Wo ein Wille ist, ist auch ein Weg (When there's a will, there's a way)

Guten Morgen Mein Lieblingsmenschen,

Today's post is going to be about tennis and dive deep into the psychology of exchange students, brace yourselves...

To start off, let's take a trip down memory lane to last Spring, my last season of high school tennis. I should have been pumped. I was playing the as captain and top seed for Rocky and there were lots of freshmen I was excited to lead and teach them my love for tennis. However, just as the year before in the same position, my season quickly unraveled into a series of long matches filled with fighting, but ultimately losses. I wasn't a happy camper...The agony and frustration took over my love and appreciation for Tennis-a sport I began to play to just have fun. It wasn't all bad- my private coaches and team still made it fun and filled with vibrant memories, but the feeling of loss really took an emotional toll on me. By the end of the season, I was ready to set my racket down and "retire." If only I knew during the season how grateful I would be for the outcome of the season and the lessons I learned from it. So what does this have to do with being abroad right now? To be honest, I've probably had my nose stuck in too many entrepreneurial and motivational books, but still! I can hear all of my tennis coaches' voices in my head saying "Ahah! You finally got it! Tennis is more than a sport, it teaches life skills! Told you!" So to my wonderful tennis coaches and First Serve, THANK YOU! I have finally realized what you've always been saying.

The ugly truth behind what this has to do with the present: Life is cruel and unfair. So what? Roll with the punches, learn from your lessons and keep running. The people who succeed at this, succeed at life.

BOOM! Just like that!

This year has been incredible so far. I'm immeasurably blessed for the friends-both American and German-I have made here, the travel and experiences that have already emerged. But for a time there, I was also faced with some really difficult circumstances that took a harsh toll on me. Once upon a time, I was placed into a Taiwanese, Canadian, slightly German but also lived in Norway, Japan, and Boulder, CO host family. They're completely different from me in the fact that they're completely left brained and introverted, but that's life. Everybody's different and we have to coexist. But, at one point, I was either going to bed or waking up to incessant bickering amongst the parents and their son in English. This was the breaking point. They were polite and respectful to me, and I to them, but there's only so much I could take. I felt uncomfortable there. So what happens when you're an exchange student in this situation?


These people mean more than anything to me

Well, you have a couple options: keep treading the water and make the most of it, find a way to change the situation and move out, or give up, letting every ounce of your happiness go. My choice: to fight through and look for a way out. I didn't feel comfortable at home, but I had incredible friends on the program in Berlin with great host families who I reached out to. I had Berlin-my favorite place to be, at an arm's reach away. So, just as tennis taught me, I took advantage of the positive aspects and let those fill my life. Rather than being at home, I was with friends who became family and explored every crack of Berlin (well maybe a small fraction of this city because it's so big!) Or I traveled, and that my friends and I did quite well. By doing that, I was able to be happy until I could move out. I looked for families and reached out to connections from home and asked other host families here for help, and ultimately, the program found me a replacement family. One that exceeded any of my expectations and that I quickly bonded to.






Selfie with new host fam plus Area Rep Grit

I moved three weeks ago now, and since then, I've been 1000000x happier and have learned to count my blessings. My new family is AMAZING! They welcomed me into their house and family so quickly and warmly. We quickly bonded over our love for skiing (we're going to Austria twice this winter!), politics (talking American politics in German was a challenge excepted) and by just talking and sharing stories. I'm immeasurably blessed. Finally having that bond with my host family has me for a lack of words. Going through a bad host family situation worth it. So, in closing, to anyone who's an exchange student or going through a hard time, just know it will get better, just stay positive, reach out to the people who love you, and have faith that it will get better. Thank you tennis for teaching me how to do that and apply it to parts of my life.

I'm thankful to have learned how to fall on my face and get back up and be stronger. Tennis taught me how to do that and made it much easier for me to do it while here. I'm sure it'll be a lesson that'll be applied several times in life.

