First day

Hi everybody,

The past two days have been a whirlwind. After a day of traveling I was completely exhausted but relieved to be with my new family. I was introduced to my new cat, Leo, two birds, three chickens, a herd of bunnies, and a turtle. Everything is so different here. The roads and cars are smaller, the houses are smaller but very cozy. The people seem very friendly. After leaving the airport we were all split up into groups of twos to be sent to our houses. It was a shock to be on my own after being with all the Americans, but I have a very nice mom and sister who are here for me. I can't wait to see how everybody else is doing at our first OLC training meeting on Monday.

My fist full day has been really laid back. In the morning a friend came over for a birthday breakfast. After that we drove to the city to get some food. I never knew they had Aldi food store in Germany. Even though it is the same store, all of the products are German. Tonight we will stay in for a relaxing night to watch Tangled. I can't wait to watch one of my favorite Disney movies in German.

Thanks for reading!
Sandra

Fourteen days left

Hey everybody!

          Today marks the last two weeks of staying at my home in the USA. As the past few weeks progressed everything has started to fall into place. Although my room has become less organized as I prepare to leave.

          Looking back on the past few months I realize how many people have given me so much help and support. I truely want each and every one of you to know how much I appreciate your support. I could have never made it this far without you. Whenever there is a time I can return the favor I will. I hope you all will continue to follow my adventure throughout the year.

          That being said. I have a special experience starting today as well. My mom once did an exchange program to mexico, she became super close with her family and still remains close. Today her exchange niece is coming to stay with us for a couple weeks. Talking with her over the past few weeks has been a real treat and we cant wait to welcome her into our home. She has been feeling very excited and somewhat anxious about coming to stay with us. It is interesting to see how her emotions have mirrored mine.

          I know these next couple weeks will be amazing, hectic and, fun. I would want it no other way.

Thanks for reading!

Sandra

The pink team

Below are the members of this weekends pink team!

YFU Pre-departure Orientation

Hey everybody!

          This past weekend I went to Chicago to attend the National Pre-departure Orientation with YFU. It was such an amazing experience and the people are so friendly and awesome to be around. I can't wait to travel with them! So here is a bit about what happened during the orientation.

          The first day we arrived and we received a bucket with some rocks in it. Every time we put our bucket on the floor, forgot our bucket, or said something mean we received more rocks. Most of us quickly caught on to the dos and don'ts of owning our bucket. While we mingled in the lobby with other students, counselors would come up to us and speak different languages. As soon as they found out which language we spoke they would switch to a different language. This part of our arrival symbolized our arrival in our new home when everything is new and confusing. We were also split up into teams and I became good friends with the people in my pink team! That night we went to our classroom and did a maze trust exercise. The pink team eventually all made it to the other side of the room through laughs and some directions.

          The second day was just as great as the first, even though we had to get up at 6:45. We ate breakfast with our color teams. Once breakfast was finished we went downstairs to do some morning exercise. Once that was finished we continued on to our classrooms where we had class for the day. There we talked a lot about communication, being an American, and social media. All of these were very helpful, and informative. After our class time we ate lunch with our color groups and headed off to our cultural simulation. Many people were asking about it during lunch but no hints were given. Once in the classroom we were told to memorize the instructions to the card game at our table. Each table had different rules to the tournament. Each table differed in which suit/card was trump and whether or not aces were high or low. As the tournament went on the counselors started speeding up playing time and yelling at us for not moving fast enough. We discussed how this affected us and what it might symbolize in our new home.

          Throughout the weekend I learned so much about how different aspects of life will come at me in ways that I never thought about before. With all the help that the counselors gave me this past weekend I feel much better equipped to take on my adventure.

Thanks for reading!
Sandra

Post cards

If anybody wants a post card from Germany please comment in the section below. I will let ya'll know which city I am in at a certain time so feel free to ask for a post card for a specific city at that time!

Thanks for reading!
Sandra

45 days

Yesterday I realized I only have 45 days left before I board my flight. I realized there is still so much to do and my time is waning quickly. Nevertheless, I am over the moon that I will be leaving from O'hare airport on July 31st. I will be arriving in Frankfurt on August 1st.

Thanks for reading!
Sandra

My New Home

I am super excited to announce my temporary AND year home in Germany! For my temporary residence I will be living in Warendorf, and for my permanent residence I will be living in Dortmund. Both of these cities are in Northwest Germany. They are about an hour away from each other! Dortmund is about a half an hour away from Dusseldorf, Essen, Cologne, and Netherlands! I know this will be an amazing year!

Thanks for reading!
Sandra