Ready for Takeoff

Although there are only fourteen more hours before my plane takes off for Charlotte (and then Germany), it surprisingly hasn't quite hit me yet, that I'm going to Germany, that I'm studying abroad, that I'm not going to be back for four months. My bags are packed, my room is the cleanest and most organized it's been in a good three months, if not longer. Even my car is cleaned out! And yet the whole idea of me leaving for such a long period of time or the fact that I'm going to be living in Germany - just haven't quite wrapped my head around it.

Perhaps that's best? It's been a whirlwind of a week. Found out on Monday that Ethan (Sperry), director for the Miami Men's Glee Club, is leaving at the end of this year for Portland. I'll miss singing in the last concert with him and when I return he won't be there, which is a very strange and sad notion to try to take in. Just makes me even more glad I was able to sing this past weekend at the Intercollegiate Male Choruses' National Seminar under his direction in the performance of a lifetime. Tuesday was my last day for subbing, where I taught students about polar and nonpolar covalent bonds. It was one of those teaching/flying by the seat of your pants type of days. The plans were a bit vague and bland (which can be understandable when a teacher becomes suddenly sick), so I had some fun scrambling and improvising. It all turned out well thankfully. Then on Wednesday my grandpa passed away peacefully. But the good news is, as difficult as it is for me and Mom, Dad, and Ethan and the rest of the family, he is now with God, which is a wonderful blessing. Knowing that I'll miss his funeral has left me feeling kind of torn for a lack of a better term at the moment, but as I've gone through and looked at pictures with him growing up, I know I've spent more than enough time with him and he knows that and I think would much prefer me to be out there seeing the world, meeting people, and enjoying life.

The bottom line is it's a very bizarre and bittersweet moment. Saying goodbye to friends and family, looking to embrace a whole new group, lifestyle, and country. It's so sad and yet so joyful at the same time. It's a little bit of everything. But I'm definitely excited.

I'll quit blathering now (I haven't even left yet!), and leave you with a link to a little playlist I put together. Just some stuff that kind of sums up many of the emotions from the week and the excitement for what's yet to be - some old stuff, some new stuff, but chances are I will likely be listening to the songs at some point on the plane. Enjoy!

http://8tracks.com/cdmathias/lh-429

Bis Später!

Grandpa and I playing checkers, while Daisy May (Indiana Princess), watches (or snoozes) along the sidelines. :)

I thought I'd also include this picture. It is of my grandpa and grandma (when they were very young obviously). They are on the Pacific coast somewhere, looking off into the distance. On the back of the photo, my grandpa simply wrote "Balboa and Wife"

I think it truly captures his spirit, his humor, and his love for grandma, others, and the world. I look forward to embarking on an adventure of my own. 

Basic Overview

Da ist es! (There it is!). München! (Munich). In the bottom right corner. At first I was a little saddened by my limited choices in where I could study abroad in Germany (the German department has very rigorous standards), but now I can't be happier with where I will be studying. I can't imagine studying abroad in Berlin or Köln (Cologne) or anywhere else really. Sure southern Germany has a bit of a reputation of being a little backwards, but having now read my travel book on Munich and Bavaria from cover to cover, there's just truly no city like it. I can already feel the sweet summer breeze gently wandering through the Englischer Garten, bringing the scents of freshly baked pretzels and brötchen and freshly brewed beer. Ok, maybe I'm hyping things up a bit, but still, I'm excited (to the point that I feel as giddy as a little girl sometimes - it's ridiculous how excited I am sometimes).

The program I'm going with is Wayne State University's "Junior Year in Munich" Program. Now I know, you may be thinking, "Corbin, you're not a junior and you're not even going for a full year" which is correct. I'm only going for the second semester due to the tight schedule of my education methods courses bloc. And really as long as your German is up to a certain level, whether you're a sophomore, junior, or senior, is all too relevant. I'll be taking courses from both Wayne State's program office in Munich (much like Miami's Luxembourg campus - though not in a castle) and the Ludwig Maximilians Universität München (LMU - in English: the University of Munich). LMU was founded in 1472 (nbd) and has quite a rich history with numerous alumni including nobel prize winners in the sciences, Thomas Mann, former presidents of Germany and secretary generals of the UN, the Scholls and the White Rose (famous anti-Nazi resistance group), and Pope Benedict XVI. It's amazing what all you can learn with a few links on Wikipedia.

