me embarking on one of the greatest life experiences I may ever have? It goes to show you that opportunities do not come to certain people, certain people MAKE opportunities like this happen. Giving up never led to anything good.

A special thanks needs to go out to everyone who helped me with this application. All my German teachers Laurie Wanta, Herr Pintens, Frau Smith, and Zlatko Sadikovic. You helped me learn the language and appreciate the German culture. And also those who wrote the best recommendation letters a person could ask for Colleen Vachuska and Karen Rice. And an honorable mention to my UWM Chemistry teacher, Anja Blecking, who is from Germany. You made me want to go to Germany even more simply because of the fact that you were from Germany. Thank you all. I owe so much to you.

Application Process

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? (do you speak German?) Surprisingly, this is one of the least important questions asked in the interview and on the application. You are not required to know a lick of German to be accepted into the CBYX program. It is preferred, but an exceptional candidate would not be turned down because of their lack of German skills.

First and foremost, make sure this is the program for you. This should be taken into consideration with any study abroad program. All study abroad programs are not right for everyone. Some focus on volunteering, some focus on schooling, and some focus on internships. Find the one that is right for you. CBYX is a year-long program focusing on an internship and schooling. If you decide the CBYX program is right for you, you must first apply for an application. This can be done online sometime around late summer the year before you want to participate in the program. For instance, if you want to participate in the program during the 2011-2012 year, you must start your application in summer 2010. Once you are approved for the application, start your application immediately because it is due at the office of CDS International by December 1st of that same year. You will need one letter of recommendation from a professor and one from an employer. The term "employer" is flexible. I used a woman who supervised me as I volunteered for a Rotary fundraising event called Seafood Fest. She was an excellent candidate to comment on my character even though I was never paid for my services. You will also need to fill out the application including very short essays (50 words each). The application can either be filled out on paper or online (preferred method). Make sure you have some work or intern experience in your target career field. Without this work experience in your career field, it would be very difficult to be accepted into the program. Above all, make sure you have a legitimate reason for wanting to travel abroad. "Just because" is not a valid reason to travel abroad.

Once you submit your application by December 1st you wait...and wait...and wait...and wait. The CBYX program usually has over 500 applications and it takes time to sort through them all. Of the over 500 applicants, approximately 155 will be chosen for personal interviews. An email will be sent out in late January indicating to you whether or not you were chosen for an interview. To be chosen for an interview is an honor in itself. Interviews are held in major cities across the US during the months of February and March and are chosen to accommodate applicants from multiple states at a time. In my case, my interview was in Chicago, IL and there were people from Wisconsin and Illinois there. I was very lucky that my interview was in Chicago as I was able to take the Amtrak Hiawatha train there, which costs about 44 dollars round trip and took only 90 minutes. Much less stress than driving and worrying about a crazed taxi driver rear-ending you or someone breaking into your car.

Side note of my personal experience with my interview. If you are unfamiliar with the area of your interview, scope it out ahead of time if you can. That way you know where you are going on the day of the interview. That leaves you able to worry about more important issues like whether or not your tie is straight. I had never been to Chicago before and did not want my first time visiting to be when I was trying to get to an interview on time. No way no how. So me and my friend Kaitlin made a day trip out of it. Two weeks before my interview date, we took the train down to Chicago and walked to my interview location. That way I knew exactly where it was. The rest of the day we explored Chicago and visited the Shedd Aquarium. We also visited the Millennium Park Bean. The day of my interview I arrived early, well prepared, relaxed, and with a straight, smooth tie. Being prepared is half the battle!

Me in front of the Bean at Millennium Park.
The little red coat reflected in the Bean
is my friend Kaitlin taking this picture.

The interview consists of a group interview, a personal interview, and a German language test (no bearing on acceptance). The language test is used to gauge what level German course you will be placed into at the language school for the first two months of the program if you are accepted. Once the interviews are over, you wait some more. Everyone who interviewed is contacted by email with their status of acceptance or nonacceptance. The emails are sent out in mid March. Of the over 500 applicants, 155 are chosen for interviews, and ultimately only 75 people from across the US are chosen for the program. I had to wait about a month for my results. It was agonizing. I was checking my email at least every 20 minutes...which is crazy! I still remember the day I found out I was accepted. It was Friday, March 11th and I was just leaving my Chemistry discussion class. I had just gotten an email from CDS a couple hours before saying that the post-interview emails would be sent out around March 16th (because they knew people were getting antsy). Which was why I was so surprised that that Friday afternoon when I opened my email I found my email saying that I was accepted. I'm getting goosebumps just reminiscing about it. I think the other students around me thought I had a condition. I just kept saying "I'm going to Germany for a year! I can't believe it!" And I was saying this to myself!

Once you find out you are selected, start preparing because you have 4 short months to prepare your life to be uprooted and transported half across the world. Participants leave at the end of July!

Again, the link for the high school level CBYX program is www.usagermanyscholarship.org and the link for the college level CBYX program is www.culturalvistas.org. At these sites you will find eligibility requirements, FAQs, and program highlights. Anyone who is interested (24 or younger) should check them out.