So after that little motivational tangent, have a good weekend!

 

 

Herbstferien- Scandinavia

Hej! Coming to you from Sweden and Denmark!

Be prepared for a long post...

From the looks, it probably looks like all I'm doing on my gap year is traveling, but I swear I'm also doing work! As soon as I return from my fall break travel, I dive into reality and become a "working women." I'll be interning 40 hours a week with a non-profit doing program development, handling their social media, and marketing. For now though, I'll talk about what's exciting...travel...


Panorama of Stockholm



Cole, Annika, Kurt and I

My fall break plans were really spontaneous. My friend, Annika and I planned to go to Sweden to trace our strong Swedish roots. Sweden was a given, but we wanted to go somewhere else. We wanted to hike the fjords of Norway, but closed three days before our break began. However, Annika's mom's dissertation advisor offered us a place to stay at his apartment during break in the heart of Stockholm and we figured we could go to Copenhage, Denmark for a few days. So, we rolled with it and invited Cole and Kurt- two other guys from our program to join us. Even though we planned the majority of this trip the week before we left, everything came together to make one memorable fall break.

At the harbor

Fall foliage

The place we stayed had character- an old, antiquated house in the center of the city with a sweet, very Swedish 86 year old (Annika's mom's dissertation advisor back in the day.) He quickly became our "Swedish grandpa" and loved showing us around Stockholm, telling us the history of the city from his perspective and recollection of major events in the past century.

the group on the boat ride

Fall foliage seen from the water

The CBYX 2015/16 squad plans to buy this island

We covered the vast majority of Stockholm by foot or by boat. We had five beautiful blue sky days filled with sunshine and we took advantage of those walking on average 35,000 steps/day! For those of you who don't know, Stockholm is situated on the coast and has an archipelago of 1000s of tiny islands along the Baltic. We explored the archipelago on a boat ride (Kurt really had a thing for wanting to go on boats) and saw the region at its prime time with fall foliage. The intense fall colors of yellow, orange and red contrasted the intense blue of the water, and quite honestly, I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. I'm proud to come from such a beautiful country!

Old clock tower at Skanson

More fall foliage by a churrch!

To please the parents, we went to a couple museums on the trip, including Skanson-an open air museum. It told the history and culture of Sweden through live displays with people dressed up in the traditional attire, old houses relocated there, and different interactive activities. It was my type of museum. I also saw a relocated house from the town my family comes from in western Sweden. I also met someone from there (which shocked me because it's a city of 50,000!) Although I didn't get to go there on this trip, I know for certain I'll be back and visit it. One thing that I did notice during our time in Stockholm was how Swedish my family is. Annika (who's also Swedish) and I would walk down the streets pointing out objects and foods that we recognized. We laughed about how we hate pickled herring, love lingonberries, had the tradition of being the first born daughter and baking bread for Santa Lucia day, and how Swedish we look. Annika and I blended in quite well in the sea of blonde haired, blue eyed Swedes and loved playing the "game" of pretending to be Swedes (though we only know like 10 words in Swedish.

 For all you who haven't been to Scandinavia, it's insanely expensive. Everything costs 3x more than it does anywhere else in Europe. For example, a McDonald's burger costs around $13 and a hot dog was $3.50. That's every college (or gap year) student's worst nightmare. So we got incredibly creative with doing Sweden on a shoestring. One of our ways of doing Sweden cheap(er) was paying a visit to the original IKEA (yes, it comes from Sweden!) I think we had WAY too much fun going to a Swedish IKEA. We ran around the store for a few hours and dreamed up our dream IKEA rooms. Plus, they had authentic quality Swedish food. It was delish.

A traditional Swedish meal: meatballs, potatoes, and of course, lingonberries!
                                                                          The group eating at IKEA!

Thanks boys for taking plenty
of pictures for Annika and I!

