Es war eine geile Zeit!

Mann sieht sich immer zwei mal im Leben...so sagen die deutschen!

People always see each other, twice in life...at least according to Germans.

We are keeping this quote in our hearts as minds as we say goodbye to our amazing participants.

After four amazing weeks, 18 days of German class, countless excursions, more bread, chocolate, cake and döner kebap than any of us could possible handle (actually, who am I kidding, we all want more of this), it is time for us to say goodbye. We had an incredible goodbye program last night with all of the students, most of their host families and some of our teachers (two were unfortunately sick) where we celebrate one another, showed off our German with some songs and performances, ate yummy food and said 'danke schön' and 'Auf Wiedersehen' to all the people who made this experience possible.

Flying home this morning was bittersweet, until it became frustrating as many of our participants on the group flight were stranded in JFK due to unfortunate weather situations. Still, participants and program leaders alike utilized all the patience, flexibility, adaptability and growth that they gained during the past month in Germany and made the best out of a negative situation. Plus, what's better than another night with friends (cue all the students and parents who would likely say, GETTING HOME). Thankfully though, everyone got home safely with nothing but gread memories of a terrific experience.

It has been a joy documenting our excurisions in this platform and hopefully I will update you all again once I put together our trip video. Until then, this is Julianne O'Connell signing off. It was an honor to meet your children and grow alongside them these last few weeks. They are all special, amazing people and I cannot wait to see where they go from here and how this experience will change their lives.

Until then,

bis dann,

Julianne