Is this all really happening?

With only two more nights left to sleep in my own bed, I cant help but question myself as to the reality of this trip. For me this trip is something that I have always wondered what it would be like, but never thought I would have the opportunity to do. I have only been out of the United States once and that was to Mexico when I was 7 years old, so I don't really like to count that and I have never crossed an ocean. This fact adds to my anticipations/nervousness. Throughout this whole month of June I have been taking summer classes and volunteering in College Station, and though I knew I would soon be going on this trip I didn't think about it too much because the belief that it was actually going to happen hadn't set in yet (and to be honest I don't think it will until I am in Bonn). Even now, as I lay in bed typing this blog I cannot even picture myself on a plane crossing the Atlantic in less than 48 hours. That thought seems crazy to me.

Having the opportunity to come out of my comfort zone and experience a different culture is what I look forward to the most. I know there are so many things that I am not ready for and not being an experienced traveller I know I will hit not one, but many bumps in the road as I make my way around Europe. One nice relaxing factor is that my host family seems very friendly and welcoming. We have emailed back and forth a few times and they even emailed me the other day on my birthday to wish me a happy birthday and I thought that was really nice of them, because I know they didn't have to do that.

Overall, I am looking forward to the wonderful experience I have before me and will not take it for granted. I cannot wait to see the beautiful and historically important places that this trip will take us to. Oh, and the weekends are going to be amazing as well. So far I have booked hostels in Amsterdam and Prague, but will also be planning on going to Northern Italy and Paris. I know that this trip will provide me with the opportunity to meet wonderful people and make great friends and an experience that I won't soon forget.

Pre-Germany Jitters!

I am expecting a lot from this trip to Europe:adventure, excitment, but mostly amazing memories! Everyone keeps telling me to be safe and watch myself while I'm over there but all I can think about are the weekend trips and sight seeing-danger never crossed my mind. However, I am getting nervous-I don't see how I'm going to be able to fit everything into ONE small bag!

My host family seems really nice. We've e-mailed back and forth several times. They have two daughters, 20 and 16, which is going to be nice; since they are so close to our age they will be able to point us in the right direction for fun! My host "dad" is a polymer chemist so we've also talked about his job and how the business world differs in Germany from the US.

I can't wait to get there and learn more about everyone going on the trip. We're all going to have so much fun on the weekend trips that we take and hopefully make some great memories. I am most excited about going to Italy, because I have always wanted to see the Vatican City. Speaking of Italy, my aunt, who used to live in Europe, warned me that we should not sit down at any sandwich shops we may visit in Italy. They charge you TWICE as much if you "take a table" to eat-so if the locals are standing then we stand!

Europe here I come!

One week!

In one week I will be on the fourteen-hour journey to Bonn, Germany.  I’m extremely excited to finally get a chance to visit some of Europe.  I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. The only time I have been out of the country is when I went to Canada and later Mexico with my grandparents.  I know this trip will be an amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

 

There are many emotions that rush into my mind whenever I think about this trip.  I am extremely excited but at the same time I am nervous.  The aspect of this trip that worries me the most is being in a foreign country where I don’t know any of the language.  I am sure everything will be fine but it is scary to think I can’t communicate with people.  Luckily my host mum seems extremely welcoming and willing to try and help me learn some of the German language. I am very eager to learn from her. Secondly, I have never gone and lived with strangers before so this is an area of concern for me.  

 

I am extremely excited for the weekend trips. I have spoken to the other students on the trip and we have created a good plan.  Knowing a rough idea of what we will be doing over the weekends definitely helped settle some of my nerves.  I can’t wait to see places like Amsterdam, Prague, Northern Italy, and France. 

 

Over all I am excited.  I have finished getting everything I need for the trip.  I am in the process of packing.  It will be interesting trying to pack lightly but I am determined to make it happen. I can’t wait to get in Germany and start making memories with some fellow Aggies!

 

With My Knapsack on My Back

This morning, I woke up to the sound of my dogs chasing cars. This is characteristic of a typical neighborhood scene in the booming metropolis of Mauriceville, Tx. Mauriceville, Tx, if its name was not indication enough, is a small town. A very small town.

Eighteen years of Mauriceville can affect people in different ways. Many find comfort in the cozy familiarity that comes from knowing all of the local business owners by name. Others appreciate the absence of local taxes. Some people just can't imagine living anywhere that doesn't have a Baptist church on every street corner; a town with more than one four-way intersection.

My dad is from Long Island, New York. There has been much speculation as to how a man who was born in New England, educated in the Midwest, ended up in Southeast Texas. Although conspiracy has not been completely ruled out, coincidence is the currently accepted theory.

