my new home !

My initial thoughts after landing in Berlin were not as panicked as I was expecting, however, I was very hesitant to speak in German and was thrown off and how to get to IES because our program people did not come to pick us up from the airport. I was a little overwhelmed because I had issues with my luggage and I was unsure where we were going to get our luggage because there was no baggage claim sign, which threw me off.  I also did get lost on the way to the taxi stand but eventually made my way to the IES Center. My host family is not a stereotypical family; I live with three different couples, three kids (nine people in total), and everyone was very welcoming when I came home! The kids were all very animated because they had a new person in the house and were joking around with me and really made me feel like family! With traveling to a country that speaks a different language, I did not have reservations, however, I was skeptical when it came to my spoken German and with how I would adapt and whether or not the locals would be able to understand me; the two-week intensive language study we had definitely helped me gain some confidence in my German, and I can already see and hear an improvement in my German and with how confident I am when I speak it! I am very excited to see what these next six months bring!