Okay, so the way I found out I was going to Germany was pretty weird.
I applied back in March to do my student teaching abroad; I have been wanting to complete it in Ireland for about 2 years now. Well, I was in my pracitcum placement and discussing with my cooperating teacher about how I am planning on going abroad and telling her how I wasn't supposed to find out until around Thanksgiving. We were both upset at how long that is to wait to find out where I am going, and randomly throughout the day would just talk about how crazy long of a time that is.
Later in the day, a woman who works closely with the COST (Consortium of Overseas Student Teaching)Program walked into the classroom. My first thought was that I was in trouble or something then she told me who she was and I thought maybe they were coming to tell me in person where my placement was. Alas, it was neither of those. She was just observing someone in the school and heard that I had applied to the COST Program. I asked her if she had any idea when I would find out my placement and she said not until well into November.
No lie, literally 20 minutes after she left I checked my email and there was my placement letter! The letter said I was going to be teaching at the Konigin-Luise-Schule in Cologne, Germany! At first, I was a little bummed it wasn't Ireland...but then I realized that this was going to be awesome!
I had been worried the whole time about meeting people while I was abroad since I would be student teaching and not taking classes. In Ireland, most people are placed either in a Bed and Breakfast or with a Host Family...so besides the people in the school I wouldn't have many people to hang out with. In Cologne, I am staying in an international dorm with students from all over the world ages 18-27 so I will definitely be able to find people to hang out with!
I am super pumped about going over there! As of now, I think I am leaving on January 12th and coming back in either mid or late April! But now I have a lot of paperwork and planning to do before I head overseas!
