And so it went...

I wish I could compress my emotions and write them down for you, I wish I had the words to explain how this year has changed me. I wish I could guide you through my struggles and show you how I overcame them. I wish there was a way you could understand.

But you can't fully understand, not even other exchange students do. Just the same as I don't fully understand their stories. 

But that's what makes them great and that's why I'll try..... 

"30 days down. 4000 miles away. And a new life has begun. New mistakes. New faces, friends and, family. New places to see and new places to avoid. New songs in a new language, everything in a new language. But change is good and 30 days in and already some of the old is blending with some of the new and the rest is becoming somewhat of a familiarity. 

Everything becomes an adventure. Each: day, walk, meal, bike ride, class, shopping trip, evening and so on. 30 adventures down 270 left to go."

I didn't want to leave. I was afraid, of the people I'd lose and the friends I wouldn't find. I didn't want to leave my clothes and my bed, family and dog. I'd wondered if I was making the right decision. What I didn't realize is that there are no right or wrong in this world, just standards set for you by all the other homo sapiens that crawl these soils.

I started my year more naive than a dumb blonde on the bachelor, but learned things I never would have imagined. I had limited my expectations to people and words, and I learned those too, but what I hadn't expected was to learn how to be happy for no reason. To dance in my room because it just felt right, I learned to walk alone and be okay with it. This year wasn't what I had planned. No this year was something completely different. 

It started off in a mixture of speed, slowness, confusion and joy, sometimes I thought it would last forever and other I wished it would. I spent too much money on things I didn't need and too much time trying to replace and compare things in Germany with those back home. I found too much comfort in music and not enough in being uncomfortable. But at some point I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I stopped caring what others thought and I tried my hardest to let go of home, because that was no longer my home anymore and it won't be till July 5th and until that day arrives I have to make sure I find my place. 

So I started trying a little more. 

So I started to connect. 

So I started traveling more. 

So I started to live again. 

I'd served my time being afraid.

It wasn't easy to let go. It never is. To people. Places. Things. Ideas. But they would still be there at the end of my 300 day journey and the things I could have experienced would be washed away.  

*270 adventures down, 30 left to go... I wasn't ready, none of us are really, we just do the best we can. 

Special thanks to my amazing host family, and friends in Germany for an amazing year! As well as my friends and family back in Nebraska for all your support! Heres to an amazing last 30 days! :) 

TSCHÜSS

Literally!?

I wanted to take time out of your day today to share a great struggle with you that I have faced this year, one I see no hope in solving with only a little over 50 days left. I knew before I left for Germany that the language would be hard, that the grammar would not completely make sense to a native English speaker like myself. However I had not realized how truly big of a struggle making sense of the words of what the Germans said to me on a daily basis would be.  

SO I am here to help share this struggle with you today. God bless you.  

1. Halt die fresse: This is a good one to get the ball rolling. Halt means stop,  die = the.. soo "stop the" and then fresse means eat. I just don't understand why anyone would want to "stop the eat." WHAT KIND OF NON SENSE IS THIS!

         EX: *Helga brings out the fifth course of the meal*
                  Bobby: "Halt die fresse!"

2. Laüft bei dir: This literally translates to "Walks by you." I mean I guess that would make sense if you were walking?! I'm not really sure. Maybe Germans love for walking has messed up their ability to make logical sentences... I guess we'll never know what "walks" by them.

3. Ich sehe schwarz für dich: "I see black for you." Well I don't know what they are seeing black for.. Maybe they have something in their eye and instead of seeing us they are seeing the black spec in their eye. But why this is a common phrase I'm not too sure..

4. Alles Klar?: "Everything clear?" Now this one translates a little more clearly but I still just don't understand why they are asking me if "everything clear" like do I have a smudge on my glasses?!?! WHATS CLEAR!? This question isn't.

        EX: *Bobby has smudge on glasses and walks into pole*
                Helga: *Takes glasses and cleans them off* "Alles Klar?"

5. Brustwarze: "Breast warts" Why do warts on your breasts deserve a special name from other type of warts? Are warts on your breasts different? Do they get offended if you just call them warts?

6. Handschuhe: This one directly translates into "hand shoe." Why German!? What kind of hand needs a shoe, and more importantly where does one acquire said hand shoes? I would like a pair so if anyone knows let me know!  

7. Es geht: "It goes." I assume they are talking about an auto here.. I'm not so sure though. What exactly goes? Germany has some clarifying to do.

8. Das ist nicht das gelbe vom Ei: This last one translates to say "That is not the yellow from the egg." Maybe Germans have a weird obsession with the color of the yellow part of an egg, or maybe they need to constantly be reminded that other circular yellow objects, like a tennis ball, are not always the yellow part of an egg.

       EX:    *Helga goes and tries to eat a yellow golf ball while playing putt-putt*
                   Bobby: "Yo Helga, Das ist nicht das gelbe vom Ei!"

TCHÜSS

DrPepper

Today I wear a rain jacket!!

Ich hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren...

Once upon a time a seemingly awkward 18 year old girl out of a small town in the heart of the United States moved to Old Germany for a year. She had dreams of learning a new language and meeting new people but ultimately she dreamed of a year in another land. (The fact that school wasn't very important was just a perk.) She had already spent 200+ days in Germany when her Host Mom took her away for a weekend to a strange city called "Heidelberg." The girl liked the city so much she never wanted to leave. She even thought she could study there if her real mom would listen to fact and reason....

