Greetings and Salutations, friends. I'm frantically typing this in my spare time between classes, as I have only a few hours of peace to do homework and catch up before my last class, a theater performance and my pending departure to Denmark.
Monday was just a normal day of classes, consisting of German and German History. The former is stepping up its game slowly, and I'm ready for the challenge. Each time I get cocky about how much I've learned, there's always a new awkward or embarrassing situation due to the language barrier to bring my ego down a notch.
Tuesday, however, was a more exciting day, as I kicked it off by getting stuck in the doors of the S-Bahn, which shut on me as I was sliding in at the last minute. First, it was my shoulders, and then my foot, as the people around me helped pry them open to let me through. After that, I had classes for the first time at the program's partner college. Said college is in the far west of Berlin, and the commute is about an hour, including two train rides, a bus ride and a ten minute walk.
It's quite small, and my peers take up anywhere from 1/2 - 2/3rds of the classes that we're in. Both classes that I am enrolled in, History of the Holocaust, and Modern Jewish History, are almost a joke. I have a twenty-minute presentation, and a five to seven paragraph paper due in lieu of a midterm and a final. No homework was assigned for the week, so it seems fairly chill. I also had a delicious ham and cheese sandwich for lunch that I had purchased from a small shop in a train station on the way there.
Once classes ended, a friend and I grabbed coffee and dinner, and then I headed home where I talked with my seventeen-year-old host brother over tea about the educational differences between Germany and America, primarily in the approach of studying history. It was really nice, and the longest conversation I've had with him since I've moved in. Dinner that evening with my full host family was also very fun, as my three year old host brother was quite lively, and everyone was relaxed and goofy. I was the only one who noticed that my host mother had gotten a haircut, and for that, I received a hug from her, as she exclaimed that it was so nice to 'have another woman in the house.'
Wednesday morning I spent working on homework and then met up with a friend last minute. This friend was someone I went to high school with and hadn't seen in over three years. He lived in Berlin for a year as a freshman, and is currently living in Budapest, but returned to visit friends. We chatted over lunch, and then I accompanied him to his former school in the area of Pankow, in the north of Berlin, which was extremely gorgeous.
After a long (and fast-paced) walk to the site, we parted ways, and I explored the area a little. Following my friend's recommendation, I explored Bürgerpark, which was quite beautiful, and had a little pen for goats in the center of the park. It was also under the approach path for Tegel Airport, so there were constantly planes flying overhead. It was a gorgeous day, warmer than the ones in the past, and there were some smaller flowers starting to sprout all around in the gardens. That evening, I grabbed a beer on the way home, and worked on homework for the remainder of the day.
Today, I've just, once again, had class, and am trying to throw things together in preparation for my departure tomorrow to Denmark. Tonight, I'm seeing a play that my host-mother is in, and then will be promptly going to bed as soon as I can. My flight for Copenhagen leaves a little after seven, which means I will have to be up at around three-thirty am. Whoohoo.
That's all I have for now, and you probably won't hear from me until sometime next week. Tschüss!
No comments:
Post a Comment