After ten days overseas spent in Rome, Italy and Bietigheim-Bissengen, Germany I feel like I have gotten a full experience of the cultures. Seeing things in world history books and experiencing it first hand are two completely differnet things and I cannot believe that I had the chance to go on such an amazing trip with such a wonderful group of people. Leaving Germany and trying to get onto the bus without crying was probably one of the hardest experiences of my life. Getting on the bus and leaving my host family behind, seeing them waving from the sidewalk, was heart-breaking because I feel like I definitely have a new family thousands of miles away. The one thing that truly struck me as we were pulling out to go to the airport were the Musikschule students holding an American flag in front of the buses keeping us from leaving. I think everyone on the buses that could see what was going on was crying from it.
Jumping back to the night of our last band concert in Germany, I feel like I need a moment to reflect. After the final concert, I realized that it was my last time playing my flute with a set of amazing band directors on a stage in a wonderful country. It was a little hard for me to play the last piece of the concert knowing that it would be the last notes I played within District 99 bounds, but I feel a sense of accomplishment at everything that we have done in Germany during this exchange, and it made it better. I realized that I have my whole life to play my instrument in college and wherever else I end up, and I know that the experiences that I have encountered will never leave me during my journeys ahead.
So, after eight and a half hours on a plane, a trip through U.S. Immigration, and an hour long bus ride, we are home in Chicago. It's very bittersweet to leave behind everyone I have met overseas, but I know that one day I will go back to Bietigheim and visit my family and friends again. Danke schön to my family and to everyone that I met, to our amazing band directors, and to all those in Germany and the United States that made this exchange possible!
