CBYX? What in the World is Emily Doing in Germany This Time?
Okay, I know it's confusing. You might have heard me explain it once or twice, but can never remember the details. I understand, so I made this quick guide!
CBYX = Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals
PPP = Parlamentarisches Patenschafts-Programm (German name for the program)
GIZ = German organization in charge of the German side of program
Cultural Vistas = contracted American organization in charge of the American side
PPP'ler = abbreviation for CBYX/PPP participants
CBYX/PPP is a 35-year-old citizen ambassadorship and cultural exchange program jointly funded by the US Congress and the German Bundestag. Each country participates equally in its funding and support, sending and welcoming students and young adults as part of the exchange program. There are three levels to the program, including high school students, recently graduated high school students studying a technical profession, and young professionals. I am a member of the 35th CBYX for Young Professionals class, along with 74 other people/students. We are a diverse class complete with bakers and engineers, historians and auto mechanics. Based on conversations with my colleagues, most of us have already earned our bachelors, many have already lived in Germany for short periods of time, and only a handful could hold a conversation in German before our departure. (I'm hesitant to place myself in this category, though German knowledge is not a program requirement.)
Program timeline: Where I will be:
Aug-Sept Language school intensive training Radolfzell am Bodensee
Oct-Jan University phase Technische Universität Berlin
Feb-June Internship(s) Berlin
The program has three major parts: 2mo intensive language training, 4mo university studies, 5-6mo internship. We have almost no influence over our placements, unless we were able to secure an internship before a deadline in May. During the university phase we must also complete at least 40 hours of community service.
I have been placed in Berlin and will be studying agroecology and engineering topics at the Technical University Berlin. We must take at least four (4) classes, only one (1) of which can be taught in English. In addition to our community service, we must also secure an internship during this time, ideally via the personal network we develop throughout our time in university.
Ideally all participants will be able to live with a host family for at least part of the program, maximizing the cultural exchange and building of personal relationships. As of the beginning of August, I do not know anything about my final accommodations in Berlin, but I have the incredible change to live with a host family in Radolfzell am Bodensee for the first two months (Aug-Sept).
As for money, the jointly-funded program pays for travel expenses, most food, and living expenses. The GIZ and Cultural Vistas arrange our living situations and those of the Germans coming to American to live for a year in exchange. The 75 also fellows get a monthly stipend to help with the cost of food and other aspects of our lives in Germany. We will be writing reports about our year before our mid-year and final summits, in Nuremberg and Berlin, respectively.
This program requires that we be flexible in our expectations, open-minded, and incredibly independent. To send 75 young Americans to Germany for a year having only met them through interviews is a profound display of trust that we will not take for granted. I have no doubt that we can accurately and positively represent American diversity and culture in our year abroad and am proud and grateful to have been given the opportunity to do so as on of the PPP'ler.
For more information or to apply for the program, check out Cultural Vistas' website and the US Department of State's exchange page for the program.
If you have a question, please feel free to contact me at wilson.3582@osu.edu.