Howdy all! Welcome back to another week with me in Berlin. I had my German class monday morning and was feeling the effects of the Munich weekend. I powered through, though, and made it to class. We got a bit more info about our midterm for next week which was nice. After class, Tal and I headed to a café to get some work done. We both had a bit of work to do since we were not very productive over the weekend! After a good few hours of work, I headed back to my apartment then went grocery shopping. I've been collecting my plastic bottles for Pfand (when you return recyclables for 0.25€) so I got to save 4.25€ on my groceries today which was very exciting! After grocery shopping, I read some Game of Thrones then went to Tempelhof Feld for a run. I decided to take a detour to the Columbiadamm Cemetery and check out the memorial to soldiers who died in Namibia (a very controversial and often graffitied memorial). On the map, it looked easy to get to, but I ended up having to circumvent a large wall with barbed wire to get into the cemetery. Once I finally got there it was really neat to see and reflect on the monument that I wrote a research paper on last semester! Since it was a bit out of the way to get to, I decided to head home from the cemetery. I made some dinner and did some meal prep, took a shower, then settled in to watch Goodbye Lenin for Pop Culture before heading to bed. I was pretty excited to see the film since I've heard it is a great German film. I really liked the movie and young Daniel Brühl haha!
Tuesday I woke up a bit early but had a lazy morning before heading to IES for my classes. We talked a lot about what our midterms will look like next week. It sounds like we have the week off from classes but our midterms are during certain class periods similar to a finals week. This is kind of interesting since we don't really have midterms at Bates. After classes, I headed back to my apartment to do some homework. I've been a little sore from my runs so I took it easier with a speed walk instead. I've been making lots of progress on my audiobook! After my run, I came back and read some Game of Thrones before cooking up some dinner. Pretty chill (and chilly!) evening here so I made some tea and snuggled up with some X-Files episodes before bed.
Woke up early again on Wednesday for classes then hung around the IES center to do homework for a bit. I was feeling pretty unmotivated even though I really should start working on/studying for my midterms. I passed the time by chatting with some friends, then took a walk to the other IES location. It's only about a mile which makes it a really nice walk to break up the day and get some steps in. I went to my first class and during the break one of the IES staff members had cooked up some pumpkin bread! I had some of that with cream cheese frosting before heading back in for another class. Once I got home, I made some dinner and took a shower. I finally finished the Game of Thrones book I was on today! I have the next book with me and that should keep me busy for a while. Once again settled in for a cozy night at home.
Woke up earlier than usual on Thursday due to some funky dreams so I had a casual morning then headed to IES for classes. My Pop Culture class ended a bit early so Paige and I decided to go to a cafe and get some work done after class. We weren't very productive, unfortunately, so we ended up just sitting and chatting for a while. After heading home from that, I read a chapter of Dance of Dragons (the next Game of Thrones Book) before heading out for a run. I felt pretty good today and made it further and faster than I normally do. I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger as a runner! I chilled a bit in the evening then made myself some dinner. After cleaning up a bit, I headed to a theater to see a show for my Pop Culture class. The show was really chaotic and a bit hard to understand in German but hopefully I understood enough to do well on the midterm! Luckily, it seems like everyone else was in the same place about it. Since there's an IES trip most people are going on tomorrow, we all called it an early night and headed back to our respective places. I took a shower, read another chapter, and watched some TV before calling it a night.
Slept in a LOT Friday morning which was nice because I haven't let myself sleep without an alarm in a hot minute! I had a pretty slow morning making breakfast and reading a bit before heading out to do some grocery shopping for the weekend. I haven't been feeling very news-literate lately so I did some news reading and listened to The Daily on my grocery store run. After coming back, I sat down to grind out some work on my midterms. I wasn't as productive as I would have hoped but I still got a presentation done that I now just have to practice. After making some lunch, I decided I wanted to go to the Topography of Terror museum. I had been before when I was in Berlin on a school trip in 2022 but I remembered feeling rushed through it because of our time limit so I wanted to go back and take my time there. I got off at the Checkpoint Charlie stop on the U-Bahn so decided to snap a few pictures there before heading to the museum. The museum was excellent - just like I remembered! - and I spent a good amount of time there. Afterward, I came back to the apartment and made some dinner before settling down to read some more Game of Thrones.
I didn't sleep in as much on Saturday because I got up to meet Willa for breakfast at a Café near us. We wanted to do some work at the café as well but there wasn't wifi so we ended up just sitting and chatting for a while. Afterward, we walked around the neighborhood and visited some stores along the main street. We parted ways and I got started on some homework since it's midterms next week! I met up with Paige later in the day so we could do work together, then headed back to my apartment to make some dinner and get ready to meet some friends for a gathering. I commuted with Willa to the FIZZ - another IES housing spot - and we played some cards, ate snacks, and chatted with some friends from the program. It was really fun to have a causal, budget-friendly night with everyone! After the gathering, Willa and I headed home and called it a night.
I slept in and had a lazy morning on Sunday before doing a bit of work. I honestly wasn't super motivated so I just set a 30 minute timer to really grind out some work before calling it. I took the day to just chill before getting ready for the Glass Animals concert! It was kind of weird to have a concert on a Sunday but, hey, when Glass Animals is playing near you, you get tickets and go! The concert was truly fantastic and it was so lovely finally seeing them perform live! After the concert, I headed home and went to bed since I have my first midterm Monday morning!
Concert Highlights:
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