Reverse Culture Shock and Returning Home

Wow. It's been several months since I posted. All summer I kept meaning to write more and more about the aftermath of studying abroad. I could say I was busy, but honestly, I simply forgot.

My current state of affairs is as follows: I'm back at school for my final year. The first week of classes are over. I'm sitting on a couch in the theme house in which I live and am moderator of (read: kind of an RA). I am also procrastinating on homework, surprise!

So, to be blunt, adjustment to life back in the States was (and still is) rough. It's not particularly due to the cultural differences, but because of the fact that I spent four months away from nearly everyone I knew and loved, and nobody's life froze during that time. Things happened, friendships were made and lost, people moved forward, and I wasn't there to see or experience it with them. Don't misinterpret me, I knew this would happen, but returning and hearing everyone talk about things that occurred while I was away is rough, particularly when it's several of your close friends got closer to each other and farther from you while you were gone. Knowing it would occur doesn't make it any easier, nor less isolating.

In my experience, many of the people who I thought would be really excited to see me again didn't really seem to be upon our reunion, and the people with who I was just simple casual friends were the ones who were enthusiastic when I saw them for the first time in however many months. Which on the one hand, at least some people were overjoyed to see me, but on the other hand, having close friends of yours act "eh" about my return hurts a lot.

When people see you for the first time, it's usually "Hey! How was Berlin??," which is answered with something running along the lines of "Oh, it was great." This results in the person giving you an expectant or strange look, as they want more information. But, hey, fun fact, it's really hard to talk about or sum up four months of experiences in ten seconds. I started going with the "It was great. Learned a lot, saw a lot, but glad to be home," which tended to satisfy people's polite desires of inquiring about my time away.

However, beyond that, nobody really seems to be interested in hearing about what you did while you were abroad. I've almost stopped trying to talk about my time abroad entirely, because when I begin a story or sprout off a fact about life abroad, nobody really seems to care. Polite attention, slight nods and immediately jumping to say something new once I finish are the result. I can count on one hand the number of people I've been able to talk about my life and experiences abroad who have genuinely seemed interested.

Feeling isolated after studying abroad is incredibly normal and it sucks. It is a very draining thing to return home after a long time away only to find that many people don't really seem to care, and nobody wants to hear you talk about the amazing experiences and things that occurred. There were times over the summer where all I could really do was sit in my room alone and try not to cry because I missed Berlin, and felt guilty for not being happy at being home due to my isolation.

So, PSA, if you know someone who has returned from study abroad, show them a little extra love. Really listen when they talk about their time away. Understand that they probably feel isolated and alone, and make an effort to include them. Show how happy you are that they're back. It will help enormously and they'll appreciate it greatly.

I'm not going to delete or end this blog, as I'm leaning towards keeping it for when I travel in the future, and there may be more posts about Berlin to come. We'll see. Either way, thanks for sticking it out with me. Until the next adventure.

Love,
Sarah

Closing - Belated

There is no way to even come close to describe the range of emotions I am feeling in regards to my departure from Berlin and returning home. Living abroad, surrounded by another language, another culture and a city that was completely unknown to me at first, was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, and it's really weird to think that it's over, after spending nearly a year preparing for it and nearly four months actually doing it.

I traveled to six different countries, visited five German states and saw so much of Berlin. I've started learning a new language, and while I'm nowhere near fluent, I have the desire and the drive to keep going. I met countless people who have changed my viewpoint on the world, from brief public transportation encounters to a few minutes in a bar to an hour in a hostel to several months in a city that we both call home. I felt homesick to the point of sobbing and feeling completely alone, despite being surrounded by millions of people. I became an adopted member of a family who before I started living with them were complete strangers. I dealt with people who were frustrating and hard to be around. I became friends with Germans and Americans alike.

And now, it's truly hard to believe it is over and that I'm back to my "normal" life. Will I ever return to Berlin, or even Germany? As a vacation? Maybe. As a resident? Maybe. Who knows?

Small Details - To Be Continuously Updated

• Jerk of the U-Bahn/S-Bahn/tram/bus as it starts to pull away from the station
• Slowly roasting döner in the window of many a restaurant
• Seeing the TV tower everywhere in the city no matter how far from the center you are
• Feeling the wind whipping through your hair at Tempelhof
• Bright yellow of the BVG transport
• Beginning to prefer sparkling to still water
• Learning as much as possible about your new city, its history and its secrets. 
• Forming a friendly but language-limited friendship with the man who runs the sandwich shop next door, as you try and both communicate in German.
• The whoosh of the trains as they pass through stations
• Eleven flights of stairs between the U-Bahn station and your apartment. 
• Laughing at various aspects of the city that make it Berlin
• Adjusting your public transport route to get around issues such as strikes, police action removing a half-naked man from the roof of a major station, and other hindrances
• Frequenting the bakery around the corner for cheap but delicious pastries and always being the recipient of the baker's constant patience and friendliness despite the language barrier
• Loving public transportation and the everyday commute, for the people-watching, the time to think, and the constant sense of adventure and movement
• Becoming close with your host mom over regular chats over cups of jasmine tea
• Learning to navigate around the city without any hesitation
• Traveling on your own for the first time and experiencing how wonderful it is
• Making fast friends with strangers or friends of friends who restore your faith in humanity. 
• Becoming addicted to German candy.
• Random conversations with strangers who you will never see again but cause you to see the world in a different view.
• Improving in German everyday just by hearing it
• Morning crepes with host family
• Being so homesick you think you might just completely give up. 
• Regularly going to a local bar/cafe that is quiet but wonderful atmospherically. 
• Playing with your host brother after his initial hesitance regarding you wears off.
• Knowing what to pack for nearly four months in a single suitcase and backpack. 
• Transforming a strange new place into a city that you love fiercely
• Adapting so quickly to life abroad, you're not quite sure how it happened
• Fostering an appreciation for new food and drink
• Passing three doner shops on the way home
• Eating food from different cultures every day
• The smell of fresh flower shops everywhere
• Cheap street vendors at the city center
• Brandenburg Gate, Tiergarten, Reichstag, and the TV tower at at night
• Variety of street art - from basic to masterpiece
• Picking up pieces of conversations from street corners and signs

Top Twenty Moments of Studying Abroad

In No Particular Order....

1. Exploring the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
2. Walking down the Unter den Linden at sunset from Alexanderplatz to the Victory Column and climbing on a Soviet tank. 
3. Eating a delicious quiche in a quiet Amsterdam courtyard with two good friends and a Banksy work behind us. 
4. Speeding down the autobahn at nearly a hundred miles an hour.
5. Playing ping-pong in a bare-bones hole in the wall bar with native Berliners.
6. Climbing to the top of Our Savior Church in Copenhagen on a beautiful Saturday morning. 
7. Helping repaint the Vaterland mural on the East Side Gallery with artist Günther Schaefer. 
8. Ordering a three-liter tap of beer with friends, old and new, at a bar in Kreuzberg. 
9. Seeing the city explode with life with the advent of spring. 
10. Sitting on the Dingli cliffs drinking a beer and overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean with a new friend.
11. Wrestling and playing with my youngest host brother.
12. Racing public transport - U-Bahn vs. Bus
13. Sitting on the top of my friend's houseboat in Amsterdam with three friends from home, eating fresh fruit, snacks and sandwiches in the sun on a beautiful day. 
14. Spending the day with a friend and his fascinating hostparents exploring the Teufelsberg NSA Listening Post, wandering around Wannsee, and petting a cat for first time in two months.
15. Commuting regularly on the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses. 
16. Feeling the weight of memory and history when visiting the Soviet War Memorial on the 75th anniversary of World War II's end in Europe. 
17. Wandering Mauerpark market and listening to street performers
18. Regular talks over jasmine tea with my host family.
19. Taking a boat ride to the Blue Grotto in Malta, and absorbing the beauty of the Mediterranean. 
20. Seeing a friend for the first time in four years and exploring Berlin together for May Day weekend.

A Semester in Statistics

6 countries visited
5 German states visited
12 cities visited
8 U-Bahn lines ridden
10 S-Bahn lines ridden
12 plane rides

2 long-distance bus rides
1 international train ride

4 boat rides
112 days from home
3 2/3 months away
8 reunions with old friends
6 new friends made

2 visits to the Berliner Dom

10 visits to Mauerpark

15 books read

24 walks down Unter Den Linden

4 papers 

5 exams

5 classes

10 cats petted

1 fauxhawk

27 fellow students
1 wonderful host family
2 colds suffered

1 opportunity to paint on the Berlin Wall
8 packages
35 letters and postcards from home
1 Mediterranean sunset
81 postcards collected
32 buttons and pins purchased
12 photos from home

1 international haircut

505 miles walked

3841 stairs climbed
1,148,254 steps

1 football game
40 cups of Yorkshire tea
5000+ photos taken

58+ blog posts

168 Instagram posts

200+ cups of tea with my host mother
5 times in the final round of around the world ping pong
Immeasurable city bus, train, underground and tram rides
Numerous tears due to homesickness
Countless laughs, smiles and memories

Hostfamilies and Homecoming

It's hard to believe how much has occurred in the week since I've last posted. So many things have happened and it's mind-boggling to think back about where I was seven day ago.

I closed my last weekend in Berlin with my good friend from the program, as it was his last full day there. We met up and went to Mauerpark one last time, where I bought a final pair of earrings, made of fuses. We saw a strange site, which was a mime dressed in orange construction overalls who kept stopping traffic to perform various acts such as falling on stopped cars and somersaulting on the street. Following that, we went to our favorite cafe and had a few drinks while also playing ping-pong one last time. He kicked my ass, of course, but I did improve slightly. Then we went to the city center and visited the Berliner Dom, him for the first time, me for the second. We climbed to the top of the dome and soaked in our last views of the city all around us.

