Reverse Homesickness

First of all, I have not made a post since language camp. I am seriously the worst blogger probably in all of CBYX history. I sincerely do apologize for not updating, and I will greatly regret it later when I am wishing that I had some sort of documentation for my time in Germany. I was so busy the entire year, and whenever I did have a break, I was too tired to get around to making a blog post.
I got home on the 14th of June. After 3 long flights and luggage lost in D.C, I have made it safely home. The humidity hit me hard, immediately as I stepped off of the plane. Welcome to Mississippi. 
My first week back here was great. Seeing everyone again and telling all of my stories. But now I am incredibly homesick, for Germany. I miss my friends and host family and the life I had there. I miss them all so much. I miss the city I lived in, Mainz. I miss everything. I never thought I would have such a homesickness for Germany.
Currently, I’m just trying to get back into the swing of things. I’ve got my job back and I start on Sunday, I am getting involved in sports and hanging out with all of my friends. I’ve started some college applications and I’m looking forward to my senior year. Everything is going well here. But my heart still longs for my second home far away.

Yes, I’m Mississippian. And yes, I am living in Germany

So, today I experienced something that really shocked me.
During an exercise we were doing at language camp, we had to get in groups of 7 and create “a perfect country to live in.” Me and Tori, the other girl from Mississippi, were basically the only “Southerners” in the group. When it came to talking about gun control, we were all for it. In the South, almost everyone has a gun, and everybody is totally in support for gun rights. After presenting our project and mentioning the guns, everyone was in shock. “Why would you want guns?” “Your opinion is wrong.” “Guns kill people.” “Mississippian’s are trashy.”
Hold up, what? 
After everyone had completed their presentations, the teamers told us that the countries we made reflected the culture we grew up in.
Sounds about right. Guns, Mississippi… It’s our culture.
That is, after all, where I grew up. That is my culture. It is in my blood. 
Now, I can understand where people may not agree with my choices, but Mississippian’s are trashy because we support gun rights? That is like me saying that Yankee’s are atheists because they support abortion.
As a CBYX-er, it is my duty and every other CBYX-er’s duty to not stereotype. To not make judgments based on opinions. And after hearing everyone’s response, I am in complete shock that someone would make such a judgement. Being country does NOT make you “trashy.”
Yes, I am from Mississippi. No, I am not stupid. No, I am not fat. No, I am not trashy because of my belief’s or because of where I am from. Clearly, I have something because I am one of 50 American’s chosen for this prestigious scholarship.
Not only does it hurt being judged by my belief’s, it upsets me to know that my state, my home, is stereotyped in such a way, especially by other CBYX-er’s (who have very little knowledge on Mississippi in the first place). That is where I was born. That is where I grew up. That is home. It is not trashy. Nor does it make me trashy because I am from there. 
To think that these stereotypes even exist within this group is upsetting. To even make such a judgement about a state that you barely know anything about is sickening. I hope that no one will make judgments against any other state, or country in such a negative manner ever again. And hopefully everyone will learn a lot about that during their exchange. 

Language Camp: Week 1

So I have been at Language Camp in Schloss Wittgenstein at Bad Laasphe for almost a week now!
It has been so fun! My roommate, Tori, is great. We have a lot of fun together. I also really love the weather here, it is very cool, so much that we usually have to wear a jacket and a scarf. Classes are a bit tough, but I am learning so much more German every day. The food is very interesting. I can say that I am finally used to German food now. There is only one hot meal a day, lunch. The rest is cold cuts. They also eat bread with every meal and there is always Nutella. Instead of putting mayonnaise on their sandwiches, they use butter.
Everyone is, for the most part, getting along well. We all have fun playing games together, etc. It’s going to be sad to leave language camp and say goodbye to all of my friends.

