Welcome!

Hello!

My name is Lindsay, nice to meet you here in cyberspace. You probably found this site through a plug I put in... somewhere or another. Welcome to this corner of the internet. It's cozy and warm here, isn't it?

This blog, as of now, will mostly document travel and day to day life while I'm living in Germany from early July '09 to late December '09. I am going to be studying at a language school there (aptly named 'German Language School Berlin'. I've taken a year of college German, and oddly enough came to really appreciate it and its similarities to English. I have a fiance who is German and he comes from Gera in old East Germany. Though I have some limited conversational German skills that I could survive on, I am excited to see how much I can learn in this time frame. Seeing as I am minoring in German, it's a great experience.

I'll be in school for 16 straight weeks, four hours a day, five days a week. I'm lucky enough not to have to get a job while I'm there, due to school money given as a graduation present from my wonderful grandparents. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill those otherwise empty hours in the week with travel and simply exploration.

I've been to Germany a number of times, and though many people overlook it for places like France, Spain, England, and Italy, I find it to be a really incredible place. Being American, and fairly well traveled in the states, I can really appreciate the cultural history and significance of the country. I did not expect any culture shock during my stay, I thought that was something you only really experience when going to a country you KNOW is going to be hugely different from normal day to day life, for example, Asia, South America, or Africa. Let me tell you, though they are mainly minor differences, those differences add up to make a sometimes uncomfortable and alien world. I understand how it is to feel isolated there, to feel like a real outsider, especially being an American abroad during the Bush II administration. Not so wonderful.

Germany, however, is in my experience, a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. I can tell you that the majority of people you will talk to are just as friendly as those you would meet here. The stereotypes for Germans are almost always wrong, as are the stereotypes for most groups of people.

Anyway, that's a start! I have been procrastinating on packing this stuff for so long, and I should really get to it so I can start eliminating the things I don't need. It usually takes about a week altogether to be set. I leave in 15 days! Agggggghhhhhhh!

See you soon!