Getting ready to leave from Berlin after being away from my friends, family, and essentially my whole life I do not really know how to feel about arriving back home. Ecstasy? I would say so if I did not have the constantly spectacular pleasure of staying out late with no sense of responsibility. Grief? No, not really. Although my stay in Berlin was amazing, I did not love the ambiance of the city as much as at home in Chicago. The culture in Chicago feels less forced and more natural; probably because that’s where I grew up for my entire life, but I also attribute the mood of Berlin to it’s history. Chicago was built on the exploitation and eventual driving out of American Indians to establish a bustling port city that was fit to compete with other developing areas on Lake Michigan. Berlin, however, was a city that was constantly divided, always wanting to be, but never being. So for me, the city felt like a giant amusement park; always attracting, but not necessarily providing. And I guess we could say this about every place, but since the city was designed and reconstructed only after the recent fall of its wall, the remnants of restoration are still so fresh. Anticipation! That’s the one. I do not know what to expect once I get back to Chicago because similar to Berlin, the city of Chicago is always changing, but I know one thing is for sure I will be ecstatic to discover how I deal with new obstacles and challenges that stand in between me and my proliferation into being a real adult. Thank you Northwestern for giving me the tools to be successful in my future. Agape.