 

CBYX: 12 hours until departure

Tomorrow morning, I will leave my home and depart for D.C.
I thought it would be very important to document my last hours in my home; my feelings and emotions are sort of numb at this point. It is hard to imagine that this is the last time I will be sitting here in my room for a year, really, it is very hard to comprehend. As far as packing go, I think I am mostly prepared. Although, I do have the odd feeling that I may be missing something important. 
It is crazy that this is actually happening. I have only dreamed of this for a year, and now it is finally coming in to place. It is literally right in front of me. It feels amazing.
I am not sure when I will be able to make a post next. I will try to while I am in D.C but I don’t know how much free time I will have while I am there. Hopefully I will post soon.

Auf wiedersehen, America

The Final Goodbyes

I have 1 more day until my journey begins, and I’ve begun the hard process of saying goodbye to my friends and family.
I would say this is bittersweet, but it’s more just like bitter. Who knew that saying goodbye for a year would be so hard? 
The actual thought of physically being away from my friends and family isn’t what I’m worried about. I’m worried that once I get back, everyone will have changed. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to someone that I will never meet again, and once I get back, the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a butterfly will have already taken place. This really isn’t the case for family so much as it is for friends. After all, we are so young and our teens go by so quickly and we change all the time.
I hate having to say goodbye to people that I won’t see for a year. It is so hard! But at the same time, I am excited to go on this journey to Germany; I will meet so many new people and friends while I am over there.
Tomorrow is my last day in Mississippi before I leave for D.C. I am going to try to enjoy it as much as I can and soak it all up. 

CBYX: 1 week left until pre-departure

I have only 1 week left until pre-departure, and the realization has finally hit me!
Last night I began to actually think about what and who I am leaving behind and it has finally hit me that I will be going away for a year!
I am still very excited, but also nervous, scared, and anxious all at the same time.
I still need to pack, but other than that I have everything I need.
I have noticed that I am already starting to feel anxious. I am losing a lot of my appetite due to all these emotions I am feeling! Hopefully I can calm down enough to eat a decent sized meal. Although I think my stomach will be in turns from excitement until I leave.
Of the greatest fears I have of leaving home, I am worried that my friends will change and possibly… forget about me[?] while I am gone. I know, it’s weird and a bit confusing and I can’t really explain it, but it is something that has been sitting in the back of my mind.
I know that I will have a wonderful time and a great experience of a lifetime! I am beyond excite to meet everyone in D.C!

12 more days- is this real?

Only 12 more days until I depart for D.C!
I know that 12 days isn’t long until I leave to go to Germany for a year, but it feels like 12 days will be a lifetime. Furthermore, it also still seems so surreal.
I’ve thought about it a lot, and I just can’t seem to figure out why it seems so surreal. The closest conclusion I’ve come to is that I have never lived in Germany before so I can’t even imagine what it will be like and what to expect.
It also seems like all of the other finalists have come to the terms with the fact that they are going to be gone away for a year, and so they are more nervous. I am still stuck in that feeling I got when I found out that I got accepted (maybe not that bad).
Since I have quit my job, the days seem to be going by extra slow. I thought that I would want this next week and a half to myself, but I find myself pacing around and getting anxious if I am not busy. I want to pack, but if I do now then I won’t have anything to do when my pre-departure date is closer, and I will surely be more anxious then. I’ve decided that I will start packing on Monday the 4th (I leave on Thursday, the 8th). That is so long from now!
I’ve been trying to think of things to do to keep me busy. I want to hang out with some of my friends but most of them are at band camp. I guess it is a good time to start learning my German.

CBYX Mock Interview Questions

If you’re trying to prepare for a CBYX interview, here are some mock questions to help you practice.

