Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
1940
Guess who found out her distrikt! Rose did! haha :) I was really beginning to think that I would just never know... A few days ago my dad was checking his email while I was watching The Black Swan - good movie - and all of a sudden my dad just nonchalantly is like "hey you got an email from rotary here" and I immediately jump up and and am like "what?!" because I totally knew what this is about. Well, actually I didn't know what it was about, but I was really hoping it had something to do with my distrikt/city/host family.
The email turned out to be really confusing, it led me to this other data information fill-out type thingy that really doesn't help me at all, except for that my name, email, and host country were already filled out, and believe it or not, my host distrikt too! I couldn't believe it! Unfortunately, the whole email and links it gave me (another one talked about my insurance I need to purchase at least six weeks before departure and is super formal and legal and serious and stuff) were very confusing. I called a rotarian who basically advised me to wait another week to start stressing if I still haven't received any more information. I've been looking at some facebook groups, and other people are talking about getting an email like mine and no other information, so at least I'm not alone.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, my distrikt is in the North-East corner of Germany, the top part is by the ocean, and the eastern part of it is right by Poland. Distrikt 1940 covers the States of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and the easternmost part of Schleswig-Holstein. Here's a link to my distrikt's web page i think - http://www.rotary1940.de/distrikt/06_archiv/archifdatein/distrikt_englisch.php
Bis bald!
The email turned out to be really confusing, it led me to this other data information fill-out type thingy that really doesn't help me at all, except for that my name, email, and host country were already filled out, and believe it or not, my host distrikt too! I couldn't believe it! Unfortunately, the whole email and links it gave me (another one talked about my insurance I need to purchase at least six weeks before departure and is super formal and legal and serious and stuff) were very confusing. I called a rotarian who basically advised me to wait another week to start stressing if I still haven't received any more information. I've been looking at some facebook groups, and other people are talking about getting an email like mine and no other information, so at least I'm not alone.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, my distrikt is in the North-East corner of Germany, the top part is by the ocean, and the eastern part of it is right by Poland. Distrikt 1940 covers the States of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and the easternmost part of Schleswig-Holstein. Here's a link to my distrikt's web page i think - http://www.rotary1940.de/distrikt/06_archiv/archifdatein/distrikt_englisch.php
Bis bald!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Beginning!
Hello everyone! I'm Rose Ingebrigtsen, 16, a sophomore. Basically I've started this blog in order to document my exchange year to Germany! I have been told many many times that this is a life-changing experience, which I totally understand. So I'm starting this, my blog. My relatives at a recent Easter gathering were very much into the whole keep a blog deal so they could keep track of me and see what I'm doing/where I am... also they are very much in love with Germany.
Many of you are probably wondering how I got myself into this whole deal. Well, here's a little story.
One day, Rose was with two of her dear friends, Rachel and Sophie, drinking Turkish tea in Sophie's kitchen. It was the first week of school and so the three of us naturally had a lot to talk about. The weather was getting cooler, summer was on its way out, and all of us were already missing the freedom that summer vacation had given us. Somewhere in this cozy situation we started talking about our big life plans. What do we want to ultimately accomplish, where do we see ourselves in five years from then? If I remember correctly, I think Sophie and Rachel had pretty good general ideas. But I honestly couldn't see myself anywhere. I don't mean anywhere like a nowhere town working in a nowhere job, but I just had no idea what I wanted to be doing, realistically. Then, staring into a few Turkish tea leaves drifting in the bottom of my cup, I had this great epiphany. It was almost more a, to use a gentler word, realization. It was as if I had known it all my life and it was just waiting for me to finally come to terms with it.
I wanted to travel abroad!
So yeah, good story? Anyways, that night I went home and downloaded the rotary long-term outbound exchange application (which turned out to be the wrong one, I found out just five days before it had to be completed) and told my parents about my idea later that night at dinner. They thought it was cool, but I don't think they took me very seriously. Not until I started filling it out, getting my dental records, hospital records, teacher recommendations, and trying to contact the closest rotary club. (North Shore Rotary Club, almost two hours away). My decision to do this was pretty sudden, and I was right on the verge of being too late to do it, but never once have I regretted doing so, or wished that I had taken more time to think it over.
