Last week I was a little nervous about nailing the language, navigating myself around the bustling heart of Berlin as well as balancing going to school and being a tourist. This week I am happy to say that because of the kindness of the people I’ve encountered out and about in Berlin, I have no more nerves. People are more than willing to be patient with you and even realize that you are learning the language, so they’ll respond to you in German (which is a definite surprise as I’ve only encountered people abroad that will immediately start speaking English back). Navigation has been no issue – the public transportation here is incredibly easy to follow and very accessible to all manners of people. The last one proved a little rocky at first – being a student and a tourist. 

When I first heard I was coming to Berlin this summer I thought I was going to be travelling almost every weekend. Then I realized that in my short 6 weeks here, I’d be lucky to cover 75% of what is on my “to do” list for this city. So docking the weekend trips was a tough decision, but I still will be able to travel a few weekends here and there, just not the 5 weekends away that I had planned (my bank account was also instrumental in this decision…). 

Aside from that – I have been doing all of the lovely tourist-y things one should do in Berlin – seeing the Brandenburg Gate, eating pretzels, getting lost in the pandemonium that is the World Cup and visiting Checkpoint Charlie (to name a few). I can’t say that I have a favorite spot in the city or that I enjoyed one thing over another, because I’m slowly realizing that it isn’t necessarily the sights I’m seeing or the language I’m speaking, but my fellow students and peers who are quickly becoming my friends, who make the experiences truly worth it…Until Next Time, Casey R