Afterwards, we headed out to Wannsee (which included my friend basically shoving me into the S-Bahn in order to get on the train in time), in the southwest of Berlin for his farewell dinner with his hostfamily. It was quite lovely, as his host parents and their son are very kind and fascinating to talk to, as I've mentioned before. They gave both of us farewell presents, him a book, and a tote bag, and myself a cookie cutter in the shape of the Berlin bear. I was also given a legitimate piece of the Berlin Wall which they, themselves, had chipped off. All in all, it was a wonderful night. I heard stories about my friend's host mother's uncles who fought in World War I (not a typo, you read that right), and all sorts of other tales. I bid them farewell and commuted home with their son, who was fascinating in his own right, and quite funny.

The next day, I awoke early and went to the airport to see my friend off on his flight. Neither of us are sure when we'll see each other again, since I'm from Ohio and him from Texas. However, his brother does live near me, so there's a chance that it'll happen. But either way, I was still quite sad to see him go, as we'd been through quite a bit together and gotten into some excellent shenanigans across Berlin.

Afterwards, I went to Nordbahnhof, an S-Bahn station, where there was an exhibit on ghost stations during the time of the Wall, a topic that has fascinated me for long time. It had been closed since I'd arrived in Berlin due to construction on the tracks, but finally opened in time for me to see it. It was short but pretty interesting. I finished the exhibit, dodged wet paint, grabbed some final souvenirs (read: chocolate and Haribo) and headed home to finish packing before I was set to meet my local friend to say goodbye. I met her at her house, as she wasn't feeling well, and we had cake and hot chocolate, and then went out into the courtyard and lay in the hammocks, talking for a while. Eventually, it was time to say goodbye and we exchanged hugs and well-wishes.

Following that, I had decided that I wished to visit the Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park, which was only a few bus stops from my friend's house. However, I managed to board the bus in the wrong direction, and stayed on it until the very end, resulting in me being stuck for about a half hour in the very south-east of Berlin until the next bus ran. So, basically, a thirty minute adventure turned into two hours, but I did get to see parts of Berlin I hadn't before, so that was a positive. Once the long two bus rides concluded, I once again misnavigated, and went in the wrong direction before finally discovering the war memorial.

This memorial is one of the most impressive, and is quite massive. It's extremely communist in nature, as one would expect, but fascinating to look at. I meandered the area for about thirty minutes before calling it a day and heading home via my last S-Bahn ride. Once home, I had a wonderful final dinner with my host family, who gave me several bags of Haribo candy and a container of jasmine tea, which I regularly enjoyed drinking with them in the mornings and evenings. It was a wonderful quite weekend, with a neighbor who I had met before stopping in as well. My youngest host brother even was willing to sit on my lap and we played a little before he had to go to sleep.

I awoke the next day at two in the morning, having slept about three hours and was unable to fall back asleep, resulting in staying up until five when I was supposed to have woken up. My host parents drove me to the airport in a neighbor's carpenter van and bid me a heartfelt farewell after I checked in. I maanged not to start crying when they left which was an accomplishment for me, as for the past month I had been prone to tearing up regularly when I thought about leaving them and Berlin.

I went through security smoothly, despite the fact that they made me pull out every single electronic device I had with me, including my laptop, my e-reader, my iPod, my external hard drive and my camera. After sitting for about an hour and a half, I finally boarded, only to find someone was sitting in my picked window seat. However, she was part of a group of about fifteen German students and her friend was in the aisle seat next to her, so I said I didn't mind switching with them, as I was traveling along. The switch put me in the middle of the aisle row, between two more members of the group who clearly wished to sit together, so I switched once more with one of them, so that they were sitting next to each other and I was on the other side of the aisle row.

However, my karma paid off, and the seat next to me was never filled, giving me space to stretch out during the nine hour flight. The flight passed by fairly slowly, so I snoozed, watched Game of Thrones, read Game of Thrones, and viewed the Imitation Game, which was excellent and I highly recommend it. I also had the most delicious airplane food in the world, which was Air Berlin's pasta. I don't know what was in it, but it was extremely good.

Eventually, we landed in Chicago and after clearing customs without any investigative questions about my whereabouts for the past four months, I was once again in America. As I stood in line for my second round of security screening, I was overwhelmed with the amount of conversations around me that I could understand and had a desire to talk to almost anyone. Going through security quickly quelled that urge and after grabbing an Auntie Anne's pretzel as my first food back in the States, I found my gate and attempted to start processing everything that had been happening.

After discovering that my cell phone wasn't working and wifi was spotty, I coughed up a dollar and used a payphone to phone home and reassure my mother that I was alive and well. Eventually, I also got the wifi to connect and reactivated my cell, promptly receiving a flood of text messages from friends and family who were all demanding to know my condition, which kept me busy until my flight departed several hours later.

The jump home was a quick, and soon I found myself pressed to the window, scouring the view for my first glimpse of my city's skyline in four months. Eventually, the skyscrapers loomed into view and I nearly cried of happiness and relief. After landing, I raced through the concourse and ran, crying, to my mom and grandmother who were waiting for me near the baggage claim.

And honestly, that's about where this story ends. I'm typing this from my summer apartment at school, which I moved into yesterday. I've been reunited with several friends, and today will see my partner for the first time since January.

I'm going to post summary entries and aftermath entries, dealing with topics such as reverse culture shock soon, so stick around.

Ampelmann, Academics and Abendessen

Greeting and salutations, friends, family and loved ones. Look at me go. I'm back on track with writing, only to have my time here be rapidly closing. So, here we go with the summary of the last two days plus a random story.

Friday was spent at my program's study center for our final meeting, which involved paperwork to officially note our departure from Berlin, evaluations upon evaluations for the program and my host family, discussions on the highlights, lowlight and advice to future students, and a small "graduation" ceremony.

The ceremony consisted of all twenty-seven of us crammed into one of the classrooms, and each taking turns stepping up and being pinned with the Ampelmann, after stating why we had earned the right to have the little green man.

I don't think I've ever actually explained the Ampelmann, so let me clarify what it is. He is the crossing symbol, so red or green, for East Germany. After reunification, he hit cult status, and now is a popular symbol for Berlin, or East Germany in general. It's quite common to see keychains, bags, and more items with him (or her) in various forms throughout the city.

The logic behind pinning all of us with him was to symbolize our experience of "going" and constantly saying yes to new experiences, memories, people and food while we were here. Some stated that they deserved the pin for reasons such as living alone for the first time, traveling outside of the states for the first time, learning a language, learning that they liked ballet after drunkenly attending the performance in Prague, and more. I stated that I deserved the Ampelmann because I had gone from being an object of curiosity and uncertainty for my younger host brother, to an adopted member of the family who is free to tickle and play with him at all times. So, here is a gratuitous photo of me with my Ampelmann.

Afterwards, my friend and I headed out to Charlottenberg where we had lunch with his host parents, hostbrother and the hostbrother's girlfriend at a cafe run by a Vermont woman and her German husband, both of which were extremely kind and friendly. I had a delicious pot pie and mango ice cream, both of which were homemade. Yum.

Once we'd stuffed ourselves full of food, we took a walk around the palace gardens surrounding the Charlottenberg palace. My friend and I had been there already, but had never been in the mausoleum that lies within the garden and is the resting place of two kings and their wives. It's an impressive building and the reclining figures of each of the figures are especially interesting.

My friend and I soon bid everyone else farewell, and headed back into the city center, where we went to KaDeWe, the department store in Berlin, once again. There, we wandered the uppermost level, which was food, and laughed at the various things we found. The "American" section was fairly amusing, and fun fact, you can buy PopTarts there for nearly nine euros. Following that, we went to my program's final Stammtisch in a biergarten in Wedding. It was nice enough, and fairly relaxed, although not everyone showed as some people had already left the city to continue traveling.

Once the garden closed, the group decided to go to a Korean karaoke bar nearby. There was a cover charge to get into the nearly empty place, plus you had to buy a drink on top of it, so I spent nine euros on the wonderful experience of listening to others sing and dodging people bugging me to sing, all with a fairly average rum and coke in hand. Eventually, after about an hour, I left and headed home, as it was after midnight. I headed home and crashed for the night.

Which brings us to yesterday, or Saturday. I spent most of the day writing my final architecture paper and procrastinating on said paper. However, at around five thirty, I finished and emailed it to my professor, officially closing my academic semester abroad. Then, in the evening, my host family had my farewell dinner with myself and a friend. It was really nice, and filled with delicious food. They made shepards pie, salad, cake, and a raspberry sauce, plus one of their friends who I was acquainted with also gave them an appetizer and a cake for the occasion as well.

It was truly lovely, and my younger host brother did not end up crying once during the dinner which was a rare occurrence. He sat on my immediate right and the two of us hit a new level in our relationship as we started swapping food, with him throwing bread he didn't want on my plate, dropping chocolate cake crumbs on the table cloth that he wanted me to eat, and demanding some of my soda to drink. It was pretty amusing.

Afterwards, my friend and I went out probably for our last time together, and grabbed a drink at a nearby bar that we frequent. For the first hour or so we were stuck outside due to the lack of tables and the weather was miserable with constant rain, dark and cool with some wind. However, it was nice to watch the city while my friend and I discussed "senior superlatives" for the people within our program. We decided that I was judged to be "most dependable," and that he was most likely to return to Germany/continue with German. After a few drinks (okay, one), we called it a night and parted ways, as he had to return home and start writing his final paper. Hehe.

