Final Farewells

Saying good-bye to my life in Berlin was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Don't get me wrong I was excited to go back home to finally see my friends and family - but there was a part of me that didn't want to leave.

I mean I had friends, a family, a whole life in Berlin - and I had to say good-bye to all of it, forever. Well, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, I can always go back to Berlin (and I will), but it won't be the same. I won't be a residence of Berlin, I will just be any other tourist - sleeping in a hotel/hostel, eating out every night, and marveling at the changes that will most likely take place between now and then. Sure, I'll still take public transportation and spend some time visiting friends, but when it comes down to it, weeks can't possibly compare to months.

And those last few weeks in Berlin were by far the most rewarding but also the hardest. I finally finished up my research project and presented it - which was a huge weight off my shoulders. I did all my last minute Christmas shopping a and bought way too much chocolate. And I somehow managed to pack up the absurd amounts of clothing that for some reason I originally thought I would need.

After all the logistics were taken care of I finally had time to say my real good-byes.

I'd have to say that my last Sunday in Berlin was one of my favorites, even though I tried something I'd never done before - I made homemade mac and cheese and then proceeded to serve it to my host family, my friend Seinab, who lived below me and her family, as well as my friend from Lexia, Kristina. And even though I wasn't able to find all the right ingredients, it didn't end in disaster, it actually turned out to be a really fun evening.

The 8 of us just ended up spending the night siting around eating and talking about everything from American pop culture to German rules of etiquette  (apparently in Germany the polite thing to do at the dinner table is to keep both of your wrists up on the table, in sight, at all times). And as silly as that all may sound, it was a really great way to spend my last Sunday in Berlin.

It was kind of like my last night in Berlin - a lot of fun, but with an underlying uncertainty for the future. What is it going to be like going home? How different will it be? How different will I be? Will my friends and family still accept me? All of these thoughts and more were swirling around in my head as I spent my last night in Berlin with host family.

They tried to comfort me, tried to make the transition home easier. We talked about how we would keep in touch - how I would one day come back to visit and how they will one day come visit me in Vermont. We exchanged little gifts, contact info, and stories - talking about all the things we had done that semester while eating cheese fondue. And while I did have a great time, that uncertainty never really left me and as I boarded the plane home that next day it only grew.

Looking back now on those last few days in Berlin I feel a little silly - I mean, of course my family and friends were going to accept me back, I mean they did welcome me home with open arms. But there were a few little things that did throw me off on my return home - one of the biggest being America's greed for money.

It just seemed like coming home that everyone was always concerned about money and making more and more - like enough was never enough. And after being nagged to buy more at Verizon and getting a parking ticket (all at the same time) I was ready to hop on the next plane back to Berlin. But I didn't - I stuck it out and home soon began to feel like home again.

And now, of course, I couldn't be happier to be home (although I do have the travel bug - I think southeast Asia may be next). But I haven't forgotten about Berlin - after all it was my home for almost 4 months; I was able to make real connections with the people, the place, the culture - and that's something I am never going to forget.

Kobenhavn

So I thought I would take a moment and go back to my life in Europe to tell you about my last excursion outside of Germany - Copenhagen, Denmark.

At the time, I had a friend who was spending her fall semester studying in Copenhagen, so I thought - why not? It's relatively close anyways. So after a 7 hour train ride (which included a ferry ride - yes, the train went on the ferry), my friend, Jess (who was still visiting me) and I landed in Denmark. Once there we met up with our mutual friend Laura, and another friend who was also visiting at the same time, Eliza (who goes to SMC).

The four of us had an awesome time just hanging out, seeing the sights, and freezing our toes off. (Side Note - Copenhagen, being right on the coast, is extremely cold and very snowy.)

Anyways, here are some pictures of our adventures in the snow.

Traditional Danish Food: Open-Faced Sandwiches

Apple pie for dessert :-)

Jess, Me, Laura, and Eliza in front of the Little Mermaid Statue

Changing of the guards

Denmark, like England, still has a ruling monarchy. The interesting thing about this one, is that it's more female based - what I mean by this is that, if the first heir is a girl, she will become queen and her husband will be called the male escort. But if the first heir is a man, he will become king and his wife will become queen - so in this way, no matter what, there is always a queen, but not necessarily always a king.

