Coming at ya from week !FOUR! of this summer in Berlin! And what a packed and busy few weeks it has been. Since I first arrived in Berlin, I’ve explored and toured more museums than I can count, consumed more ice cream than I probably should admit, and walked (at least what it feels like) all up and down and over this city–and I know I’ve barely even scratched the surface. Coming into this with zero former German language experience has been challenging, to say the least. However thanks to an incredibly patient and incredibly thorough 101 teacher, I’ve been able to score some small victories, like going grocery shopping on my own or ordering my own coffee! Baby steps! In all seriousness though, I honestly think that my greatest challenge in learning the language is getting over my own insecurities and fear of just going for it. Too often I let my own embarrassment about my pronunciation or my fear that I’ll just sound dumb get in the way of just trying to speak the little German I have learned. SO, new goal for the summer: to get over that fear and make a real effort to take some risks and ~just do it~. Because hey if I’m being honest, I’m never gonna learn unless I try!
Language fumblings aside, living in Berlin has been a trip all on its own with so many new things to take in every day. But I think my favorite part of this summer so far has to be last weekend’s trip away to Weimar. After a couple of pretty intense weeks, I was ready to take a breather from the hustle bustle of Berlin out into a more lowkey location. I literally couldn’t peel my eyes away from the window of the train as we zipped through the country side past tiny towns with even tinier garden houses and fields of the most gorgeous sunflowers. And Weimar itself was just lovely–like a scene taken straight out of a European travel catalogue with its painted terrace houses and cobble stone streets. And of course I loved it also because of all the ice cream involved (3 cones on Sunday in fact and I have no shame about it). The little city is also chock full of history and importance, from being a home to both Goethe and Schiller to also being one of Adolf Hitler’s favorite places to visit. But for me it provided an opportunity to kind of take a step back from all the whirlwind of these first few weeks and realize like WOW I’m in Germany, and that’s pretty incredible! I’m a bit overwhelmed, but I’m also learning and seeing and experiencing so much, and I wouldn’t trade any of it! As the first half of the program and the Northwestern classes begin to come to a close, I am looking forward with excitement to take on my new Humboldt classes and for the next five weeks of adventures in Berlin.
Awesome! Soak it all in!