Which leads me to where I am today. It's early morning here and the sun through my thin curtain woke me up at seven, which is fine. I'm sitting in bed typing this out and looking around my room which is slowly becoming barer and barer as I'm packing. My suitcase is in the corner along with most of my stuff as I slowly stuff it all in. Right now, my concern is weight not space, so it's fairly annoying, but I'll figure it out.

Today (or in the next coming days), I hope to go to Mauerpark one last time, grab chocolate and Haribo gummies from the grocery store, visit the Berliner Dom and Alexanderplatz one last time, stop by Nordbahnhof (train station) to view their exhibit on ghost train stations, and visit Treptower Park. And, of course, pack and write more blog posts about my experience here.

And finally, I close with the small story that occurred a while ago. One day, a week or so ago, I returned home at the same time as my host mother and my younger host brother. We had walked into the building through separate but opposite doors at the same time. The minute my younger host brother saw me, he stated with an indignant tone, "Was machst du hier!?" which means "What are you doing here?!" I was actually able to understand what he said and replied in just as indignant tone, "Ich wohne hier!" which meant "I live here!" It doesn't sound like much but it was pretty amusing and I'm happy I was able to know what he said.

That's all for now. I can hear my host brother making siren noises in the kitchen. More later as always promised. Tschüss!

Aquariums, Communsim and More.

Greetings and salutations, friends, family and loved ones. In five days I will be boarding my trans-atlantic fight to Chicago. This is quite strange to think about, in addition to the fact that my blogging about my time here will soon becoming to a close, but we'll go out with a bang (or at least a slightly loud thump), so here we go.

Sunday wasn't the best day in terms of weather, but myself and a friend went to Mauerpark anyway, which was probably my fifth time in the last sixth weeks. I need help. However, in my defense, it was more for him than for me, as he still needed to do his shopping, and I was, for the most part done. Ha.

So, we met up and wandered the market. I bought a shirt with my U-Bahn line logo on it, (repping the U8, yeah!), a postcard, a magnet, a small sign that says "valve closed" in German and an old DDR Mark (which is made of aluminium, it's so light!). My friend found some presents for friends, an old license place and a sign that says "Smoking Prohibited," also in German. This is hysterical because he smokes. Regularly. So I had a nearly hysterical fit of laughter in the middle of the junk stall because the irony was too much for me to handle.

After our market adventure, we grabbed döner kebabs for lunch and went to my house to study for our oncoming history final. I also finished another paper and studied for my German final which was the next day as well. Early in the evening, he returned home and I had dinner with my host family. The entire day I was trying to forget what was occurring at home, as it was Mother's Day and commencement at my home school.

Monday, I took two exams and with those over, I was (still am) done with four of my five classes. Afterwards, I met up with my local friend who took me to Potsdamer Platz, where we both ate a massive ice cream sundae, topped off with some shopping, and lemonade on a grassy hill in the middle of the city. It was a lovely afternoon, and I returned home to watch the newest Game of Thrones episode. I also began reading Code Name Verity, which has been fantastic so far and I've been unable to put it down.

Tuesday, I spent my last day at the partner college, which was fairly boring. I turned in two papers, listened to a lecture and watched a comedy movie about a Muslim man who finds out he was born Jewish (The Infidel in English, Alles Koscher in German). Afterwards, I returned home and had a simple evening with my host family, playing board games with my host brother and mom. The former cheats although I'm not sure how much of that is him not knowing how to count properly and him actually manipulating the game (I'm suspect that the latter is more true than the former).

The next day, I spent the morning going through my things and sorting out what I would need to take home and what I would be leaving, which was fairly depressing. However, I then met up with two friends and we went to the aquarium, which was good fun. We saw all sorts of fish, reptiles, amphibian, and insects. The jellyfish were especially neat, and they had several tanks full of them.

Afterwards, I wandered through the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. I had been there many times before but always right at closing or later at night. The interior of the modern church is gorgeous, with huge stained glass windows being the main focal point. It's also interesting, as the church also had a cross of nails, a tie to my father's hometown of Coventry, England. That evening, I went to my programs farewell dinner at a local restaurant in a ballroom, which was quite fun. I also got to peek into the main ballroom on the upper level, which was quite stunning in a derelict light. Afterwards, I headed home and had an early night.

Today, I had class, despite the fact that it is a holiday in Germany. (Fun fact: It's Ascension day, and Father's Day and Men's Day - yes, you read that correctly, Men's Day, because men have been so cruelly oppressed throughout history. Apparently, most celebrate by going out and buying lots of beer and getting quite drunk. I saw two men this morning on the S-Bahn with a giant case of large bottles of beer, which got its own seat on the train. I kid you not.)

Anyway, I had class. My last German class was held in which we got back our final tests and had breakfast together. I got a 93% on my test and an A- in the class, whoohoo. Afterwards, I worked on my final paper for architecture during my break, and then went to said class, which consisted of a walk around Prenzlauerberg looking at architecture, including old hospital/TB ward compounds, a mortuary, the planetarium, and several housing complexes on the site of former gas and oil works. It was pretty interesting, with the highlight being a massive bronze memorial statue to a early communist leader, Ernst Thälmann, during the Weimar Republic who was murdered by the National Socialists at Buchenwald after eleven years in solitary confinement.

The statue is his upper body with a flying flag behind him topped with the hammer and sickle. It is fourteen meters high and fifteen meters wide and weighs fifty tons. It took up all of the bronze production for 1986 in East Germany to make, especially at a time when there was a high demand for superconductors. After the fall of the wall, many people wished to have it removed, but it stayed and is now a listed monument, that is regularly covered in graffiti. It was quite interesting, and there was a group at the base grilling on their day off. One of them was kicking around a soccer ball at and around the statue. My architecture professor also stated that recently someone had graffitied a gold bracelet on the statue's wrist with the word "fancy," which must have been hysterical to see.

Currently, I'm sitting in my program's study center, with many of of the other people in my program watching Inglourious Basterds as the film class's final movie. We're also getting pizza later, hurrah.

All caught up for now. Tschüss!

NyQuil, Night Adventures and Nature

We're in the homestretch! Oh, boy!

Monday was yet another day for class, German and German history. Neither was particularly interesting, other than the fact that they marked the realization that I had two weeks and counting left in Berlin and even less time for finals and papers. However, after class, I sat outside the church near my study center two friends for about a half an hour, enjoying the sunshine and greenery before I returned home to do homework (or watch Gilmore Girls, not quite sure which). I had a nice dinner with my host family and played with my younger host brother, host mom and other host brother.

The next day was more miserable in the fact that I had acquired a cold, and spent the day at home, sniffling and coughing and drinking copious amounts of tea to offset a sore throat. Fortunately, I had the day off from classes, as my two courses at the partner college had been cancelled. However, the cold combined with intense homesickness made me feel pretty down mentally, but, thanks to many friends, I was slowly cheered up and went to bed early to rest up.

I awoke praising the glories of NyQuil, still feeling like crap, but improved mentally. I spent a productive afternoon writing an essay for one of my classes, and then met up with my friend to go to the Gemäldegalerie, or the Old Masters Art Gallery. The collection was massive, and mainly, old white dudes, but they had two pieces by Vermeer, which made me quite happy to see. We followed up the visit with a series of cafe/bar hops across the city, first at one outside the gallery, then at one of our usual haunts, and finally at a beer garden with the rest of our program. Between the hops, my friend dealt with regularly nearly being elbowed in the face by an inconsiderate German youth who was careless about how he hung his arms from the support railing on the U-Bahn. It was incredibly funny, as the entire time my friend kept making faces at me as the boy's arm was inches from his face. Ah, public transport.

Despite being sick, I had a rum and coke at our second stop, and was very happy, due to my earlier productiveness, seeing several Vermeer's, the day's weather, and my excellent company. I was also told by my favorite professor here that I would make a superior librarian, after he learned what my career aspirations were, which made me incredibly happy and I bid farewell soon after, ending my evening on a good note.

Thursday was another day of classes, and fairly uneventful. The highlights of the day were 1) the intense Sporcle game my friend and played in which we were only able to name about 100 of the 196 U-Bahn stations in Berlin, 2) a delicious bagel with cream cheese (one of the few that I've had since I've been here - a real tragedy for my bagel addiction) and 3) finally figuring out my thesis for my large architecture paper that is due in the oncoming week.

The next day, I claimed as a lazy day and didn't do much until I went out and met my friend in the early evening. The two of us wandered from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate and through the Tiergarten. We saw several memorials decorated with flowers due to the seventieth anniversary of World War II ending in Europe. The Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten was especially covered in flowers, and wreaths from various nations. It was one of the few moments that I've acutely felt the difference between the remembrance of history in Europe and the States, primarily due to the fact that in the former, the war was at home.

Afterwards, we grabbed dinner around the Zoo Garden area and impulsively decided to race two modes of public transport back to Alexanderplatz for the hell of it. I took the bus and my friend took the U-Bahn. I won the competition, although had there not be construction on the tracks and it had been earlier in the day at top tourist hour, I probably would've lost. However, it was pretty fun, in a ridiculous way. We rewarded ourselves with drinks at a bar, and played (or in my case watched) ping-pong until we ended the evening.

Which brings us to today, as I'm finally caught up to the present and it only took a month.

Today, I went to the zoo with some friends. Despite some weather mishaps in the beginning with pouring rain and strong wind, it turned into a wonderful day, warm but cool, with the animals quite active as a result of the rain and recent feedings. The zoo is laid out very nicely and is a good size to keep visitors occupied for a couple of hours without being overly exhausting. Some highlights included seeing seals arguing, a leopard growling, and hippos swimming.

