It's been quite a while, over half a year, since my last post. So much has happened in that time.
My return flight was.....well.....an experience. Besides crying my eyes out like a little girl as soon as I was separated from my host family, it definitely was not an exciting experience. My flight from Hamburg to Frankfurt was delayed around an hour and a half. This caused me to miss my flight from Frankfurt to D.C. So I had to rebook it, which YFU paid for, and then they checked BOTH of my bags, so I had to pay for that, too. While waiting for the 4 hours or so in Frankfurt, I did enjoy some nice McDonalds, if you'd call that nice, see a bomb squad check out a suspicious unattended piece of luggage, and worry about getting home and try desperately to contact my family in America.
This delayed flight and rebooking, in turn, caused me to miss my flight from D.C. to Kansas City, where my mom was going to pick me up. Instead I had to stay the night in the D.C. airport alone, as YFU considers you Off-Program once you get back to D.C. and, therefore, not their problem. I basically cried myself dry as all I really wanted to do was get home. I mean, come on! I was already upset that I had to leave my home in Germany and now I can't even go to my actual home and sleep in my own bed!! It was crappy, to say the least. To top it all off, the computer system for United Airlines was down. Completely. Hundreds of people traveling further in or out of the country were stranded, along with myself. I used my hoodie as a pillow and camped out, trying to get a little bit of sleep. It wasn't until around 3:30am that the system started working again. Luckily, the lady from United was completely sympathetic of my story and, along with giving me a much needed hug, rebooked my flight and checked my baggage through for free.
So i got on the 8:00am filght to Kansas City, where my dad picked me up at 11:00am. Exactly 12 hours later than I was supposed to be picked up. We made 3 hour drive home, stopping by a Steak and Shake (my first meal back in America!!) to eat lunch. I got home around 4 or 5ish, and tried to unpack. Then I went to my Welcome Back Party at 6. So, yeah. I pretty much got no sleep. This hit me a couple of hours later, when all of my friends came back to my house to watch a movie and I promptly passed out. Anyway, summer came and went, I worked at DQ again, spent time with friends, etc.
Oh yeah, and I got accepted to St. Louis University, where I am currently in my second semester of my freshman year. I started out as a Biology major, but that quickly changed and now I am double majoring in Sociology and Criminal Justice with a minor in, you guessed it, German. I am hoping to eventually be accetped into a decent law school and become an attorney. What kind of law I would like to practice? No idea. Maybe healthcare law. We'll see.
Anyway, I am also a volunteer with YFU. I know that the last part of my exchange was crap, for lack of a better term, but I really enjoy the exchange experience and would like to support it to the best of my ability. I work for a great Field Director and am an Area Representative for two International Students. Christina is from Austria, and Johannes, or Joe, is from Germany. I hope to continue my work for this organization and hopefully I can ensure that other exchange students have just as good of a time in America as I did in Germany.
Any future Germany plans?? Without a doubt. This summer my best friend from Germany, Fabian, is coming to visit for a month. My German brother, Immo, might also be coming, but I am not too sure. As for me visiting the country, I am already planning on spending my second semester next year, as a sophomore, attending Heidelberg University through SLU's Study Abroad program. I am super pumped and cannot wait to be back in that awesome country. Although it is really more of a side-thought, I have also considered taking a break between undergrad and grad school and spending a year in Germany as an au-pair. But we'll see.
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