I'm going to have to do this anyway eventually...

Things I Will Probably Need to Pack

3 Weeks of Clothes (Jeans, shirts, etc…)

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Hairbrush

Hair ties

Makeup

Makeup Remover

Straightener

Notebook

Insulin

Test strips

Glucagon

iPod

Headphones

Little safe thing (Chrissy says so)

Copy of Medical Records

Pods

Batteries

Computer

Chargers

OUTLET CONVERTER

MONEY

Now the Hard Part… European Fashion in December

Hopefully I'll be able to get some old German fashion magazines. European fashion has always interested me. As a seamstress I hope to study it and pay attention to how the fashion differs from country to country. I'm a little worried for when we go out in Germany… my traditional t-shirt, sweatshirt, and jeans won't be acceptable in Germany while I'm there. Hopefully I can learn a thing or two though and come back with more clothes than I brought. :) 

I may order a German magazine from Amazon and see what I can find and research through there. I can also ask Jenny, my exchange partner, for tips. It'd give us a good reason to try Skyping again :) Even though I am going to be exhausted everyday from doing so much, I know that I have to keep up with my appearance. Sweat pants will need to wait until we are back in the hotel every night!

I just love how it all looks and how it all comes together.. I'll have to make sure to stop at H&M before I leave :)

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Introductions

 Some people ask me, “Why German? Why not study Spanish, it’s more applicable.” Yeah, that may be true, and hopefully one day I will be able to learn and teach Spanish as well. But it doesn’t get me as excited as German does. It doesn’t have the history that Germany does. That you can be at your worst sometimes, but then change and bounce back to be one of the best nations in the world. That’s what makes German so special to me, the history. It connects with my life. It’s also part of my heritage.

Last summer, in 2012, I got the privilege to go on an exchange trip with my high school and another school in my district. I applied, got my exchange partner, started talking to her, and instantly bonded. In October 2011-she came to Crystal Lake, Illinois, my hometown. We instantly became ‘sisters’, and counted down the days until I came to Stuttgart, Germany. Finally June 12^th, 2012 came and I boarded a plane to fly to Germany. While on that trip, I got to visit different parts of Southern Germany, Paris, and Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Switzerland.

While over there, I got to experience so much. However, in December 2013, I’m getting another chance to have more experiences in Germany. However, it will be a different part of Germany. Not only will I be in the Germany’s capital, Berlin; I also get to go to Erfurt, Thüringen. I’ll get to experience a whole new part of Germany! I wonder how different the customs will compare in more Southern and Northern Germany.

I am looking forward to comparing some of the sightseeing places in Germany and how they compare to America’s skyscrapers. In Berlin, I can’t wait to see the “Brandenburger Tor”, “Fernseher Turm”, and “Reichstag”. In Erfurt, I can’t wait to see the “der Domberg” and I hope we get to go to “Weihnachtsmarkt”.

I have been taking German for now going on 6 years. In high school, I had two fantastic teachers who helped me understand the basics and then challenged me. However, nothing could have prepared me for the first day of German 201. This term, Fall 2013, I’ll be taking German 325 that will look at German literature. I can’t wait to use what I learn in class while in Germany this summer. This past year in German class has really helped me determine that I do want to pursue a degree in German, and hopefully to teach it to the ability my former teachers and professors have taught me.






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