Now, I'm home for the evening, and simply just relaxing. The past month has been crazy and amazing, but also bittersweet seeing as I have less than two weeks before I return home. Things such as packing and finals are creeping into my thoughts and it's quite odd, as I swear I just got here. In oncoming days, I'm going to attempt to post more reflection pieces on my time here, but we'll see how things fall with finals and papers.

Hope all is well wherever you are and thanks for sticking with me. Tschüss.

May Day and Marie

As ever, here we go with the catch up. I'm only a week behind folks, stick with me.

The day following the trip to Dresden was another school day, consisting of German and architecture. The former was frustrating as I received my third writing assignment back and didn't do as well as I had hoped, mostly due to verb positions which are stupid minor annoying things to overlook. However, as with all essays, we were given a chance to correct them over the next few days and gain points back.

In between classes for lunch, I ran to a nearby grocery store and snagged what was quickly becoming my typical lunch, a small can of coke, raspberries, strawberry yogurt, a sandwich and a pack of Haribo Pico-Ballas. My meals there have unintentionally been themed red, with the red coke can, raspberries and yogurt. And also, please note, that the Pico-Ballas are incredibly addicting, and that is one of the many foods that I will miss when I leave (in eleven days, ahhhh). Following that, I had architecture, my favorite class here, where my professor and I geeked out and talked about ghost stations in Berlin, a topic that I've been fascinated with since I got here.

That evening, I met up with my grandparents for a final dinner together before their flight the next morning. We had dinner at Alexanderplatz, and endured a miniature tempest from the outside sheltered portion of the restaurant. I felt bad as they had been in the city for four days and only one of them hadn't been rainy and miserable. However, we had a nice meal together and then said goodbye at their hotel.

Saddened by their departure, I was incredibly cheered up to remember that a friend would be visiting me over the oncoming weekend. It was to be the first time we had seen each other in four years, as she was an exchange student at my high school during my junior year and then returned home to Germany.

The next day, before she was due to arrive (after fighting late trains and missed connections), I went to an excursion for my architecture and German history classes, to the Mythos Germania, which was an exhibit and model on the design for the Berlin created by Hitler and his main architect Albert Speer. The whole thing was quite interesting, barring an hour-long lecture in a chilly park after at the hands of my history professor on a beautiful day that was also a holiday. Once that concluded, we all scrambled out of there, determined to make the most of the gorgeous holiday (May Day)

I grabbed lunch with a friend and then we climbed to the top of an old flak tower in the blooming and flowering park with beautiful views of the north of the city. I imagined what stood beneath us, within the tower, as it was in ruins, and the same company that had produced the exhibit we had just visited also gave tours of the tower, and various other ruins and hidden abandoned spaces throughout the city.

Afterwards, we headed back to Alexanderplatz and split up, as he returned home and I decided to wander before I met my friend at the main train station. I stopped in some tourist shops, as it was now the time to start buying gifts for friends at home and souvenirs for myself. When I arrived at the Brandenburg Gate, I discovered a crowd, as there was a stage set up in front of the structure, with various musicians playing on it and food trucks and fair booths stretching down Unter Den Linden. The energy of the crowd was infectious and everyone was dancing and enjoying themselves in the sun. I spent a couple minutes and then walked to the main train station, past the Reichstag and the Federal Chancellery, and over the Spree. The entire city just had this energy that seemed to radiate with the sun. It was a wonderful feeling.

I arrived in the main train station and after fighting the lack of information about arriving trains, I went to the platform and was reunited with my friend. In the initial flood of people spilling onto the platform we were unable to find each other and after a quick phone call, the two of us were sprinting towards each other laughing (and in my case, nearly crying) and hugging for about five minutes straight.

After finally reassuring each other that both of us were finally together again, we left the station and walked back to the Brandenburg Gate where we grabbed some street food and chatted, soaking up the sun and the holiday atmosphere. Following that, we wandered down Unter Den Linden to the Victory Column, and navigated our way to one of my favorite coffeehouses/bars, where she enjoyed a cold drink and I had a rum and coke to fit the May Day mood, both of which were followed by dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, the Italian place that was nearby. The whole time we kept talking, catching each other up with the last four years of school, gossip, major life decisions, college, significant others, and more. This continued until we reached my home, where we watched Tangled before calling it a night. It was like a girls night at home and was just what I needed.

The next day, we headed out to Wannsee and met up with my program friend, and the three of us took the ferry across the river to Gatow, where we soaked up the gorgeous day and enjoyed being out of the city. From the ferry we walked several bus stations up, passing by empty fields and small roads, until we caught the next bus to the Gatow Airport, where the Luftwaffe Museum was located.

The museum itself was big, but small compared to many of the aviation museums I've been to in the past. However, it had a nice collection, and the three of us had a nice time wandering through the hangers and around the runway looking at the various planes and helicopters. Following that, we caught the bus and the S-Bahn back into the city and checked out KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe. It's incredible expensive, and first class, but fun to wander around explore all the floors. The most expensive thing we found was a large three foot tall Berlin Bear for only 3200 euros. Oh, and a leather jacket for a 1000 euros. Afterwards, we ended up at a Korean restaurant for dinner, which was an adventure. I followed the recommendation of my friend, and ordered a dish, which ended up being way too spicy for me to handle, and resulted in me swapping dinners with said friend who recommended the dish. After that, the three of us had a drink at a local bar and then called it a night.

Sunday morning, my visiting friend and I checked out Mauerpark, yet again, before her train left. We had delicious crepes and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast from one of the vendors and then wandered the market for about an hour. She got a bracelet and a couple other smaller things, and I got two new pairs of earrings, small presents for my good friends at home, a sweater (for only fifty cents) and a tank-top dress with the Dark Side of the Moon logo on it. In the end, a pretty good haul, and we headed back to the main train station, where I bid my friend a sad goodbye, as our next meeting is still uncertain, due to the transatlantic nature of the friendship. After hollering "Ich liebe dich" at her as she boarded, I returned home, finished my rereading of the Harry Potter series and worked on homework for the oncoming week (despite being emotionally traumatized) until I called it a night.

It was a wonderful May weekend with an old friend, and I'm incredibly happy I got to chance to see her. Definitely one of my favorite times while here, as it was nice to have someone who knew what it was like at home but also what it was like in Germany too. She had a perfect weekend, in terms of weather and the city's atmosphere and it once again reaffirmed that I had made the right choice in where I was studying abroad.

Dresden - The Perfect Day Trip

Breaking with the rainy tradition that it had set during the previous few days, Germany was stunning the next day, with blue skies, few clouds and dazzling sun. It was the perfect day for a trip to Dresden and after some minor mishaps with tickets and public transport, we climbed on the bus and headed out.

The bus-ride there was uneventful but quite lovely. We used a different company than the one I had been on for my previous trip to Hamburg and it was much nicer. For one, the wifi actually worked, and the accommodations were better. I read Harry Potter (was on Half-Blood Prince at this point), and gazed out the window at the green and flat land of east Germany.

We arrived after a few hours at the main station of the city and after adventuring around the station, which was quite impressive, we wandered towards the old city center with vague idea of our plan for the afternoon. In one of the main platzes, we discovered the Alt-Markt, literally, the old market, and explored it for a bit before setting off towards the Frauenkirche, one of Dresden's most famous landmarks.

The church is circular, and was finished in 2005 although it replicates the style of the church that was destroyed in World War II. Around it, is a plaza with many cafes and shops. There, we browsed for souvenirs (I got some postcards and a pair of Ampelmann earrings - they're so cute!), and had gelato. We also wandered through the impressive interior of the church, marveling at the gorgeous interior. Then, I decided to climb to the top of the dome, while my grandfather and Barbara grabbed a snack and a drink at a local cafe.

My trip to the top was begun by communicating through broken German and smiles with an older gentleman who with me in the elevator. Then, we kept about the same pace as we walked up the spiral ramp and stairs to the dome, although I went a little slower just to make sure that he was okay. Eventually, after peering into the interior of the church from the upper chapel, I made it to the top and the view was stunning. Dresden, due to the fire-bombing, was demolished, and the new city today mimics its destroyed predecessor. It is located along the river Elbe, and the banks of the river are extremely green and free of buildings. It's a fairly small city, especially compared to Berlin and was very refreshing.

I descended to the ground level, reunited with my companions and we walked along a raised river walk next to several older-looking buildings, passing by the city's cathedral, theater and other impressive structures. Our destination was the art gallery, which I wished to see, as it had two paintings by Johannes Vermeer, my favorite artist. I was (and is) my goal to see as many paintings of his as possible in my lifetime. So far, I have seen about eight. The gallery itself was impressive, and quite doable for a museum, as it was a little smaller than most. It has quite a lot of excellent works and I highly recommend it.

Afterwards, we walked back towards the main station, and had an early dinner at the old market, from several of the booths. Barbara and I had crepes, and my grandfather had a much-desired bratwurst, all of which was followed by a beer or two at a local cafe to kill time before our bus departed. Then, we made the slow walk back to the stop, as it had been quite a long day, and caught the more crowded bus back to Berlin.

All in all, the day in Dresden was highly enjoyable as I had long desired to go, was with my grandparents and on a beautiful day. The majority of the city's attractions are within the old city center, which is quite small and the entire place is very walkable. It is an excellent day or overnight trip, especially from Berlin and I'm very happy I was able to journey there.

Next post: as always promised, catching you up to the present!

Everday Life in Berlin, Complimented by Harry Potter

So, now the challenge is catching you all up on the past ten days of my life and then you will all be aware of my current situation. With less than two weeks to go.