*Remember: These questions are not guaranteed at any CBYX interview. They change the questions every year, but the questions they will ask at the interview are very similar to these. Practicing these can help you get an idea of what they might ask you at your upcoming interview*

-What would you do if your host family stopped talking to you and you didn’t know why?
-Germans are very reserved people, how do you plan on making friends and socializing at school?
-What would you do if your host sister/brother stopped asking you to hang out with him/her and go out on the weekends?
-What would you do if your host mother prepared for you a big nasty looking meal?
-What do you think are the effects of constantly Skyping your friends and family back home in the U.S?
-If you could bring one thing to Germany with you, what would you bring and why?
-What do you do that causes tension within your household?
-How will you deal with homesickness?
-If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be and why?
-Germans are very interested in world politics, how would you describe your political views and thoughts of America’s government system?
-Why do you want to go to Germany?
-Why should we choose you as a CBYX finalist?

CBYX: How To Prepare For The Interview

I have already made one post about tips during the interview, but I haven’t made one about tips to help you before the interview.
I think the interview experience is different for everyone. Some people have a really great time and seem to be confident in how they were at their interview. Others feel the pressure more than anything and worry a lot about what could have/could go wrong during their individual and group interview.
For me, the interview was tough. I was there for 6 hours, for one. (without any food!)
The tough part was coming face to face with all of the tough competition. When I walked into the building and saw the other semi-finalists, I was terrified. These kids looked great. I also found it hard to truly be myself because I was so nervous and worried about making a good impression. There was definitely very high tension in the room with all of the other candidates. We all wanted it so bad. And on top of that, the questions in the individual interview were just hard themselves.
Most importantly, I think it is very crucial to practice how you will respond to answers at your interview. Don’t go in your room and practice inside your head, you need to speak out loud. Have your parents, friends, or relatives give you a mock interview (I have a post on mock interview questions for reference). But, every year the interview questions are different. I prepared for my interview using questions I thought they would ask, but when I got there they asked something completely different that I was unprepared for. So don’t practice specific responses, practice on how to speak well. I think it is good that they mix the questions up every year so that they get a genuine response. 
Secondly, practice on your interaction skills. If you are an awkward turtle, you will definitely not get the scholarship and you will make a very bad impression at the interview. Learn to open up. They want to see people at the interview who know how to strike up a conversation and socialize well.
Lastly, don’t stress (like I did). If anything, it makes everything worse and adds more tension to the interview. Staying calm up until the interview date will ensure that you will have a smooth sailing individual interview. Practice, but don’t be constantly freaking out and having 24/7 anxiety. It’s okay to be nervous, but don’t let it get to the best of you. Think about life as an exchange student in Germany, and keep that as your goal to work towards. I think that a lot of us get so caught up in the interview and trying to do excellent in it that we forget what we are actually working towards in the first place.

CBYX: One month until pre-departure

So, as you can tell by the title, I have exactly one more month left until I leave for D.C! I am getting uber excited and time cannot go by fast enough. Speaking of time, this month is dragging. I honestly thought my summer would speed by but this is not happening. And since this is my last full month in America, everything seems to be going by extra slow since I am constantly checking my countdown. (Advice: don’t even download a countdown! It just makes time go by even slower. This is especially true when you are going through the application process). But, work tends to keep me fairly busy since I work almost every day during the week. But yesterday I put in my 2 weeks notice saying that I will no longer be available for employment after July 21st because I am going to the beach on the 22nd through the 25th, and when I come back that will only leave me with 13 days to prepare for Germany. But, I feel like that will be a long 13 days since I won’t be at work. 
In other news, I purchased new luggage! I was attempting to pack a trial run and I could barely fit all of my winter clothes into one suitcase alone. So I went online to Walmart.com and found a huge piece of luggage for an excellent price with free shipping! So I am very excited for that to come in. I also have yet to set up my international bank account, but when I do that then I will be completely ready to go!
I don’t think this will be a busy month for me. If anything, it’s going to be slow and boring. I guess I should really be enjoying the time  that I have left in America, but it’s hard when you are just so anxious to go. 
I hope my blog posts are still as interesting as they used to be. It’s hard now that all I am waiting to do is depart for Germany. Once I get there they will really start to pick up.
In the meantime, if there is anything you would like for me to post about in particular (from the application to departure or anything in between), just comment and let me know.
I will be keeping you all posted as departure draws nearer!