Washington D.C.

Hey y’all! Like I said in the last post, I haven’t been able to post much or do much here at Schloss Wittgenstein because not only was the internet down, but we’ve been doing so much stuff constantly. However, it’s been great. I’m writing this over a couple of days, pretty much whenever we get some time in the evening.

However, I really wanted to address the two amazing days in DC. 

It was a blast! Exhausting, but worth it.

I drove to DC with my parents after a marathon thank you note writing session. 

I was really surprised by how well we all handled it. There wasn’t any crying and I felt extremely calm. I still do. I think it helped that we both knew I was leaving anyway; either to Germany or to college. I’m also happy and grateful that the last week I spent in the States was one of the best ones that I had with my parents in quite a long time. I’m looking forward to coming back; but not enough to turn away such an amazing experience.

Enough reflection! You want to here the interesting things, like what I am doing with my life. The first day we didn’t do much outside schmoozing for four hours and some sessions. Friday, however, we got up bright and early with the sun to go downtown.

First stop was the White House. I don’t have any pictures because it was a bit of a let down, and I don’t remember if we were allowed to take them anyways. It was really cool to go through security because it was the first time I ‘used’ my passport. The house was just that, a house. The coolest part for me was seeing all of the paintings and portraits of the past presidents. I am a huge fan of Mrs. Bush’s painting. Both the Bush paintings were well done, but hers just looked classy. I think she outclassed Jackie Kennedy actually, but I had a hard time seeing her portrait since it was far away. Another cool part was that a White House aide or someone came out with little gifts for us, a ‘signed’ photograph from/of Obama and a letter. Plus she took our picture. That definitely doesn’t happen to every tour group.

Next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. Pretty pretty pictures, but not a whole lot else for a jaded Virginian like me.

Jefferson Memorial from the MLK Memorial

Then we headed to lunch at the Pentagon City Mall; just a really big mall to me. Then the Holocaust Museum. It was moving, but for some reason the Richmond Museum affected me a bit more. Maybe it was because we were on a time crunch and really rushing through everything. I don’t know, but don’t get me wrong, it was still rough.

Next came the Department of State. The room we were in. O my goodness. It was a huge diplomatic room with official microphones and all. I was so awed. The speakers were interesting but I was so tired I had to fight to stay awake. It did make me consider writing off the diplomatic core. We’ll see where my life takes me. It is so hard to make predictions, especially with Germany and all the experiences that I will have.

The plane ride was wonderful and it felt so short! The following 24 hours weren’t so short. I think the final total was 36 straight hours awake? It was a lot.

Schloss Wittgenstein

Now an actual picture by me (I don't think the other one was even Schloss Wittgenstein)

I should be on the plane to Germany right now (This post being a queued one). But I'm headed not for Minden, but for Bad Laasphe, specifically that castle right there. Schloss Wittgenstein.

It's a boarding school closed for the summer that the 50 CIEE kids will be staying at for three weeks to learn German and aclimate to Germany. We leave on the 18th of August I believe.

However, while I'm there internet will be somewhat limited and I'm going to be exhausted at the end of each day, I can just tell.

die Reise

Statue of Liberty, view from Battery Park

I went briefly to New York yesterday, to do one last college visit before I left. It didn't turn out well, don't ask. Less work for me, though! But I did have a wonderful time wandering around the city waiting for my flight. Turns out I have an impeccable sense of direction. Or it could be that all NYC subway stations are conveniently located and numerous. But I navigated the city almost entirely on my on, which gave me hope for Germany. Especially since Minden, with 83,000 inhabitants, is only slightly smaller than the 8 million or so who live in New York.

So while the experience gave me a little bit more confidence in myself, my confidence in airlines and large transportation networks plummeted. Excluding the wonderful, if bi-polar Subway system, I would rather like not to do it again.

Everything started off smoothly. Got to the airport in time, only sat around for a few minutes and security was swift and efficient. Mind you, it was 5:30 in the morning. But it was fine. I got to Morningside Heights with about 20 minutes to spare and all was good. Until, as I'm stepping into the subway to get to JFK, I learn my flight is cancelled. Flat out gone. Next flight is tomorrow evening. Thanks Delta.

At the advice of my parents, I still headed for JFK to talk with the airline reps, which means an hour underground and out of cell service. I pop out in Brooklyn (and cell reception) to a buzzing phone on the verge of combustion. There are no flights, get to Penn station as fast as possible. Wouldn't you know?

Train leaves at 7:00. It's 5:45, plus the hour-ish ride to the station. It's going to be tight. But the lack of control was kind of nice, on the train ride back. Not a thing I could do to make the subway car go even a tiny bit faster. So I read and slept; rather relaxing. Then I sprinted up and down about five staircases into Penn station, bought the ticket at 6:51 and got in line to board the train.

I got a ton of travel experience on my own and everything worked out in the end, but Delta, don't EVER do that again.