All in all, our trip to Sweden was very laid back, and we covered the city well. The city's downtown, Gamla Stan is gorgeous and I loved being constantly by the water and walking over bridges. Stockholm is the type of city I'd love to live in! The trip also brought Cole, Kurt, Annika and I closer together. Traveling really brings the best and worst out of people, but we all survived our time together and managed to keep our cool with each other thanks to our random coffee shop stops where we had Wifi time. Now, all of us have all sorts off crazy stories about wondering the streets-day and night-in Stockholm and continue to laugh about them. It's crazy to think that (with the exception of Kurt who's my neighbor in Ft. Collins) we've only known each other for a few months. In such a short period of time, these people have gone from being strangers to family. That's what's up!




                                         Now, onto COPENHAGEN, DENMARK!!!!!!!!

The obligatory Copenhagen pic

The wall of fame at the hostel
got a Lovelady sticker
(shout out to Gingerlee and
Lovelady Impressions)

Danish sweets!

The boys went back to Germany, but  Annika and I continued our fall break adventure in Copenhagen. Since we decided at the last minute to go to there, we really didn't know what to expect. But that's what  made it all the more fun. In Copenhagen, we shad our first real hostel experience. We stayed in this really cool, urban hostel and discovered how much fun it is! Hostel's are popping with all sorts of interesting people from around the world.

Once more, there was water
and fall foliage which
made me content!

The environment's relax filled with friendliness and people looking to meet and travel with new people. Initially the friendliness caught us off guard, but from our experiences, they were all authentic. At the hostel, Annika and I were somehow drawn towards the Canadians. We hungout with two groups of Canadians while we were there. One group was a bunch of new teachers teaching in the UK and Canada on fall break who cracked us up. We met them in an elevator and bonded over profiling the people getting off the elevator before us. That little encounter led to us spending the next day sightseeing and exploring the city with them and the day after, clubbing with them. Who would've guessed that a joke on an elevator ride would lead to that?? That further inspires me to backpack and hostel around Europe! The sponanity of it all makes the experience and that's why I really enjoyed being here. Copenhagen itself wasn't too interesting, but the connections and memories made made this trip                                                         remarkable!

One of the ellaborate stages at Tivoli

In Denmark, we covered a lot- more than we do when we plan. We went on a tour, climbed a tower, went to another museum, went to Christiana-an independent commune with a mega hippie commune and a "green light distric," an amusement park and actually learned a lot about the country. We were always busy doing something. That's Annika's and I way of traveling! And-on a side note-thanks to our hostel friends-Annika and I survived the trip once more without killing each other. Christiana is like Boulder, except 100x more liberal (and that's quite the statement.) It was an interesting place to explore. Only downside was that a) it was kinda sketch at night and b) you weren't allowed to take pictures. Another cool place we went to where we could actually take pictures was Tivoli-the seccond oldest amusement  park in the world. It reopened for Halloween and was decked out in fall decorations. This amusement park wasn't like Elitches, it felt like we were stepping back into time and at an old-fashioned amusement parks with old crickety rollercoasters, games, shows and activites. It was spectacular.

Probably my favorite church in Europe

Fun fact: This street only
 has these famous houses
painted on one-side of
the street.It was "made"
to be a tourist trap! :p

All in all, I can confidently say that was the best fall break I've ever had and that it was a successful trip. I'll be back to this region...In the meantime though, it's back to reality!

Hope everyone back home's doing well!

Bis gleich!

Czeching Prague out!

 Last weekend, the Berlin squad took on Prague for Gingerlee's 19th birthday. Not a bad way to celebrate a birthday, right?? I suppose it's one of the perks of living in Europe...

The "must take" pic of Prague

Prague was a blast! It was so incredibly beautiful there and the fall foliage only added to the city's beauty. Fortunately, we got lucky with the weather. The grey, European fall weather lifted right in time for us to see Prague in the sun.

fall wonderland we stumbled on while we were walking around

Since the weather was nice and the sheer fact that we're all still a little "museumed" out from Bonn, we explored Prague through walking around. It took us a while to orient ourselves, but after a day, it clicked with us.

