But that doesn't mean you can't still celebrate and have a great time with friends you met 3 weeks ago.
I woke up to a cake and card made by my splendid host mom Silvia and lovely host sister Alicia. They are two of the most incredibly kind and patient human beings I've ever met, and I am so lucky to be staying with them for many more months to come - I simply can't say this enough!
Alicia also made me a shirt to commemorate my time in Berlin. It features the Bear of Berlin and my favorite German word, Klugscheißer.
It was a long weekend full of debauchery, Jäger, bier, and tropische Getränke; that is all I will (and possibly can) say. Coincidentally the 23rd was also our last day of class, and there were a lot of celebrations for that reason too. I went out basically every night from Thursday to Saturday and came home on Sunday morning at 6 AM. It's gonna take me a couple of days to sleep all of that off, but it's been wild introduction to Berlin.
Unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to some wonderful friends that I've met since they were only here for the three weeks of our program.
When you've traveled home with someone at 3 AM while having no real idea of where you're going, you know you've got a friend.
My favorite new international friends, Youn Seung from South Korea and Daniel from "Rio," Brazil. Together we suffered through a 3-week course together where we had no idea what the hell was going on and what our instructor was on. Two amazing, hilarious, fun individuals that I hope to visit soon and will miss dearly.
Vincy from Melbourne, Australia. The only person I know who gets worse Asian glow than my friend Robert at home. She is such a joy to be around and so down-to-earth with a fantastic attitude! I also hope to see her again, whether in Australia or elsewhere on our travels.
And lastly, "always down" Doug from Chicago (but not really) and Emmanuel from New York City. Doug's nickname comes from the fact that he was, well, always down to do whatever, whenever. And as a Midwest native, he finally got to ask an Asian all the questions he's always wanted to ask Asians. Emmanuel stayed 3 weeks with a homestay near the Onkel Toms Hütte (yes, that is translated as Uncle Tom's Hut) U-Bahn stop, located painfully far from most of the places we wanted to go, but he was almost always there with us, if not at a museum. And how can I forget that wonderful day we had with our friends near the Berliner Dom?
Vielen Dank for all these wonderful people who made the beginning of my stay so memorable!
Annie! I didn't know you had a blog!
ReplyDeleteYou have another reader now :)
Btw, I'm so glad to have met you too! You are also easy to get along with too - made my time in Berlin much more enjoyable! Keep on updating your blog, I loved reading it!