Whatever the case, being raised by an alien to the town in which I have spent my formative years is the only explanation I can produce as to why I do not fall into any of the categories I previously listed. My home was a shelter from Mauriceville, and in my home I grew to have a wide-eyed curiosity for the world outside that four-way intersection.

From weeks spent in Washington, D.C., roaming the halls of the Smithsonian, to hours of paddling at the Olympic white-water rafting facility in North Carolina, to thirteen dollars spent in the Philippines for six bootlegged movies that had yet to be released in the States, the world abroad has met my curiosity with some uniquely awesome experiences.

I leave for Bonn in a week and two days. The biggest difference between this trip and my previous ventures is my independence and, thus, my responsibility. I represent a country, a university, and the History of Medicine program. As I enjoy the people and the history and the culture and the food and so on, I will have remember my responsibility to be a suitable representative.

Danka schon und gute nacht,
Andrew Reimers

Does airport security confiscate knitting needles?

It's weird that as I approach this trip the above questions is one of the biggest on my mind. But I knit for a number of reasons including stress so more than anything else it indicates how nervous I am. Which I guess is probably weird, considering I've been out of the country/to Europe more than anyone except Dr. Wasser (I think) who is on this trip. The thing is though that as much as I love it, traveling outside of the U.S. scares me almost as much as librarians (who are scary as all else, seriously.)

This is all rooted in the fact that I hate being in situations where I am helpless to help myself, which pretty much sums up anytime I'm in a strange country where I don't speak the language and am doing things on my own. So my biggest goal of the whole trip is to be brave.

My original plan for weekends was to explore Germany with the friend I signed up for this trip with, but now that she's dropped the trip it looks like I'll be exploring Germany on my own. Luckily I'm starting slowly, with baby steps. The first weekend I will be traveling with a group, and the second I'll be meeting and staying with good friends. Thus in theory by the end of this trip I'll be as brave as my mother who moved to Alaska when she was 19 just for the adventure.

The second biggest concern in my mind right now is what to get my host family. I'm thinking about making a small scrapbook of A&M and Minnesota things, and perhaps also bringing a book and some wild rice with me. It's difficult thought because although I've corresponded with my host mother over email I don't know nearly enough about her to know what the perfect gift would be. I tend to put far more thought into gifts than anyone else I know.

Lastly, I'm grumpy because I cannot find my journal. Which sounds like something small but again I use my journal to de-stress and right now for a variety of reasons my stress level is sky high. I have the longest to-do list and exactly 1 week before and 4 days after Germany in which to complete it (if I delegate July 1st to packing that is.) I have exactly 13 days left with my family until my 4 months at school. Sometimes being so far out of state for school sucks.

But all of this I know will dissolve on my flight to Germany because more than anything else I'm excited, terrified and excited for this trip. I started reading through my high school European history notes again (because I think the book on German history we're supposed to have read by now is dry and boring) and I had honestly forgotten how freaking amazing Germany is, it's like almost everything important ever is tied to Germany and I'm so excited to be going somewhere with such a rich history where I can stand in Worms, Mainz, Nuremberg, Berlin, or the multitude of places I've only learned about before now.

I'm also ridiculously excited for class. I've always been a curious chld, and more than anything else my curiosity has made me pelt my mother or anyone who will listen with questions about medicine. I still have the Grey's Anatomy coloring book I learned from while homeschooled in Kindergarten because my mom said I wouldn't stop asking her weird questions like why people had noses.

Summing this up for all of you:
TL;DR: The only thing that can match my terror and worry about this trip, everything it entails and everything I still have to get done before hand, is the pure excitement I feel for all the possibility, good or bad, that this experience holds.

-Caitlin Vanasse

P.S. But seriously, I know they've never confiscated my bamboo circular needles, but they're a whole lot less threatening in appearance than my metal straight needles, so does anyone know if I need to transfer my knitting over before my flight?

I don't know if I can wait 9 more days...

9 days and counting...I can't believe it. It feels like yesterday that I was just signing up for this trip. I've been in College Station for the past month taking summer school and each day seems to drag on as I anticipate July 2nd. I haven't been out of the country in 6 years, so for one, I know I'm dreading the plane flight. All I remember from my last plane flight over seas was that I didn't sleep at all. Luckily, Mom's agreed to give me some sleep aids this time around.

