Shipping Out

It’s hard to believe, but I’m leaving the country on Monday. I’m getting pretty excited, but it’s such a busy year that I feel like this transition has snuck up on me. (It's been just under a year since my return from France, May 23, 2007!) Here’s my lineup for 2008, for those who need a refresher:

January-May: State College, PA

• my final regular semester at Penn State

May 19-June 8: Innsbruck, Austria

• observing/volunteering at a Montessori school

June 8-August 11: Munich, Germany

• interning in SAP with Suss Microtec, the company my dad works for
• taking a 4-week German course at the local Goethe-Institut in July (afternoons only, so I can still work in the mornings)

August 19-December: Pittsburgh, PA

• student teaching at Baldwin High School in French and German
• graduating in December, job TBA

You can't ever be truly ready to move to a foreign country. But in some ways, this trip is decidedly less organized than I'd like it to be. Unlike last spring in Montpellier, France, I'm not going this summer through Penn State or another established program. Instead, I'm relying on my parents' connections to design my own trip. I love the flexibility this gives me, but at times, I'd love to be given a checklist or a reminder that something is overdue. Every day, new questions arise, and letting a few details slide by mistake has created a sense of teetering on the brink of chaos. A sampling from the past couple days:

• I never received an e-mail explaining how to pay for my course; in the meantime, the course looked like it had filled up. (Thankfully, it was a false alarm.)
  
• I didn't realize at first that a Gästehaus didn't imply Gastgeber, so now I'm wondering if I can still sign up for a host family during the course (instead of dorm-style housing)
• Family friends, the Granders, are arranging my housing in Innsbruck. But I didn’t realize that I needed to contact their friends on my own for the first week, so my e-mail to them was sent only this morning: 6 days before my planned arrival.

On the other hand, it helps that I've been to both cities and know a few people in both. Spending last spring in Montpellier, France has also prepared me somewhat by teaching me problem-solving. I’ve already dealt with things like finding a cell phone, navigating public transportation (including missing a train once), and planning sightseeing trips with near-strangers. I've learned to ask people for help when I need it and to be patient with myself.

I’m resigned to returning to life as an Ami. *French speakers, don't get confused: Ami in German doesn’t mean a friend, but an Amerikaner(in).* I remember what it felt like to be constantly reminded of my nationality, and for my every move to be interpreted as representing life in the US. I expect non-Americans to teach me about my own country’s politics and pop culture – including aspects I prefer to ignore - as well as theirs. I’m used to wading through conversations that would be a quick sprint in English. My awkwardness threshold has gone way up. So while I’m pretty sure things will rarely work out precisely the way I’d like them to, I’m all right with some chaos. In my experience, it's rarely fatal.