Hello again!
Orientation began on Tuesday, September 6th for
all of the CBYX scholars. I was excited
and nervous to get another step closer to Germany. I said good-bye to parents and Grandma when
they dropped me off at the hotel giving them one last hug a few times.
That day we got to meet our fellow CBYX students and talk
about where we are from and why we want to be with this program. We were split into groups at dinner and kept
them throughout the orientation. I was
in Group 3 which we dubbed the Dream Team.
Our Group leaders were Lauren and Clay and they had studied abroad this
past summer in India and Russia. That
night we had a workshop called How to be an Effective Ambassador, and talked
about how to represent ourselves at the Department of State and at our
Congressional interviews. Our job was to
advocate the program to our congressional representative, and to let them know
how vital study abroad programs are to international relationships and cultural
understanding.
The next day we went to the Department of State on a
beautifully dreary and rainy day, with a breakfast box in hand. Once we passed through security, and after we
were led into the stark white halls of the department, government international
relations representatives spoke to us.
They explained why study abroad programs are important to them and why
these programs are an essential investment that the government makes. Ron is a foreign diplomat who spoke to us and
we were able to ask him how he got to be in the department writing statements
for Obama, and traveling the world. He was
fun to listen to and he gave us a good perspective on what civil and foreign
diplomats do. We ended the night with
the movie: Das Leben Der Andere, The Lives of Others which addressed the
circumstances in East Germany and the Stasi secret police before the Berlin
Wall finally fell in 1989.
After our visit we were dropped off at Union Station which
is a big mall with restaurants. We ate
lunch and were responsible for getting to our congressional appointments by
ourselves. Armed with ponchos and umbrellas
we set off into the poring thunderstorm that conveniently hovered over our
paths to the congressional offices. It was a fun game of puddle jumping and
dodging. Now that my shoes were soggy
and everyone’s hair was a mess, we were ready to meet with our representative. My constituent group met with Julia
Steinberger in Kathy Hochul’s office.
Our meeting was short, but we delivered our message and I hope she heard
what we had to say. Then we took a taxi
back to Union Station because it was still stormy.
Back to the tour buses! Our next stop was the German
Heritage Museum and the head of the museum spoke to us about German-Americans
and how they had a strong influence on the formation and development of the
United States. He was interesting to listen
to because I like to learn history and he was excited about the information he
was sharing with us. Next a woman from
the German Embassy spoke about what the German Embassy does here in the U.S.
and how it connects with the American Embassy in Germany and how they
effectively work together. She also
shared her experience as a CB scholar and how she got her career with the
embassy.
Our next stop was the cultural dinner at Mozart Café. We ate together and were serenaded by a
German concertina player who whipped out both the hokey pokey and, of course,
it wouldn’t be a party without the chicken dance, with a little bit of this and
that. The food was good; I had the Viennese
beef goulash. And just when we were
finishing our meals, the concertina player started to yodel, and then she
whipped out wooden spoons and started playing them and whacking the wait staff
with the spoons if they happened to walk by her. She was a kick! She gave us a toast and
wished us luck on our year in Germany.
Then we went back to the hotel and I fell into my bed, after
shedding my soggy shoes.
Thursday was a day of workshops and receiving advice from
our AFS volunteers and staff members. We
addressed culture shock, journaling and blogging, how to balance communication
with home because I want to “have both feet in Germany” and take in every
moment while I’m there. Another workshop
was how to communicate effectively with my host family. We took a quiz about the world and competed
for a non-existent prize. Then Patrick and Hannah gave us a presentation on
cultural awareness which addressed personality, criticism, civil order and
respect for rules, and conserving resources and understanding that they are
limited and expensive. They gave us good
information to take with us on our trip.
Today we received our final address from Allen Evans AFS who
was the facilitator for our departure orientation! Darin made us hug someone
next to us for at least three minutes; I hugged Maddie Conway, one of my Dream
Team friends. The hug was good because
apparently Germans are all about their personal space. We packed our bags and 92 students traveling
with AFS were bussed to the airport. I
called my mom at the airport and boarded the plane and now we are almost there.
I am almost in another country where I don’t speak the language. I will soon be in an airport full of every
foreign exchange student coming to Germany from all over the world. Then I will
board a train to Celle. My journey has
begun. I hope to learn about the world
and test my limits as I face challenges I have never before faced. I will jump in with two feet, with no
regrets…other than packing more than I want to carry!
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