last day in berlin=(

Katie Ahhh it's the last day:/ I am soo not ready to go home yet. it doesn't even feel real. It kind of just feels like we're going on a trip to America or something but then coming back here. I love it here! I wish we could stay longer and although i do miss my family and friends, I would rahter have them come visit me here than for me to go home. Europe is so much more interesting than America. We were reflecting on things we missed from home and things we will miss from Berlin last night, and here is what I came up with.

Things I miss about America

• My friends & family
• Free water/ regular old TAP water
• Being able to afford beverages other than beer with my meals
• Free refills
• Being able to find a public bathroom practically anywhere I go
• Being able to use a public bathroom without paying a fee
• Cultural food.
• I have to admit, Germany needs to work on their asian and mexican food. Americas got them beat here..

Things I will miss about Berlin

• Public transportation
• Theres nothing like not having to pay attention when you take an hour long trip to school in the morning. I read through several books just on the train rides alone. Driving a car anywhere seems like such a hassle now.
• NOT having a cell phone.
• I am dreading having to use my cell phone again when I get home. I loved being somewhat unreachable by technology here. It's sort of a freeing experience. I was forced to actually pay attention to my environment and interacte with people more since I was not constantly texting or facebooking on my phone all day.
• Hardly having internet.
• I had internet maybe an hour a day here, and it was an effort to get to a place with internet so I really didn't even use it every day. When you aren't on facebook 24/7, you find so many other interesting things to be doing with your time.
• My host lady
• My host lady was so incredibly nice. When I told her we wouldn't have our luggage the first week she immediately pulled out a huge bin full of scarves and gloves and socks and told me "all is for you". She knittes me two paris of socks, knitted me leg warmers, made me a HUGE  breakfast as soon as I got up every morning, she did my laundry for me, organized my closet some days, and this morning she gave me a really cool glass that restaurants usually serve beer in. She was insanely nice to me and I really appreciate everything she did for me while I was here.
• Living in the city
• I love just walking around and absorbing the environment here. Mostly because I forces you to be active during the day. People don't just sit around their houses here they are always out walking around, going to cafe's and running errands. I think the fact that it takes at least a half an hour to get anywhere by public transportation makes people want to stay out and get things done once they're in the city. Every single person is carrying a backpack or bag of some sort and clearly have a plan for the day. Anytime I go somewhere I have to sort of be prepared for everything because I don't have time to go home if I forget something. It's an interesting lifestyle and it's a little exhausting but I love it.

I have REALLy enjoyed my time here and I'm not sure I'm ready to leave yet but I am excited to see my friends and family. I will definitely be coming back to Europe sometime in the nera future. I might even want to spend a semester here. I absolutely loved going on this trip.