Colorado Adventures

I've been doing my best to truly enjoy every day I have off work by hiking, biking, running, exploring, and absorbing the beauty of Colorado that I feel I have taken for granted for the past 23 years. I realize that with everyday that passes, I get closer to what will be my longest absence from Colorado and I am trying to get my fill of 'home' before I leave.

I am appreciating every conversation I have with friends and family a little more and I find myself more often reminiscing about our best memories together. I am also enjoying all of the new friendships I have developed at work and making new memories with them. It will definitely be a change to work in a culture where you have co-workers and you have friends but the two groups rarely overlap. Everyday it is more apparent that everything happens for a reason and that every person in my life has a purpose. My roommate has reminded me how amazing life is when you surround yourself with positive, sincere and kind-hearted people.

I have exactly four weeks left in Colorado and I am slowly marking items off of my "Pre-Departure, Colorado-Adventures Bucket List":

• Hike a 14er (or two)
• Sunrise hike 
• Visit and hike in Telluride
• See the Arches in Moab
• Bike-ride the entire Poudre Trail
• Run a 5k
• Odell Brewery Tour
• Go fishing with Dad and Mitchell

 On Tuesday, Pallavi (my roommate) and I spent the day in Estes Park and did a beautiful hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Gem Lake

Getting ready to make a tricky descent down
the rock-face on the back side of the lake

...

Grays Peak on the right

My first 14er attempt was today but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. We made it 15 minutes from the peak of Grays when it began to thunder, lightening, and hail. Common sense said it wasn't worth the risk; there was a large group descending from the peak which we determined definitely hurt our odds in not being a statistics of the number of people struck by lightening...besides, I have too much ahead of me in the next year to have chanced it. 

 

Me, Katrina, and Kristin at the start of the hike

Taking a break by the creek

Katrina and me, after quickly layering on
clothes when the hail started

View from (almost) the top

The view from where we turned around was still amazing and I felt like I was standing on top of the world- 360 degrees of Rocky Mountain peaks. I had been tracking our progress on my phone so when we returned to the trail head, I looked to see our highest elevation reached, certain that we had at least hit 14,000 ft...we were SO CLOSE! The peak is 14,270 ft and we were probably one switch-back from the top, any guesses how many feet we were from the 14,000 ft mark? Closest guess will get a special post card from my first mountain hike in Germany! Viel Glück! :)

Tschüss!!

Placement

As I sit here researching my temporary 'homes' for the next year, I think it is an appropriate time for a second post. I can now share the exciting, and much anticipated, location of where I will study and live while in Germany. As briefly explained in my first post, I will spend two months in one city in an intensive German language school, and the rest of the time will be spent in another location where I will study and complete my internship. This week I learned that I will attend language school (Sprachschule) in Cologne (Köln)! I will then finish out the rest of my year in the state (Bundesland) of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany.

I am thrilled to be placed for the first two months in what I hear is an amazing city. I feel I will have a lot of opportunity to experience culture, art, societal nuances, and some of the most famous landmarks of Germany- such as the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) and the Hohenzollern Bridge.

I am particularly excited to have my longer term placement in the southwest of Germany where I am conveniently close to the Black Forest, France, Switzerland and Austria- all places in which I have a particularly strong interest. I will not know exactly what city I will be in until I am actually in Germany but it is a relief to know at least what area of Germany I can begin looking for internships and activities.

Baden-Württemberg is the yellow area in the lower left corner.

I already have an extensive "activities" and "must-do" list for the Baden-Württemberg area-mainly things to do in the Black Forest. I'm always looking for input though, so feel free to comment if you have been in Germany and have suggestions!

As a short  update on what I am doing to pass the time over the next month and a half, (51 days to be exact) most of my days are spent working at my marketing internship in the morning and waitressing at night. I work a lot but I love the people I work for and with and have made a lot of friends who make it enjoyable to come to work. I am also doing the best I can to take time to enjoy beautiful Colorado (hiking, biking, running, etc.) and spend time with friends before I leave. I try to study a little German everyday as well, even if its just my Word of the Day and listening to German music.

