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My year has come in a full circle. This afternoon, my parents, Sally, and I went to our ASSE Area Rep’s house for the pre departure orientation. It’s hard to believe that one year ago, I was one week away from flying off to the begin the best (but sometimes the hardest) year of my life.

We’ve done everything with my sister that my mom did last year with me. We’ve been shopping for clothes and host family gifts. We’ve had goodbye parties and my sister has started to pack her two suitcases.

Sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday that I was packing my bags and leaving to spend a year in a foreign country, and other times I feel like all that happened was in another lifetime. I made so many memories in that one year that it will take me years to process everything. Like my host parents said, there was only one Sunday during the entire year when I didn’t leave the house. Almost every weekend, I played soccer or traveled with my host family. There are no words to express how grateful and appreciative I am of my host family for exposing me to their German culture and treating me as a member of their family. I never felt like a temporary guest, which made me feel so good. I am also very thankful for how much they helped me and encouraged me to travel. Without my host family, I would never have made it to Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, England, France, Luxembourg, and Austria. They also exposed me to the highly competitive sides of two of my passions, soccer and skiing. I was able to see nearly every Alemmania Aachen home game during the 2009-2010 season. As with skiing, I shared over 14 days of fantastic skiing in Zillertal, Austria with Ralf, Sven, and Meike. In addition, I had the opportunity to attend a World Cup ski jumping event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany on New Years Day. Through help from my host family, I was able to do a three week internship with a language school, play soccer on a women’s team in the area, and take the SAT in Dusseldorf in early May. As you can see, they have done so much for me in the past year and my entire host family in Germany has, and will always keep, a special place in my heart.

It was a big challenge to leave my host family and friends. I made several friends on my soccer team and at school. Until a month ago, I never knew how hard it is to say goodbye. After the end of my sophomore year in America, I said goodbye to everyone with dry eyes. After all, I was going to be back in a year. It’s not like I was leaving forever. Leaving Germany was very different. I am planning to return in the next year, but anything can happen. Lives change, things happen, and there was the thought in my head that I may never see some of these people again. These were the people I had laughed and cried with; the girls who had helped me with German homework, my host mom who taught me how to make Schnitzel, Hackfleisch Brotchen, and Nudelauflauf, my soccer teammates and coaches, my host father and brother who took me to Alemmania Aachen games, and my host sister who made our walks to the bus stop always entertaining! There is no doubt that I miss Germany and the lifelong friends I made there. However, in this age of technology, there are no difficulties in keeping in touch with German friends!

My last couple of weeks in Germany were packed with activities. One of the highlights of that time was spending June 9-12 in Berlin. The CBYX end of the year seminar is always in Berlin at the beginning of the year and this year it was no different. I flew with a couple of friends to Berlin (only 125 Euros for roundtrip on Air Berlin-cheaper than the train!) We (47 ASSE CBYXers) spent 4 days taking Berlin by storm. We participated in “Re-Entry to the U.S.” seminars, sat in on a congressional meeting in the Bundestag, participated in a Q and A session with the Bundestags President and other German government officials, and were hosted by U.S. Ambassador to Germany (Phillip Murphy) and his wife at the newly built American Embassy on Unter den Linden next to the Brandenburg Gate. During the evening, we would take the subway into Berlin and visit the sites Berlin is so famous for! I also had the opportunity to meet up with a pen pal of mine who lives in Berlin. Fritzi and I have been pen pals since 2007, so it was fun for us to meet up. She showed me her home city and I told her all about my experiences in Germany. Maybe someday Fritzi can come to Seattle!

Here we are. My blog is done. There is a lot more I could say. I could talk more about my experiences or reflect more on my year, but I think I have done that. This is weird. Once I post this, it is a definite end. It doesn’t make sense for me to post about football games, staying up late doing homework, and hanging out with friends. And who wants to read about my experiences while applying for college?

I am entering a new stage in my life. It’s my senior year in high school. For some reason though, I don’t feel like a senior. I feel older. I feel more responsible, independent, and self confident. I did something crazy; applied for the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship, got it, lived in Germany for an entire year, and returned a different person. Germany taught me to put away my fears, to speak up, and to stand out. Remember, you’re not going to get anywhere in life by worrying what other people think about you or worrying if you are saying or wearing the right thing. Don’t worry about making a mistake when you are trying something new. After all, we learn from our mistakes and they only make us stronger.

Do something for yourself that you never thought you would ever do in your life. You will be glad you did it…I am.