Why did I decide to go to the Czech Republic?

I more or less spontaneously decided to go to the Czech Republic. It wasn't my first wish, but in the end I'm grateful it came true. I read a field report on yfu.de about the Czech Republic and thought “Why not”.

After it was clear to me that I was going to go to the Czech Republic I was getting more and more informed about the country, I found out that the Czech language has a lot of similarities with the other Slavic languages. A dream for someone like me who would love to know all the languages of the world.

When I told my parents that I wanted to go abroad for a year they were surprised, I was the child who said she would stay with mum and dad forever and never want to leave home and cried at sleepovers until I was 8 or 10.

I actually started my year abroad without any great expectations because I was told over and over again that it would be different than you think. A small expectation was, that almost everyone could understand and speak English, but that came differently. In reality only a few people in my environment know English and my classmates speak only little English and for some of them I would say their knowledge of German is much better than their knowledge of English.

Like any other exchange student, I was afraid before I came here. I share a room with my 13 year old host sister and have feared that I won’t have much privacy and that I’m not the type to share a room with. Luckily, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it's strange to me now when my sister's sleeping somewhere else.

However, it is sometimes also very exhausting for me that she is often a little longer awake than I and for example around 10 o'clock still doing homework while I try to sleep. But in the end I don't find it bad and enjoy sharing my room.

My first real day in the Czech Republic was a Friday and my host parents had to work. I slept late because I wasn't in bed till about one o'clock that night. One of my guest brothers cooked lunch for me and my sister and in the evening we all ate together. Around 9 pm I went with my sister and my host father to a competition between fire brigades where there were fireworks around midnight. That's when I tried Kofola for the first time.

I've been here three months now. From my point of view I haven't really changed yet, but I've already been told by a friend that I sound different and more mature, but I think I'll change even more in the next 7 months. Since I'm here I've been thinking a lot about my future although I probably wouldn't have to because I still have 4 years of school ahead of me in Germany.

I think my year abroad will have a positive impact on my future as I will learn to be more independent, make international contacts and improve my language skills. I would recommend an exchange in the Czech Republic to anyone who wants something different and is not afraid of the language. I recommend everyone to learn at least the basics before arriving here to have a relaxed start.

A topic that I have not talked about yet is my home in Germany, what I miss or whether I am already thinking about my return trip. I miss the sea and my dog the most. Of course also my family and friends but I can call them to hear their voice but I can’t just call my dog.

I have already thought about my return to Germany, how it will be and which of my friends I’m going to see first but there is still a lot of time left and things and people can change in good or bad ways.

That’s it about my experiences so far.