My favorite things

Anonymous After almost two weeks here, I still almost can't believe that I am sitting at my desk in an apartment, looking out a window onto a street in Berlin. I spent my first week here in a state of bliss. I would be walking down the street, or taking the U-Bahn, or trying to understand what my host mom was saying to me in German, and suddenly would be overwhelmed by the fact that I was here, and that I got to stay for a month! I don't think I've ever felt so grateful for and excited about an experience in my life.

So, after some minor issues with our group's luggage (which just didn't show up), and getting lost by myself in the Hauptbahnhof (the biggest train/subway/bus station in Berlin) and not sleeping for 30 something hours, we all got to start exploring the city and getting to know our host families. Here are a few of my favorite/most interesting/weirdest things and experiences and impressions I have had.

1. New Year's celebrations. Or, Silvester, as the Germans say. Other people from my group have covered this subject in detail, but I just want to reiterate that it was SERIOUZ CRZZZYY. David Hasselhoff sang on the mainstage in front of the Brandenberg Gate and all 1 million (literally) people who were there went wild. People were throwing fireworks into the street and at Polizei cars and out of buildings into the middle of crowds. I've never seen anything like it. Time of my life. 

2. The language barrier: when I told people that I was going to Germany, I would always hear "Oh, don't worry, they all speak English there." First of all, that's kind of insulting (my German is great; I can get along just fine!) and second of all, they actually don't. I can't say how many times I've seen a look of panic cross people's faces when they are asked if they know English, e.g., post office employees, waiters in restaurants, store owners. I just think that assuming that is a very disrespectful thing to do.  The third night I was here, I had coffee with a boy named Stephan who used to live in Berlin and came over to visit my hostmom and have dinner. He knew about as much English as I know German. So, I spoke to him only in German, and he spoke to me only in English, and that way we helped each other out. 

3. My favorite thing: the subway (called the U-Bahn here). I don't know what it is, but I feel the most excited about living in this city when I am walking to the U-Bahn, getting on it, getting off it, reading the map, or etc. I even love the automated voice that announces the names of the stops over the loudspeaker, and tells everyone to "umsteigen bitte" (transfer trains) when the doors open, and to "zurückbleiben bitte" (stay back please) when the doors are about to close.

4. My other favorite thing: school. Or, more specifically, the other students. We take classes from 9-12:45 in the mornings, and our classes are full of people from all over the world. In my class the students come from Venezuela, Brazil, Switzerland, and France. It's so interesting to hear German spoken through all the other accents that are always present in the room, and fun to communicate with someone in German when you don't know Portugese, and they don't know English. 

This is going to be a long list, and it's time for dinner, so to be continued tomorrow after class!

Bis morgen!