Ein Abenteuer in Deutschland

So i went into the city today to apply for my visa at the german consulate. It all went pretty well, i got there early so i was able to get through it pretty quickly. The lady was super nice and my application was accepted. Something that was odd though was that my visa was free of charge... I was told by AFS and the consulate website that the visa would be like $92 or something but nope, the lady said it was free. Idk, maybe that's what it's supposed to be. So anyway she said i'll get my passport with my visa by like august 20th and that's that.


I also got a cool book full of facts about germany. Well I don't know if it's cool yet since i haven't read it yet but it's big and it looks cool or at least helpful. Speaking of books, I just finished reading on the train today a really good book. I recommend it for anyone going on exchange. It's called Exchange Student Survival Kit.

So my wait for a host family is finally over. I found out about a week ago that I'll be living in Uettingen in northern Bavaria. I'll be living with my host parents Inge and Willi and their 30 year old son Jochen and his girlfriend, Stephanie. Their daughter Nicole and her husband Ralph live across the street with their two kids Jule (age 5) and Nele (age 2). I'm super excited to meet them all! At first I was a little nervous about not having any host siblings my age but i think it might be better this way. I don't know too much about them yet, but i'm really excited to learn a lot more about them.

On another note, i left camp today, which is why i didn't post sooner. I met some really amazing people and I really miss them. I can't wait to visit camp and see them again. So that's about all I have for now. I'll try to post more often as my departure draws nearer :)

peace
Hannelie

Ok, so the first form of acceptance of the CBYX scholarship was sent last week and delivered by Tuesday, only to have them send me another one... so I've read over this one, signed it (had my parents sign it) and sent it in. Onto more news: AFS conference calls were this week (Wednesday and Thursday); it ended up being a lot less hectic than I thought it would end up being (totally didn't realize you could mute yourself on a phone call...). So stuff I found out from the call:

• All AFS-CBYXers will meet in D.C. at the beginning of September (unfortunately a date was not given)
• After a 3-day orientation in D.C. we will all fly to Germany where we will each go straight to our host families (except for a handful of students who's host towns don't have language classes, they will stay with temporary families in the same town and participate in a 4-week language camp)
• We will have a mid-stay orientation in Berlin, but not all AFS-CBYXers will be there at the same time...
• I actually have not been officially accepted ): (Germany must still review and accept my application)
• I will find out my host family in anywhere from 4 weeks to 3 1/2 months!!

 And that's about all the interesting stuff (the rest was just rules and stuff about spending money and Internet access). So in the mean time I have sent in an application to renew my green card, which apparently takes like 3 months.... and then I have to apply for a visa. And the May 1st college deposit deadline is drawing closer, meaning I have less than a week to make up my mind about what school I'm going to!! This may not seem like a big deal, but I am extremely indecisive and this decision is seriously stressing me out. Well I better go make my pro/con list.
More to come.

Peace,
Hannelie


p.s. feel free to comment/ask questions :)

Yesterday. A typical Wednesday afternoon. I get home from school, get a snack, take a nap, get up, grudgingly take out my calc notebook to start my homework, and log onto my computer. I pull up all my usual sites, facebook, email, CS (Cultures Shocked ). As I'm perusing CS i notice someones added a post to the CBYX '10-'11 thread;' I notice that it's someone from AFS, intrigued i click the thread and read two short sentences: "AFS just called me and I got the scholarship. This is great."
I immediately start freaking out, a million thoughts fly through my head, "I didn't get it and they don't have the heart to tell me" "Maybe they haven't gotten to me yet" "No one's gonna call me, and i won't find out until like next week that i didn't get it" I eventually calm down and force myself to stop repeatedly refreshing my email and move away from my computer. My homework lays unfinished, I can't concentrate on anything, so I eat dinner and try to watch some TV with my family. Finally my phone rings; I spring up and run to answer it, only to hear my dad on the other end asking for my mom. Disappointed I hand the phone to my mom and sit back down. At last I relax enough to concentrate on the TV, just in time to watch Jeopardy. The phone rings again, this time my mom answers. I hear her say "hold on" and she walks into the room and hands me the phone. It's Sue Fershing, my AFS area rep and she has good news.
The second I hear the words, you got the scholarship, I literally jumped for joy. The wait was finally over. Five months after I first applied, and then waited, was interviewed, waited and waited some more I finally knew. It was the happiest moment of my life.

So now a little about this blog. So as you may have interpreted from the story above I won a scholarship. To what you may be asking? I won a scholarship from CBYX (Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange) to spend next year (September-July) in Germany. I will be traveling with other highschoolers from my region in the country (the northeast) through AFS. We will each get placed with a family in Germany with whom we will stay for the year. I will attend school, and basically live like and hopefully become like a German. So I have decided to make this blog to keep all my friends and family around the world (and anyone else who decides to read this) informed of my exchange, and for me to look back on after (and maybe show my kids one day, hahaha).

So yea, at the moment I don't really have any news. Until I recieve or hear something worth noting from AFS I'll probably just blog about the end of my senior year (cause hey, who doesn't want to hear about how awesome it is being a senior? ;) hahaha)

So until next time (hopefully soon).
Peace,
Hannelie