Flight Information

Now I'm really getting excited because I got my flight information for Germany! I kept on hearing about kids who had gotten their info that day, so I decided to go get the mail. Sure enough, there were two envelopes from ASSE waiting. One of them contained generic visa and passport information (still gotta get that visa stuff sent off!). The other envelope had some stuff about our flights and when we need to schedule them. I have to be at Dulles between 1 and 4 pm on August 2. Other than that, I have no idea what's happening that day! I think there is only one flight option, but I'm hoping to book it soon so I can get a window seat!:) Then we have three days of pre-departure orientation in Washington D.C. before we leave for Germany on August 5. Our flight leaves Dulles at 5:15pm and arrives in Frankfurt, Germany on August 6 at 7:10am. The flight is only 7 hours which I was really surprised about. That's only 2 hours longer than to D.C. and maybe 1 hour longer than to Hawaii. Not too bad. My mom emailed Karin, my host mom, so we'll see if GIVE (German version of ASSE) has given her any more info about how I am getting from Fankfurt to Aachen, or wherever I am going to meet my host family. Bis bald!

Second Phone Call With My Host Family

Yesterday, I called my host family for the first time! Since they called me last weekend, my mom wanted me to call them this weekend. My German teacher gave me a good website to go on to get a phone card. It is uniontelecard.com. It's super easy...all you have to do is make an account, choose the card you want (I got 13 hours for $10), and enter your credit card information. Then they give you a 1-800 number to call. You'll have a pin number to enter and after you enter it, all you have to do is dial the international calling code (011), the country code for Germany (49), 4 digit area code (leave off the first 0), and finally the phone number. It's actually really easy and if you ever need an international calling card, check out uniontelecard.com.
Yesterday, I only talked to Karin, but it was still really fun. We talked about their vacations (2 0r 3 weeks in Italy before I get there) and skiing in Austria (!) during the winter. We also talked about school, their daily schedule, and how they celebrate holidays in Germany. It was really interesting and fun to talk to her. She also told me about their awesome coffee maker that you put coffee beans into and a cup of coffee with cream in it. Haha my mom says I'm going to come back a major kaffee drinker. Dannah says hi.
I'm hoping I get another packet of information soon from ASSE. I really want to find out flight information and more stuff about Washington D.C. and what we do when we get to Frankfurt. I'm 99% sure we all meet in D.C. on August 3 and leave for Germany on August 6, but who knows.

Talked on the Phone With My Host Mom

At 11:25 this morning, the phone rang. I picked it up and the caller said "This is Karin from Deutschland". It was my host mom! I knew she was going to call sometime between 9 and 12 this morning but I didn't know exactly when. My mom and I talked to Karin for a couple minutes. She told us that after school gets out, they are going to a little town near Venice, Italy for a few weeks until I get to Germany. She also said that I arrive in Aachen, Germany on August 6. Apparently, I am going to be having my language camp in Aachen. That will work out really well because then I can live with the Windhorsts and get used to the area. Aachen is only a half hour to 45 minutes from Lammersdorf by bus, so it will be an easy trip. I also talked to Meike a little. It was hard because I felt like I couldn't say anything to her (wir haben Deutsch gesprochen). We don't learn very many conversational words or phrases in class. But I did alright and I just have to remember that it will get easier if I work hard to learn the language. I'm going to return the call next weekend...maybe I'll think of some questions to ask Meike auf Deutsch. On another note, I am just waiting for my police clearance form to come in the mail before I can send my visa application off the San Francisco. Hopefully it will come this week!

Email from my host mom

Yesterday I got my first email from my host mom, Karin. She sounds really nice. I also got some pictures of my host family. In a couple of the pictures there is so much snow! So I asked my host mom if it normally snows that much. We'll see what she says. Also, Karin said they live about 5 minutes from Belgium by car and that they go there to buy coffee and go to the vet! I guess coffee is much cheaper there. I also got a couple of letters yesterday from ASSE. One was an official acceptance letter for the program along with a profile of my host family and some papers I need to get signed for my Visa. The other was a generic letter about host families. Both were very exciting to read and I hope I get a couple more letters soon!

I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!

Wow...I am so excited. After a week of seeing kids with CBYX posting that they had received a host family and me getting increasingly jealous, I got an email today from my host sister. She is 14 and I also have a host brother who is 16. They have 2 cats and 3 guinea pigs. My host family lives really close to Aachen, near the Belgium border. It's also pretty close to Holland. Aachen is actually the city where Germany, Belgium, and Holland all converge, and my town is a little to the south east of Aachen. I'll keep updating when I get another email :)

Waiting for my host family

So it's been a couple of months and I'm really anxious to find out about my host family. Everyone keeps asking me where I'm going to live and I always have to tell them "I have no idea!" I got my passport though which is good. I got my first info packet last week from ASSE...lots of reading about Germany and their culture, economics, and history. I have to say I haven't read it yet. So hopefully I get my host family soon...

I GOT ACCEPTED!

I was officially accepted to go to Germany for the 2009-2010 school year as a Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange student! I am so excited and I've been so busy over the last couple of weeks that this is the first chance I've gotten to write a post now that I've been accepted. I have no idea where I am going to be living yet, but i'll post it as soon as I find out.