Pre-departure

Ever since the first time I saw Dr. Wasser give the presentation for the semester in Germany (and I've seen it several times), I knew I wanted to go, so I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Something I'm very excited about is meeting my host family. I will be staying with the Bertrams, which includes Margit, Janika, and Malin, and two dogs, Joy and Djenga. I'm really looking forward to staying with them and getting to know them.

I can't wait to see Europe. I remember taking European History my senior year of high school and thinking how much I wanted to actually see in person all the art, architecture, and famous places we were learning about. I probably won't see everything on my list, because it's rather long, but I intend to put a serious dent in it.

I could not have said it better than Sherlock Holmes in “The Red-headed League” when he said, “I observe that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect.” This brings up two points; the first, that I am very happily anticipating the music history of Germany which we will learn about, in particular the opera we will see, and the second, that I expect to engage in some introspection on this trip. I'm hoping this study abroad experience will make me more independent and increase my confidence. Already I've learned something of my determination and persistence in getting to this point, because there were obstacles and objections along the way where I could have given up. I have learned this about myself: if I want something badly enough, I will be willing to do whatever is necessary. I also expect to see certain things, such as news and current events, from a perspective in which America is not the center of the universe; I want to see what the world looks like to a non-American.

Also, I want to improve my german language skills. I took three years of German in high school, but have since been more than two years out of practice.

One thing I'm nervous about is missing friends and family. Unfortunately, I will be missing my sister's graduation in May. At the beginning of the fall semester I joined a ballroom dancing group, and I'll miss my friends from that, as well as a semester's worth of dancing lessons. I'll also miss a semester's worth of devotionals and spending time with my friends from church. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm worried about money. I've gotten several scholarships to help with the cost, but I'm still nervous about how much this trip is going to set me back for next semester.

We've had several orientation sessions, and I've gotten a lot of things to prepare for this trip, but for some reason the moment that most caused me to feel the excitement that I'm actually going to Germany was when I bought a U.S.-to-Europe plug adapter. So, in honor of that moment, here is a picture of the very same adapter, alongside the formidable stack of high school German notes which I will feverishly be studying this week like a freshman cramming for an exam.