Final impressions

Hanna Gunderson Right now I'm sitting on my bed thinking about whether I'm going to go to sleep for a few hours tonight, or just stay up until a taxi comes at 4:30 A.M. to take me to Tegel airport. A big part of my wanting to stay up is the fact that I just don't want to miss anything. I'd like to be fully conscious for my last hours in Berlin. 

I've been wondering the whole month whether I'm going to miss the city after I go back home. My answer to that question on any given day probably had a lot to do with the temperature, the events of the day, and the amount of sleep I had gotten the night before. But there was also a more general trend. The first week or so I was completely enamored with Berlin. I walked around constantly in awe of everything. I had decided that I wanted to stay here forever. After that initial rush wore off, I was kind of exhausted with everything for awhile. Part of me just wanted to see or do things that were completely familiar, like read the newspaper in English. But throughout the next few weeks, Berlin started to become more familiar and less strange. I remarked to John yesterday when we were waiting for the S1 that it's weird to think about getting up and not using the S-Bahn or the U-Bahn to get everywhere. I think that if I stayed here for more than just a month, it would just get more and more familiar, making it seem more and more like a home. 

Here is my personal list of things that I have missed about home/will miss about Berlin:

What I'm looking forward to doing/seeing/eating at home:

1.Really good mexican food

2.sitting in the living room talking to or watching TV with my family

3.my boyfriend and my friends

4.the house I'm moving into and the fantastic girls that I'm sharing it with

5.driving my car

6.reading the newspaper in English on sundays

7. Dr. Pepper and doritos

8.my writing capstone in the Spring

9. being able to call someone on the phone just to chat

10. drinking fountains in public places

11. wearing more than the 2 pairs of boots I have been living in for the past month

12.cooking meals in my kitchen

(not looking forward to losing my lutecard 239537593 times a day, the rain, or writing academic essays)

Things I will miss about Berlin

1.marzipan

2.my hostmom

3.effortless public transportation

4.ordering beer or wine with meals (only for a few more months!)

5. everyone from Eurocenters

6.learning so much German!

7.really really really good sandwiches 

8.apfelschorle

9.spätzle

10.beautiful old buildings

11.doing really cool, interesting things around Berlin everyday

12. EVERYONE FROM OUR GROUP

I guess I should get a few hours of sleep until our 14 hr flying day. Auf Wiedersehen!