City, Host Family & More!
Many who have kept up with my blog (so far) have probably been wondering where I have been. Throughout the past month or so I have been finishing up high school, working, traveling, and more. With that being said, I think it's time for a proper update!
During the time I have been MIA, my Rotary life has not stopped or even slowed down whatsoever! In fact, it has been getting more hectic (as you can imagine), especially with the travel agency and paperwork for the German Rotary. Even with all this chaos that comes with being a foreign exchange student, there have been many upsides to this part of my exchange.
The first big news I discovered was the Rotary district that I would be spending my exchange in next year. Funny enough, I had stumbled upon this at about three in the morning when I had randomly woken up and decided to check the German Rotary Database (where any forms they need are being kept). I was browsing through one of the documents and noticed that more information was filled into some of the previously empty spaces. Low and behold, it was more about my location. Although it wasn't much, I discovered I would be in district 1880 in Eastern Germany! Of course I was extremely thrilled by this discovery and continued doing some major research/ borderline stalking about the area. I also selfishly woke up my parents to tell them the exciting news. They sounded happy for me regardless of being half asleep.
Later on during that same day I was attending my Rotary club meeting (held every Monday). During this hour I always make sure to put my phone on silent and not check it in order to give my full attention to the Rotarians/ guest speakers. However, after the meeting was officially over and everyone was socializing before leaving, I looked at my phone to check the time. On the lock screen it showed many notifications from an application called "WhatsApp" within the past ten or so minutes. I read some of the messages and I was quickly filled with complete shock. The messages were from (potentially) my only host family! More specifically my host sister Johanna! The messages introduced herself and the rest of my future host family, host mother Katrin, host father Andreas, and younger host sister Clara, along with some pictures, some of which I will post below.
Throughout the rest of the school day I was so excited to be messaging with my host sister! When I got home I was able to VideoChat with her for a little bit and meet the whole family
(luckily Johanna speaks almost perfect english). Johanna told me that she is also a Rotary exchange student and will be going to Columbia during my stay in Germany, so unfortunately we won't get much time together, but hopefully I would arrive and get to meet her before she leaves. I also got to learn a little bit more about their family. Katrin, my host mother, is a Dentist, Andreas, my host father, is a Real-Estate Agent, and Clara, my younger host sister, is 10 years old and loves horses! They seem like a very kind, caring, and fun family. I am beyond ecstatic to meet them next year!
Along this exciting information, Johanna also told me about the city I will be staying in, my future school, my future house, the area, and other general facts! Freiberg (not to be confused with Freiburg, which is on the opposite side of the country), is a very eastern city in the state of Saxony, Germany. It is about two and a half hours south of Berlin and two hours northwest of Prague in the Czech Republic. The next biggest city from Freiberg is the well-known capital city of the state Saxony, Dresden. Instead of further explaining the city, here is a video I found on Youtube of Freiberg!
I will be attending the local high school, as well as a school specifically for learning German (as Johanna told me). This will be very helpful considering my currently limited German speaking skills. I will be either riding my bike to school everyday, or someone will take me in the car. School starts on the 13th of August, so I was told that I must arrive anywhere from 1-2 weeks beforehand in order to adjust. I will be staying in Johannas room while abroad, which is currently light pink but is getting a makeover. Along with a lot of other spaces in the house! How exciting!
Since all of this major news however, I have video chatted with Johanna a few more times. She has introduced me to some of her friends, as well as other students that will be in the same class as me. I am now included in the classes group chat but don't understand anything anyone is saying because it is all in German. She has also sent me multiple snapchat video tours of her neighborhood, house, and school (which all look super cute). On top of that, I've been getting into contact with Rotarians in my future club mainly discussing paperwork, visas, and other important articles that come with traveling abroad for a year. Most recently, I have been working on forms for my travel agency here in America. This is so I can get my flight date/booked soon, and all the important documents that I will need to carry with me on the plane collected and together.
It is almost July, which means that I really only have about one more month left in the states. It honestly feels like the final sprint before reaching the finish line. This upcoming week I will put in my two weeks notice for a summer job that I had to get in order to pay for half of the expenses of my trip (that were not covered from the scholarship). Next, before I can even blink I will be attending the biggest Rotary Youth Exchange conference so far in Grand Rapids, Michigan, from the 13th-15th of July. Then on July 21st my family will be flying in to celebrate my official send-off (as well as my best friend, Savanah, I am hoping). Finally I leave a week or so after that. I still feel like I have so much to do (and I do), but not nearly enough time! I don't know how I am just realizing this now but... THIS. IS. CRAZY. I am so excited!
