1st and only question: How much does it cost?

  I know everyone complains of their "boring" beginnings, but I can say with some authority that there's not much to be found in West Texas  for people who aren't the farm-type.  I found it difficult to be open-minded in a sea of people who weren't, and that's part of the reason I jumped at a chance to visit Europe when I was in high school.  I loved every moment of it.  I had wanted to learn German before, but had to take the only language offered in my town, Spanish.  It's a great language, but I didn't see myself using it ever.  Luckily, Europe was everything I had hoped it would be and more.  Most people say that they don't want to leave, but I really think it's good that I didn't have much money at the time.

Obviously, I was excited from the moment Dr. Elizabeth Crouch introduced Dr. Wasser as a guest speaker in class to talk about his program about medicine based in Germany.  It was perhaps one of my biggest strokes of luck.  I called my parents immediately after class to see if they would be interested in helping me finance the trip, and thankfully, they seemed open to the idea.  I'm no expert on Germany, but I never once had a second thought about coming and I had a pretty good idea on what I was getting into.  I know very little conversational German, but I knew what some call "Survival German" like how to ask for directions, food, beer, toilets, etc.  I plan on putting that little knowledge to very good use.

I'm no tough guy, but there was never any meaningful amount of nervousness or doubt in my decision to come.  Only whether or not I would be able to afford the cost and time.  I'm interested in what the trip will entail.  I've never been inside a German home, but I have no doubt that I'll enjoy almost every moment.  I hope to expand my German vocabulary and maybe even learn a little of the extremely confusing grammar. I guess I should also say I'm really interested in medicine and its practice, but that's a bit overshadowed by the fact that I'M BACK IN FREAKING GERMANY NOW.