On June 20th it was time to complete another big step to get to the USA:
I had an appointment at the American embassy in Berlin to get my visa!

It took us quiet a while until we finally got an appointment but in the end me and 7 other
dear fellow CBYX participants were supposed to be at the embassy on June 20th at 8 o’clock.
Before this date I had to collect many papers and forms which were necessary to get the
visa. This took quiet a while, but oh well… it’s all worth it, right?

Since people aren’t allowed to take anything inside the embassy and they also don’t have
lockers, I decided to go by car, so everyone could store bags and backpacks in there.
We met at 7:30 and the queue was quiet short at that point (compared to what we saw 1 hour later!) We waited outside for about 10 minutes and then 5 of us were sent into a room to get through the security procedure. It felt like we are at an airport and we all made it through without any problems.
The embassy looks quiet fancy and impressive from the inside and we all felt a little bit nervous and under pressure. We received a guideline how to put all our documents in the right order and had to stand in another queue to register. Another 10 minutes later I handed in all my (very neat and accurate ordered) forms to a lovely lady and she checked it. Everything seemed to be correct and most of the actual necessary documents where all of a sudden not necessary anymore. Oh well. She asked me to sit down and wait until an officer calls my
name.
So the 8 of us where sitting there, chatting away and getting more nervous about this interview with an American officer. We didn’t have to wait too long. After 25 minutes I heard my name (pronounced quiet good, considering that an English speaking person said it). The
officer had my passport and all the documents in front of him and asked me 3 questions (in German):

Where in the USA will you be staying?
What will you be doing in the USA?
What do you study?

I answered these questions simply and quickly. He said: ‘Okay, thank you, your visa is approved we will send it to you via mail within the next week.’
I was quiet surprised how fast and easy it went. Also we were all a little bit disappointed that they didn’t want to see all our documents that we collect over the last weeks. But in the end we were more than happy that we all got our visa – one step closer to cross the American border and stay there legally for one year.

I am the only participant from Berlin, all the other guys travelled from the Bremen and
Hanover area to Berlin to get their visa. Since we haven’t seen each other since April, we
decided to spend the day together until they had to leave again.
Since we already left the embassy at around 8:45, we decided to get some breakfast. We went to Prenzlauer Berg where we found a very cute little café called ‘Café Stockholm’. It was located in a sou-terrain and therefore extra cosy. We had some delicious coffee, croissants and fruits in a lovely Swedish atmosphere.
Afterwards we went to Berlin’s Central Station. Next to it there is a great bar / restaurant
directly at the river Spree. To celebrate our visa the guys got some beer and the girls a
typical Berlin drink called ‘Berliner Weisse’ basically beer with colourful and sweet
flavouring.

My lovely group, celebrating our visa!

To finish our day off we had some dinner, of course some typical Berlin Currywurst. Then it was already time to say goodbye. It was lovely seeing them all and spending a lovely day together. It is always great hanging around with people who are going through the same with having the same expectations, worries and thoughts.
But one question was around the WHOLE time: WHERE IN THE USA WILL WE BE PLACED??? Only one of the 8 had an answer to this questions. The rest of us still has to be patient and wait, wait, wait !!!!

An American visa for 12 months and quality time with great people – what a successful and beautiful day it was.

Anneke

28th of March – 4th of April 2014

That week I was traveling to Bad Bevensen, a little village in the center of Germany. That is where we met for our one week preparation camp. Our group of 75 persons was split up into 3 smaller groups. So it was me and 24 others in Bad Bevensen. The others met the weeks
after in different places.
I have to admit that I wasn’t too excited about this week at all, but looking back, what can I say? We had the most amazing time and grew as a group.
We learned a lot about American culture, the program but also German history was part of the schedule. Beside the tight schedule of all these presentations we still had plenty of time to hang out and get to know each other better. We had a lovely time eating (the hostel
served 4 meals a day!), sitting in the sun, spending some fun evenings together and making first plans on what it will be like once we are in the USA. Being together with those guys like 24/7 was amazing since we all share the same excitement, worries, fears but mostly this can’t-wait-to-get-there-and-see-what-it-will-be-like feeling.

The lovely girls of our group

The day we were leaving I even felt a little bit sad since we had such a lovely time together. But having in mind that I will share this exciting year with these wonderful people made me feel very fortunate. It was a great week and it made me even more excited to spend one year in the USA!!

