Saying goodbye to Berlin.

I said goodbye to Berlin yesterday. But not just to Berlin - to new friends, to two weeks of adventure, to an experience that will never be replicated. 

I thought I’d list some things that I’ll miss about being in Berlin - some silly, some serious, but all meaningful. 

What I’ll miss about being in Berlin:

1. Feeling accomplished after navigating through Berlin on the subways and trams.
2. The lovely flower shops around town and the flowers people put on their porches and balconies.
3. Staying up until 2 a.m. laughing with eight girls piled in one hotel room. 
4. The Brandenburg Gate lit up at night. 
5. The basil, tomato, mozzarella sandwich on delicious fresh bread at Espresso Co. near our hotel (I went there 4 times).
6. Always carrying around my camera. 
7. The cookies in the vending machine in the lobby.
8. The loooonnngggg days. The sun came up at about 5 and went down at about 10.
9. The artistic nature of Berlin. There are so many artists and so much art in Berlin.
10. Saying thank you in German - Danke schon.
11. Feeling humbled by a new place, realizing that I’m one small person in a huge world.

Goodbye Berlin. 

(A silhouetted Berlin.) 

A birthday in Berlin.

Never did I expect to spend my 21st birthday in Berlin, Germany. There weren’t streamers, and I didn’t blow out candles, but it was a birthday I won‘t forget.

When midnight came and it was officially May 27 in Berlin, I was showered with “Happy Birthdays” from my fellow study abroaders in the hotel lobby. My professor poured me a glass of wine in a coffee mug (that was all we could find), and we did a birthday cheers.  

That morning I walked to a nearby flower shop to buy myself a birthday bouquet. The man at the flower shop sold it to me for eight euros. I fell in love with the flower shops in Germany and had been waiting for my birthday to go to one. I walked home, bouquet in hand. Once home, I put my bouquet in a small glass and set it next to my bed. 

I spent the rest of the day with Elie, the subject of my photo story. He’s a Syrian student at the Technical University in Berlin. I went to lunch with Elie and his friends at the cafeteria where I accidentally ordered the most expensive meal there: white asparagus with potatoes and Hollandaise sauce. It was delicious, but I laughed along with his friends at the fact that I had ordered it. I photographed Elie at lunch, in his 2 o’clock lecture and shopping at the Arabic grocery store. Elie wished me “Happy Birthday,” and I headed home.

When I got back to the hotel, three girls had bought me gifts: chocolate and a sunflower. It was really sweet of them.   

That night we celebrated my birthday with dessert. About 11 girls, our TA and I went to the KaDeWe, Europe’s second largest department store. The top floor is a dessert floor. We each picked out a dessert. I choose a piece of cake that had pink frosting, strawberries and cream cheese. It was lovely. I ordered a glass of wine (something that began with a P that I couldn't pronounce) and sipped it with my dessert. The KaDeWe closed at 8, so we had to leave, but we sang “Happy Birthday” in the street.

I spent my 21st birthday miles and miles and a six-hour time difference away from home, but I couldn’t have felt more special on my day.

(A photo of my bouquet before it was mine - the one on the left.)

(A photo of the inside of the flower shop.)  

    

Here is a link to the KaDeWe website. If you happen to be in Berlin on your birthday, I recommend getting dessert there! 

in excelsis Deo.

There was something quiet about walking inside St. Marienkirche Berlin church yesterday - the stone Cherubim, the lit candles, the bowed heads. Even as visitors shuffled through the church snapping photos of its grandeur, it was quiet and still.  

Except for the bellowing organ. It echoed in the church. A woman wearing blue played it, but I only caught a glimpse of her. The organ was built high into the wall on what looked like a balcony. I had to tilt my head or stand further back in the church to see the organ and its long pipes. 

Just like that organ, there’s something loud about Berlin. Something loud about the colored graffiti on the walls, the gust of wind that comes as the subway flies by, the tunes of the street performers. 

I’m quiet at heart but am learning to understand and appreciate Berlin’s noise, the noise of creativity, of boldness. 

Maybe Berlin deserves to be a little loud; maybe we all do.

(Photos of the church.) 

Here are some common questions and answers about St. Marienkirche Berlin church. 

A stop away.

Never again will I be intimidated by the RTS bus system in Gainesville. Today’s blog celebrates my success in using the subways to navigate through Berlin on my own. It was a big day. 

While I was pleased that I made it 14 stops to Ernst-Reuter-Platz and wanted everyone else on the U-Bahn to be equally excited, I realized that to people living in Berlin, taking the subway is much like breathing, done easily and without thought.  

It fascinates me that while I go about my daily life at home, millions of people here do just the same. The lives of others really aren’t that far away from mine, fewer than 14 stops. 

A simple routine done my most Berliners was for me a foot and a few steps out of my box. 

I’m humbled by Berlin and its people and as silly as it sounds, its subways.

(A photo of busy, bustling Berlin.)      

                                                                                                                              Here is a map of the subway system in Berlin. Trust me - It will wind up written on, crumpled up, stuffed in pockets and purses, and held with a thankful hand. 

                                                                                      

A little different.

They say that no two blocks at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany are the same. There are 7,211 blocks. Each one is different from the other - in size, in shape. But the rows and columns of blocks form crisp, straight lines. Absolute perfection. People maze their way through the columns and rows, and little kids hop from block to block. 

I’ve only been in Berlin for three days now, and am struck by how different it is here, how different it feels from home to me. I knew that all parts and pieces of the world were a little different from the other, but I didn’t understand the depth of that until now. I see the difference in the little things, such as in the way we say hello or thank you. 

But while the shapes and sizes and smells and sights are all a little different, we somehow live on this big earth together. Absolute perfection. We maze our way through. We hop from place to place.

In this blog are the differences and similarities I see between here and home.

This blog is what my eyes see of Germany.  

(Photos from the Holocaust memorial.)

 

Here is a link to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, otherwise known as the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.” It is one of many memorials in Berlin that honors and remembers victims of the Holocaust.