 

 

Street performer of the year award goes to him.
Annika and I are going to find him in Sweden!



My ice throne

We also stumbled on some really cool places...Street performers were everywhere and some put on quite the show and found some really cute local restaurants. We also went to an ice bar where everything was made out of ice- including the cups! Tourist trap? Most definitely. Was it worth it? YES! All of the small, random activities we did made last weekend incredible.

A traditional Czech dinner: pork, gravy,
break dumplings topped with a lemon,
cranberries and whipped cream!

The Berlin group got even closer through our little getaway. You really get to know people when you travel with them because it brings the best and worst out of people. Although we all had our moments where we almost lost it or wanted to strangle each other, we managed to comeback with no casualties and much closer. We're a family and at the end of the day, we always realize that. That's what makes this experience unlike any other study abroad.

The fam

 Here's some more pictures from the trip:



 Fall break has officially started so be prepared for travel pictures from Sweden and Denmark soon!:)

Die letzten Tage High School...final take!

As my days in a Gymnasium are winding down, I'm realizing that it's bitter sweet. Going back into the experience I was anything but thrilled to go back to high school. I've already graduated and had spent a semester at a Gymnasium. It felt silly going repeating things and going through the motions. However, after finally breaking into my class and making friends, I have to admit that it's going to be difficult to say good bye.

Part of the Schnitzel Tag squad. Every Thursday we
 go to A 18,a sports pub, to eat schnitzel and chill.

My Gymnasium experience this time around was completely different from my last one and there are things that I like and took from both. This time felt temporary in time and making friends because it was only for two months. However, I spoke more German and was treated like an actual student. Most of my teachers heard me talking with classmates and caught on to me understanding what they were saying (although some overestimated my abilities...) so they treated me like an ordinary student. It was flattering, but it meant I had to put more effort into my homework and led to some very humbling/ awkward moments. I'll never forget my German teacher calling on me to read a Romantic poem out loud to class and my attempt to analyze it. Let's get things straight- I don't get poetry in English so when it's written in German and I understand a fraction of the words, I'm screwed! At least the class got a kick out of it! Point being is that being an exchange student is awkward regardless of how hard you try for it not to. After attempting to resist it, I've completely embraced it and owned it. It made the experience 10x easier!



Back at it!

Leaving the Gymnasium means that I'm finally entering the portion of the program I've been eagerly anticipating-the internships! I'm excited to announce that my first internship will be with Linden Education, a non-profit, where I will be doing marketing research, social media, and additionally program development for a girl's leadership camp (Girls Gearing Up.) So start following Linden Education and Girls Gearing Up on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to see some lovely posts written by yours truly. I'm super excited to get a lot of hands on work and experience interning in a vibrant start up/ non-profit scene. On another note, I'm also in the final round for an internship with the Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy for later in the year. I have an interview on Thursday. Fingers crossed that it goes well!

So, that's the latest from me!


Be prepared for some travel posts in the coming weeks...

Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit- Oktoberfest ein zweites Mal!

Viele Grüße von München!

As many of my good friends or fellow snapchatters know, I spent this past weekend at Oktoberfest. For anybody who doesn't know what Oktoberfest is, think German stereotypes-people dressed up in Dirndls and lederhosen, piled in a beer hall singing and drinking beer by the liter-and there you have it! That's Oktoberfest!

Also, if you want to talk and meet people from around the world, then Oktoberfest it destined for you!

Reunited with a good ol' friend

Last time I was here, I went with Celine, an old exchange student friend from sophomore year and had a blast. This time, however, we dialed it up and took it to another level. Once more, I went with my friend, Celine, but also met up with 18 of the 25 CBYXers also there.  Thanks to Celine and her local connections, we got lucky and found ourselves in the Hofbräu tent both nights, though we also hopped biergartens time to time.  It pretty much went like this: If you wanted to talk to people, you went to the biergarten, if you wanted to sing and dance, you'd try to get into a tent. We struck a really good balance between the two, getting caught up with one another in the biergartens and making new friends with people from all over the world and then heading into a tent to get the real Oktoberfest experience of singing and dancing. No matter where you were and what time of the day it was, it was fun.

