Updates

I did something pretty cool yesterday, which is why the blog is a day late.

Two weeks ago I got an email from the US Embassy inviting me and other exchange students to the Embassy in Berlin for a round table discussion about our experiences here in Germany. We met with Paul Cunningham, who is the U.S. Department of State’s Public Diplomacy Desk Officer for Western Europe. We were 32 students: 8 were Germans who previously went to the USA on the CBYX scholarship and the rest were American students who are currently in Germany. Mr. Cunningham seemed genuinely interested in what we were sharing with him. He was also an exchange student, so he understands and values the program just as we do. Overall I think the event was very successful, and he can report back to Washington with proof that this is an amazing opportunity for many students both American and German. Then, it will hopefully be treated as the serious investment that it is: a program that benefits not only our country, but our relations with other countries as well…And the world knows we could use some improvement in that area :)  It was as always very interesting to get other peoples perspectives on their exchange year because it truly does vary person to person. In the meeting room there was ice water in pitchers with glasses and Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies on plates. It was a big indication that we were back on American soil. But I mean the security to get in and the portraits of President Obama, Bill Clinton, and John Kerry should have also been a clear sign.

Another fun thing that happened this week was the solar eclipse that was visible in Germany! At 9:45 my class went up to the school tower. I didn't even notice there was a tower on top of the north wing of my school let alone that it was safely accessible, but only my class was able to go up. Our math teacher gave us the hookup with the tower viewing, and she brought the special dark glasses you need to view this phenomenon. This isn't a surprise to most people, but I'm not very interested in space and science. Looking at the solar eclipse, though, was quite cool and who knows if I'll ever be able to do it again.

Quick note: I realize you aren't allowed to look directly into the sun because of the damage it can cause, but even looking up and in the general direction of the sun was physically painful and my eyes automatically reverted away. Basically, I don’t understand how or why anyone would do that.

Last Friday we also made crepes in French class. We had two crepe makers and everyone brought some ingredient or topping to contribute. We just hung out while eating our crepes for an hour and it was fun. A few people and I played hangman on the chalkboard. We did some rounds in German and some rounds with English words that were randomly picked out of my German-English dictionary. It's funny because one of the words was "reliability." Quite a few letters were filled in but I still didn't know what it was. All of sudden a guy in the back shouts out the word and I was so stunned… How did he get it and I didn't? It was a small hit to my ego. I won't lie, they chose some good words like hypocrisy and inquisitive. Playing with German words can be interesting as well because there are an abundance of words that have 15-20 letters or more.

This is our last week before Easter break, so projects and exams are being finished up. I have had a lot of free periods that last few weeks, so things are going well for me!

All the students

It was like a mini boarder crossing

As I was walking to the Embassy, I noticed an unusual abundance of Police Officers, the Greek flag hanging outside the Bundeskanzleramt (office building where Angela Merkel works), and the setting up of those plastic blockade things around the large grass areas. My first thought was that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must be in town (it turned out I was correct). On the way back from the Embassy to the train station, I notice a large group of people outside the Bundeskanzleramt with signs and whatnot. I obviously was curious about what was happening. I mentally debated asking someone about it, but I quickly remembered that these guys were either protesting or supporting something, so of course they would love to talk about their cause. I found two nice looking women who explained the cause to me. Turns out, Prime Minister Tsipras had met with Chancellor Merkel that day about the situation in Greece and the people outside were supporters of support to Greece. They told me that they want Greece to be seen a valid EU member and that they stand in solidarity with them. 

~very chiq~

On the viewing tower

Study Abroad is Actually Educational

Contrary to the impression you may have received from my blog post about my trip to Turkey, it was not 100% a vacation, but maybe 75%. There was some work involved, and it didn't end when we returned to Germany. Back in January, we took a field trip to DEKRA University Berlin, which is where people study Media, Film, and Journalism. We were there for the journalism aspect. Considering part of our trip to Turkey was documenting our findings through reports, photos, blogs, and interviews, we were there to learn more about journalism and improve what we had written through the help of a journalist. Similar to most of expierences here in Germany, I had no idea what's going on until it was actually happening. The whole day was really a surprise for me in terms of what we were doing, but I will say it was pretty cool. Even though journalism is not a career I plan on pursuing, I still enjoyed learning about it and hearing comments from a professional. 

The teacher in charge of this exchange with the Turks, who is also my math teacher, recently gave me a task because moral support as a contribution to our project probably isn't cutting it. When the Turks come, I am to lead them through a tour of our city. I will make the distinction now that the city where my school is located is not the same city in which I reside, so don't think I am well versed on the history and points of interest of Rathenow. I personally think it's a great task for me. I can learn about the city, practice public speaking, and get more practice learning German. I'm not totally alone on this project, one of the teachers is helping me some as well. 

Speaking of German learning, on Wednesday I had my last German lesson. I was very sad that our lessons are over because I know that I have learned a ton, and I really looked forward to them every week. To be honest, we would chat a lot. Maybe then she would quickly explain how to form the passive and I would recite a text (all with perfect grammar of course) that she had me memorize. At the beginning it wasn't like that though, but later on most things I hadn't been formally taught yet, I had already picked up. 