The program will last about four months. I leave March 29, arriving there around 8am local time, 2am USA time, on March 30. From then until April 19th is a period of orientation: intense language work, getting adjusted, etc. Classes don't start until the 19th since there's a break in the European university calendar from mid-February until then. So it seems like I'm just doing a summer abroad, but really, it's a full semester - just delayed a little bit. 

They have us set to live in student housing from LMU in an area called StuSta (Studenten Stadt), where we each will have our own private (small, single) apartment, that way I won't be living with another American (tempted to speak English) or with a German (can't escape Germany/German life 24/7). It's in the area of Schwabing which from what I can tell is much like the Broadripple/Butler area of Indianapolis. It also buts up against the Englischer Garten - it's literally only a block away! :D

Details in Brief:

What: Wayne State University's Junior Year in Munich Program (WSU's JYM)

Where: Munich, Germany (surprise!)

When: March 29-July 31

Why: Studying abroad, taking classes from both WSU's JYM office and the Ludwig Maximilians Universität München (LMU)

Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to it. However, I am glad to be in the States for most of March Madness and for the Intercollegiate Male Choruses National Seminar, which the Miami Men's Glee Club is hosting this weekend!

336 hours, 12 minutes!

Bis Später!

 and yes, I do plan on returning with some Lederhosen!

637

In approximately six hundred and thirty-seven hours, the jet engines will be roaring, the flight attendants will be done showcasing how to buckle and unbuckle our seat belts, and Indianapolis International Airport will quickly dwindle down to nothing but a sheer speck of gray on green mosaic of the Earth. And of course, chances are, the mother with the shrieking infant will be sitting directly to my left, the baby's megaphone mouth conveniently keeping me clear of getting anywhere close to the window to see that beautiful, calming view of the world. But in the meantime, we can pray that the person eight rows ahead of me will get to be that lucky person, not me.

Six hundred and thirty-seven? That's less than four weeks! We're talking a mere 26 and a half days! I haven't even begun to pack. I don't think I even have much of a list put together yet. This thing is getting closer and closer. Only a few weeks ago it seemed like a distant future. Almost like the spring and summer before your freshman year of college, when everybody would ask you, "So where you going next year?" "Got a college picked out?" "Now remind me, which college is it you're going to?" And you get asked what classes you're taking (don't know yet, we decide that when we get there), how this fits into your major (German Education and German), how long you'll be there (four months), are you excited (is the Pope Catholic? Do alligators lay eggs?) and sometimes the wonderful question of if you can talk some German right now (such a bizarre and annoying question - yes of course I could, but what'd be the point, you wouldn't understand it).

Despite that ever unavoidable hurdle in many conversations with virtually everyone here at home (since I haven't seen many of them much since summer, or when I graduated high school, or whatever), I am very much excited and I love the moments of realizing everything I'm reading in my travel books right now will soon become a reality - trekking through the Bavarian and Austrian Alps, studying under the shade of a tree in the Englischer Garten hearing the oompa band and the well inebriated tourists off in the distance, eating the best food and drinking the finest beer in the world, taking a weekend trip to Italy and exploring the streets of Rome or Milan, relaxing on the weekend dancing at one of the discotheques, waking up every morning and grabbing a fresh brötchen for breakfast... the list goes on.

That is one list I do have almost done - everywhere I want to go, places I want to visit, sights I want to see, trips I'd like to make, things I'd like to do. That's the fun and easy list to compile. Just crack open the Rough Guide, Frommer's, or Europe on a Shoestring and just read through, smiling to yourself as you read about all these cool places.

Tomorrow begins the more serious work of a packing list, things I need to buy yet for the travel, paperwork checklist, making copies of things, working things out in regards to a cell phone, banking, etc. More on the dull side of things, but exciting in its own way, nonetheless.

Well, that's really enough for now. No sense in writing too much when I haven't gone anywhere yet! If you have any suggestions on places to visit, good eateries, clubs, hostels, etc. either in Germany or anywhere really in Europe, please go ahead and shoot me an email or post a comment - I'm always looking for good finds and suggestions!

Bis später!