Hello again!
Didn't I promise that it wouldn't be long until next time? Well, here I am, just back from my PDO with YFU Sweden. PDO, as the title suggests, is short for "Pre Departure Orientation" and is a three-day camp where all the Swedish YFU students leaving for an exchange this summer, meet to prepare for the year that lies ahead. These days were lead and organised by YFU volunteers, which all were former exchange students that were there to give us loads of advice regarding our exchanges. Speaking from own experience, they shared their thoughts on how to give yourself the best possibility of adapting to your host country and the language that is spoken there, how to deal with homesickness when it strikes you, how to truly become a part of your new community, your school and first and foremost your host family, and much, much more.
Essentially, all possible advice that can be helpful during our exchange year was given to us, and now afterwards, I can only say a big thank you to YFU for doing this. It was so nice to be able to share your thoughts and all the small worries that you might have had with other students who all can relate and probably feel the same way too. Also, with PDO, the whole situation suddenly became so real. Whilst talking about all the things, small to big, that might occur during a year abroad, and hearing about where everyone else will be going in the world you realised in a way which, at least I hadn't really done before, what a unique and precious time that you have in front of you. How many things that I will experience, how these will change me as a person and perhaps the most exciting, but at the same time scary, thing of them all... I am actually leaving in just a few weeks time....
During these three days, our schedules were almost busier than the one I have had in school, but what a great time we had still! Amazing food as well as "Swedish Fika" was mixed in with teambuilding activities and games between all the sessions that were planned. It was during these sessions, which varied between 30 to 90 minutes, that we sat down together in smaller groups with one responsible volunteer and talked about different topics that were important for us to adress before our departure. We were given the chance to ask all the questions that we could think of, and I am sure that these hours of advice will turn out to be of such a great help at times when I might find myself a bit lost and confused in my new, German life.
To finish things off, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves in the future, which YFU then will send at around Christmas time, telling our future-selves a little bit about the feelings that start creeping up on us now, any goals that we might have for our year, how we picture our life abroad to be like and things as such. I can imagine that it will be so fun, when that time comes, to receive my letter and see how everything that I think and feel now compares to what it actually will be like.
So that was a little summary for you of what my last couple of days have looked like with my PDO. Now you will only have to wish me luck with all the last preparations during the summer, such as packing and buying clothes for a year, as well as with the work that lies ahead of transforming the German language from a mere modern language at school to a language as close to a native one as possible. To start the process off, I plan to make good use of the summer holidays and expose myself to German influences and make it a part of my everyday life. For example, I will start watching a German TV-series that another "Germany student" at my PDO recommended and I have also switched the language on my phone from Swedish to German, which already has confused me more than once. But practice makes perfect, right? :)
Now I will just leave you with some pictures from my PDO at Kärsögården in Stockholm, and wish you a wonderful time in the summer sun until we speak soon again!
// Louise