The Sunday after our Hamburg trip, I attended a brunch hosted by my study abroad program for study abroad advisors and counselors for various colleges and universities. The program had asked for students and host families to attend and answer and questions that the visitors might have about the program and the city. I figured, it was free food and you never know who you might meet, so I volunteered. Overall, it was just being nicely interrogated about the program and my thoughts on how things were run and opinions on Berlin. I snagged brunch, and a free sandwich for later, as well some cake, so it was fairly chill.

I was in a good mood, as before I had left, I had been tickling my host brother while he was bouncing on the couch. When I arrived at home, the flat was empty and I churned out some homework (after reading Harry Potter, I'll admit). My host parents arrived home and dinner was very relaxed and the three of us chatted, as my younger host brother fell asleep at the table.

The next day, I yet again had class, but decided to take a mental health day and used my second skip day for German, as I had no desire to attend and wanted to sleep in. Therefore, my morning was quite relaxed and I headed to my history class in no rush. The course itself was fairly boring and the morning was uneventful.

However, that day my grandfather and his wife had arrived in the city. My father is English and my entire paternal side of the family is located there. Pappy and Barbara had decided to take advantage of the fact that I was in Europe and decided to visit me. I hadn't seen either of them in nearly two years so it was a lovely reunion. I gave them walking and bus tour of Unter Den Linden, as I am a professional at that now, and we had a light dinner together. It was really nice to catch up and see them, and we made plans for what they would do the next day while I was at school and when we would meet up in the evening.

Tuesday was yet again another day at the partner college. However, my Holocaust class met instead at the House of the Wannsee Conference, the location of the conference where the Nazi regime decided to implement the Final Solution. The house is an information center, and is extremely well researched.

However, the cons of the field trip were that it took forever to get there as it was quite out of the way, our tour guide was very verbose, and I was not feeling well as a result of too little sleep and a headache. As a result, I decided after a draining tour to skip my second class and return home for a nap. Said nap did little to refresh me and I was more drained following it, and still suffering from a headache. I grabbed dinner with my grandfather and Barbara at Alexanderplatz. That evening, the TV tower was especially gorgeous with the sky and the light cast by the setting sun.

Throughout the evening, the three of us discussed plans for the next day and decided to take a day trip to Dresden, which was only about two hours away by bus. After some technical difficulties, I secured us three seats on a bus for only fourteen euros each, round trip. I do love European transportation.

Next post: Dresden and more catching up. Apologies.

Hamburg - A Mixed Bag

The following morning, I arose early and took the S-Bahn to the bus station, where I met up with my program. We boarded the three-hour bus to Hamburg and managed to take over the entire top floor of the vehicle. The journey there was fairly boring, as the region of Germany is insanely flat and green. However, it was quite pretty, and we regularly passed windmill farms which were interesting. I chatted with a friend and continued to reread Harry Potter, a task that I had started over spring break and was now on Order of the Phoenix.

Upon arriving in the city, we went to our hostel, had lunch, and then promptly waited for over an hour for our rooms to be ready. This cut into our planned city center walk, resulting in us only having about fifteen minutes to wander around as we pleased, and then rushing to make it to our harbor boat tour in time. The tour itself was disappointing as the live audio was in German, the English commentary was recorded, and my program was incredibly loud, making it hard to hear the recorded and live commentary for everyone else, including the ten or so other tourists who had the unfortunate chance of being stuck on the boat with us. However, the harbor itself was neat, as we saw a cruise ship, several large container ships, various neat older and newer buildings and dry-docks.

On our way to dinner, we encountered a peaceful protest which was demanding German recognition of the Armenian genocide, of which it was the anniversary. It was interesting, and gave me something to mull over on the walk to the restaurant through a beautiful green park. Dinner itself was my own personal hell, as it was loud, involved lots of beer, drunken people and socializing after a long day. As soon as we were able, my friend and I fled, and walked back to our hostel, where we decompressed and called it a night.

The next morning, we embarked on a tour of the largest development site in Europe, Hafen City. It's located in a former harbor area that the city took over and is currently developing. The central location makes the area extremely influential and the project is attempting to build and create a district of leisure, residential, business, commerce, green and public spaces. I found the entire tour fascinating, although most of my peers did not. It was an incredible combination of politics, history, architecture and urban planning at work.

Oh, and to top it off, despite the miserable weather, there was a Junker flying above the city. I think, after some fighting with Google Translate and basic research, it was a Ju 52, but it was still really cool to see. When I first heard the radial engines, my immediate thought was it was a Ford TriMotor, but after a few seconds pause, my friend and I guessed it was a Junker, which was then confirmed by our tour guide.

Following that, we grabbed lunch at a local cafe and then split up into groups. I choose to go to the Miniatur Wunderland, a massive collection of worlds in miniature, including Hamburg, Scandinavia, Switzerland, America, a fully functioning airport and more. I've been wanting to see this attraction for years, when this video circulated among my group of aviation friends. The attraction was quite crowded, and I wish I had more time to spend there, as there were so many tiny little details to notice. For example, I found a man having a bath with a penguin and two cows (!) scuba-diving. Add in a functioning cruise ship model, miniature trains running overhead and under the floor and stairs, and the airport? I was in heaven. It was super geeky and amazing.

Afterwards, my friend and I headed back to the hotel where we decompressed before our bus-ride home with a few (well, him two, me one) rum-and-cokes. The bus ride home was uneventful and boring, as it was at night and there was nothing to see. I finished Order of the Phoenix and fell asleep on and off. I was quite happy to be back in Berlin, as the trip had been exhausting socially and I was ready to be by myself.

Next up, catching you all up, again.

The Opera and Train Strikes

Seeing as I'm stuck at home with a sore throat, a cough and a stuffed nose, I figured I'd take the time to procrastinate some more on my final papers and finally catch up on this blog, which has been woefully neglected due to the avalanche of events that followed my spring break, so here we go.

Wednesday April 22 was marked primarily by homework, a lazy morning, the start of my last month in Berlin and the GDL train strike. I spent most of the day at home and only went out in the evening to meet up with my friend and his visiting friend yet again. They were about two hours late, as they had traveled across the city fighting effects of the train strike that had started that day. We chatted for a few hours until I yet again had to bid farewell to return home and work on school work. I also learned that I had been voted to the history student board for the oncoming year at my home institution.

It was slightly fortunate that I wanted to be home-orientated that day as due to the strike, the international/national, regional and city train were either been shut down or were operating on a very reduced schedule. Fortunately, the BVG, Berlin's transit company, had not struck, so the U-Bahn (metro/underground/subway/whatever), the busses and trams all still ran and I was able to commute to the bar earlier. However, even this was not enough and the city slowed down immensely, with increased crowds on the still operating public transport. Train strikes are so much fun.

The following day, the strike was still on, but didn't affect me, as I was able to go to classes without any issue. This was fortunate as I had two more presentations, another on Albert Speer and the other taking form as a German oral exam. Fortunately, I did quite well in both.

That evening my program had the option to attend the Komische Oper's performance of Odysseus. Seeing as I had never been to an opera before and the performance choice, I was looking forward to it. I also had the chance to dress up again, and choose to fauxhawk my newly-cut hair for the first time ever. I was pleased with my result and that combined with an enjoyable performance made the evening quite worthwhile.

The opera itself was, to me, quite normal, when compared to the rest of the German theater that I had seen. It was a more humorous take on the story, and I enjoyed it, especially since I was actually able to understand what was going on due to subtitles and previous knowledge. The same cannot be said of many of my peers. During the performance, I counted five of them who fell asleep, and during intermission, the majority of them left. Of the twenty-five-ish who attended, only about seven of us stayed through the end of the performance.

On the way home, myself and a girl from my program were engaged in conversation by an elderly American woman who had overheard us speaking in English and chimed in. She was fascinating, as she said she was living in Berlin for three months just to attend operas, she spoke no German, had previously lived in Spain for nine months, and lived normally in the Caribbean. Sadly, our talk was cut short due to train changes and different routes home. I was quite happy to find that the strike was over and I was able to return home my normal route without any difficulty.

Once I arrived home, I Facetimed my mother and frantically packed for Hamburg, as my program was leaving early the next morning for an overnight excursion there. I also managed to sort out my summer housing issue, and received the good news that a close friend of mine had received a long-awaited acceptance to a master's program, which made me incredibly happy and I fell asleep on a good note.

Stay tuned for the next post in which I talk about my adventures in Hamburg.

Potsdam and Presentations

Wow, it's been a while. Apologies, but I do need to pull the "I've been busy" excuse, as it's true. The past three weeks have just been non-stop movement and events, and this is one of the few times that I've been able to sit down and type. Even now though, I have to leave in twenty minutes so therefore my time is limited.

When I left you last I was about to go to Potsdam, which is a smaller city on the outskirts of Berlin that is home to many palaces of the Prussian royal family. It was a beautiful day, and after dodging beggars, scammers and insistent rose sellers in Alexanderplatz, I met up with my program and we boarded the train for the quick journey there.

In Potsdam, we walked around the city center, seeing a variety of older buildings and enjoying the sunshine, and then went through the beautiful palace gardens to Schloss Sanssouci, which was the former summer home of Frederick the Great. We received an incredibly detailed typical German tour of the palace, which was small (for a palace) but quite impressive. By the end of our time there, my brain was overloaded in information about various pieces of furniture and other miscellaneous things that I would have never learned about on an American tour. Also, fun fact, since Fredrick the Great introduced potatoes to Germany, he is honored by people today who leave potatoes on his grave. 100% serious.

Following our tour, my friend and I walked with the group back to the train station and then headed (quite belatedly) to meet my parents for dinner, as it was their final night in Berlin. The four of us had a quiet but enjoyable dinner at an Italian restaurant, where we communicated in three languages and mimes with the waiters. Afterwards, we went our separate ways and I briefly attended my local friend's birthday party, which was lovely, before calling it a night and heading home, as I was totally exhausted.

