My Very First Blog!

    Hello readers! Thanks for checking out my blog, and I hope you like it! This is my first blog (ever), so I'll spend most of this one explaining what this blog will be about, and what I'm doing this year.

    The title of this blog is "Ein Jahr in Deutschland," which is simply "A Year in Germany" written in German. However, if you want to share this blog with anybody (please, please, please share it!), make sure you remember that the web address is www.jahrindeutschland.blogspot.com, and that the "Ein" in the name is taken out. I chose this title because (you guessed it...) I'm spending the next year (a little over 10 months, to be exact) in Germany! I'm able to do this because of a program called CBYX, which stands for "Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange." It is a scholarship program that awards 250 American students a full scholarship to study abroad for one year in Germany (and vise-versa, for 250 German students). I heard about this fantastic opportunity back in June, 2015, but the application process didn't start until October. After turning in my carefully reviewed application, I waited to see if I had made it into the semi-finalist group. At the end of February, I was told that I had moved on, and was given a date for an interview. After having the interview, I waited until March , when I was finally told I had own the scholarship! The months since then have been full of preperations for the year abroad, such as taking the ACT and the SAT, getting my passport, filling out more applications, receiveing a host family, learning as much German as I possibly can, and preparing to pack.

    I'll begin my journey on July 31, when my family leaves for Washington DC, stopping in Tennessee to stay with friends for a few days. I'll spend about 3 days in DC with my family, exploring the capital city, going to museums, and having lots of fun. On August 6 I'll be dropped off at the airport to meet up with the other 49 scholarship finalists from my region. Then I'll spend three days in DC attending orientaions, meeting important people, and exploring the capital (again) with the group. Finally, on August 9, I'll leave for Germany. I'll board a plane that will take me from DC to Frankfurt, about an 11 hour flight, and once I've landed, I'll get on a train to go to language camp, in a small town called Hedersleben. I'll stay in Hedersleben with the rest of the group for about a month, during which I'll have German lessons every day, and a few excursions to much larger German cities. At the end of language camp, I'll leave Hedersleben to go stay with my host family for the rest of the year. That's about all I can tell you right now, but if you want to see all the other cool things I get to do and lots of pictures, continue to read this blog for the rest of the year!

    So now that you know what I am doing, let me explain what this blog will be about. I'll be using this blog to share my experiences throughout the year, so family, friends, and anybody else can keep up with what I'm doing, and get a taste of what a German life is like. So please, if you want to keep up with me, if you want to learn about German culture, if you are interested in the German language, or if you just want to read a blog; follow this blog! I also have a YouTube channel that I'll be posting VLOGs, Q&A videos, language tutorials, and more. It's called "A Year In Germany", and you should definetly subscribe! If you would like to help support me on my journey, please check out my GoFundMe, where you can help fund the costs that the scholarship doesn't cover. 

Thanks for coming in to check out my blog, and please come back!

Tschüss!


    

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Life in Hedersleben

8 Hours Away From A Dream

A Visit from Home!