Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

In the past I have never spent a long time abroad (besides going on vacation with my parents). My time at school was a very calm one without any extraordinary events. Some of my classmates went to the US and studied there for round about a year. When they came back, they had been more fluent in English than in their mother tongue (which was German).

But it changed suddently when I was a student. One of my friends met a girl in a chat room and he went to Florida to visit her in December 2002. He came back and was really excited about the American way of life. So the idea came up to study there for one semester. Actually we wanted to go together and it was more a joke.

Well, at least I went and he did not. While I planned my stay, it seemed that a lot of people knew many things about the US. They tried to give me a lot of hints and tips. When I arrived in the US, my head was full of details (e.g. how to behave, what to say, and what better not to do) and I was really nervous. In the end I figured out that the people were as curious about me as I was about them. Any mistakes in my behavior were overseen generously. After that experience I decided that I do not want to be that nervous again: On my trip to India I knew almost nothing about that country and no one could tell me much. about it either.