Disclaimer: I will write only English articles during my time in the USA. Maybe I will translate the afterwords.

Yesterday was the day of the days. The departure date. With the whole group of the PPP-participants and two teamer of Experiment e.V. we flew from Frankfurt to Washington D.C. I was excited especially of the flight, because I never flew before, but we were in a big group. In the plane we met also a group of other exchange students. It was very interesting to compare the expectations of different nations. Due to a storm in Washington we were not able to land, so we had a pause in Montreal to refuel the airplane. Then with four hours delay we arrived in Washington Dulles. And in this moment I realized that the (before theoretical) year begins. Landing at sunset

Passing the security check pass quiet simple and equipped with our package we went to the exit. In the exit we were welcomed by CIEE teamers. With them we took a shuttle bus to a hotel. Normally we would have done some information program done, but it was already 9:30 PM so we had a great dinner and after that a short introduction. Well, at around 00:00 I could sleep. But I was way to excited and a bit scared because I had to fly one my own from Atlanta to my final destination. So after one hour of sleep I woke up and at around 3 AM I left my room with all my baggage to not wake my room mates up, who did not have to wake up as early as I. In the lobby I was able to prepare myself and my baggage. At 4 AM we went with a teamer to the airport to Check-In. After the security we bought some breakfast. With three people we flied to Atlanta. And there I was, as said, on my own. But finding my flight on a big screen was not a big deal. Somehow strange, but also funny is: From flight to flight the airplanes became smaller, but the space for my legs increased constantly. Look out of the airplane window

When I went out of the airplane my first two goals were to find A my baggage and B my host family of course. First I tried task A. No problem. Task B was as easy as A.

And there it was: my host family! Finally. After almost one year from the beginning of the application process for the scholarship I sit in the car and started to realize what happened. Now when I am writing this I started to realized the real opportunity my sponsor gave me. But I think I have still not completely realized that this dream is now reality.

Resume:

  • Flying on your own (event if you have no experiences) with a prebooked E-ticket is no problem.
    • The staff is there to help you
  • Crying in the airplane is not a problem. That is part of the realizing process.