Goodbye America, Hallo Deutschland!

The air is abuzz when we step out of the National Theater. The show, a Broadway tour, had last-minute seats for extra cheap – who could resist? To our left, people clamber to the gate where the cast will soon exit. Above us, the marquee is lit up with flying broomsticks. Across the street, the buildings of DC are illuminated giants compared to my Florida hometown. My mom and I go right, towards the nearest Metro Station. The ride back to our hotel will be half an hour. Es ist halb elf, und wir brauchen neue Energie für morgen.

My family came up to DC a few days before CBYX started. We stayed in Crystal City, VA, and took the Metro into DC each day. While there, the corpse flower bloomed. We saw incredible public attractions like the Smithsonian Museums and the Washington Monument. Quick drives took us to Mt. Vernon and to see family for the last time in a year. And of course, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”. Then, on Thursday, I was dropped off at the hotel where our journey would begin.

In the beginning, talking to people at PDO (Pre-Departure Orientation, the three-day seminar before going to Germany) is weird. We met, some of us, at semi-finalist interviews a few months ago. Then there were summer WhatsApp messages: how people are making extra pocket money to support the stipend, what German learning apps are the best, how many sweaters is an appropriate number of sweaters to bring. Now we awkwardly sit in a mostly empty room full of bracelet-making materials. “I think I remember sitting with you at breakfast in Atlanta”, someone says. We begin to talk. Over time, it begins to change. We have conversations. We play some card games that people brought from home. The program activities begin, and we are whisked around DC, learning about each other along the way.  

PDO lasted three days. Thursday was arrival. Friday was “DC Day”, taking us around to the major monuments and the American History Smithsonian (a good refresh on everything American before departing). And Saturday, we left. While there, we had small group discussions with CBYX alumni to help us gain a better understanding of what we would go through. We discussed culture shock, homesickness, and how to talk with our host families. But the best part was certainly the ride to the airport – everyone was excited and ready to depart on the experience we’d been waiting months for.

I can’t sleep on the plane. Normally, I don’t have trouble with aircrafts, but the time difference means that right now should only be 10:00. I put in my AirPods and turn on a movie. Eventually, I fall asleep – only to wake up an hour later. We’re almost in Germany. I turn on the in-flight map app and watch as we fly over the UK, then the Netherlands, and finally across the border. Wir sind in Deutschland. I try to sneak glances past the German man sitting in front of the window as we fly over the town where my host family lives. And finally, we touch down.

After landing, we took a tram to customs. Then there was the baggage claim and the bus terminal. Everything was the same as home – almost. Signs were in their usual place, but the text on them was foreign. Walking along provided language practice, a chance to test the skills we had been developing over the summer. And then the bus came, we loaded our luggage, and departed from Frankfurt. Driving across the countryside provided views of wheat fields and idyllic German towns. 45 minutes later, someone called out for everyone sleeping to wake up. We had made it to Bad Laasphe. For the first time, we could see our new home away from home, Schloss Wittgenstein.