France!Holiday Park!

France!

          Before you ask, no, I didn’t go to Paris (my brother’s first reaction when I told him), I went to Strasbourg. Strasbourg is one of the biggest French cities near where I live in Germany and my family had told me before that we were going to visit France, but I never caught the name of the place they said. So I was really surprised when I walked down the stairs one morning and my host mom told me that we were going to Strasbourg. (In my head I was thinking, Strasbourg, what Strasbourg?) Then she spared me asking and said it’s in France. The drive was about an hour to an hour and a half, it wasn’t bad at all. The thing that really surprised me was how much the border between France and Germany resembles the border between two states in the U.S. There was no border patrol, and you didn’t have to stop, it was just a “Welcome to France” sign, sort of like a “Welcome to Indiana” sign that I see pretty often at home…

         There were a ton of tourists in Strasbourg (and according to my host parents they were mostly Germans) so we didn’t do a boat tour (it was also pretty hot, which was really unusual) but we did visit the cathedral and palace (now two museums) and walked along the river. And we got Icecream! It was good :)

The Cathedral

The River

The Palace

River

Opera

Holiday Park!

            Basically it’s really similar to Holiday World except there are no Holiday themed rides… I think it literally means a park you go on when it’s holiday, and not that the park has holiday themed areas like Holiday World back in the U.S. It was a lot of fun (and my host dad got me an unlimited pass for the year). I went on two adult rides, then since I have a 3 year-old host sister, we went to the kid section of the park, and it was surprisingly fun! I mean I never really enjoy rollercoasters and scary rides all that much, so the kid park was sort of perfect. You get to have a pretty view and have a little bit of thrill. 

The shops inside

The Entrance

Arriving in Oberhausen-Rheinhausen

So, Host Family!

           The Journey finally begins! Even though I felt like I learned a lot at language camp, I have to be honest and say that my German speaking skills really didn’t improve too much simply because I was still speaking English all the time. So I’m excited to finally be able to listen to German all the time and also try to speak some German with my host family. Most of you know that I will be with my welcoming host family for the first 10 days of my stay in Oberhausen-Rheinhausen because my permanent host family is on vocation.

So on Saturday, August 16^th, I started my journey on a train from Bad Laasphe to Marburg, then rode the IC from Marburg to Frankfurt and then the ICE from Frankfurt to Mannheim, where my host family was going to pick me up. I was lucky cause there were 3 other people going to same way as me, three of us ended in Mannheim (including me) so I wasn’t alone. The train stations at Frankfurt and Mannheim were a little intimidating since they were so huge, but luckily I didn’t get lost and found my host family fairly quickly J

           I’ve been at my welcoming host family for 6 days now, and everything has been wonderful! I’ll be sad to leave them next week, but I know I’ll see them again since Julitta(my welcoming host mom) is going to be my local coordinator, so I’ll at least have one meeting with her per month  and because I’m only moving 5 minutes away… I’m also super excited to meet my permanent host family, I’ve been told that their English aren’t as good, so I’ll have to practice my German even more there (everyone in my welcoming host family can speak very good English) which is good because a lot of times I have to be forced into learning(since I’m lazy)

            Fun things- I got to visit Speyer, which has a beautiful Cathedral, and the 2^nd largest in German (I’ve been told), I got to go up the tower, so I have some awesome pictures. I also had some icecream there, and I have to say that it was very good, even though it wasn’t as sweet as the icecream in the U.S.. I also got to go to my first German Cinema! So the Germans have this very interesting thing call “sneak preview” which you buy a ticket a day beforehand but you don’t know what movie you’re watching until you get there. So I did this with my host siblings and 2 of their friends. The movie ended up being “Guardians of the Galaxy” in German, so I really didn’t understand what was being said but I kinda got the gist of the story by body language, the language was very good though. So this was basically my first week at the Host family’s house. It really has been an interesting experience, especially with eating so much bread (lol, I eat a ton of rice at home) and being able to visit places by bike! 

First time riding a bike in 7+ years

View on one of the towers of the Cathedral in Speyer

Front view of Cathedral in Speyer

          I also got to visit another town and explore it by myself and I found an Asian Market:

            Then I got to go with my host mom and brothers to another town for icecream (sorry, too many town and I don't remember how to spell most of them... 