It sinks in a little more each day that I will be leaving so soon, and the emotions that come with that vary depending on the day. Today, I'm feeling especially grateful for the amazing people in my life and the incredible opportunities I have because of my supportive family and friends, as well as my own hard work and motivation that undoubtedly comes from the encouragement of loved ones. In the spirit of Father's Day, I have to give a special thank you to my Dad who has been especially supportive and suppressed a lot of his worries (or at least refrained from verbally expressing them to me) since I told him I was participating in this program. I always have to remind myself that this is more than just an adventure for me, it is an experience for everyone who is close to me as well!

As a closing note for the evening, if you have a second after reading this, check out the first link located in the upper right side of my blog (or click here)- this will take you to my fundraising page. If you are interested in donating a little (every bit helps!) it would mean the world to me (in every sense of the phrase) and I would be forever grateful. In return, I will be sending each of you a small gift from my adventures abroad! ;)

I'm sure my next posts will be filled with all sorts of Colorado adventures as I try to check things off of my "Before Germany Bucket-List"...so look forward to that!

Tschüss!

Introduction

First matter of business: I think I should give my background, a background of the program I will be participating in, and an overview of what you, as a (hopefully) loyal reader, will find among the archives of this blog...

My background (as it pertains to this adventure): I grew up in Cortez, Colorado, USA where the population is roughly 8,500 and the population of cows is double that. I attended Colorado State University and graduated in December of 2012 with a Bachelor's in Business, concentrating in Marketing and minoring in French. I studied abroad in France during the Spring of 2012 in the small town of Vichy. (For those of you who followed my blogging during that adventure, I apologize for failing miserably and I will try not to let you down again!) While there, I lived with a spirited and fun-loving Austrian who, in a round-about way, became one of the reasons I began studying German in my last semester of college when I returned from France. Perhaps I am now already letting you down by denying you a sappy, romantic, love-story...but in fact, my desire to learn German was one part 'practicality in international business', one part 'new challenge appeal', and a large part 'my witty come-backs to Alex would be so much better in German'! My motivations for continuing with the language have certainly become less superficial but Alex always loves a mention and I aim to please my readers.

As graduation neared last fall, my thoughts mimicked those I had had when the end of my time abroad had neared only a few months prior: "I must find my way back to Europe soon!" Around October, I received an email from a friend with the link and application to an exchange program that perfectly matched my goals: 1. Gain experience in real-world business (preferably international). 2. Continue learning German. 3. Get back to Europe. I don't think I have ever put so much time and effort into applying for something as I did for this fellowship program. At a time when I was lost and stressed about my future, I felt as though this opportunity was meant to be and I had to give it my best try. In the interest of avoiding unnecessary dramatic effect, I will omit the grueling descriptions of my nail-biting wait and sum it up by saying I waited a little over a month to find out I had made it to the interview round and another month for the "Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you..." email.

Program details (taken straight from the website): "The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX) is a fellowship funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Congress, that annually provides 75 American and 75 German Young Professionals the opportunity to spend one year in each others' countries, studying, interning, and living with hosts on a cultural immersion program." The program is split up into two months in an intensive language school, four months of study in some form related to my field (marketing/business), and then a five month internship in a German work environment. I will be placed somewhere for the two months of intensive language (to be determined in June) and somewhere else for the remainder of the study and internship phases (State determined in June, exact location determined later). I will also be volunteering, getting involved as much as possible in my community, and traveling any chance I get. 

What to expect in this blog: My observations, insights, stories, recounts of my cultural blunders, my personal comparison and contrast of German, French and American cultures, as well as a plethora of pictures.  Hopefully I can provide you with a bit of education on German culture and history as well.

I am nervous, anxious, and exceedingly ecstatic to begin this leg of my journey to self-discovery, as I continue on my passionate pursuit of overwhelming wanderlust.