school

The cat’s out of the bag, or at least enough is certain and decided-on that I feel good about sharing this now!

GUYS. Guess who’s going back to Germany this fall?

THIS GAL!

That’s right… I recently received word that I got the DAAD fellowship I applied for in the fall! This scholarship will support me for 10 months (a full academic year!) as I complete an independent study at a German university. I opted to base my project around my senior thesis (I’m studying river management and the EU Water Frameworks Directive), and I will be working and studying at the Technische Universität Dresden!

If you look really closely, you can see Dresden in the very eastern corner of the country… find Prague, and then look directly north. If you can see the details clearly enough, you’ll notice that Dresden is right on the Elbe River, one of the rivers I’ve been studying in my thesis research.

If you were a follower of this illustrious blog when I started it 2 years ago, you’ll remember that I spent a semester in Freiburg. Dresden is pretty much on the opposite side of the country from Freiburg. I loved Freiburg and Baden-Württemberg, and it would’ve been cool to be back there again, but I’m ready for a new adventure. The faculty at TU-Dresden has been very accommodating, and I’m excited to experience a different part of the country!

Dresden is the capital of the state of Saxony (Sachsen), and it is a major scientific and industrial hub. It is also renowned for art and its infamous role in Hitler’s regime and World War II. The city was largely destroyed by the war. During the Cold War, it was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)… this is the scary/exciting part for me, because even 15 years after reunification, the eastern part of the country is sometimes seen as lagging behind the west in terms of infrastructure, language, etc. So not as many people (especially older people) probably speak English as their western counterparts. Better opportunities for me to practice my German skills, I suppose.

Anyway, I am really excited for this opportunity! I will be in Dresden for two semesters, from October 1, 2013 – July 31, 2014. If you want to meet me in Europe somewhere, I’ll have an academic break for Christmas/New Years, and the semester break will be in February and March, so I’ll be freer for travel then! Or you can come visit me in Dresden!

This is a really exciting opportunity and even though I’ll be far away, I will be bringing back the blog to keep everyone updated! Get excited!