When It All Comes Together...

 

From: We Bought a Zoo, Cameron Crowe, 2011

When studying abroad in a country that has a different native language than your own, often times the most intimidating thing is talking to those you don't know. But as in the clip, all you need is those 20 seconds of courage, and great things can come from it.

Yesterday was my "Breakthrough Day," which is something a lot of students abroad experience- it's the day when you feel comfortable getting from Point A to Point B, you've gotten over your jet lag, you've established yourself in your living situation, made some friends, are getting along with school well, and suddenly it feels like opportunities are opening up for you left and right.

My courage came in the form of asking the Sprachzentrum (The Language-Learning Center) some questions at an event that's much like Mainstage at CMU. I was interested in some of the courses but unsure of which I should/could take and how I had to register. In talking to the very nice lady, she asked why I wanted to learn more German- what a compliment!, but then she asked how long I'd be here in Kassel, when I told her until the end of the Summer Semester (which is April to July) her eyes lit up and asked me if I'd be interested in an internship. I immediately said yes after I found out it would be me being the liaison between the incoming international students from native English speaking countries here in Germany to learn German over the Winter Break in the beginning of January. Could I ask for a better internship!? I thanked her about 10 000 times for the opportunity and she thanked me for talking to her! They've been searching for someone that could help them and she's relieved to have found me! She also told me she wanted to approach me as well (but didn't) because I look just like a Swiss friend of hers- just about 20 years younger.  All it took was me opening the conversation to get the ball rolling!

Then- after floating through the rest of the venues and tables on Cloud 9 with the excitement of the internship offer and knowing which classes I could register for and how, I decided that I really did want to partake in a Lutheran/Catholic student welcoming service/mass here in Kassel. I was walking to the church which hosted the service behind a group of people that looked nearly as confused as I felt. I walked a few paces behind them hoping that the group mentality of "they must know the way" would prove helpful until I decided to kick it up a step, open my mouth, and ask them if they were looking for the same church. Turns out- they were.

After the service, I was invited to get a coffee/ tea with 2 of the girls.

After we actually got to introducing ourselves and them scratching their heads over how well I speak German, I told them I was an exchange student in '06 in a small village near Flensburg. One of the girls asked which one.. turns out- she went to the same Gymnasium! Such a small world! I also found out one of them had been in New Zealand for 10 months, the other in Scotland for a year, so naturally we had part of our conversation in English as well! It's only fair!! We chatted far longer than the half an hour we said we'd take, exchanged numbers, and made plans to hang out again today.

It was such a great day- one that was hard to wind down from. I had to really try to relax and fall asleep! Thank goodness for meditation and my ambient noise maker on my iPod!

Today I started with more success- I am going to be partaking in an English/German course covering Shakespeare! I went to the class, made some small talk, took as good of notes as I could over what we'll be doing throughout the next semester, and ended with talking to the professor who was very helpful! I'm excited to see what this class will bring!

And this is what it feels like when it all starts to come together!