The Final Stages

So this will be my first post for my upcoming year in Germany. It's hard to believe that almost a year has gone by since I was last really in Germany, and now that I have decided to go back, I'm realizing that I'm not just going back, but I'm starting a new era to my life. Never had I expected that going on the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) would mark such a dramatic end to one period of my life, my college years, and set the beginning of new era, early years after college. Now, I have to say, I've had already experienced living and working for myself. You all remember that last year I lived and worked in Berlin Germany, but somehow I see this upcoming year as more of test. Spending a full year in another country (even if it's Germany... and you all know how much I obsess) is challenging. Being away from family, friends, pets and home is far harder when gone for a year. Speaking another language, communicating with people of different nationalities, filtering through the bureaucracy, understanding the humor, navigating the cities, understanding the work culture, adjusting to the inconveniences, learning to appreciate time, making new friends, budgeting finances, the list goes on... is all very challenging, but even more so when out of one's element. 

As I pack my last bags, I want everyone who reads this blog to know, that I am the person that I am because each one of you in one way or another has enabled me to reach thus far, and that I am only capable of achieving what I have because each person has left their personal touch on me. 

On Sunday, my father and I will drive to Washington DC where I will be until Friday, July 31st, when I will board my flight for Germany. I will first go off to Radolfzell am Bodensee, a small village on Lake Constance near the Swiss border, and then later onto Hessen. Where I will exactly be you'll have to read and find out. Please contact me throughout the year with questions and comments. I hope to communicate to all of you through this blog, and share my experiences of living in Deutschland via this means of communication. This blog will serve as a way of communication back to all my family and friends in the states, but also be a way for me to remember my experiences abroad. 

-Henry

-Henry