These pictures are my facts and reasons.. 

The End

TSCHÜSS 

How To Know If You're German

I have survived. Two-hundred days that is, and because of this I think I can finally shine the light on a serious issue: "How to know if you're German" If you answer yes to the following questions contact your doctor, dentist, family members and loved ones. This is a serious issue and many families suffer every year. Educate yourself before it's too late. THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE YOU!

1) Do you buy your bread from a bakery instead of the grocery store?

2) Do you buy bread at least four to five times a week?

3) Do you know of at least 40+ bread types and which is your favorite?

4) Do you only see your nations flag when the world cup comes around every four years?

5) Do you have six different trash cans in one room that are each used to recycle different materials?

6) Has it been months since you last had meat that has come from a cow?

7) Do you and almost every person you know smoke cigarettes? 

8) You don't say "cheers" you "PROST!"?

9) Have you seen "Dinner For One" on New Years Eve every year since it was created? 

10) Did you sacrifice two or three years of your youth to learn for the ABI?

11) You have heard of more Fußball teams than the amount of brain cells you have?

12) Is everything you eat "gesund?"

13) Can you survive a conversation with only the words: ja, ach so, and genau?

14) You haven't stepped out of your bed with out a precociously executed plan of your day in your entire life?

15) You know what a Radler is and you love it?

16) Do you drink an Apfelsaftschorle at least five times a week?

17) You can not have a car and get everywhere you need to go by bus, bike, foot or train?

18) Do you have "house" shoes and "outdoor" shoes and respect the difference between the two? 

19) Does the ceiling in the upstairs rooms of your house slant downward? 

20) Can you open all of your windows in two different directions? 

21) You consider this normal during February:

22) Can you name multiple types of sausages of the top of your head?

23) You respect the butter pretzel?

24) Christmas markets are a big deal, and must include Glühwein?

IF YOU CAN ANSWER YES TO THE MAJORITY OF THESE QUESTIONS SEEK HELP IMMEDIATELY! 

TSCHÜSSSSS

Low Key Update.

I feel like I need to have a random post just updating the world on all the new things that have been going on in my life. (In no particular order.) So here we go:

1. I got my flight information for coming home. I leave from Frankfurt, Germany at 10:45 AM on the 5th of July and arrive in New York City on the 5th at 1 PM.

2. The week of the 21-27th of April I'll be spending a week with my best friend and sister, June, in Norway.

3. I got a new tattoo.

4. Started gauging my left ear lobe... We'll see how this goes.

5. I will officially be attending Augustana College next year in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I'm going in undecided because who knows what they want to do with their lives at 19!

6. I went for a bike ride the other day and took lots of artsy pics...

7. My best friend Haley taught me never to trust chocolate chip cookies... lol 

8. I found canned cheese and root beer in Germany.. which basically means I can stay here and be content.

9. My parents are coming in June to visit me. :)

anyways now you know! 

Tchüss

How To Survive German Public Transportation

You can go to Germany and beat public transportation, or you can walk home. Germans were trained a at very young age how to triumph in a battle versus urban transportation and therefore catching up to lifers is no easy task. Lucky for you though, after almost 6 months in Germany and given my amazing observational skills and street smarts, I have mastered the art in 1/18 of the time a normal German probably takes. So I am here help you, because I am the most qualified. (Also you are just an average peasant and need my awesome advice and skills.) This is, 'How to Survive German Public Transportation':

1. Types of Transportation: The first thing you need to realize is that there are more than one option for getting from place to place. Theres the S-bahn, L-bahn, the U-bahn and the T-bahn. There are also buses.

2. How to get a ticket: Next you need figure out where you can acquire your ticket. On the buses the driver sells you the ticket. Or if you're like me you'll already have a bus card cause your special and the world loves you.

3. Attention: You always must be watching for when your bus/train comes. This is because you need to be one of the first people on the bus/train so you can get a "cool" seat, cause if you're late and you don't get a "cool" seat what are people going to think of you, ya know. (The back of the bus is still where it's at.)

4. The Eyes: NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO NEVER BREAK EYE CONTACT! This one is important, the whole entire train or bus ride you must always be looking someone directly in the eyes. It's like saying "Hey, we're riding this bus/train and we are both going some where, I'm probably going somewhere better than you, but hey we are in this together now, ya know. Like we just got on this bus/train and we're like connected now, ya know, like we understand each other." Just whatever you do don't look out the window or at your phone.

5. Anatomy: Now you also need to freshen up your memory on the body parts. More specifically speaking the elbow. Once you have located the elbows on each arm you are going to want to make a 90 degree angle at your elbows and practice swinging randomly in areas around you. I can't explain why this is important but you will find out when the time comes.

6. STOP: On all of the buses there are little red buttons with 'STOP' printed on them. These are used for when someone on the bus breaks eye contact. This is very important because when the person breaks eye contact you MUST press the STOP button so he/she can be properly removed from the vehicle.

7. Snap a picture: The final step to having a successful bus/train ride is to always snap a picture! (Just don't break eye contact.)

 Swagyyyyyyyyyy

Like I said you can beat public transportation or you can walk home.

Tschüss

DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM FOR MORE FREQUENT UPDATES ON MY EXCHANGE AND AMAZING LIFE: @Soo_gross