The next morning, I met my parent at the main train station to bid them farewell, as they boarded their train to Amsterdam, where their flight home was based in a few day time. As their train pulled out of the platform, I nearly burst into tears. It had been so nice having them around and to have them leave was incredibly sad, although I reminded myself that I would be home in exactly a month.

After composing myself and some miscommunication, I met up with my friend and a friend of his who was visiting for the week from Paris where she was studying abroad. The three of us perused Mauerpark and then went out for another three-liter tap of beer at one of our favorite bars. After a couple hours chatting, I headed home, as I needed to do school work. Along the way, I saw a drug deal, whoohoo! Other than that, the day wasn't particularly exciting, as I simply began to solidly chip away at the first of five presentations that I would be giving in the oncoming week.

Monday, I spent in class, where I presented one of my projects (Albert Speer - the NSDAP Architect), and then headed home to work on two more presentations for the following day, one on Elie Weisel, and the other on Economic Measures against Jews in the NSDAP regime. I had a lovely dinner with my host family, with whom I am increasingly becoming closer and also received word that my proposal for senior departmental honors had been accepted, which made me extremely happy.

Tuesday was another boring day spent in class at the partner college, listening to my peers' stupid presentations, and then giving my own stupid presentation. The first class, I presented with my friend. The second class, said friend left to go hang out with his visiting friend, and I was left alone, as our third partner was traveling. We had originally planned to present the following week when two of the three of us would be there, but I impulsively decided to present on my own, as I knew most of the stuff and wanted it out of the way.

Following classes I went to get a much-needed haircut with my hostmother who was willing to help serve as a translator just in case. However, since I decided to get the haircut then and not schedule an appointment for another day, she needed to leave about fifteen minutes in. Fortunately, my stylist was really nice and between her little English and my little German we managed to communicate and in the end, I received a haircut that I was quite happy with. After some laughs with my stylist over the communication barrier, I tipped her well for her patience and kindness and headed home to relax for a bit.

That evening I went to stammtisch, our program's regular night out, where I hung out with my friend and his visiting friend. The event was at Berlin's oldest biergarten and it was quite lovely. After a beer and some food, I headed home and called it a night, quite content with my haircut and life.

My enthralling adventures continue in the next post.

Recapping Spring Break - Days 7-8 - Malta, Berlin

On my final full day in Malta, my new friend Jasmine and I decided to visit two of the island's major sites: the Blue Grotto and the temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. And so, yet again, we boarded another bumpy long bus and traveled to the southern coast of the island.

The Blue Grotto is not actually one grotto, but a series of small caves at the foot of the cliffs that run around the edge of the island. Small boats run by locals run every few minutes, taking tourists through the caves and inlets. Words cannot accurately convey how stunning all of this was.

The water of the Mediterranean was many different shades and tones, due to the playful nature of light outside and within the caves. The cliffs loomed high above, with their white rock face imposing and strong. Waves lapped quietly along the walls of the caves, and more forcefully at the foot of the cliffs. I kept dipping my hand into the water to remind myself that I was in the middle of the Mediterranean, which stretched out flat for hundreds of miles opposite the cliffs. The area was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and I will not forget the childish wonder I felt while bobbing in and out of caves and looking up at the cliffs over my head.

Afterwards, we watched several owls, a hawk, and other birds of prey fly around at the hands of a local trainer, and then caught the next bus to the temples, a little further down the road. The Hagar Qim temples are the oldest religious site in the world, and are incredibly massive. They are paired with the nearby Mnajdra temples, built for the same reason and by the same people. Not much is really known about these enormous sites. However, I've been wanting to visit them and Malta for over a year after learning about them in one of my history classes. Jasmine and I wandered around the temples, both equally intrigued by their construction and purpose and marveling at the size of the rocks used to construct the structures.

Following that, we caught the next bus to Mdina/Rabat, where we had been the previous day, and grabbed dinner at a small local cafe. I had a massive lasagna that was delicious, and was completely stuffed. However, I had a while to digest it as we waited in frustration for another bus to take us back along the Dingli Cliffs so we could see the sunset. After giving up after over an hour of waiting, we jumped on the bus that would take us home, only to see the bus that we had originally wanted pull in, causing us to promptly get off the bus we were on at the next stop and grab the desired bus.

The ride along the cliffs was bumpy and fast but the sunset that we saw was gorgeous, with the light reflecting off the sea and the sky displaying a fiery red and orange range of colors. All in all, it was the perfect close to my last full day in Malta. After about two hours on buses to return home, I packed my suitcase and called it a night as I had to arise early the next day in order to catch my flight home.

The following morning, I awoke early and left the hostel after bidding Jasmine a quick farewell. We had exchanged addresses and connected on Facebook, in order to stay in touch. I walked to the bus station, reversing the course I had taken every day during my explorations, and sat in the early morning sun, soaking in my last few hours of Malta. It was a little after sunrise, so the light was just starting to rise over some of the buildings and hit Balluta Bay. It was a wonderful compliment to the sunset I had seen the previous night.

The ride to the airport was long and bumpy, as all bus rides tend to be. I arrived, checked in without any issue and went through security in about ten minutes. Then, with several hours to kill, I grabbed a pot of tea and a croissant, claimed a comfy chair, and hung out in one of the airport cafes. Having a cup of tea that tasted just like home was soothing, as I waited to depart for Istanbul.

I was flying to Berlin via Istanbul because it was the cheapest option that did not require me to travel nearly twenty-four hours and have an overnight layover in a Scandinavian country. However, the flight wasn't great, as the adult (yes, adult, not a child) behind me was constantly kicking my seat and the flight attendants missed me a couple times when passing out food and drinks.

Once arrived in Istanbul, I thought I was going to miss my connecting flight and therefore sprinted to the gate, only to find that I was okay. The only thing that sticks out to me in regards to that airport, besides how big it was, is the massive variation in the dress of women. I saw women in hijabs, niqabs, burkas, chadors, khimars, and al-Amiras. I also saw women dressed in low-cut dresses, tank-tops and jeans, long-sleeved shirts, saris, and more. Any type of clothing, it was there.

My flight to Berlin was uneventful, and I eventually arrived in the late afternoon. It was odd being back around German speakers again, but incredibly lovely to be somewhere familiar. My parents met me at my gate, and, as stated in a previous post, it was a wonderful surprise.

That's about it for my spring break summary. Up next, a catch up post on what I've been up to this past week. Tschüss!

Recapping Spring Break - Day 6 - Malta

Wednesday morning, I once again awoke without any plan in mind. Originally I had thought that I would be able to do all of Malta in several days, but I had underestimated the size of the island. Although it is small, due to the crap bus service, it takes a while to get around. Therefore, I decided early on that I was going to explore at a slower pace, and just take things as they come.

Therefore, when I was pondering what I wished to do, primarily mulling over visiting Mdina, and the Dingli Cliffs, I accepted the offer of company from one of my roommates, a German woman named Jasmine, that I had briefly interacted with the previous day. We quickly became friends, as we spent many an hour on a bus together over the next few days.

The day was spent in the area of Rabat and Mdina, the Silent City and old capital of Malta. It was the sight that Game of Thrones used for King's Landing for the first season before they switched to a city in Croatia. Cars are not allowed within its walls and it's very Mediterranean, and overlooks much of the surrounding island. Located outside its walls is Rabat, another village whose name means suburb in Arabic. There, Jasmine and I explored the Roman house, the only one of its kind on the island, and the catacombs of St. Paul. The catacombs were larger than I expected, fascinating but creepy. They were dimly lit and a maze, and I kept picturing what it would have been like to be in them when they were full. Once we emerged from the darkness, we grabbed a lunch of snacks from a local bakery and munched on them in a local square, soaking up the sun and chatting amicably. The town itself is very Mediterranean, as it felt quite sleepy and quiet, with an occasional bustle of tourists wandering through.

We then took a bus to the Dingli Cliffs, which are 253 meters (830 feet) and are the highest spot in Malta. The view from them overlooking the Mediterranean was truly stunning. The sea stretched for miles around the island with no other land in sight, with the sun shining brightly through thin clouds, shimmering off the waves. Jasmine and I took all of this in, sitting against a stone wall running around the radar dome of the airport, which was located along the cliffs. With the local beer, Cisk, in hand, we relaxed and enjoyed the stunning view until the next bumbling bus arrived, and we began the long bouncy journey home.

That evening, we grabbed food at a local supermarket and had pasta for dinner, where I also sampled the local soda, Kinnie. We shared it with a French young woman, one of our roommates, and one of the Italian men in the hostel. He spoke barely any English, but was always incredibly nice, offering to share food, smiling at everyone and always saying hello. He spoke through the French woman who translated for us, and it was an enjoyable meal, since we all came from incredibly different backgrounds but could bond over food. Definitely a moment to remember. After some tea and a book with Cat Stevens on my lap, I called it a night, remembering with a slight shock that the next day was my last full day in Malta.

Recapping Spring Break Recap - Days 4-5 - Malta

Here's the promised recap of my first two days in Malta.

I arrived in Malta early afternoon and stepped out of the airport terminal only to be greeted by brisk winds and a fifteen minute wait for the bus to arrive. Following that it was about an hour bus ride to the stop near my hostel, and an incredibly steep uphill walk to the hostel. However, I was greeted by a cheerful Slovak girl who checked me in partially, and showed my room, where we chatted amicably. I settled in and then decided to explore.

