jemanden auf Trab bringen

Hey friends, family, and complete strangers!

I'm starting a blog because I'll be in Germany for a year and god knows I fear genuine personal contact like herpes. I'm not sure of my writing schedule yet, but hopefully it'll be frequent.

Every time I write I'll include a tiny German lesson that relates to the post. Today's title is an idiom that means "to bring someone up to speed," which is what I'm gonna do right now!

Ten months ago, when I was on the verge of growing up, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and apply for the Peace Corps and also for the CBYX program to Germany. Fast forward past two interviews and a lot of waiting, and I ended up getting both of them. Looking at two years in Tanzania or 11 months in Germany, I decided that this growing up think was for suckers and replied "yes" to the Germany program.

Starting in 8 days (...Jesus, really?!) I'll be flown to DC and then kicked out of the country to Germany to start my exchange. The program has distinct phases and I'll move around Germany for each one.

Here is the timeline of the program we got from the company that coordinates the exchange program. It's kind of vague, but other than that language school the dates will be different for everyone on the program since we will mostly have different universities and different internships.

I get the feeling from the people in charge that they are working really hard to find host families for all of us. This part gives me mixed feelings. I really want a host family so that I can practice my German and so that I have stability and don't feel like a student dicking around on study abroad. The last time I was in Germany I loved it, but I really didn't interact with as many Germans as I would have liked. Having a host family would almost certainly solve that problem. The downside is that I've lived on my own for 5 years now and I hate being accountable to someone (this probably explains why I'm chronically single). Having a host family also means having host family rules. The alternative is living in a dorm or apartment, and given the option I'd take a host family.

Comment below if you have any questions!