Here are Bruna and Cesar, other AFSers. We're all on the train to Hamburg.
The Rathaus? I think that's how we spell it.
My German class... fun!
Sorry for the crappy photo... in Germany, playing the Cello cool enough to land a cigarette ad! I think that's pretty sweet.
More later.
Hello, Tim! You don't know who I am, so allow me to explain myself: I'm Margaret, I live in New York, I spent a month in southern Germany this summer, and I'm trying to figure out how to convince my parents to let me go back. I came across your blog via the AFS website, and have enjoyed reading it quite a bit...so, I've probably come off as a creep, but I suppose that's a risk I'll have to take. I was wondering primarily about how this is working with your school, since you're missing your senior year, and also about the scholarship you got. OH, and did you find any other musicians there?
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, I'm incredibly jealous of you and I hope you're enjoying yourself. :]
Well hello! It's kind of cool to think that people other than my family are reading my blog.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am enjoying myself! It's so beautiful here, and I'm very happy. And freut mich, it's nice to meet you.
You won't like my answer about my school, but here goes anyway:
None of my credits transfer over, save for elective credits- by that, I mean that Math doesn't count as a math class, it just falls into a category along with art or photography, something like that. Because of that, I had two choices in regards to school- I could either make up the year in the US, or I could take a class over the summer before I left. I chose the latter.
Fortunately for me, in High School I always had a very full class schedule, I never had study halls or anything like that. Because of this, I only had to take one class over the summer.
That being said, it was really easy after I had decided I didn't mind taking a class. I took it at a local community college, and then my guidance counselor simply moved it onto my high school record. Also, the class wasn't hard at all- you shouldn't be worried about that.
The scholarship is called CBYX, which stands for the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, and you should definitely apply for it. It covers virtually everything, including traveling costs, insurance, and school tuition. You'll still need to cover incidental costs once you get here. In New York, CBYX runs through AFS, so if you talk to your local chapter, someone will be able to help you out.
The CBYX scholarship also includes a 3 day orientation in Washington DC before departure and a midyear excursion in Berlin, where each student gets to meet with a Bundestag representative. I believe there's also a debriefing at the end of the program.
In regards to music, I don't think you'll have a problem: there were more than half a dozen of us at the pre-departure orientation that had brought instruments. I've only been here a week so far, but my mother helped me find a jazz band to play in- my first rehearsal is on Tuesday, so I'll let you know how that goes! There are tons of opportunities, though, for any type of music. Germany likes music.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!