My hostel was located close to Balluta Bay in St. Julians which was incredibly beautiful, with incredibly intense blue waters and sky. I walked along the promenade that ran next to the bay, soaking up the sun and my new location. I browsed through some tourist shops, and grabbed an early dinner at a local Italian cafe. With food in my stomach, I discovered a small marina cove surrounded by nice hotels, and then the shore, which was a rocky beach, filled with tidal pools. While picking up bottles and trash (channeling my parents), I explored along the shore, picking up sea glass and shells and enjoying the wind, the waves and the scenery. It was perfect, as I was totally on my own and at peace with everything that was going on around me. After spending weeks surrounded by people constantly, it was just what I needed.

After exploring the rocky beach, I wandered back around to my starting point and went the opposite way for a bit, where I found a small sandy beach about fifty feet long, where I pulled off my shoes and socks. I waded in the cold but refreshing water, and stuck my feet in the sand, which was therapeutic. I also wandered through the small church (one of the 365 located in Malta) which was gorgeous before heading home to my hostel, via the uphill climb (it was the equivalent of about thirty flights of stairs - I kid you not). On my way to and from the bay, I would always pass a cat colony, consisting of several barrels and containers strapped to a tree that grew next to a wall, in which there was food and bedding for several cats that were always willing to be petted.

Additionally, the hostel that I stayed at also had a resident feline, named Cat Stevens. She was extremely friendly and I quickly became one of her favorite guests, as she learned that I was always willing to pet her and have her on my lap. It became a running joke with all of the other guests, as whenever I sat down, Cat Stevens would jump on my lap and fall asleep. However, after months of not being around animals, it was perfect to have a cat fall asleep on my lap for several hours.

That, combined with the wonderful family atmosphere at the small hostel, I was incredibly satisfied. My first night at the hostel was also an international dinner coordinated by guests and staff, and there were many different dishes cooked and shared, between a Slovak, Italians, Germans, Americans, Brits, French, and more nationalities. Everyone was very relaxed and friendly, and soon I knew many of the people's names (it was a fairly small hostel). Following that, I called it an early night and crashed.

The next morning I awoke without any idea of what I was going to be doing, and found that I thoroughly enjoyed having a lazy morning without having to deal with the needs of anyone else but myself. I had cheap but delicious breakfast at the hostel, wonderful scrambled eggs, baked beans and bread, made at the hands of the hostel owner, and wonderful human all around. Then, I headed out and rode a long bus to the capital of Malta, Valletta.

There, I wandered throughout the city, stopping to browse stores, viewing the waterfront (with cruise ships and oil platforms), wandering through the St. John's Co-Cathedral, which was the baroque style on drugs, and along the old streets and promenades, while munching on a a cheap yummy meat pie from a hole-in-the-wall bakery. I popped into the National Library of Malta, and ogled at the reading and research room. I also wandered into to the St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral where I chatted with one of the docents, a sweet British older man who was curious as to why I was traveling alone, and why I had come to Malta, as it isn't a top destination.

Deciding to call it an early day, I headed back to the hostel via one of Malta's many buses, which has an excellent network but shit timetable, as buses are regularly insanely late or early, and sometimes don't even stop at specified places, despite passengers waiting there. The rides are also long, crowded, and hot, as the routes that I frequented were packed with tourists. However, it was cheap, so I sucked it up and enjoyed people watching. During the late afternoon, after arriving back at my temporary residence, I watched the Julia Robert's movie Erin Brokovich, with some American girls who were killing down before their flight. It was highly enjoyable and Cat Stevens was curled up on my lap as well.

All in all, by the end of the day I had concluded that traveling alone was great, Malta was the perfect place to do so and the next few days were going to be wonderful.

Catching Up...Again

If there was ever a time to play catch up, it is now, as my hostfamily's neighbors are having a party, the walls are thin, and ta-da, my room is closest to the action. Loud music is steadily pumping, so I have some good energy to keep me going.

My apologies for falling behind, but as I stated several times, this final month is flying by, due to so many things going on. I will return to my recounting of my spring break adventures soon, but first I want to cover this past week.

I arrived back into Berlin last Friday afternoon, and one of the first things I saw out of the plane was my father's tall bald head at the arrivals gate, as he and my mother, who are now in town, had decided to meet me there. I could barely speak for the first few minutes as I hugged my mom tightly. It was so overwhelming to have them there and to be able to touch and get hugs from them. Following that, we went to their AirBnB apartment, where we caught up over beers. I was fairly zonked due to having traveled all day, so after a little while I returned home, where my host parents were still up and greeted me happily. It was so nice to be in my own bed for the night, and my parents had brought me clothes that I needed, so I now have several more things to wear, on top of my typical black sweater and scarf outfit. Hoorah!

Saturday was spent walking around Mitte and showing them the main sites, with myself acting as a wonderful tour guide. It was the typical walk down Unter Den Linden, with some detours for other sights as well, and a late lunch where I attempted to use my German with a nice waiter. Afterwards, my father and I went up to the top of the TV tower or Fernsehturm. The view of the city was at first obscured due to a rainstorm, but following that the sun peeked out for a while, causing the buildings to be shiny due to the water, and some rainbows to form. All in all, definitely worth the entrance fee.

Sunday arrived and my host family, myself and my parents had brunch together. At first I was a little nervous as, for me, it was two worlds colliding, in a way that is hard to describe. However, the food was delicious, and all went well. The meal was followed by a walk around Tempelhof and ice cream, as it was a lovely day. Then, my parents and I went to Mauerpark market, while my host family went to a birthday party.

Mauerpark was great, and I intend to return for the rest of my Sundays in Berlin, as now is the time that I should be doing my souvenir shopping. I bought several magnets, a CD, and a shirt of the TV tower and cranes as I wanted to be able to represent and remember Berlin when I return home. We also saw some of the karaoke the market and park are known for, as well as some street performers who were really neat. Two were playing a variety of percussion instruments and had a large crowd of listeners and dancers surrounding them. It was a quite a free and loose performance and atmosphere and very typical Berlin. Following that, we grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at a local Italian restaurant that I'm fond of and then called it a day.

Monday, I spent in class, catching up with friends and homework. It was lovely as the area surrounding my study center has really exploded with spring, and all of the flowers on trees and bushes are blooming in full force. After class, my parents and I found an excellent boat tour for the future, and had a drink in a cafe. The evening consisted of binging the new Game of Thrones episodes and ahhhhhh.

Tuesday was a boring day spent at the partner college. However, on my walk to the campus, I heard a rustling in the woods that border the sidewalk between some of the houses, and saw one of the infamous wild pigs or boars that live in the Grundewald, the big forest in the southwest of the city. It was pretty incredible, and I managed to snap a few photos while worrying that he/she would charge me. However, due to the noise of the group of students following me and the promise of better food, he/she went deeper into the brush.

The following day was spent doing a three-hour River Spree and Landwerhkanal boat tour, which I highly recommend. It was the perfect day for it, not too hot and not too cold, and provided a wonderful overview of Berlin. The crew was incredibly friendly, and although the narration was in German, we were able to get an audio guide which my mother and I split, and then told my father the highlights. After grabbing lunch, we met up with one of my friends and then proceeded to explore the Deutches Technik Museum.

This was interesting, despite the lack of English translations of the placards. If you're searching for the planes, trains, and boats, this was the place to go. From a DC-3 that participated in the Berlin airlift to a NSDAP train, to all other sorts of things, it was a really interesting museum, and I probably could've spent hours there. Afterwards, the four of us headed to a bar/coffeeshop in Kreuzberg that my friend and I are fond of, and ordered a three-liter tap of beer to split, which we enjoyed in the shade of the building, while also soaking up the lovely weather. All in all, it was a long but very good day.

Thursday was another day spent in class, with my stress level slowly beginning to rise, as I have a presentation due in every single class next week, eek. That evening, however, I went to Wannsee, a forty minute commute, to the American Academy to hear a lecture on gender, military and memory in World War II, as it related to the topic of my senior history thesis. While it was a good experience, the talk wasn't what I had hoped it would be and consisted mostly of statistics. I did get some ideas out of it, so all was not lost. Plus, I was also able to see the stars at night and experience the quiet outside of the city while walking back to the S-Bahn station.

Today, myself and my architecture class adventured two hours outside of Berlin to Dessau to see the Bauhaus, which was the site of an architecture movement in the 1920's and 1930's. I expected to the tour and location to be a little boring, but in actuality, it was quite fun and interesting. Our tour guide was friendly, the group was good, and the site itself is very intriguing. We toured the Bauhaus itself, the houses of the Meisters, as well as ate lunch in the bistro and browsed the gift-store. I'm quite happy as I found several new pins and postcards for my collections, and pentominoes, which is a game that I've been wanting since I was about twelve after I read Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (highly recommend the book and the following series).

 I arrived home, expecting to collapse on my bed before dinner, but ended up playing with my host brother and host mom. It was quite fun, as we were pillow fighting, wrestling, and chasing each other. I'm happy as my younger host brother finally had decided that it was okay to climb on me and play with me, something that has taken a while to occur, due to the language and trust barrier. This evening, my host family, my parents and myself went out for dinner at a local Persian restaurant in Kreuzberg. My younger host brother fell asleep at the table, while everyone was chatting. All in all, a wonderful dinner to close a really good day.

Which brings me to where I am now, with a party next door and tiredness calling me to switch off the light and attempt to sleep. We'll see. Tomorrow morning, I hope to write about the rest of spring break before I go to Potsdam with my program. Thanks for sticking around. Tschüss!

Recapping Spring Break - Days 3-4 - Amsterdam, Rome

Continuing with the adventures in Amsterdam.

