Germany, I am looking forward to meeting you...

The fact that I will be in Germany in a week from tomorrow seems so surreal to me. All semester, when people asked me what I was doing for winter break and I told them that I was going to Germany, I really didn't seem to think anything of it; but it is all dawning on me now. Oh wow. This is going to be absolutely amazing. Since freshman year of high school, I have always wanted to go to Germany. To explain, I took German as my foreign language credit in high school, three years worth of it, and completely fell in love with the language. I think it is so interesting and I really enjoy trying speaking the language (or at least trying, haha). Germany is my second-favorite country. When Dr. Wasser presented to opportunity to go to Germany while earning college credit at the same time, I didn't see how I could let this pass by. Going to Germany was something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I am looking forward to so many things. I want to see and learn first-hand all the things that my German teacher, Frau Parris, talked about in class, like die Brandenburger Tor, die Berliner Mauer, the food, the culture, the beer, wine, music, history, the language, everything. I am so excited that I will be immersed into all of these things, at last!

There are also some things that I am nervous about... I have issues with getting lost. I am not the greatest when it comes to navigation. My number one fear in Germany is getting lost. It will be the very first fear that I will confront unfortunately, because I am arriving in Germany a day earlier than everyone else and will be on my own for a day. I really, really hope I find my way around.

The second thing I am nervous about is being treated differently because I'm American. Summer 2005, I went to China for a couple weeks to play in an international softball tournament to help China prepare for the 2008 Olympics, and everywhere I went, I was welcomed with stares, pointed fingers, and poor "salespeople" trying to sell us fake Rolex watches or Gucci purses. We were followed these salespeople constantly and it always made me very nervous. It got to a point where a parent tried to shoo one of them away and he got yelled at in Chinese. I took numerous photos with Chinise families who asked to be in their family picture because I was American. Of course, these were only the bad experiences I had in China, I really enjoyed my trip there and met some extraordinary people as well. But point being, I don't want to be discriminated against because of where I am from. To be honest though, I do not think I will have much a problem with this in Germany; their culture is very, very different than Chinise culture, and Dr. Wassers testimony has settled most of my apprehensions about this.

The third and final thing I am worried about is getting pickpocketed, stolen from, or harmed by someone in Germany. In China, I was silly enough to bring the most vulnerable purse; a bright, shiny pink purse with a zipper (with a keychain attached on the zipper as well!). The thing is, I was completely careful with it, and I always had my arm around it, kept an eye on it, and NEVER left it anywhere, and I turned out to be fine. Even with salespeople following us everywhere. This time I will be safer and have a small, wrap around purse that goes inside my jacket, so I am not too worried about this, it is just in the back of my mind, especially since I will be in a hostel. But if I turned out okay in China, then chances are I will turn out okay in Germany.

Those are the only things I am worried about on my trip. But there are more things that I am excited about than nervous about. I am looking forward to this trip and want to go so, so bad! I can't wait! I want to do everything possible, I want to take advantage of every opportunity, and I want to make as many memories as I can. I am ready for this to happen. Bis dann!