For our last lesson, I asked if we could simply converse. As I mentioned previously, she is Ukrainian, still has family there, and speaks Russian. I wanted to take that opportunity to talk to her and get her opinion on what is happening in Ukraine. I had been forewarned about her political beliefs, which is exactly why I wanted to hear her opinions. I knew it would be different than anything I would hear in the USA. In addition to hearing her opinions, I got a big history lesson on Russia and Ukraine. She also gave me a little of her personal background. I obviously found our discussion incredibly interesting. I just sat there for an hour with my ears wide open, but we didn't actually finish in that hour.  We had to continue for another hour the next day. There is one thing in particular that stood out to me. She has been to both the United States and Russia and she finds the people of each country very similar. Russia is seen as the opposite of America; two opposing powers who can't seem to get along. According to her observations, Americans are the type of people to strike up a conversation with a stranger. We are friendly and open, but complicated (who isn't, though...). Russians are exactly the same. She even went so far to say that we're more similar to the Russian people than the German people. Not that I know anything about Russians or Russia, but I have learned some things about Germans and there are some large differences in the way we act versus the Germans.

This whole thing brings me back to why I find exchange programs so wonderful. When you peel back politics, languages, and cultural differences, we are all just people. We are people who are not that different from each other, but more importantly we are all people who could learn something from one another if we allow ourselves to.

In other and relatively unimportant news, the weather has started to suck less lately. First and foremost, I have seen more of the sun in the past few weeks than I have since November. Secondly, it's light out again on the drive to school, which is automatically a positive start to the day for me. It is also all around not as cold as it has been. Three weeks ago, I would get excited if the weather was simply above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, anything over 45-50 degrees is warm. Looks like I'm in for a hot surprise when I return this summer to California. 

Shannon

Berlin and Brandenburg

The day I post this, I will have 3 months and 10 days left in Germany. It may seem like a lot, I mean, it's approximately 1/3 of my entire stay here. Then I take in a look in my planner, which contains plans of everything I have done and will do, and I realize that I don't actually have much time left. When I also check my planner, though, I get excited for all the things I still have planned to do in the next three months.

My year here is going to start winding down soon, which is sad for me. I can still remember, though, back in October when my host dad told me, "Shannon, next week you're going to Brussels, then we're going to the Baltic Sea, then you're off to Turkey, then comes Christmas. Before you know it, you'll be wondering where the time has gone." Obviously, he was so right. 

Enough of the sentimentality, for I still have quite a few more adventures that I am extremely excited for.

*Hint* festivities to celebrate and countries and cities to visit *Hint* ...More of those things coming in the next few months. 

In other news, last weekend my brother was in Berlin. That Saturday my host family and I brought him along with us on our trip to Brandenburg. We had actually had this excursion planned for over a month to visit my host mom's father and his wife there, and of course the more the merrier. We went to the Brandenburg Cathedral and St. Catherine's church. We had previously been inside the church, but we had never gone up to the tower. It wasn't open that day, but my host mom's dad has some connections and he got someone to unlock it and take us up to the top. Now I understand why it isn't always open to the public and you have to call in advance because it's a bit sketchy and scary getting up and going down. However, it was completely worth the fright because we were able to see the city from high up. There were three different doors from the tower where you could out onto a balcony and look out. It was also a beautiful day outside. We went out to this Italian restaurant for lunch, walked around the city and bit, and back to my host grandparents house my favorite part of any day: Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) before going back home. 

On Monday, I went to Berlin to see my brother and do some site seeing. We went up to the Fernseherturm (TV Tower) where you can get a panoramic view of Berlin. I had been meaning to do this for a while, but it only makes sense to do it when the weather it good. Luckily, we have had some great weather recently. Anyways, it is more than just looking out to the city, but on the edge under the huge windows, there are descriptions of the main building you see when you look out. It also explains the 12 districts of Berlin and gives overviews of each. I really enjoyed it because I was able to learn more about the city, the layout, and the history of each part. 

Another highlight was the DDR museum. (German Democratic Republic or simply Former East Germany in English). I would highly recommend this museum to anyone who visits Berlin and wants to learn a little about what daily life was like in the DDR. It's an interactive museum and definitely not boring. You even get to drive in a Trabi car to see how terrible of cars they were. You sit in the actual car and what looks like an old video game is projected on the windshield and then you can drive. There are tons of items and photographs in the museum, and there isn't actually that much reading to do either. I thought the whole museum was informative and well put together! 

We also went to the Neus Museum on the Museum Island. This museum houses Egyptian, Prehistory, and Early History collections. It would have been a bit boring without the audio guide, to be honest, because you would just be looking at stuff (artifacts) without knowing really what it is. It's main two "selling points" are the bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, which was beautiful as promised, and the Golden Hat. I didn't even know what this Golden Hat thing was, but it is actually very intriguing. The story and the information about the hat is better than the actual hat itself. It is definitely worth the google and a read on Wikipedia. 

Sorry for boring you people who aren't fond of museums, but I got to make sure I'm getting my dose of culture and history while I'm here! :)

I do have a bit of a goal, though... And that is to try and visit everything there is to visit in Berlin, because why the heck not? It's a quite attainable goal for me at this point. 

And of course, it was nice to see my brother again since it has been a while, and I won't be able to go to his college graduation in May. It seemed like he and my host family got along very well, which made life easy for me.

View of Brandenburg

The clock on the clock tower.

my brother and me

St. Catherine's Church

Cathedral of Berlin from the TV Tower

Different types of coffins from different time periods.