One World Trade Center, under construction

In the mean time, I got to see a side of New York I had never seen before, plus some new sights. The New WTC is absolutely gorgeous. I also decided that I'm not really a big city living kind of guy, I can do sleepy downtown Richmond, but NYC was a bit busy for me. Overall a very successful and pleasant trip.

die Verpackung

I finally have all the pieces of my luggage ready to go. Minus the contents, that is. I packed both the carry-on and the checked bag one yesterday, as a trial run. I was surprised by how easy it was to find 70 pounds of stuff to bring. Luckily there wasn't a whole lot I couldn't fit on my first try, which makes me think I'll be able to fit it all in when the final packing day comes around.

The bulky winter clothes though... They may not weigh a great deal but the amount of space those articles of clothing use is enormous. I could fit four or five shirts in the space two sweaters takes up. We may end up shipping the colder weather stuff to me after I get settled, since I won't be needing it right away. However; super expensive package right there.

For only being eight days out, I'm pretty calm. A few butterflies, but I'm really calm. I wouldn't even say I'm excited for anything in particular either. Might be for the best (a coping mechanism?) though, I can imagine it being quite stressful to go from freaking out from fear to ecstatic all in one day. I don't even have to imagine, actually. I'm calm and content. This will definitely be worth it.

Häufig gestellte Fragen

also known as FAQs

Where is Minden?
See here. Or look to the right of the blog.

Can you travel?
Yes and no. The idea of the exchange is to live with your family and experience Germany. But yes, we can travel. We're allowed 3 trips every six months without our host family, and can go anywhere with our host families.

How did you find out about this scholarship?
My German teacher mentioned it in class at least once a year, and two people went to Germany from my school two years before me (2010-2011). Then again, at this immersion camp run by the state, they also told everyone about the CBYX scholarship. So I applied and here I am.

When will you get back?
Either late May or early June 2013.

Are you nervous?
Yes.

Can you drink?
Yes. Drinking age is 16 and then 18, I believe.

Will you drink?
Meh.

Do you need to speak German? Can you speak German?
Actually, you don't need to be able to speak any German at all to get the scholarship; they'll teach you along the way. But I am semi-fluent in German already. I have been studying it in school for 4 years and did rather well. I was also able to attend a Virginia Governor's Academy for German immersion and that really helped my skills. But, to be honest, I'm still going to hav a rough time understanding everything that is going on around me.

What does CBYX mean? What is CIEE?
CBYX stands for Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange. It comes from the fact that, with funding from the American Congress and German Bundestag, youth are exchanged between the country. CIEE is the 'local' organization that handles all the applications, placements, and interviewing for the South (maybe Southeast, since I'm not sure about Texas).


Feel free to comment with any more questions about the scholarship.

Vorbereitungen

I can only imagine the chaos that must be the CIEE office right now. The wonderful people who work there not only deal with all our calls and emails and concerns, but they have also set up a plan and made arrangements for 50 teenagers to tour DC, fly to Germany, and all the things there. It must be a nightmare.

Preparing just one person for the trip is proving to be a lot of work. I haven't been to so many doctors offices in such a short period of time before in my life. In and out of the oral surgeon, dentist for the last cleaning for a year (can't say I'm terribly sad about that...), family doctor for immunization, eye doctor to make sure I have the most updated prescription possible before I leave.

Setting up the foreign bank account is underway. I still haven't the foggiest idea what I am going to do for a cell phone. I'm still looking at luggage options (how much does 50 lb. look like?). Clearing out my room, slowly and painfully. All in under 3 weeks.

This exciting time is finally happening. For the longest time it felt weird telling people that I was going to Germany. It didn't seem quite real to me. But now that I am sitting in offices explaining just why I need to have this or that, it is fast becoming concrete.

So little time and so much to do.

At least I have my passport.

Wo?

So a lot of people ask me, "Where in Germany are you going to live?"

Turns out Minden isn't exactly one of the most familiar places to Americans. Neither is German geography on the whole. So there is a map on the right hand of this blog that shows you where Minden is located with respects to the entire country. North western quadrant. It was in the West German side of the wall, yes. That's the big picture.

Now, there are many more interesting things about this city aside from the fact that it is roughly 8 hours away from Berlin. It has about 83,000 residents and a lot of history. It's heyday was in the 18th and 19th centuries during the era of the Prussian monarchy. Being on a river, it was also extremely consequential during the Middle Ages. Fun fact that I learned while researching it: It was one of the few cities granted a special type of permit that required all ships on the river to stop in Minden to offer its good for sale at the market before it could continue. The permit/law allowed Minden to grow into a Medieval market town and brought quite a bit of wealth. In fact, there is a special type of architecture known as the Weser Renaissance, which came about due to the wealth of merchants and townsman in the region.

Anyhow, back to geography. This picture highlights the German state (Bundesland) of North Rhine - Westphalia (Nord Rhein-Westfalen) in which Minden is located. It is the most populated state of the country, having approximately 1/4th of all Germans living within its borders. Naturally, most of the CBYX participants (through CIEE anyways) are placed in NRW. I have a friend from school in the area around Dortmund and another somewhere in between Münster and Dortmund.

For a sense of scale, the city of Hannover is the nearest large one to Minden and it is an hour away by car. However, there is a direct train line that connects Hannover to Essen/Hamm and Minden gets a stop. It takes about 30 or 45 minutes (depending on the type of train/train line) to get to Hannover.