One of the more interesting places we visited while in Copenhagen, was Christiania. Basically Christiania is this self-declared "nation" right in the middle of Copenhagen. I guess, it used to be an army training facility, but was eventually abandoned by the government, so people just started moving in. They eventually ended up declaring themselves free from Denmark, and came up with their own government, complete with laws and everything. If I had to sum it up in one word - I'd have to say it's pretty much a hippie nation - they're all about being environmentally friendly (cars aren't allowed on their land), and it's free to live there! It's was actually a pretty cool place to visit! If you want to learn more about check out this website. 

Berlin to Vermont

So I know it's been way too long since the last time I blogged and I apologize for that! But in my defense I've been super busy with final projects in Berlin, returning to Vermont, and now starting classes at SMC ... needless to say my life has been pretty crazy these past few weeks.

I don't even know where to begin, there are so many things I never got the chance to blog about during my last few weeks in Germany - I mean, I went to Denmark, I finished my final project (the blog about German Turkish Relations), I had to say good-bye to all my friends and host family, and now I'm back in Vermont at St. Mike's.

It's definitely been a surreal experience - to be honest, half the time I feel like I wasn't even in Berlin at all - like it was all a dream or something! It's crazy to think about!!! But something that I wouldn't give up for for the world. I mean, don't get me wrong I love Vermont and SMC and I'm so happy to be back, but I really do miss Berlin. I miss the people, the food, the city, traveling - I miss just about everything!!! And I would give anything to go back there one day - I mean, I know I'm going to go back one day, I just don't know when. Regardless of that though, it really was a once in a lifetime experience that I highly suggest to everyone and anyone. It doesn't even matter where you go, the point, is that you go!

Sachsenhausen

Last week our entire program went to Sachsenhausen, a former forced-labor concentration camp just outside of Berlin. While this one was very similar to the other one we went to in Weimar, it held more importance during the Nazis reign, as it was the administrative center for all concentration camps and where many SS men were trained.

Camp Entrance

This particular camp was known for housing political prisoners, but there were, of course, others there as well - Jews, criminals, homeless people - basically anyone who was different was at risk of winding up at one of these camps.

Like the other camp, many of the buildings at this one were no longer standing - but there was a replica of one of the barracks, and we were actually able to see where/how the prisoners lived.

Bunk beds, where prisoners slept, often sharing a bed with many others.

Common Area

Wash Room

Bathroom

 This particular barrack was for Jewish prisoners, and was actually almost burned down about 20 years ago. A group of Neo-Nazis came to the camp and attempted to burn down this particular part of it, because they didn't want people to remember or memorialize the Jews that had lived there.

The fire caused the paint to peel, but wasn't repaired, because the people at the camp
wanted it to stand as a remembrance for what the Neo-Nazis tried to do

In this particular camp, as well as many others, certain prisoners were assigned to higher positions. For example, one prisoner would oversee a barrack and get their own bed, and special privileges. This was one way for the Nazis to keep the prisoners divided and prevent them from rising up in defiance - because many of those assigned to these special positions, weren't very nice to the other prisoners at all. They would beat them, pick on them, basically just do mean, spiteful things, because they could. However, that doesn't mean there weren't those who were nice, in fact some of them did all they could to help out the other prisoners - they would provide secret German lessons, so foreign prisoners could understand the Nazis' commands, or help them switch jobs, if theirs was especially difficult.

However, sometimes it was hard to save people, as many were in fact killed either while working or just because a Nazi felt like it. At this particular camp, many, many Soviet Soldiers were killed - the Nazis gave the impression that they were just going to admit the prisoners of war into the camp, and took them, one by one, into a building and killed them.

Flowers in remembrance of those who died

What remains of the Crematorium

Memorial at Crematorium

It was definitely an intense experience, I mean, I did kind of know what it was going to be like, since I'd already been to one. But it didn't really change the effect it had on me. These memorials are definitely sad places, but it's important that we honor those who died, and remember what took place in these camps, so we can prevent it from happening again in the future.

European Reunion and X-Mas Markets

The week of Thanksgiving I had some pretty awesome visitors!! My friend, Carola, from Munich - the one I went to Oktoberfest with - came up for the weekend before, and my friends from high school, Phillip and Jess came up for the whole week!!!

It was so much fun to see everyone and just explore Berlin! I was able to take them to the sights, and we went to the Christmas Markets (did a lot of Christmas shopping there), we ate bratwurst and döner, went on a pub crawl! It was just an awesome time and I'm really glad that we were all able to hang out - Phil and Jess hadn't seen Carola since she left VT a few years ago - so I actually didn't tell them that she was coming and we surprised them at the airport! It was great!!! :-)