Howdy folks and welcome back to another week in Berlin with yours truly! I woke up surprisingly refreshed on Monday morning - probably because I stayed so hydrated through drinking tea this weekend. I headed to class to give my presentation on the feminine icon Lou Andreas Salomé and my friends said it went well! I thought it was a bit rocky, but it seems like no one noticed. After class, Tal and I switched things up by heading to a café to do some work. I got a good chunk of my next presentation done before we headed back to IES to eat our lunch. I headed into my afternoon classes - my later one is now officially starting and ending in the dark (yikes). After class, I headed back to my apartment, cooked up a quick dinner, and chatted with my momma for a bit. I had an interview for an on-campus job for when I get back and I got hired! You're reading the blog of Bates College's newest stair sweeper. That's right - you'll see me sweeping the heck out of those stairs on campus in the Winter.
Had a chill morning Tuesday before heading out to IES for class. It was snowing just a little bit this morning which was super exciting! It turned into rain and was kind of an icky day after that but at least we saw snow for a little bit! found out my pop culture class got cancelled (again) which was kind of sad since we were supposed to start our final presentations today. Luckily we had an extra day built in so everything should still be on schedule. I did some work after my first class and chatted with Paige and Willa before heading out to do some grocery shopping on my way home. I hate shopping with my backpack but the store near IES is so much bigger than my usual one! I braved the bad weather and many U-bahn delays on the way back to my place before finally settling down with a mug of tea to do some work. I made some soup for dinner and ate with Petra before reading and watching TV before bed.
It was windy and cold Wednesday morning on the way to classes. After class, I stopped by Rewe to get a snack then did work with Tal and Willa for a while. I headed to the other IES location for my afternoon classes where I had my presentation for my EU class. I think it went pretty well but it was hard to tell if my professor liked it or not. My second class was much more entertaining than usual and we went over a lot of interesting content which was great! After class, I headed back to my apartment and had dinner with Petra. We chatted for a while before I went to do a bit more work before calling it a night. I called my dad, read some Game of Thrones, and watched some TV.
Another chill morning on Thursday before heading to IES for classes. My pop culture professor was sick with Covid so we had class over zoom. I felt bad since we started presentations on Thursday and the presenters didn't get much audience participation. It's hard on Zoom! After classes, I did work with Paige at 2D café again for a bit but we were both feeling pretty unmotivated so we called it a night. I was feeling pretty worn out from the week so I got home, cozied up in some PJs and watched a movie before heading to bed.
I woke up a bit on the early side Friday morning to meet Willa! We went to a café that sells bagels(!) and each bought a few. Afterward, I tried out a new café in Schöneberg that is always so busy! It was actually pretty yummy and I'm glad I decided to check it out. I decided while I was out, I should do some exploring. I headed to Treptower Park where there is a large Soviet memorial. It was a really interesting place and I'm glad I decided to go out of the way and check it out. From there, I headed to Dussmann - a three story bookstore on Friedrichstraße. It was massive! I was surprised to find Name of the Wind in German there! Name of the Wind is probably my favorite book of all time so I went ahead and bought the German copy! It has been tricky and slow going so far but I'm loving being able to enjoy the book in a new way. From there, I went grocery shopping before coming home to do a bit of work. In the evening, I went to visit Lane, Eben, and Adam at the FIZZ where we had Shabbat dinner! It was nice to have something similar to Jewish Student Union (JSU) while here in Berlin. We had a delicious dinner (shout out Lane), Challah, and wine to celebrate Shabbat. After dinner and chatting, I headed home and packed up for my trip to Hamburg!
I woke up bright and early on Saturday to catch my bus to Hamburg! I've been wanting to revisit Hamburg since coming to Berlin - the last time I was there I was just a kid! I started off by visiting the harbor and taking a public ferry across the Elb to get some views of the old city. I walked around there for a bit before taking a bus into town and revisiting Planten un Blomen. This was an iconic destination with my family so it was really nice to revisit. There was lots of snow(!) so the plants weren't really much to look at. From there, I went to St. Michael's church to take some pictures, before stopping in a café for some lunch and a place to warm up! It was pretty chilly for a day of just walking around! From there, I went to St. Nicholas' Church. It was destroyed during bombings of WWII but an elevator has been installed so I went up to the top and visited the museum about the allied bombings at the bottom. After that, I headed toward the Elbphilharmonie building through the old town. I walked across a few bridges and generally enjoyed the city before heading up to the middle section of the Elbphilharmonie building for another panorama of the port. Finally, I headed to Miniatur Wunderland, a building with model trains and detailed surroundings. This was one of the highlights of our family trip to Hamburg so it was really neat to go back and experience it all over again. From there, I headed back to the bus station to catch my bus back to Berlin. I headed straight to bed after I got home!
Some photos from Hamburg:
The Airport at Miniatur Wunderland
A fire scene at Miniatur Wunderland
I slept in a lot on Sunday morning before getting up and chatting with Petra and her grandson Ari! He stayed the night on Saturday and was spending time with his Oma in the morning. I had a meal with them, tried some baked goods they made, and read Harry Potter in German with Ari. They headed out to visit the planetarium and I cleaned up my room, did some laundry, and got started on some homework. I wasn't feeling super motivated but I managed to finish my German homework and get started on a paper. I called my parents and had a facetime with Mitchel before making some dinner and eating with Petra. After dinner, we watched Tatort (in Köln/Cologne this week). It was very dramatic but focused more on the case than the commissioners which I always appreciate. After Tatort, I read a bit before calling it a night. Thanks for following along for another week - only 3 more in Berlin!
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