I'm most excited about getting to take part in a completely different culture. I'm nervous about living with a host family, but from what I learned from them thus far, it will be amazing. However, I'm sure it will take some getting used to. My host family has a daughter my age and a male "friend" living with my host mother and their "granny." By mistake, I told my host mother that I've been working on my German (aka...audio CDs...I took three years of Spanish, so my German sounds ridiculous) and she was excited to tell me that granny didn't speak any English and she would be great practice for me. hahah I just hope I don't offend her by anything I say.

I'm also excited about seeing the different medical practices in different countries. I've always been interested in working over seas for a couple of years out of college, so I hope this gives me some clarity.

The weekend trips are also something I'm definitely looking forward too. My travel plans as of now consist of Italy, Switzerland, Prague, and more :). I know I'm going to be completely lost and helpless, but we'll all be together so it'll be okay. :) I'm looking forward to coming back with some ridiculous and hilarious stories.

Finally, I'm so excited to not have to worry about anything but the trip while I'm over there. I constantly have a to-do list of things to do right now and it's going to be so nice to completely forget about some of those things. I want to do everything I possibly can during this once in a lifetime trip!

I can't wait! See everyone in Bonn in a little over a week! :) :) :)

Europe, here I come!

After having traveled to Germany for my first time over Spring Break, I am extremely excited about visiting again. It was my first time to travel to Europe and I absolutely loved and enjoyed my week there. Because I traveled with my boyfriend to visit a friend of ours that was studying in Germany at the time, I am quite nervous about making this trip all on my own. My anxieties come from knowing how confusing and frightening airports can be, especially in other countries! I just want to get there with my luggage and without getting lost!

I imagine that I will truly enjoy being involved with the AIB program and being guided throughout this entire experience because I know that I will be provided with a schedule that will allow me to experience the most within the five weeks I am there. I am anxious to learn about Germany and its medical history while I am there surrounded by the culture. Seeing the buildings and visiting the places that are spoken about in books and during lectures makes the lessons dimensional and fun.

For our weekend travel, many of us have already planned out where we would like to go and what we could possibly do and I cannot wait because I have never visited any other country in Europe aside from Germany. At the end of each week I will be able to visit a new country and experience a different culture. It's like visiting the children's museum where they have a different country set-up in each room but the food on the tables will be real and the culture will be lively. I cannot wait to visit Italy! I have always had an interest in ancient italian art and am planning on visiting an art museum. Other travel plans include going to Switzerland, Prague, and France.

I have always been a very sheltered person; always shy, reserved, and dependent on others for the most part so I am proud of myself for taking this trip. I will get to know people that I don't, visit places that I haven't, and do things that I have never even thought of doing all without my comfort blanket. I have to say that I am having trouble fitting five weeks of my life in a small suitcase but it excites me to see just how little I can get by with when I typically take five bags just for a weekend trip home.

I have communicated with my host mother through email. She is actually retiring the day before I arrive! She told me that she has a daughter and that another student will be staying with us for half of the trip. However, her daughter will be studying in Spain the entire time we are there so, I will not be able to meet her. I guess that since neither of us will have our mother-daughter counterparts we can fill the voids and get along just great.

With just a little over a week until take-off, I am nervous, anxious, afraid, excited, and just a little overwhelmed but I know it will be amazing!

T minus 12 days...

I am both nervous and very excited to go to Germany. I have no idea what it will be like over there, and I am very unprepared! It just hit me that there is less than two weeks until we leave, and I can't beleive it's actually happening. I know that it will be an amazing experience once I'm over there, but I can't help but to get a little anxious before I get there.

I'm especially excited about touring the medical centers and seeing how healthcare works in another country. I really hope we get to see a few surgeries, but I really don't want to do anything stupid, like pass out! I also can't wait to go to the zoo! I have no idea what to expect from the city, I've seen pictures and tried to find some fun places, but I think I won't really know until we get there and get out into the city. We get there on my birthday, so I'm hoping that we can get to know some of the nightlife in Germany starting the third!

I'm really nervous about being in a completely strange city, on a different continent, without my parents. This has never happened before and it's pretty crazy! I'm really excited about meeting my host family, and I wish I could say that they've kindof helped ease some of my anxiety. But they haven't responded to my emails! I emailed them the second I got their information, but still no response. Regardless, I'm incredibly excited to go to Germany and explore the rest of Europe on the weekends!

Anticipating Germany...

So, I will be leaving for Germany in 15 days and I still can’t believe I’m actually going! This will be my first trip to Europe, and the only other times I have ever been out of the country were on family trips to Mexico when I was younger. Nothing compared to the trip I am about to take.

