I’m not au pair blogging, however, but that would be fun to do again. This time I’ll be blogging about my search for the perfect German college. I want to study abroad and get back to Germany ASAP, but I must do some things before I can just jet set over there.
For most of the universities and colleges that I’ve looked at, they want me to have 2 years of schooling under my belt. That means that I have 3 more semesters at my MSU. Boo that! I would like to complete German II & III before I go, though, and I guess completing German IV wouldn’t be too terribly bad. :P There are some colleges that say I only need one year of schooling so we’ll see how that all plays out.
I have come to the conclusion that it will be cheaper for me to study abroad as a “free mover”. Being a free mover means that I will go and study abroad on my own without a program or any help from my home university. Why will it be cheaper, you ask? From my understanding (I could be totally wrong on this one) it will only cost around 100 or so euros a semester for tuition at most of the German universities I have looked at. I, of course, would also have to pay for my housing, food, etc. If I went through a program at my home university I would have to pay their tuition (which is about $6,000) plus my housing, food, etc. The former obviously sounds like a better deal. But like I said, I could be totally wrong about this; I will keep you all updated though!
MSU only has one college in Germany that applies to my major: the University of Duisburg-Essen. I went and read a blog from a boy from my college who was studying there, and after reading it I had zero interest in going there.. I don’t know what it was that made me not want to go. Anyhow, for the past 2 months or so I’ve been dead set on applying and going to the Universität of Mannheim; since I’m applying as a free mover the application process is very competitive, and because of this I’ve started googling like crazy to try and find other colleges that would accept me as a free mover just in case Mannheim doesn’t want to accept me. ;) I’ve emailed at least 30 different colleges in the Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, and Hessen areas. I wanted to stay in the south since that’s what I know, but I don’t want to be too close to where I lived when I au paired. I even found a college in Pforzheim which is not even 10 minutes away from where I used to live, but I kind of want to go to a university and live in a college town.
Okay! That was a lot of information, so I’ll leave you all with that. I’ll be sure to write again once these colleges start replying to my emails.
Bis dann,
Kelsee
(Source: blua)
Day 15 – Advice to someone who’s thinking about traveling to another country
GO! And go now. The longer you wait the more excuses you can come up with to not go. Who wants to wait until they’re retired to travel the world?! Not I! Some people say to wait until you’re older because you’ll be able to enjoy it more or value the experience more; I don’t agree with that.. but whatever! Just travel and do it as soon as possible. Make it happen. The world is yours, my friends, so get going.
Day 14 – What did you learn from traveling abroad?
While traveling abroad I discovered that I am, in fact, a brave person. It never occurred to me that what I was doing was a very bold thing to do until I had numerous people tell me so. I also learned that I love everything about Germany- the culture, the language, and the people. After traveling through Europe I feel like I am able to do anything, the sky’s the limit, and, even though it sounds cheesy, I’m ready to conquer the world. :D
Day 13 – A favorite travel quote
“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” -Pat Conroy
Day 12 – Someone who influenced you to travel abroad
My exchange student friends have influenced me to travel abroad. I would suddenly be all ears whenever I would hear them talk about their lives back home. I’m so thankful to have friends from all over the world!
Day 11 – Did you have any milestones or “firsts” while traveling or living abroad?
I had a ton of “firsts” while traveling abroad! I had my first taste of alcohol, went to my first club, met up with complete strangers, traveled alone via trains and planes, and, the most important, conquered the public transportation system in Germany. Considering that I’d never been on any type of public transportation in my life (besides the subways in NY) and that my town doesn’t have public transportation, this was a big deal for me. Switching trains 4 times on my way to Amsterdam? I must be a pro. Anyhow, I miss the trains and the S-Bahns and I think America needs to step it on up with it’s own public transportation! It’d be pretty cool to be able to hop on a train in Olive Branch and be in Nashville or Atlanta after only a few hours.
Day 10 – A favorite foreign movie
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a foreign movie before.. or at least if I did, I didn’t know it. So I’ll just pick a movie that I saw in theaters while in Germany. The movie was Aushilfsgangster or, in English, Tower Heist; the movie starred Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. Was the movie any good? I have no idea.. for one, I only understood about 5% of the movie; I understood “I don’t know”, “I know”, and “I am/you are”. Secondly, I didn’t even watch the whole movie because there was something about the German voice overs that they gave Ben Stiller and one of the female actors that just didn’t sit well with me. I suppose that when it comes out on DVD I’ll give it a second chance and watch it in English. :P
Day 09 – A song you like from another country/language
Poesie Album- Samy Deluxe
There are a lot of songs that I like from different countries but I just had to choose this one. There’s something about this song that has me listening to it at least once a week. I guess I find that someone rapping in German is much more intriguing to me than someone rapping in English. One day I’ll be able to rap this for you all.. just wait. :P
Day 08 – A favorite food from another country/culture
I had some really great food in Spain and Germany, but I’m going to have to say that my favorite would be the schnitzel. I suppose I liked it so much because it reminded me of chicken tenders in a way. Schnitzel was at it’s finest when die Omi would make it; it would always be sehr lecker! When I first got home from Germany I was anxious to go try out a German restaurant nearby and so my two best friends and I went and I ordered some schnitzel; I wasn’t impressed and so I was on a mission to make it taste similar to what I ate in Germany. I cooked a “German dinner” (pork schnitzel, bratkartoffeln, and sparkling water to wash it all down) for my parents and myself and it was, in my opinion, way better than the one from the German restaurant.
Day 07 – Besides people, what did/do you miss from home?
I definitely missed my bath tub! Oh, and I missed City Church of Olive Branch and then there are the obvious things: Target, Lenny’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Tropical Smoothie Cafe (which I haven’t even gone to since being home!). I also missed the lovely American YouTube, Pandora, and Spotify. Other than that, though, Europe kept me completely satisfied for 3 months.
Day 06 – What does “home” mean to you?
Home? Home for me is a place where your family (or practically family) and friends are. Sounds so unoriginal, I know, but it’s the truth! It’s the place where you can go to and you know there’ll always be open arms, warm smiles, and hearty laughs. And so, with my definition, I feel as if I have a “home” in 3 different countries.. cute, huh? My favorite one, though, will always be in Olive Branch, Mississippi (well, at least for now). :)
Day 05 – What do you bring with you when you travel?
Well besides the everyday essentials, I always bring my iPod, my camera, my iPhone (gotta love the Tetris app!), a snack, and my pepper spray. :P And, when necessary, I bring my passport because I’m always wanting a new stamp in it. What I bring back with me from my travels, though, is a whole other story!
Day 04 – A picture of you in another country
Alfonso XII Monument in Parque del Retiro: Madrid, Spain.
