It’s been a solid week since my last blog post, but I have a
pretty legitimate excuse: I haven’t had Wi-Fi! When I arrived in Berlin for my
semester abroad last Monday, I had every intention of writing posts about my
first week in Germany. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi in my apartment complex has
been a little sketchy and none of the residents have been able to access the
Internet. I’ve had to trek down the street to McDonald’s for the two-hour free
WiFi in order to Skype with my friends and family back home. Hopefully I’ll get
back to regular blogging as soon as possible.
My time abroad has been great so far! I was full of nerves
when I first arrived on the Freie Universität campus early this week; being
alone in a foreign country thousands of miles from home can really trigger some
anxiety. I met some great people within minutes of arriving at orientation,
which really made the whole experience more manageable since I had people to
grocery shop and eat a pizza dinner with (we were ready to bring on the bratwurst
and potatoes, but our apartments are isolated and we had to choose between
pizza or taking a bus further into town).
The next few days were all about exploring Berlin. The
150-student program was split into groups, and we took a beautiful boat tour
through Charlottenberg and a walking tour through the historic center of
Berlin. I’ve been to Berlin before, but the fascinating history and beautiful
architecture are still breathtaking. I saw the Brandenburg Gate, Hitler’s old
bunker, the Chancellor’s office, the Berlin Wall, majestic old cathedrals, and
an ancient royal castle in one day.
Of course, I got my first taste of Berlin’s impressive
nightlife. People are very serious about their pubs and clubs in this city.
Apparently clubs don’t start filling up until well after midnight, and people
sometimes party until 1 p.m. the
following day! The beer culture is also huge here; people are holding beer
bottles at all times of the day on the trains, on the streets, on bikes. One of
my orientation events was actually doing a pub-crawl with the study abroad program
assistants! While I haven’t checked out any clubs yet due to an unfortunate
event involving a stolen wallet (more about that in another blog post), I got
to visit some nice pubs.
My classes start today, and I’m extremely excited. My
courses focus on German language, German cinema, and European history. I have
an extremely easy schedule, with three-day weekends and no class after noon any
day except for Monday. I’m going to have loads of time to explore Berlin and
the rest of Europe, hopefully starting with a trip to Dresden or Heidelberg
next weekend with some friends. I’m extremely lucky for this incredible
experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment