2 months. 2 months of an amazing experience that I will never ever forget. I am so glad I am home, but I cannot help but to be sad because I will miss Berlin. When I first arrived in Berlin, I was so nervous and I was very overwhelmed. Everything was so confusing like the language, the food, and the environment. I told myself to keep an open mind and it was that open mind that saved me. I felt like I was thrown into another world. I felt like nothing would be easy. I did have my doubts that I would hate the trip and desperately want to go home. I soon realized that those doubts quickly went away when I had my first ice cream cone. I was happy and began to feel more content. I knew from then that I would enjoy my time here.
Nothing was handed to us. Grocery shopping in another country was absolutely terrifying and even taking the U-bahn for the first time had my hands shaking. All the buildings in Berlin are so massive and I felt like a little outsider ant (no seriously I felt helpless). I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling this way but like I said, I kept an open mind. I kept an open mind to everything I did and to everyone I met. I’m glad I did because I met Laura. I was told that really strong friendships will be created and that was very true.
Let’s talk about academics. I first would like to say thank you to all the professors. All of them were helpful and guided us through another part of Berlin that we probably would not have been able to grasp the content of on our own. I learned so much in the German History class parts 1 and 2. I really enjoyed going to all the excursions especially The Jewish Museum and the Alternative Tour. As far as the German Language course, to me it was one of the best classes I have ever taken. Taking a language course in the US compared to the country of origin drastically changes things. I loved how I was learning German and had to immediately execute my newly learned skills when I walked out of the classroom. The work in both classes were a lot but I took away so much knowledge. The Humboldt University classes were great too. I think the most exciting part was that we were able to meet students from all around the world and for once, we were the international kids. I wish that every student at NU got the opportunity to go study abroad.
Living on my own was tough. Even though I am now a master chef because I had to cook so much, it was very difficult to manage everything. I had to stay close to my budget and really plan out my days which really became tiresome. There was a point where I felt like I could not do it anymore, but I still kept an open mind.
Coming back to the states felt so weird. First off, everything was in English which is great but I know I will not see anymore unrecognizable words. I am actually sick right now as I am writing this because of jet lag and all that fun stuff. I now know for sure that there is more to life than just being in the US and I am glad I got to experience it.
I don’t really think I would have done anything differently. I think I did pretty well.
