(re: title of this post -- The End- The Doors ...you don't have to watch the whole video, just the first few seconds really...)
It did occur to me this time last year that maybe blogging about my year abroad wouldn't be a bad idea. But at the time I decided against it.
But now I've changed my mind! I'm not much of a writer, so bear with me, and maybe, just maybe, I'll get better with practice.
In any case, I'm intending this blog for my family and friends back home in particular. Hi guys!
So, after 11 months and now being only 30 days away from my Frankfurt-Toronto-Winnipeg flight, it's finally starting to sink in:
the END OF THE YEAR is HERE. The one we've all been talking about!
This is the last week of classes, which is a bit of a relief. Yesterday I had my last Pop Art class, which was one of my favourite courses of this year. It was a seminar in which pairs of students gave an hour-long presentation about a different Pop artist each week (Monday). We weren't graded on the presentation, and are graded rather on our paper (about 8 pages, due 9. September). So even though I wouldn't be marked on it, I volunteered to do a presentation ("Referat") on Andy Warhol. [Let me just go on about that for a second. My partner Elsabe and I worked last minute on it together, and it ended up coming together quite well. I'd been so so so nervous, like I usually am when I have to speak in front of a group-- especially in German! BUT everything ended up going smoothly! There were questions and discussion afterward and I pushed myself to participate as much as possible, and found myself feeling a lot more confident. There was one point where I asked my partner what the article of "Kunst" (art) was and there was a little laugh from the class, which was nice. ANYWAYS, it was all fine and I walked out of there feeling great. *Phew*]
So Pop Art is done. Except for the paper I need to write for it. That is definitely not done.
Normally on Mondays I also had French (beginner level), but our exam was last week, so--that's also done! That was a great class; learning French through German was really fun and we had a great prof. She gave us opportunities to read and would correct our pronunciation, and was just really patient and encouraging.
So along with final classes reminding us all that the END is pending, invitations to final parties have started flying around too. Actually we already had a farewell evening on Sunday. Most of us (Canadians) gathered at Warren's residence (in the communal kitchen) and brought along wonderful German junkfood. It was such a great night. We took a few group pictures and at one point, Carmin (from Vancouver) said, "This might sound really cheesy, but I just wanna say that you all have been my friends and family here, and I love you guys." Obviously, this cued a bunch of "awww's", but I don't think anyone can say it any better. The other people in the program have been my core group since September 2008 and we've helped each other through a lot, and I really can't imagine what it would have been like without them.
Laurel (from Vernon, BC) is the first* person from our exchange programm to leave Freiburg; she left for Frankfurt sometime today. Yesterday afternoon a bunch of us (about 6 Canadians, plus an American, and a German) met at a cafe (a popular favourite, Aspekt) to enjoy one last afternoon with her and to have a proper goodbye.
This weekend there are two more farewell parties. Mike's (Torontonian) floor (7th, my building) is having a floor party on Friday night and Irene (Vancouver) has invited everyone to her residence for a barbeque on Saturday. Saturday's also my birthday, so I'm thinking of suggesting we all go out afterwards, since there'll be a street party going on in the city centre, which I think sounds like great fun.
Well, now I say good night and cross off another day on my calendar.
*Laurel, first person to leave Freiburg, if you don't count April, who returned to Winnipeg in the spring because student loans suck at life.
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