Far view of the Castle

My Icecream

Close view of the Castle

Random picture

Marburg(ridiculouslyx2 late)

                  First of all I just want to say that language camp has been awesome so far! I’m learning so much. My brain has never felt so stuffed after a 3 hour lesson at any other time in my entire life. I’m still not confident in my ability to talk to native Germans in German, but I think I’m starting to get a hang of the language (pronunciation is the hardest for me…). The activities that we had so far were not only fun, but also enlightening. They really have helped me start discovering who I am right now and who I want to become. The activities also drilled the phrase, “It’s not right or wrong, it’s just different” into my mind. I’m not with my host family yet and am at a camp with 49 other Americans and 10 German (teachers and teamers), so I really haven’t experience this phrase yet. I’m still in my little American bubble, and it would be interesting to see how different I am compared to my host family and how I would adapt.

                 But, on to fun things: We went to Marburg on Saturday(August 9^th)!! Marburg is a bigger town than Bad Laasphe and had a lot more to offer in terms of shopping options. We were all super excited to finally go see a different part of Germany since the only town we’ve been to together is Bad Laasphe. This is also the first time I rode the train in Europe! It really wasn’t hard since someone already got our tickets for us, so we just had to show up at the train station on the right platform. Both of the train stations we boarded on were pretty small, but the one in Marburg had a McDonald’s in it (it was the first McDonald’s I saw in Germany). (this is really late because I haven't have fast internet to upload the pictures) 

The Cathedral in Marburg

The Castle in Marburg

Deutschland!!!

     !Finally in Germany!

It’s hard to believe that summer had flown by so quickly and it’s actually July 26, the day I leave for Germany. It’s so crazy that the week before I was still in Louisville, but now I’m actually boarding the plane to Frankfurt, Germany. I arrived at the airport with the rest of the group at around one o’clock in the afternoon even though our plane doesn’t board till 4:30p.m., checking in and going through security took a while, but we still had 2 hours to explore the airport once we found our gate. I was assigned seat 25B, which sucked a little cause it’s the middle seat, which means that every time I have to pee the person on the outside had to get up and unfortunately the person that end up getting the aisle seat wasn’t someone I actually know, so I was kinda awkward to get up so I just tried to not drink that much liquid.

My flight left at 5:15 p.m. and it’s a 7½ hour plane-ride, so we arrived at Frankfurt at 7 in the morning since German is 6 hours ahead of us. I was planning to watch movies the whole eight hours, but for some reason I felt really sleepy before the plane even took off, so I actually slept five/six hours on the plane, which really helped with the jet lag. The bus ride from Frankfurt to Bad Laasphe was not very interesting, there were a lot of trees and it actually kinda felt like I was still in Louisville. The villages we saw on the way quickly changed that impression (all the towns/villages are super cute!)

After we finally arrived at Bad Laasphe, we settled into our rooms, and had brunch. It was an interesting meal, I’ve probably not had any of the food before, they all tasted pretty decent, but I especially like the potatoes they served (did I mention that I got to eat at the castle?). Then we were allowed a power-nap from 12-3p.m. (most people showered then napped so it was really more like a 2 hour nap). Then we got to explore the town, our leaders took us down to the local village (we weren’t able to shop because most shops were closed on Sundays, which was a really cool difference from the U.S.) the only thing was that I wasn’t expecting the hill to be that treacherous, so I wore flip-flops and had no water with me, by the time we got back to the school, I was ready to collapse. I felt a lot better once I had water, and a ton better once I had dinner, but both my feet got blisters on them, and it really hurts to walk.

Schloss Wittgenstein (Castle I'm staying at)

A little Garden in Town

Far View of Town

We’ve been told that classes go from 9-12:15 every weekday and curfew is 10 on school nights and midnight on weekends. And tomorrow(Monday/first day) we have breakfast at 8:30 and evaluations at 9 a.m. (I’m going to be in the beginner, beginner class because I don’t know any German… I’m really looking forward to camp, and will probably only post once a week or once every two weeks from now since internet’s not very reliable and I’m really trying to learn German so typing long posts in English is a little counterproductive. I also don’t want to spoil anything for the people that might want to apply to this program next year (language camp is really fun and the classes are very useful and definitely not boring and that’s basically all you have to know) 

Host Family!!