So that is where Minden is.

18 gehen am 19

God, I’m old. It just occurred to me, how much older I will be compared to most of the students on this trip.

The title for the last newsletter was “How to Pack Over 15 Years in a Suitcase or Two”

Excuse me? I was 15, like 15% of my life ago. (16.6% actually)

It’s all cool though, because most of the exchange is done in the hometown and I’m kind of a dork and a kid at heart, so… I’ll manage just fine.

EDIT: Originally posted 6 July, 2012

Aufsätze und Stoff

So I’ve been emailing (Facebooking really…) with my host mother and sisters, who are completely awesome by the way. But it is not the awesomeness or Facebooking that is extraordinary enough for a post, it's because I've been doing it almost exclusively in German.

I’m fairly proud of myself because not only did I understand the gist of things and a lot of specifics, but I was able to respond with fairly intelligent sounding responses! Granted, the last one took me over two hours to write. But it was also over 700 words, which I believe is the longest German language composition that I have ever written. Even including the AP and classes.

I’m getting more and more comfortable with the idea that I will be able to function without English. Building confidence slowly, piece by piece. I even talked with an alumna who was saying that she never truly experienced total and utter ignorance or confusion. She usually had a pretty good idea about what was going on and was able to function in school. I think the German Academy last summer played a big role in that too.

That was one of my bigger fears, to be honest. I’m afraid I’ll get to school and just sit there alone and confused for six hours. I’m fairly confident that my host family and my friends will slow down their German for me, even deal with my questions. But can I expect the same from teachers? I’ll just have to take it in stride and see what happens. I’ll enjoy both the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment, once it all makes sense of course.

EDIT: Originally posted 25 June, 2012.

Bittersüß

A lot of stuff hit me today. I’ve been in even more contact with my host family, and I am getting super excited. I talked to Will too, and we kind of compared areas/families/etc. Lots of fun. Neither of us really knows what to bring with us.

So on the one hand I am beyond excited for Germany and meeting a wonderful family. On the other, however, I am quite sad to be leaving. I’ve really only just begun to appreciate how great Richmond and Virginia are.

Even the weather. It’s currently pouring and thundering during one of those random summer storms. Blazingly hot in the afternoon, no clouds, and an hour later it sounds and looks like a hurricane. I doubt the quixotic Virginia weather really happens in Germany (EDIT: It does, no worries). I’m going to miss it, but more importantly, I am going to miss my family and my friends. I have been blessed with good ones.

I have four weeks before DC orientation. Less than a month and then I’ll be gone for a year. I’m going to miss Kelly’s 13th birthday and the renovation of Katie’s home. I’m going to miss a lot of opportunities to bond and be with my friends as we explore college for the first time.

So it is bittersweet, this adventure. I have a few doubts, but I'm strapped in for the ride; might as well enjoy it!

EDIT: Originally posted 22 June, 2012.

Meine Bilder

My Flickr Photostream

I’m hopefully going to be using this to upload many of the photos that I take when I am in Germany. Check back to it to see if I’ve posted anything! (But for now, I just have some cool pictures of Richmond. Never bad.)

EDIT: I would also like to direct your attention to the far right column on this webpage. There you will find links, including one to my flickr photo stream. Originally posted June 22, 2012.

Meine Gastfamilie!

It is still not 100% official, but I have a host family! They live in Minden, Nord Rhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia in English), Germany. Hence the title of the blog.

I’ll be more specific when I get more information, but they seem like a great family. I’ve already been contacted by my two host sisters, and I can’t wait to meet them.

The town, though, is awesome. I’ve done about as much research as I can and still think it is super cool. It was founded quite a long time ago and is at the far North Eastern section of Nord-Rhein Westfalen. It is on the Weser River and also has a canal running through town. In fact, the water bridge that the canal uses to cross the Weser is one of the largest in the world.

I’m so excited for this great opportunity and can’t wait to learn and find out more!

EDIT: Originally posted June 22, 2012.

Grüße!

Hello World!

My name is Michael and I am so lucky to be one of the 2012-2013 CBYX Scholars through CIEE. I haven’t been placed yet and really the only thing that I know is that I’ll be in Germany for the year. Kinda scary right? You bet.

In fact, I almost didn’t take the scholarship when it was offered to me. I was terrified and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and if that was it. To be honest, I still haven't a clue, but do I really need to? No.

I’ve decided to see this as a grand adventure, albeit one that is making my stomach drop almost daily. It’s like a roller coaster; or better yet my favorite one, Apollo’s Chariot. One of the most horrifying feelings in the world for me is that one right after you fasten your seatbelt on a roller coaster. You are stuck. Nothing bad is happening, but there is nothing you can do about anything.

Then you start slowly inching up the incline. Pure terror. I hate heights. (Not actually true, I love being up high, but I have a near debilitating fear of falling) And that slow rise, during which you have no control, is so scary.

But I love roller coasters. That first drop: pure elation. The entire ride, except the beginning, is wonderful.

I’m excited for Germany.

EDIT: I wrote all of these posts on a different blogging platform and am only moving their location. This was originally posted on June 14, 2012.