Hello Family and Friends!

Hallo Alles!

I cannot wait to leave for my journey, and many of you have expressed interest in following my journey, hence this blog! I hope to update this at least monthly with things I have learned and lots of pictures. Only 10 days left in the United States!

Alles Liebe,

Beth Macnab

Orientation II und III

   Okay. Well. Obviously I have slacked a little bit on the blog posting, but it is probably boring to most of you. :) Not boring to me, however! My last two Orientations were excellent. Very informative. If you would like more info you can just email me, or comment. :) But now, to update you on my latest news. I HAVE TEN DAYS LEFT IN THE US. To say the least, it is hectic. Late nights with friends, early mornings looking up Rotary Blogs, and busy afternoons running to the cities and back. The worst thing about leaving in ten days is that I feel unprepared, yet I don't know what to do about it. How do you prepare for the unknown?! I just calm myself by saying that you can't. Cheesily enough, I feel like I just need to take a leap of faith.
   To catch you up on things, I have been placed in my town! Patersberg. Or at least, that is where I will start out. :). It is a very small town: 400 people! And coincidentally, my first host brother will be staying 45 minutes away from where I will be attending college when I get back from Germany (Drake University). Small world, eh? My school has about 500 people in it, larger than my town. :) And my final pice of info, I leave on August 6th. I cannot wait to leave.
  As I have said, getting everything ready has been a kick in the butt. In order to brush up on my poor German, I started studying on Duolingo.com which I recommend as long as you already have a base in the language. I also went to the Concordia Language Immersion Village (camp) Waldsee. It was superb. I cannot wait to go back, hopefully as a counselor! I feel much more confident and know that I will learn fast! I also had my blazer fitted, bought convertors, bought my suitcase (a huge duffel bag!), looked up billions of packing lists, exchanged dollars for euros, skyped my second host sister (who is brilliant!), bought all of my host gifts!, and received my Rotary flags from my home club. And probably more things I have forgotten.
   My last ten days are still packed full of things. But for now, I am sitting at home watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. I just saw the Germans' outfits. they were very cute! Although they probably weren't meant to be. well, I cannot wait to see how they do.
  Mit besten Grüßen,
  Beth Macnab