Profile Information
Previous study or living abroad/travel experiences I have had: Summer of 2010, I spent 2 weeks in France to visit/meet my uncle and his family for the first time. I spoke Spanish nearly the entire time to communicate with my uncle since he is from Mexico and I learned very little French while I was there. I was completely unaware of the term "culture shock" at the time and it hit me the moment I was out of the airport.
(but France is lovely ^.^)
My school and/or study in the U.S. program(s): N/A
My Home country(ies): USA
Languages I speak (other than English, if any): Spanish, I can count to 10 in German.
Languages I speak (other than English, if any): Spanish, I can count to 10 in German.
What my fears or concerns about going to the U.S. Germany were are: I'm afraid of not making any friends, not being able to understand teachers and students and being unable to complete school work. A concern I have is if I will be able to use my laptop in Germany, I found a converter that can identify the amount of electricity it needs to be used in order to avoid an accident that I can buy on amazon for $12. I'm also afraid my host family will not like me.
Characteristics that affected my experience in the U.S. which other students might find useful for discussion (ethnicity, religion, dietary restrictions, sexual preference, etc.): I'm a vegetarian and always had to deal with people who cannot absolutely believe it and talk about how they love meat too much to become vegetarian, make jokes about candy or sweets containing meat, lavish at the idea of a vegetarian eating meat by accident, etc.
What I hope to gain from this course: I hope to be a more outgoing person by the end of the program as I am shy whenever I meet new people, be fluent in German, and have an awesome story to share with the world!
