Go Berlin Bears

We have reached the end. It is weird, sad, and slightly relieving due to the tiredness factor. One thing I must admit is that I'm really really glad Dr. Wasser and Musser decided to make our papers due before we went home. It was a slightly stressful few hours, but I sure am glad to be done. Tuesday morning our host mom took us to the Hauptbanhof before she headed off to the unemployment office. It was quite a nice gesture especially since it was raining. We said our goodbyes, and I was slightly worried we were going to have to do the kissing thing like we did when we met her the first day, because I forgot if Germans do 2 or 3 kisses. While hugging I remembered it was the Swiss that do 3, and by that time she was moving on to Leslie so I couldn't put my knowledge to use. I know, it was very sad. Anyway, we lugged all of our stuff into the train station, and watched as the pile continued to grow with the arrival of our group members. I really thought it was going to be a huge disaster, and it nearly was. We basically ended up throwing everyone's huge suitcases on the train, and let the guys handle the rest. That's when we finally figured out why Dr. Wasser let them come on the trip. When we reached the coolest and biggest hauptbanhof EVER in Berlin (I compared it to The Mall of America), we grabbed something to eat and set off for a bus tour. That night we went out to eat and drink with Dr. Musser, so ofcourse we had a good time, and walked around to find the club that we now think closed in 1989. Oh well, we had a good laugh about it. Yesterday we went to the Medical History Museum which I loved. It probably contained some of the coolest items I've ever seen. I personally liked the fetuses and the feet. After lunch at a high quality German restaurant (Subway), a group of us went to the Holocaust Museum. I really enjoyed reading the parts of letters some of the victims had sent to their family members. It made it quite real. Last night we had some fun. After being good citizens, and helping eachother decrease the weight of our luggage by finished off some wine, we headed out to the street of Berlin. We found a good deal on .5 L cocktails, so when I only got .4 L I had to bring it up to the waitor. He took my drink to put more "rum" in it, and that's when things started getting bad. My mojito returned to me a shade of brown, and I drank every disgusting sip of it. Bad idea. And it still feels like it was a bad idea right now. We tried to go shopping today, but could not find any good places. We even took a train to the main shopping area. This is where we will not compare Berlin to New York. I still think Munich is my favorite city in Germany. It's much easier to get around, has good shopping, and is prettier...but it certainly does not have the remains of the Berlin Wall. Tonight is our farewell dinner, and then some of us fly out tomorrow around 6 am. That should be fun.