A weekend in Berlin

Hello hello again. It hasnt been so long since my last blog, I hope you are not sick of me already. This is my last week of work, which should be a sad, reflective occasion, but I cannot help but feel pure excitement for the next few weeks of my life. 4 weeks and 4 days until Morocco, 13 days until America, 9 days until Ireland and living it up in Germany in the meantime. So much to look forward to.

Last weekend I had a little bit of a reunion in Berlin with some people that I studied abroad with in Bonn. The strange thing about seeing everyone from Bonn over the past few months is that it feels like no time has passed. We all have this mutual experience that literally did BONNd (lol) us together. This time when I said bye to everyone, it wasnt even a sad thing, it just makes me excited to see everyone grow up and where/when we'll see each other next (although admittedly I am recruiting people to visit me in Morocco).

I havent gone back to the city of Bonn, I think its like a break up, I just have to remove myself from the situation for now. It would be too much for me to bear to see the city that changed me so much without the people that I love there. As if to solidify to me, once again, that the year abroad will never be recreated. That being said, someone DID brave those emotions and went to Bonn. I bring this up because he stayed with a coordinator of the program. He was a little older than us, but besides just coordinating events and things, his job also is to become friends with us. So Ryan stayed with him and somewhere over the weekend Sebastian told him that no group before us or after us has managed to become such good friends as we did and stay in touch as much as we have. It just goes to show what a lottery of a year abroad experience I got. Not only the language, not only the city, not only the year, not only the people, but all of it combined. And here we were, a year and a half later, celebrating the country that brought us all together.

Another surreal factor of this trip was the fact that none of us had to book any hostels because we have enough friends that live in Berlin. Now that is strange. I have more friends in Berlin than most cities in the US. Most of us, myself included, have already been to Berlin, which is actually a big advantage and Ill tell you why. Germany is a place with a very heavy history, and Berlin more than other places really shows its scars. Between both world wars and the cold war happening in the past century, everywhere you turn in Berlin there is some sort of memorial that as a tourist you feel obligated to visit. Everyone who studies German feels the need to visit these concentration camps and memorials and historical buildings, but its really really really nice to be able to enjoy the city without needing to see those things. Not to say it isn't extremely important, but it really brings down the mood to have to see those sites all weekend. Since we had all seen those memorials before, there was less pressure to do the touristy things and we got to have a more relaxing, lighthearted weekend.

I know that last post was all about "I love Bavaria" but man let me tell you; I LOVE Berlin. Berlin: the city of a million ethnicities slowly melting into each other. Berlin: the city where you take a subway (or ubahn for all of you german lovers) to one stop and you are next to government buildings and then you take it one more stop and its a vibrant, hipster paradise and you take it one more and its a sort of grey-blocked neighborhood reminding you of the communist time not-so-long-ago, one more stop and you are being towered over by the pillard, grecian buildings of Humboldt University. It is actually extremely disorienting. There is no downtown, there are 9-sort-of-city centers. 70 Christmasmarkets. Berlin looks dirty and maybe dangerous at first glance, but after the weekend, it seems like the whole world is at your fingertips. If you want the "german experience" you may find some trace of it in Berlin, but it seems to be taken over by this alternative society where each individual person has multiple national identities. Berlin is the perfect place for someone in their mid 20s to live. A way to figure yourself out personified in a city. And cheap enough too. Cheaper than Hamburg at least, although that is hardly saying anything.

Hamburg is really nice, but after the two weekends I just had, its not a place that I would ever live long-term. That being said, I am really thankful for being here. I get free housing and all the attention is on me as the only intern. I have a great work environment. You probably dont care about this, dear reader, but Im only saying so that you dont think Im sitting in bed crying for not being in Berlin or Munich. I love it here and I love my experience here. Au Revoir for now, but Im sure you will hear from me soon

Bayern oh Bayern

Picture Germany.... I mean stereotypical Germany, I'm talking about lederhosen-clad men hiking in alpen Germany with a stein of beer in one hand and a pretzel in another climbing to the top of a mountain to blow a horn. This picture, dear readers, is not far from actuality of a small piece of the Vaterland, this place: Bavaria. (Exit Anthony bourdain intro). Dear readers, you may ask yourself why I am writing about Bavaria, why this place of all of my adventures so far since arriving in Deutschland. Well friends, I've been to Bavaria now three times, each time for very different reasons and it holds a dear place in my heart. I remember in German class learning how to ask for directions "Entschuldigung, Wissen sie wo marienplatz ist?" We always used places in Munich. Seeing these places in the flesh and blood is one part nostalgia and one part accomplishment for actually getting there.... But I'm getting ages of myself. First step off of the train to visit Bruna and Miguel... Friends from Bonn who are in their 6th year of medical studies in Augsburg.. And the first thing I smell? Horses. In the middle of the city. It smelled like a farm. Bruna let me know she was about 20 min away from the train station but that I should get something small to eat in the meantime. Short aside: Bavarians are known for either being the best at or creating a lot of German staples. Bavaria is widely made fun of throughout the rest of Germany. Why? I asked my professor this very same question in Bonn. She said she believes the rest of Germany is jealous because Bavaria is so much better at so many things. That being said, I decided to get a pretzel, something that -shocker- Bavarians are known for. Now I know there are some native Philadelphians that regularly read my blogs... But I'm not even going to pretend that this pretzel wasn't the best of my life. I sometimes wonder why Bavaria isn't a different country entirely... It has a history of sovereignty, a differen culture, a different religion, a different way of talking, and a different way of life than the rest of the country. I had a beer the first night there at a family run restaurant from a brewery that's been in operation since 1519. And my friends, no one will every tell you that the cuisine in Germany is world class, but I'm not sure there is anything better in life than a hunk of pork, a huge potato dumpling, a liter of beer, and hundreds of people drunkenly singing along to a polka band (place: hofbräuhaus... Where Else?)