            It’s really funny how good news always comes as a surprise even if I’ve been expecting them. And the day I didn’t check my email for possible updates about my host family is the day I receive them. I was actually slowly eating my breakfast and reading at the same time when my mom stood at the top of the stairs and asked me if I got an email about my host family. And since she had gotten a previous email confused as my host family placement, I kinda just looked at her and said, “If you’re talking about the email from a couple days ago, then no.” She then impatiently said, “no, I mean the one that I just received…” and she went on stating facts about my permanent host family. By that time, I was sprinting up the stairs, heading straight to my laptop, frantically trying to pull up my email (which ironically is pulled up already every other day) to see if I really have gotten my host family info. And guess what? I did. And luckily I actually have two host families, one is my welcoming family since my permanent host family is going to be on vocation when I get there, and the other is the one that I will be living with for the duration of my stay in Germany.

            I’m staying at a place call Oberhausen-Rheinhausen, which consists of two little villages. Oberhausen is where my permanent host family lives, and Rheinhausen, is where my welcoming family lives. Rheinhausen is directly at the Rhein-River (Rhine), and they are both near Speyer , Heidelberg and Mannheim. The funny thing is that my welcoming host mom is actually my local coordinator too, so it’s awesome that I’ll get to know her better during those 10 days that I’ll be staying with her. And there’s also the fact that my permanent host family has 2 daughters age 11 and 3, and my welcoming family has children that are slightly older than me, so it’s a good mix. I was kinda hoping that I would have a host sister around my age so I can just follow her around in school and hang around her friends, but I can see how that would have let me become very complacent and basically lazy, so I’m a little glad that I have to venture out a little (not too much because I think my host sister goes to the same secondary school as me so we’ll go to school together, we just won’t have the same classes.)

            I didn’t find out where I’ll be studying initially when I received my host family placement, however, when I skyped Julitta(local coordinator&host mom) she told me that I’ll most likely be going to the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Gymnasium in Mannheim, where my host sister attends. And I sincerely hope that’s where I’ll go, cause Bach is my favorite composer, and the opportunity to study at a school that’s named after him is awesome! I’m super excited to be able to find out where I’ll be staying before I leave for DC on the 24^th of this month, since I was able to buy some gifts for both my host families (I originally only have one set of gifts) and I’m super grateful for this opportunity and definitely grateful for both my host families for choosing my as their host daughter!

            Now I just have to learn German…

Interesting Read: Gap Year

I found this little article on why one might consider/want to take a gap year and the benefits, you guys can take a look if you want :)

                                 Why Your High School Senior Should Take a Gap Year

Note to Future Applicants :)

            Since I’m not in Germany yet, nor am I in school, I really have nothing else to do (except earn money, but that’s beside the point) so I decided to write a little note to you future applicants. I should probably introduce myself too :) My name is Yu-Jing Cheng, but I go by Sarah. Most Americans have a hard time saying my name correctly, but I think the Germans would get my name correct because I've been studying a little bit of German on my own (I've never taken German at school, or studied it anywhere. I basically knew no German when I applied for this scholarship) and one of the German alphabets sort of sound like the correct pronunciation for the "Y" in my name. I'm super excited to finally have people pronounce my name correctly! Btw, I'm from Taiwan, but currently live in Louisville Kentucky. I just graduated duPont Manual High School so I'll actually be going on a gap year instead of doing one of my years in high school abroad. 

            Many people have already asked me the big question: Why? Why would I give up a full ride at the college of my choice, and instead chose to go to Germany? Why would I “waste” a year of my life abroad instead of going to a prestigious college and getting the education I need for my future career? Why would I want to do one more year of high school? Why Germany?

            These are all legitimate questions. But they’re really hard for me to give a very sophisticated response(which a lot of people seem to expect) because my answer is really personal and also pretty simple: it’s just that it has always been one of my dreams/goals. I’ve always dreamed to travel the world and to become a polyglot and I truly believe that this scholarship (Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange) will help me fulfil my dreams. It wouldn’t completely fulfil my dreams, but it would be one of the first steps I take in achieving my goals/dreams. And if any of you reading this post are agreeing to what I’m saying, then perhaps CBYX is the program for you and you should apply!

            A note about applying: you can apply to this program pretty much all throughout high school. And I really recommend that (if you’re a student) you talk to your parents about it first. If they say that they will not let you go even if you get in, then maybe you should rethink your decision to apply because the application process is long and a lot of work, and it really might be a waste of time and effort if you end up not being able to go anyways(I didn’t follow my own advice, but my parents have always let me do whatever I wanted to as long as I do my part first, and it wasn’t something immoral. I did talk to them after I found out that I made semi-finalist though(don’t recommend for underclassmen cause your parents could really help you a lot on your paper application)).