After that I had a interview with the Northshore Rotary Club, they accepted me and then I went to have another interview in Duluth to have the whole thing finalized, I believe. After that, All I had to do was wait to find out my host country. I can't find my country selection, but I believe it went something like this:
1. Brazil
2. Germany
3. Chile
4. Venezuela
5. Paraguay
Yeah after that I can't remember them, but I know my top three are correct. I really wanted to go to somewhere in South America, the culture (and I admit it, the weather) had always been very interesting and appealing to me. Germany was the only exception. In the summer before 7th grade I had gone to German Concordia language camp. The language was cool, I like the culture, a lot, and I love Europe. (I went to Paris during 8th grade with Sophie, her mother, and Rachel) Everyone back home that had had anything to do with previous Rotary exchanges immediately told me that I would be "for sure" going to Brazil if I put it as my number one, some one even said I would if it was anywhere in my top five. But someone that had helped me with my application basically explained it that because Germany and Brazil both accepted about the same amount of exchange students, I would have a pretty equal chance of going to either one, regardless of which was the first or second. Then, on a rather warm day (for Grand Marais, MN) while driving with a few friends, I got a call from rotary, telling me that I was going to Germany! I was excited/jubilant/ecstatic! I jumped out of the car and ran around. It was ridiculous how happy I was. I think I called about ten people in three minutes to tell them the news :)
For a while during those cold winter monthes in between my acceptance and finding out my country, A little bit of self-doubt had started to creep in, and I had started to get nervous that some legal thing/problem had come up, or maybe my application was incorrect/wrong... I don't know, things like that, that are unnecssaray and very improbable and unlikely generally tend to fester in my brain and make me very nervous!
So yeah, that's my big long story. I still have yet to find out where exactly in Germany I am going to, and I am very impatient! Many other outbounds from my district already know their cities in their host countries... And its already May. Oh well! I will be happy with wherever I go!
Later!
Many of you are probably wondering how I got myself into this whole deal. Well, here's a little story.
One day, Rose was with two of her dear friends, Rachel and Sophie, drinking Turkish tea in Sophie's kitchen. It was the first week of school and so the three of us naturally had a lot to talk about. The weather was getting cooler, summer was on its way out, and all of us were already missing the freedom that summer vacation had given us. Somewhere in this cozy situation we started talking about our big life plans. What do we want to ultimately accomplish, where do we see ourselves in five years from then? If I remember correctly, I think Sophie and Rachel had pretty good general ideas. But I honestly couldn't see myself anywhere. I don't mean anywhere like a nowhere town working in a nowhere job, but I just had no idea what I wanted to be doing, realistically. Then, staring into a few Turkish tea leaves drifting in the bottom of my cup, I had this great epiphany. It was almost more a, to use a gentler word, realization. It was as if I had known it all my life and it was just waiting for me to finally come to terms with it.
I wanted to travel abroad!
So yeah, good story? Anyways, that night I went home and downloaded the rotary long-term outbound exchange application (which turned out to be the wrong one, I found out just five days before it had to be completed) and told my parents about my idea later that night at dinner. They thought it was cool, but I don't think they took me very seriously. Not until I started filling it out, getting my dental records, hospital records, teacher recommendations, and trying to contact the closest rotary club. (North Shore Rotary Club, almost two hours away). My decision to do this was pretty sudden, and I was right on the verge of being too late to do it, but never once have I regretted doing so, or wished that I had taken more time to think it over.
After that I had a interview with the Northshore Rotary Club, they accepted me and then I went to have another interview in Duluth to have the whole thing finalized, I believe. After that, All I had to do was wait to find out my host country. I can't find my country selection, but I believe it went something like this:
1. Brazil
2. Germany
3. Chile
4. Venezuela
5. Paraguay
Yeah after that I can't remember them, but I know my top three are correct. I really wanted to go to somewhere in South America, the culture (and I admit it, the weather) had always been very interesting and appealing to me. Germany was the only exception. In the summer before 7th grade I had gone to German Concordia language camp. The language was cool, I like the culture, a lot, and I love Europe. (I went to Paris during 8th grade with Sophie, her mother, and Rachel) Everyone back home that had had anything to do with previous Rotary exchanges immediately told me that I would be "for sure" going to Brazil if I put it as my number one, some one even said I would if it was anywhere in my top five. But someone that had helped me with my application basically explained it that because Germany and Brazil both accepted about the same amount of exchange students, I would have a pretty equal chance of going to either one, regardless of which was the first or second. Then, on a rather warm day (for Grand Marais, MN) while driving with a few friends, I got a call from rotary, telling me that I was going to Germany! I was excited/jubilant/ecstatic! I jumped out of the car and ran around. It was ridiculous how happy I was. I think I called about ten people in three minutes to tell them the news :)
For a while during those cold winter monthes in between my acceptance and finding out my country, A little bit of self-doubt had started to creep in, and I had started to get nervous that some legal thing/problem had come up, or maybe my application was incorrect/wrong... I don't know, things like that, that are unnecssaray and very improbable and unlikely generally tend to fester in my brain and make me very nervous!
So yeah, that's my big long story. I still have yet to find out where exactly in Germany I am going to, and I am very impatient! Many other outbounds from my district already know their cities in their host countries... And its already May. Oh well! I will be happy with wherever I go!
Later!
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