I digress. 

Sunday we went to Nürnberg, home of a history that is plagued with things I'm sure they'd rather forget. I got to see one of those places, the courtroom of the Nuremberg trials. 

I took a pic in black and white to make it creepier. Bruna and Miguel gave the impression that thy wanted to be in Bavaria for a long time. I have to say after this past weekend that I can't blame them. 

 

as the Bavarians say Gruß Gott (greetings to god) und Servus!

Here comes the sun and I say...

I’m beginning this blog a little sooner than originally expected. I’m not sure if I’ll tell you all about it right away so you may be reading this tomorrow or maybe in a few months from now, Im not sure. This may be a bit philosophical for a first blog post but we will see….  

I’d assume that most people reading this are aware that I am working in the US Consulate in Germany right now and then in January will be moving to Morocco to begin my work as a Peace Corps volunteer. If you didnt, then now you know. Ive been here for a few weeks now, and it is absolutely wonderful to be back in Germany. I recently reread my Bonn Voyage blog again (obviously the most recent post came first). Its a great feeling to know that Im back here, that was my goal and I achieved it. 

Ive already met a lot of people here in Hamburg. Both through events with the consulate and just personal social gatherings (hahah thats a funny way to write it christen) and everyone seems to ask the same question “Why are you here?” It seems like such a non-question for me, seeing that I had absolutely zero hesitation in coming here. It just seems so weird to even ask. So I took some personal reflection time to ask myself the question: why am I here?

I think this is the first time in my life really that there is a major fork in the road. Me and my friends we are now college graduates with some silly paper we paid thousands of dollars for and put in endless hours in the library to attain and now we have it, its done, we are free in so many ways. We can do whatever we want. Some of my friends are taking the next educational step and getting their masters, others jobs, but most are staying in central Ohio. Out of all of my college friends, Conor (as seen in the “Built Fjord Tough” entry in my Bonn Voyage blog) and I are the only ones who decided that travel was going to play a serious role in our post-graduation lives (the bug is spreading to Alison Paxson though in case you read this I know you're next). This may sound very arrogant, but on the side of being truthful to you, my reader, I’ll admit we have had so many conversations in real life, via text, and skype and all that just saying to each other (seriously but obviously with a joking undertone) that we have "it" figured out. "It" being happiness, "it" being societal pressures, "it" being life. I know we are just some stupid 20-somethings- but I just cant help but believe it. I just feel so accomplished being in another country. Everything I do is something to be proud of. Everything I see is something that gives me the biggest, warmest feeling inside me. Every friend I make is a fusion of culture and language. The concept of “wanderlust” is something that i very much relate to.

The best analogy I can give is; remember in elementary school, or maybe a little older, when you would go on a class field trip, and it was so incredibly exciting. You got to feel like a grown up because you were able to leave school and see the way the world works during the days you were normally shut away. You had more independence because the teacher wanted you to have fun—that’s the point. And when you got back to school you just felt like everyone is jealous of you that you got to go on a field trip all day while they were stuck at school. That’s how I feel here but on a different scale entirely. I just feel like everyone is going about life on a particular track, and I, for whatever reason, was given the opportunity to leave and go on a field trip for the next 3 years.

So why do I love Germany so much? My friend Eoin always laughs because every aspect about Germany seems to be perfect. Its literally laughable the perfection. Want examples? There is a word in german called "feierabend" which translates to celebration evening. Everyday when I leave from work or leave the supermarket or leave wherever, people wish me (and vise versa) a happy feiertag because you are truly meant to celebrate every evening. There is a myriad of other examples, but one im particular to yours truly has to do, obviously, with politics. If you know me you know that i fall very far left of the center, which is very much embraced by german politics. The SPD is the second most popular political party in germany and they are the Social-Democrats if you dont know, that I align politically almost perfectly. There are just so many examples but you get the gist and this blog is already ranting.

This furlough has been playing with my nerves a little bit, speaking of politics that i DO NOT align with, i cannot access my peace corps documents due to the website being closed, and Im just hoping that everything is taken care of ASAP so that **knock on wood*** nothing bad happens to me in January, like being told i cannot go. absolute worst case scenario.

Okay so a couple of final things. The blog title may change, but you all may be asking yourself what it means? Well I read a book called "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer which I highly recommend. It is the story of a real person named Christopher McCandles who wanted to give up society. Here is the quote: "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

Anyways Im not saying Im going to move to rural Alaska and live off the land, im just going to learn arabic and move to rural Morocco to make it in a completely different society than my own... big difference!! Anyway Im sorry this was so long winded but lets summarize now: Im extremely happy and so excited for the next 3 years, I love Germany, I am extremely proud of myself and so eager to see what comes next.
Ill leave you all with this quote by Mark Twain which I saw with dad in line at Trader Joes on a graduation card: 

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.