A walk through Berlin

One of the most wonderful things about Berlin, and Europe as a whole, is public transportation. The fact that I can get around a city the size of Berlin with nothing more than a piece of paper is fantastic! The downside to it though is that you don't get to see the city. All of my commuting is underground which prevents me from seeing Berlin. So this afternoon, after finishing my homework at IES, I decided to walk home. So I walked down Friedrichstrasse from Oranienburger Strasse to Hallesches Tor which, with all of my breaks, picture taking, and window shopping probably took a little bit more than 90 minutes. I can't exactly explain what led me to walk these 4 km on my coldest day in Berlin but I guess I'm starting to realize that (a) it's not getting any warmer and (b) I'm not going to be here forever. The last two weeks have been stressful and full of work and to some extend I've let it get the best of me. But, as I approach my one month mark, I've realized that I want to enjoy every little nook and cranny of this city. Which today translated to walking instead of riding!

(I found this random sculpture on my walk...I would have never found it taking the U-Bahn)

This morning instead of going to a typical day of class at the wonderful Humboldt Universität we met up at Maxim-Gorki-Theater for a "workshop." So, we got to act all day in German! And let me just say, regardless of the prompt or topic, it was HYSTERICAL! At one point I was playing a pregnant 15 year old who was in love with two boys, didn't know what to do so she killed herself. Uplifting, I know! But in all seriousness it was great German practice because we didn't have the chance to define words or prepare for our little sketches so we got to speak (and mess up) German for real! After my walk I met up with Susie and Joe who are here in Berlin for 2 days with the IES Freiburg program. We had the most authentic German meal I could have EVER dreamed up and had a great time hanging out, talking about Wake, and catching up on each others lives. I didn't realize how much I missed my friends until they came. I almost forgot what it was like to have a conversation with someone who already knows everything about me. Not having to constantly clarify something about my school, my friends back home, or why I say y'all was excellent! And to top it all off I came home to find Marti on Skype which was just the cherry on top to a Wake-filled day!