Once again, here I find myself in the enchanting land of Europe. I believe that some people would term this repetition as addiction, but I prefer to call it passion. Just over one month ago, I received a final word from the international office in Berlin that I had not made the final cut for the DAAD Study and Internship Program SIP; I was devastated. My world whirled for only a few minutes as I struggled to find my list of plans B through E; I had prepared for this moment just in case but the rejection hit me hard nonetheless. Within an hour, I had filled out an application to Sejong University in Jochiwon, South Korea, created a list of programming ideas to keep me excited for being a Resident Assistant at my own University in case I needed to stay, filled out a budget for a French school in case I could gain acceptance for the fall and had called my mother. I marched into the Center for International Exchange at my home university the very next morning and presented my circumstances to the coordinator. She looked at me confusedly and inquired, “I thought you wanted to go to Germany?” 

On the 14th of May, 2012, less than a month later, I was on a morning plane to Deutschland to surprise my German boyfriend for his 23rd birthday. I had coordinated with several of his friends and the surprise went down with few hitches; he was shocked for several hours, kept kissing me and wouldn’t dare let me go. That night, he whispered to me, “Baby, I can’t believe you’re here. Please still be here when I wake up.” 

Now the 21st of May, I’m still here, completely relaxed, absolutely blessed by the Lord, totally in love and I couldn’t be happier with the way life has changed. I have an extensive list of wonderful things, ancient places and lovely people to visit this summer. Björn will finish his semester in July and then we’ll take a vacation to someplace exotic, romantic and new (maybe Croatia) with my best friend Gena, her Czech boyfriend David and perhaps Miki and his girlfriend as well. I will move to Cologne in August or September and then begin my studies until the end of July 2013. 

This is me. This is my life: always on an adventure.

Well, that is what I thought. I wanted to go to Germany because of so many reasons really: I wanted to expand my language repertoire, I wanted to study at one of their top international business schools, I wanted to be back in Europe and I wanted to be near my boyfriend, Björn. We had decided in February of 2012 when he came to sweep me back off my feet that we couldn’t possibly continue living without the other in our lives. Strangely, I had applied to the SIP in Germany before he even came back because I was so taken with the idea of this competitive program and prestigious university in Cologne. Now, here I sat in the international office with love back in my life but no ticket to Germany.

My coordinator pondered for several very long minutes between my anxious eyes and my application and then quickly turned to her computer, murmuring something under her breath. Typing quickly and dragging a file with my name into the attachment box of an email, she smiled, “What if we sent you to Cologne anyway?” Here’s the part where my heart stopped. No, there were no romantic beat-skippings taking place; my heart just took a brief vacation from pumping my blood in order to wander around the room for a minute. “Seriously? Was that ever an option? It’s not on any of the catalogues or website and I talked to everyone in the office and…” She stopped me short. “I know, Bethany. Let’s make an exception.”

I walked out of the study abroad office that day with all of my other applications and plan Bs still in my hand and a soaring heart (it had graciously decided to return to my chest). The University of Northern Colorado had decided to send me to my university of choice, the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, as an ambassador and hoped to create a solid exchange program with them following the success of my exchange. There was the possibility of scholarships, I had already filled out my course lists and glanced over living accommodations and area transportation because I had applied to their school through the SIP earlier that month. It was all in place. My family was a bit shocked that everything was happening so quickly and, admittedly, so was I. Björn’s jaw dropped when I told him the news that I would be living in Germany, at a school only 90 minutes from him, for 15 months. We planned to start our time together in June and I would stay with him and his hilarious roommate, Miki, over the summer.