Ich bin ein Berliner

I am a Berliner. The famous words in JFK’s speech at the wall. Coming here I was under the impression for the longest time that all German’s thought that he had called himself a jelly filled donut but was surprised to hear that is an American fabrication. Their reasoning is that when speaking in a formal tense, as in speeches and such, it is proper to use ‘ein’ while speaking when in normal instances you would simply say ich bin Berliner. I found that they hold JFK, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush Sr. in high regard.

 This week with the program will be an unforgettable one  to say the least. During our pre-departure meeting back in Bonn Olivia had actually warned us that we were going to either hate or love Berlin.  There was no middle ground here. I fell head over heels on the latter side in love Berlin. Unfortunately my brother was only able to stay for a mere 3 days, he got to see a lot. He visited the famed concentration camp Sachsenhausen, went on a guided historical city tour of Berlin, got an exclusive tour of the famous Reichstag (their parliamentary building), and had an opportunity to enjoy the local cuisine, something I think he was especially excited about.  On Thursday we decided to get away from the bustling city and take a trip to Leipzig, something I was not particularly excited about. As fun as it was that day, I had still wanted to stay in Berlin because of my love for the city. Our last day in Berlin was spent at an institute that is at the front of medical prosthetic research and development internationally. During my free time on that afternoon I made it a point to see as much of the city as I could and take it all in. I was also determined to visit a couple of the amazing museums on museum island while in Berlin and had the opportunity to see the Ishtar Gate which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip there, right behind getting to view the east wall of Berlin. That night we had our final dinner at this amazing restaurant. Although it was sad realizing that this was going to be our last time that we were all together, we were ready for it.

Unlike all of my fellow classmates who are probably writing this finishing blog back in the comfort of their homes in Texas, I am currently delayed at a train stop in Brussels on my way to Paris and then London.  I get to spend a single grand day at home before heading for the Promised Land known as college station. I’m ready for Texas but can already tell that I’ll probably be missing this and all that this entails more. Although school is literally just around the corner, starting on the Monday after I get back, it does not feel like it. That probably has to do something with the fact that I don’t know any of my schedule for this fall or anything of the like but hey that is what syllabus week is for anyways.