Back at with the group

The beergartens were lined with rows of picnic tables with people filling every seat. You just sat where there was room and struck up conversations with your neighbors. It was also the prime location to catch up with Celine (we haven't seen each other for 2 years, but we picked up right where we left off) and also talking with the CBYX squad, who are like family.

Inside the tent, it had a similar set up, but with a band playing in the center, and with more energy. Everybody's dancing on a table singing to one of the classic songs playing on repeat: Ein Prosit, Atemlos, Cowboys and Indianer, and the American favs: Country Roads and Sweet Caroline. The atmosphere was so up beat and cheerful and the feeling was simply gemütlich (comfy/warm smashed into a word.) It made for a really, really good time.

It's really difficult to describe the scene at Oktoberfest in words, so I hope the photos help. But in the end, the memories and crazy stories that sprouted from Oktoberfest are going to stick with me for a lifetime, and will probably be some of the highlights of this entire trip!

Berlin- Ich hab dich lieb!

I'm officially all settled into Berlin, and I am in LOVE with this city (or maybe just city life!)



East Side Gallery Repping...Berlin

As I've been getting into the swing of everyday life here, I've realized how much my German's improved.  I've become so comfortable with speaking German. Initially, I would process what I wanted to say in my head and how I was going to say it, all concerned about how American it was going to sound, but now I just own my accent and speak! Though I'm sure the German's are getting a kick out of how many grammar and pronunciation mistakes are in my sentences, but they understand what I'm...attempting...to say.



My School- Werner von Siemens Gymnasium

(High) School officially started last week and it's going well, though it's taken a while to get there. People used to tell me they'd have anxiety nightmares of getting lost heading to class, and I never related to those, until I got here. At my last Gymnasium, I had a support system of friends and my host family from day 1 (I have now realized how incredibly lucky I was.) On the other hand, here, I was completely left to fend for myself, which was quite humbling. After a week or so of looking helplessly confused, asking probably half the students for directions in desperation, and showing up late at least one class a day, I can officially navigate myself around the school like a pro! I'm finally comfortable being at the school, and with that, I'm starting to make friends. Since many people in my class have studied abroad, they relate to me and really put make an effort to talk to me. Now, it's getting to a good place and I actually enjoy going to class, hearing the language, and talking with others!

As for free time (which I have an abundance of,) I use to apply for internships-which to all my friends who think I'm on vacation for a year, I will be working 40 hours/week-and to try new things. Although I plan on keeping up with tennis, my friend, Annika and I have joined a rowing club-a sport I've always wanted to try but haven't had the chance to! Much to my surprise, there's lakes all over the suburbs of Berlin that are gorgeous! Rowing is a ton of fun and seems to be a great way to make friends. I'm also planning on volunteering with the Syrian refugees, a topic off significant contention here. I plan on helping tutor refugees in German and English.

There's one more thing I'd like to say today...




Squad at the Brandenburg Gate

Living in a city is ridiculously cool and I can't get enough of it. Berlin is a lively city full of street performers, markets, shopping and festivals around each corner. Es gibt immer etwas zu tun! Whenever I have nothing to do, I call up the other CBYXers in Berlin and we head into the city center and always, repeat, always, find something to do. We typically meet up at Alexanderplatz or Fredrichsstrasse and just wing it and I genuinely can't express how much fun it is to just walk around and explore. That brings something else up, a difference from the last time I studied abroad here... there's Americans going through the same thing as me nearby! It makes it so much easier and it's a difficult feeling to express...It's really nice to have each other as a support system.

The Berlin Group-Noah, Gingerlee, Annika, Allison, our area Rep, Gritt, and me!