There are so many feelings that have been building up in the time leading to this trip: apprehension, excitement, anticipation just to name a few. Just like doing anything else for the first time, there are a lot of nervous feelings that come along. My biggest anxiety at the moment is flying by myself all the way to Europe. I have been in airports quiet a bit and even flown by myself before, but not this far! Another anxiety, but something that I am also quiet excited about, is meeting my host family. I have never stayed with a family I have never met before, and I am afraid there will be a language barrier because I do not know any German. But, from their emails, my host family seems very nice and I’m ready to learn everything about German culture I can from them. I think it will be interesting to see how much the same and also how different they are from my own family. As for weekend trips, we (the students) have come up with some what of a plan. This has relieved a little stress for me; I like having a plan.

I’m extremely excited about the trip and can’t wait to see what all Germany and Europe have to offer. This is a once in a lifetime trip and I can not wait for it to start!

Pre Germany Expectations

At first when I signed up for the Germany trip, it didn't really seem real to me that I was actually going over there for 5 weeks. Right now as I sit in Texas and think about the adventure I’ll be starting in just two weeks, the anticipation is starting to emerge again and even stronger than ever. I’ve been to Europe before, but always with family and never in Germany.

I expect to see a lot of great and priceless works of art, as well as architecture. I’m looking forward to possibly seeing some of the great cathedrals, temples and churches. As far my host family expectations go, I had no idea what to expect before I got the letter from them. The family I’m staying with is the newlywed Thye family and Stefanie seems very full of life and excited to meet me. She said that she likes to cook and that the location of their home is in the middle of the city center so I’m really excited about getting to be in the middle of the action!

I expect to be with my classmates most of the time, in the class and outside of the classroom- but I really have no idea what to expect here either! I wouldn’t mind getting a little bit lost in the town and find my way back by myself! I’m excited about the daily routine, which right now all I know for sure is what we will be doing as far as the class goes. After the class, I’m assuming it’s free time and I’ll be exploring with my peers and trying new things as far as food and beer goes!

In the evening, at the Thye’s home, the possibilities there are very exciting to me. For one, it will be fun to meet these new people and get to know them, learn first-hand about German culture, and hopefully become permanent friends with them that I’ll be able to write to for many years to come. I feel that I’m really going to become good friends with Stefanie because she’s only 7 years older than me! She said that they are into music, and hopefully they have a piano we could all play together in the evenings and listen to one another. I still don’t know if I’m by myself with them or not- on Facebook we (my peers and I) were keeping each other updated on which host family we’ve been assigned to, and nobody seems to have the same one yet!

Ultimately I’m most excited about the whole thing. The mornings, the afternoons, and the nights, and everything in between. I know the weekends will be a blast- but right now I’m thinking I’m ultimately going to be enjoying the weekly activities even more than my free weekends- we’ll see how that turns out I guess!

European Escapades

What I'm expecting from summer 2009 abroad: adventure, excitement, new knowledge, real world experience, getting out of my comfort zone, perhaps a few mischevious acts, and much more! This trip is my first time to travel internationally without my parents and I'm beyond excited to see all the places we've planned.

My host family seems very nice, we try to email atleast once a week and talk about life/speaking german/what to expect etc. They even sent me a google earth link to see what their house looks like! I'm excited to meet them and be apart of their daily life. I think our time in Bonn/time spent with the program will be very educational and also eye opening. I'm hoping that Dr. Wasser has secured the Body Worlds outing for our group! I wanted to see body worlds, but then I never got around to it and I missed my chance.

Also its going to be a lot of fun getting to know the rest of the group! The weekends that are planned out for switzerland, praha, france and etc will be lots of fun. Also Sarah, Mark and I are staying a week after the trip and we will be seeing alot of other places too (Budapest, Pompeii, Rome) There are historical places I have been reading about/learning about since I was little, and the chance to see it all now is amazing.

Basically I'm really excited and looking forward to whatever comes my way this summer! (Minus robbers, sketchy people, etc)

First Time Across the Atlantic

Nervous, excitement are just a few of the things I'm feeling in anticipation for my first trip across the Atlantic! I'm not really sure what to expect. I figure it will be (at first) like being anywhere for the first time. Confusing, lost, unfamiliar, and taken out of my element of comfort, but over time I'll get more comfortable and will have a hard time remembering how i first felt and saw Germany.

I'm hoping this trip will help me experience the culture of Germany, while getting to see the beauty of Europe. While a part of me wants to go everywhere and see everything, I know there is not enough time to fully experience every country in it's best. I figure that our weekend trips will help me get a taste of everything, so when i come back one day I'll be able to know where I want to go and spend most of my time : )

So here's a toast to new experiences, places, and friends!