If you are not a graduating senior when you’re applying to this program (then I’m talking to you right now):

            -make sure you talk to your counselors about transferring credits, because you might have to redo a year of high school here if the credits you earn in Germany don’t transfer (which might change your(or your parent’s) mind about applying) (also realize that the grades you get in Germany might not be stellar since you’ll be studying in a language that you’re most likely not proficient in and that your GPA might suffer. However, online classes might be available at your school)

            -If you have a lot of leadership positions that you/your parents wouldn’t want you to give up, then you might consider applying later, you always have the chance of going to Germany on a gap year.

            -Realize that you might miss prom(junior/senior) and that your experience in Germany would be so different than the experiences your friends would have in the U.S.. It’s completely ok to feel lonely and be different, but just a thought.

If you are a graduating senior:

            -You might want to find out whether or not the college of your choice will defer for you. Most colleges will defer, but beware that scholarships often will not (will have to reapply for them when you come back)

            -This program might increase the chance of you getting into the college of your choice (although application period is around the same time for both) Many people have said that their gap year have helped them in getting into a more prestigious college(they reapplied after they got back or during their gap year). (this however shouldn’t be your priority or sole reason for applying, or your year in Germany would probably be pretty miserable because you’re not doing it for the right reasons)

            In my humble opinion, I really do believe that this program is worth redoing a year of high school, or losing a couple of leadership positions, or doing an extra year of high school, or having your GPA suffer a bit. But, my goals are different from many other people, and I respect everyone’s choice. I do think that if you’re already almost 100% sure that you will not be going even if you get in then you shouldn’t apply, because it really would be a big letdown and might decrease your desire to reapply. I also think that this opportunity is especially great for freshmen and seniors because they’re missing the least amount and benefiting the most (this is only my opinion). Why would I say that? Because they really aren’t missing anything important in high school (no prom, less leadership positions, less need to take ap classes online or having to take the test abroad), and studying abroad would probably help them discover themselves, their interests and likes/dislikes, so they can better take classes they know they will enjoy for the rest of high school/college.

            Sophomores and juniors, you guys will learn a lot too, but you will be doing your junior year or senior year abroad. And by that time, you will probably have clubs that you’re invested in, and classes for junior and senior year are really important for college apps. Not only that, if you’re a senior in Germany, you have to deal with college apps (you could write a lot of the essays in the summer but your essays would probably be better if you talk about your experience living abroad without your family, etc and how you’ve grown ) and that would take away time you could have spent with friends or your host family in Germany. 

            And juniors, you might be missing a whole year of academic achievements, medals for various clubs, etc that you can put on your college resume. Not that college is the most important thing in your life, but it is of relative importance, and your parents might place a lot more emphasis on it than you would. But “unfortunately” their opinions do matter, and don’t end up like some people I know, who got accepted, but their parents wouldn’t agree to let them go because they would have to redo a year of school (all the reasons above), etc. There’s a time and place for everything, and everyone’s situation is different.

            Why Germany? This actually is a very important question that all of you future applicants should think about. (hint, hint, might be an interview question) And really, I was lucky to have several college interviews before my CBYX interview, because I got the chance to practice and I knew myself a lot better after each college interview and by the time the CBYX interview came, only a couple of questions threw me off guard and this was one of them. I’ve never really given much thought to why I wanted to go to Germany. Is it because of its rich history? Its culture? Or is it because of the usefulness of its language? I really had to think about it during the interview, and for those of you (like me) who like to take their time thinking about their response, start thinking now!

            Oh wow… this was a long spill! (These are the things that I’ve been thinking about these past few months after the interview and after I found out that I made finalist and I think might be useful to any future applicant) But in all seriousness, I really hope that my post would sort of help you decide whether or not CBYX might be the right program for you at this time of your life. And if it isn’t, don’t be discouraged, you will always have other opportunities later (later in high school/ in college, etc) but if CBYX is for you and you’re excited about applying, good for you! I would be more than willing to help along the way and once I’m actually in Germany(cough, cough), I will be able to answer more questions about life in Germany, etc! Feel free to comment below and ask any questions, I will do my best to answer them.