Pre-Germany

My blog starts in Cincinnati as I prepare for the next nine weeks in Germany. Audry and I leave Monday April 2nd from the Columbus airport. I am leaving for this experience with no expectations of anything to come and with an open mind of what this adventure has in store for us!
I am using this post as practice for the next nine weeks, like many others, I am new to this whole blog thing and I’m not exactly sure what I am doing. (Hopefully I won’t disappoint too much!) I also just got my camera up and running just today so my images aren’t too spectacular. My apologies!

I guess I should explain how I got to chance to take this trip in the first place… Last fall, Audry (a fellow ceramics major) informed me that she was heading to Halle, Germany in the spring for a student exchange program with the Burg Giebichenstein, an art and design school in Germany. Ohio University has does a student exchange for the past several years with the Burg. Audry told me that this year they were looking to send two ceramic students and she was the only one going at that point. I immediately jumped at the chance to study abroad since it had been something I wanted to do for quite some time. I spoke with Brad Schweigger (the head of the ceramics dept.) as soon as I could find him, and let him know that I REALLLY wanted to Halle. At this point in time I was getting ready for my B.F.A. review to get into the ceramics major. Brad told me that if I was excepted into the major he would talk to me about studying in Halle. A few weeks later, I had my B.F.A. review and was accepted as a ceramics major and began to prepare for my trip to Germany!
Since the day I found out I was going to Halle I have been contemplating what to pack, and being the procrastinator that I am, did not even begin to pack until just a few days ago (Which my mother is about to kill me for!). While all of my friends are back in Athens diving into the notorious Ohio University spring quarter I am in Cincinnati trying to make sure I have enough underwear and outlet adapters to keep me going while I am abroad.

I am nervous and excited about the months to come. I do not know what to expect even though I have heard bits and pieces from everyone I know who has traveled abroad. The best bits of information have come from the two students from Halle who I will be switching lives with for the next nine weeks, Yvonne and Johannes. They are two great people who I am happy to say I got to know a bit while at the National Ceramics Education Conference (NCECA) in Louisville a few weeks ago. All of the ceramic students and I traveled to Louisville to see some of the most amazing artwork I have ever seen! We got to rub shoulders with some incredible ceramic artists and learn about a bunch of different ceramic programs around the country.

This is it before I go.... The next post will be from across the Atlantic. I want to leave with some images of the things I will be missing from home!