November 30th, 2012

Libby, Logan and I in Stockholm

It seems so surreal that today is the last day of November! I have just over a week left in Berlin.  I have really enjoyed the past 10 weeks getting to know a new city with so much history, but I am very excited to see my family and friends soon.   I have had a very busy week! Last Thursday was Thanksgiving and people in my program and I decided to have a potluck with traditional Thanksgiving food (or the best we could come up with in Berlin).  It was my first major holiday away from my family so it was nice to have a meal that resembled home.  Last Friday, I went to visit one of my friends that attends UW but is currently studying abroad in Stockholm, Sweden.  I spent three days touring the city with her and getting to know Stockholm. My friend is fluent in Swedish which was very helpful and made it easy to get around.  It was a really beautiful city and one of my favorites that I have visited in Europe so far.

My friend Libby (who I was visiting) and I in Stockholm

As it is week 10, things in the quarter are winding down and deadlines are approaching rapidly. I spent most of this week working on final papers so I didn't get the chance to explore the city.  It was a good week to be productive as it is getting very cold in Berlin.   A lot of people in my program have been getting sick, but thankfully I have been able to avoid that so far.


However, I had two really interesting site visits as a part of my course this week. On Thursday, we visited the EU parliament and spoke with a press agent for the current president of the EU, who is German.  I have heard and read a lot about the EU crisis that is currently going on, but I have never really understood it until hearing his presentation.  He was very in favor of Germany staying on the Euro and stressed its importance in relation to the European economy.  The second site visit was with Thorsten, we visited the Wannsee Villa where the Wannsee Conference took place.  Through my whole time in Berlin we have been reading about historical places and then actually getting to visit them, which is one of my favorite parts of studying abroad. It really makes the events come to life and, in my opinion, provides a better understanding of history. One of my favorite parts of the Wannsee exhibition was a room where they had quotes from relatives of Holocaust survivors as well as relatives of Nazi's. One of the quotes was from the great nice of Heinrich Himmler talking about how a classmate asked her if she was related to him, and she said yes. I think it really speaks to how Germans have a difficult time being proud of their heritage because it has been so troubled over time.  


My program is going to see an Opera on Sunday and I am very excited as I have never been to one before.  I am going to try to make the most out of my last week in Berlin.


I also found some street art from one of my favorite movies on a street in Kreuzberg that was about a 10-15 minute walk away from my apartment.

Street art in Kreuzberg, Jack Torrence of the Shining

Ciao!
Becca