The next day, Saturday, the three of us met up once again, and grabbed breakfast at a local market. Two of us had fresh squeezed orange juice for a Euro, on top of a cinnamon-raisin roll, both of which were absolutely scrumptious. Then, while also encountering a man in a neon pink bunny-suit, we awaited the arrival of a fourth friend. All of us attend the same school in the States, and are studying abroad all over Europe, one in Amsterdam, myself in Berlin, another in Aix, France, and the fourth in Aberdeen, Scotland. He arrived much to the happiness of all of us and more hugs and smiles occurred.

Following the reunion, we then proceeded to explore the city even more, exploring the market once again, visiting the Cheese "Museum" (which is basically a shop with a dinky museum in the basement), tasting samples of cheese, eating stroopwafel (delicious, highly recommend it), visiting the Rijksmuseum (I saw some works of Vermeer's, my favorite painter), touring the Van Gogh museum, and partaking in some other local delicacies. That evening, we ate dinner at the crepe place again, and wandered the Red Light District, which was definitely an experience. We saw many drunk young British men, and curious tourists with a large range of facial expressions. After that, we called it a night and returned back to our lodgings to crash for the night. Our host also had three friends from Belgium visiting, in addition to the two of us, so we stayed up a little late over tea, chatting and laughing at each other and jokes. It was pretty relaxed and fun, despite it being a little cramped.

The next morning, I packed sadly, as my flight was leaving that afternoon, and bid farewell to my host, as my friend and returned to the city to meet up with the other two of our group. We ate breakfast in the houseboat, enjoying the atmosphere and sun that crept through the portholes. Then we enjoyed the beautiful day in a local park, where daffodils were blooming in full force, and birds and children were everywhere.

Following that, we grabbed sandwiches, fruits, and cookies at the local supermarket, and ate lunch on top of my friend's houseboat in the sun. It was a communal lunch of sorts, as we each had our own sandwich but had also bought Pringles, cakes, blackberries, mangos and strawberries which we all shared. It was a wonderful time, that was sadly ended by the departure of my friend who lives in the city, who had to travel to the south of the country for Easter with her host family. We bid her farewell, checked in my other friend into his hostel, and then I bid the other two farewell also, as it was time for me to head to the train station in order to go to the airport.

My journey from Amsterdam to Rome was smooth, but I arrived in Rome in a rush. One of my close friends is studying there, and the last bus was to leave from the area that my hostel was located at 11:30, leaving us with only an hour to catch up. However, we managed, checking me into my hostel, and letting me grab a healthy dinner of gelato. It was a brief but good reunion, and the day ended with me crashing onto my hostel bed, and waking up periodically to the in-tune chorus of snorers sharing my room.

The next morning, I quietly arose, showered, packed and chatted at breakfast with a young English man and two American girls, before I had to depart for the train station. In typical Italian fashion, my train and my flight were not where they were supposed to be, causing me to briefly panic. However, all was well, as I caught my flight to Malta from Rome.

This was the ultimate peak for me, as I would be entirely on my own in Malta, a country that I had been wanting to travel to for quite a while. And that is where I will end this entry.

Recapping Spring Break - Days 1-2 - Amsterdam

Greetings and salutations.

It's been a while since I've posted, but in the past ten days I've flown 3517 miles, walked 156,139 steps (nearly 70 miles), and been in four countries, so cut me some slack.

I departed from Berlin on Thursday afternoon, via Alitalia, my favorite airline, and was first flown to Milan and then on to Amsterdam. The journey was not exciting in anyway, and I discovered that I hate the Milan airport. That evening, I arrived in Amsterdam, and met my friend in the central train station. We hugged for about five minutes straight, laughing the whole time, as we hadn't seen each other since mid-January, with her living in Amsterdam and myself in Berlin. Then, we went on the prowl for dinner and ate at a delicious crepe and waffle shop. I had the sweet classic, with sugar, butter, lemon juice, and strawberries. Oh, it was delicious.

Afterwards, we headed out of the center to meet my host for the next few days. Her apartment was quite cozy. The complex was made of shipping containers stacked on one another, and each container was a residence. The front part of the container contained the living/cooking area, then it narrowed into a hallway, flanked by the bathroom, and then opened up in the back into a bedroom with a balcony. I loved the idea and enjoyed stating there. My host's adorable cat also helped. After a cup of tea and some good conversation about books, tea and cats, my host and I called it a night.

The next morning, I met my friend again, and we wandered around the city, exploring and killing time before another friend arrived. We grabbed breakfast at a small supermarket and sat on a bench overlooking her street/canal (she lives on a houseboat with a host-family!), chatting and eating. Then, we went exploring, with her showing me many of the main sights, such as Dam Square, the area around the Central Train Station, a book market (where there was a Banksy work in a nearby courtyard), the main library with a wonderful view of the city, and NEMO, the city's science center.

The latter was quite interesting, as there was an excellent educational section about puberty and sex, that informed people of all ages with barely any bias about the topics in a factual and unstigmatized way. It's something you would've never seen in the states, as it contained exhibits showing various sex positions, birth control and protection methods, and other photos and items pertaining to the topic. It really made me think about the cultural differences regarding sex and the stigma surrounding it, particularly between America and Europe, the Netherlands in particular.

After that experience, we waited for the bus that was carrying another friend to arrive and the three of us had an excellent reunion, that involved many hugs and smiles. We dropped the newly-arrived friend's luggage off at my friend's houseboat (which was quite fascinating), and headed out for lunch. We grabbed quiche, apple pie, and french toast to go, and returned to the book market and ate in the courtyard with the Banksy piece behind us. The courtyard was quiet, with some children playing, and the food was incredibly good. Was definitely a moment to remember.

Following that, we wandered around the area some more, and visited various places such as the Cannabis College, which is a non-profit devoted to informing people about the many uses of cannabis and how to safely partake in the drug. It was pretty interesting, and provided some good laughs, along with the next stop, the Condomerie, a very thorough condom store, that also had informational materials, on top of condoms of all sizes, flavors, designs and colors. As you can tell, we were taking Amsterdam pretty seriously. The next thing on our list was the Old Church, some more wandering, and then we met up with our host for dinner at a vegan co-op restaurant.

Dinner there was five euros for a three-course vegan meal, which consisted of soup, pizza, an eggplant dish, rice, salad and a cake. All the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was quite relaxed, which the diners required to wash their own dishes. The cooks are all volunteers, and the money made from the meals is distributed throughout the city to various charities and causes. All in all, it was quite fun, and afterwards, we picked up my newly-arrived friend's luggage from the houseboat, and the two of us headed back to our lodgings to cuddle together on a mattress and call it a night.

In the next post, I will finish up the Amsterdam trip, recount my brief time in Rome, and then move on to Malta, as well as update you on what is currently going on now that I'm back in Berlin.

Living with History

History is fascinating to me. The way it winds, repeats, circles, and stops pulls me in, no matter when, or where. Berlin is an intriguing city in this regard. When you visit Rome, London, Paris, Copenhagen or many other European urban centers, much of the visible history is extremely old, crossing centuries, or even millenniums, with scars of the past buried in layers. However, with Berlin, the majority of the observable history is extremely modern, only decades or even a few years old.

This is particularly fascinating, as due to the 'freshness' of the history within the city, its effects and scars are still extremely influential in everyday life. There are many here who grew up with (or even within) the Wall, those who remember the days of the DDR, or even the Third Reich. There are those who experienced it through the previous generation, or second-hand by recently moving here. No matter what, the history of the city and the nation are very much at work here.

I've had opportunities to talk with my teachers, my host parents, other host parents, artists and all sorts of people about their experiences growing up in a divided country and city. Each perspective is unique and it's an incredible experience to talk with people who are primary sources themselves.

From bullet holes in older buildings, to the destruction of symbols of past governments, to the construction of newer modern structures, Berlin is a city of modern history and that is definitely one of the reasons why I adore it so much. It's constantly being built, something that one picks up from the number of cranes scattered around the city. Construction and modern buildings are everywhere, stitching this city together as it attempts to move forward from the past.

As author Karl Scheffler said in 1910: "Berlin is a city condemned forever to becoming and never to being" (Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein). That quote is constantly echoing through my head as I wander and explore the streets of this city.

Anticipation

Spring break! It's finally here! After two months of waiting, it's here and I'm free!

Wednesday was spent mostly in preparation for said break, with packing, writing my proposal and laundry. However, I spent the evening at a friend's apartment. She's French-American, and decide to have a crepe party. It was great fun, as there were four of us from my program there, a girlfriend of one of the girls, two friends of one of the girls who study abroad in Seville, and two German friends of the group. All in all, it was a lot of fun, as crepes were consumed, and card (and potentially drinking) games were played. It was definitely one of those moments of studying abroad that I'll remember fondly, as there were seven Americans, and two Germans and most of us were strangers to the others. And yet, we got along fabulously and it was a lot of fun.

Currently, I'm sitting on my bed in my room at home, feeling the anticipation rise. I have to head out the door in about twenty-five minutes to go to the airport, where I will once again sit for several hours, first in the building, then on the plane, and the steps will be repeated once more, until I'm finally in my first destination: AMSTERDAM.

There I will be meeting up with a friend who is studying there, a friend who is studying in France, and a friend who is studying in Scotland, all of us being from the same school back in the States. It shall prove to be a jolly good time (can't tell I'm English, can you?).

I'm quite excited. However, I doubt I have time to update this lovely blog, but fear not! I have packed a journal so I can transcribe all of my adventures in real time and then post them upon my return. I can hear the applause and cheers now.

To those of my readers who have a Christian background, I hope your Easter is lovely. To those of my readers who are traveling, safe journeys! And to everyone else, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.

Tschüss!