I've had my fair share of traveling outside of the country. One of my favorite experiences being summer school at Cambridge University. So my anxiety doesn't come from going beyond U.S. borders but being outside English speaking territory, especially when I step off my plane in Frankfurt and attempt to find the train station. However, I'm pretty resourceful so that shouldn't be a problem. The reality of it all hasn't quite hit me. As my mom is running around wondering if I have enough socks, I keep repeating "Mom, I'm going to be fine". I think the fact that one backpack worth of clothing is technically enough is very reassuring to me, especially since I'm taking a small duffel!
Besides all of the amazing sites we're going to see and lectures we're going to hear, I'm very interested in how the Germans will receive us Americans. I'm ready to soak in the German culture, and being the respectful Aggie I am, prove the "stupid American" stereotype that I have received in the past, wrong! It is so important to remember that we are guests and ambassadors at the same time so BRING IT ON!
"I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself." ~James Baldwin
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." ~Mark Twain
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