So long, farewell, aufwiedersehen, adieu!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye,
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye,
I'm glad to go,
I cannot tell a lie.
I flit, I float,
I fleetly flee, I fly....

Thursday, 8:00am, PDX Int'l airport. 

So begins my 10+ month journey to Mainz, Germany and beyond.  And with my bags packed, I'm ready to go.  It's bittersweet, really, leaving Oregon for the next short while.  Great friends and family will be missed, but new friends, cultures, and experiences await me on another continent.  I'm eager to have the chance to step out on my own, and establish myself in a new place.  Finding the joy in being with the people around you, in the place in which you are living is something to which I feel I've been able to adjust well. Hopefully this transition to life in Germany will go as smoothly as planned.  Having spent 4 months in the lovely city of Vienna should help with this.

3 months after graduation I'm ready for the next step, the next challenge.  This challenge is leading me to Germany to - after 19 years of being a student - try my hand at teaching.  In Mainz, I'll be working as a Fulbright english teaching assistant for a year, at the Hans Böckler Bildungszentrum III (for the German savvy, here is the school's website: http://www.bbs3-mz.de/). Being granted the Fulbright was proof that dreams really do come true, since this was something I started dreaming of my freshman year at Linfield.  From what I understand, the school is a type of vocational school for people who strive to work as salespeople in some capacity.  The age of my students will range from around 16 to 25ish years old; at 22 years, that will leave some of my students as my elders of a few years.  That'll definitely be an interesting experience.  I'm looking forward to everything about this next year and my time at the BBS-III.  It should be a great year of simultaneous learning and teaching between me and my students. 

Another thing I'm really looking forward to: meeting my roommates and moving into my cozy WG in the Neustadt (new city) area of Mainz. WG is a term used for a student housing type of apartment...Wohngemeinschaft (WG) is directly translated as "living community" or "flat share." Luckily enough for me, finding housing in Germany wasn't too hard thanks to a great website <www.wg-gesucht.de>.  I can't wait to see what it's like to live with native speakers close to my own age, since I lived with a 70 year-old couple - which, too, was an amazing experience - in Vienna. Judging by what I know of my future roommates, it's going to be an absoulte blast.

Over the past few days and weeks, I've had the chance to really see how many great people I have in my life.  Saturday night Amy helped me plan a going away dinner/shindig.  I honestly wasn't expecting that much volume, however I also wasn't surprised by any of the guests.  Seeing so many great people that I care about show up really made me very happy and at the same time sad to leave it.  Who in his/her right mind wants to leave a place wher s/he has made so many close connections?!!?!  Then I realized: all of the people you have known aren't going to just disappear from your life completely if the friendship is strong enough, instead you will only add to the number of people and the locations where friends will be awaiting you.  

And friends, please do stay in touch.. contact info:

Skype: smashleybennett

Gmail: bennett.ashley10@gmail.com

Traveling opens doors that would otherwise remain shut - these doors may be to other cultures, new friendships, experiences, adventures, misadventures, or maybe even your future husband/wife.  And I'm ready to start opening these doors.

I plan to update this blog semi regularly with pictures, stories, musings, ect. throughout the course of this next year (and maybe even past that).  Next stops: Toronto, Frankfurt, Mainz, Köln.

Bon Voyage. Stay tuned,

AB