Anneke

It took me over 8 months to go through the whole application process to participate in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program. Today here I am – leaving in less than 6 weeks to the USA. I couldn’t be more excited! But I would like to tell you about the past nerve-wracking months until I reached this point. So let me start at the very beginning:

July 11th 2013
My former college teacher introduced me to the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program for Young Professionals. I never heard of it before, but it sounded quiet interesting. Why not spend a whole year in the USA? I remember telling my parents about the program and their reaction was priceless! ‘Seriously, another year abroad?’
Well I looked up information about the program and realized two things immediately:

#1 The program is amazing and I want to participate so bad!
#2 It is almost impossible to get in!

Only 75 students will participate from WHOLE Germany?!?! Surely I won’t be one of the lucky ones! Why not apply anyways…
The first quick registration was very simple and the German organization GIZ (‘Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit’) sent me their detailed application form. I had to fill out lots of data about myself, sent a paper from my English teacher, a German and English CV and answer 8 deep and difficult questions about my motivation. At this point I was already doubting if I should really continue and apply.

September 21st 2013
I did finish it and sent the complete application. Now I was supposed to wait and see if I was making it to the next round of this application circus.

October 23rd 2013
A rainy Wednesday in the Netherlands… I checked my e-mails like I do every day. BUT that day I eventually got an interesting message! I got invited to a group interview in Berlin!!!!!!!! I can tell you, I was a very happy bee!!!
The following weeks I studied German and American history, geography, politics… In the end I felt more or less prepared for the next step.

November 27th 2013
I traveled all the way from the Netherlands to Berlin to meet for the first time other applicants  and also some of the responsible and important persons of the program.
In about 3 – 4 hours we had to pass English and general knowledge written tests, a group presentation and a personal interview. The last part was by far the most difficult one. Having an interview with 3 important persons who will decide about your future with many tricky questions can be very nerve-wracking. Afterwards I was very insecure about how it all went. The only thing they told us was that around Christmas we will get a message with further information. So I had to patient again!

January 16th 2014
I already gave up all my hopes that I made it any further to a next round. But then I got another e-mail! This time it was not from the organization GIZ, but from a member of the German parliament! Klaus Mindrup, a German politician from the party SPD, invited me to have a personal interview with him in his office in Berlin!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!! I was so excited and happy that I made it to the next round but at the same time I was scared to death to meet this important politician. What will he ask? Can I prepare myself for the conversation? How can I convince him to take ME and not one of the other applicants?

February 5th 2014
If I say I was anxious that day – well that is a total understatement! I was so nervous that I even forgot my ID / passport in Holland!!! Luckily enough they still let me into the parliament building. I had the interview with Klaus Mindrup and his assistant for about 30 minutes. They asked about 20 questions, about my motivation, my personal background but also questions about related German and American political topics. The atmosphere was really nice and we even had a few laughs but still I struggled answering some questions.
The following days I was going through this conversation over and over and over again! Did I say the right things? Maybe I should have said this or that instead?
They told me to wait until they made a final decision and then they will let me know. They also mentioned that the deadline was on February 15th to nominate a candidate.
During that time every day felt like a whole week and I was so so sick of waiting. With every round I made it further I was more motivated and willing to participate. On top of that I didn’t really have a plan B, so it just had to work! It think these days I was really annoying, complaining about the waiting all the time. I finally wanted to know if I made!

February 19th 2014
Day X!
That morning my dad messaged me that there was an envelope in the mail for me from the German organization GIZ. Live on the telephone he opened it. Did I eventually make it or was all the effort I put into the application the past monthsfor nothing???

The only thing my dad said was: ‘Congratulations Mrs. Günther’
I heard the words but I didn’t quiet understand them. He kept reading the letter but I just asked him, ‘DID I MAKE IT?!?!?!?!?!?’
And he just said ‘YES!’

YES I MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was surely one of the most happy days of my life! All the waiting, motivation letters and studying payed off! I made it! I am one of the 75 participants! Unbelievable! I received so much love and congratulations that day from my family and friends. Everyone was so happy for me and so was I.
That day I went to bed with the biggest smile on my face you can ever imagine.
Without anyone’s help I got this amazing scholarship. I was very proud of myself.

Anneke