In the Blink of an Eye

The program has now officially ended, and the majority of the goodbyes have been made. Now the only thing that separated me from my return trip home was the weekend in Berlin. Of the people who remained in Europe after the trip, the people who remained in Berlin were Justin, Roger, Brittany, Caitlin, and Me. We had quite the eventful weekend, and it was a relief to be able to experience the city without any sort of structure from the program.

So we started out on Friday and checked into our new hostel for the weekend, and then headed into town to find some form of entertainment. While we were travelling, it was funny to see many of the sights that we had seen earlier on the bike tour. It made me feel like we were experienced travellers. First thing on the agenda was to head to Potsdamer Platz and the Bluemax theater to get our tickets to that night's showing of the Blue Man Group. Then in an effort to spend the rest of the time in the day, we headed to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and did our last rounds of souvenir shopping. Finally, that night we went to the epic Blue Man Group show. I have been wanting to see one of their performances for the majority of my life. Anyways, the show was very artisic and musical and there was a portion of the show that was filled with banana. It was hilarious to see the blue men shoot a strange banana mixture out of the tubing in their chest, but unfortunately Caitlin fell victim to such a blast. Although I felt very bad that she was covered in banana for the length of the show, I couldn't help but laugh at such an outlandish situation. Afterwards, we snagged a picture with a blue man, which was probably just the icing on the cake. Saturday came, and we found our way to the International Beer Festival. There was live music, bratwurst, chocolate covered fruits, beer, more bratwurst, and more beer. The people there came from all over the world, much like the different types of beer. It was a very unifying experience for the people...and the beer. Definitely an adventure. Then after that there was just packing and flying out the next day. Although my plane left later, I went with the other group because I didn't want to be late for my one chance home.

So now, as I sit here in the Berlin airport after my last goodbyes writing this blog next to the prime minister or something of Sudan...no joke..., I can easily say that this trip was everything that I could have asked for. Despite the occasional bumpy spots in the long road that we travelled, the trip went as I could have only hoped that it would. If there was one thing that I could change, it would be that the trip actually felt like it lasted for five weeks, as opposed to five seconds. As I was thinking back on all of the fun times we had, I noticed how well I could remember every part of the trip. I think that this says something about the integrity of the program in that this will not be easily forgotten. From the program excursions during the week to the recreational excursions on the weekend, the friendships, memories, and learning foundations formed are all priceless. These were probably the best 5 weeks of my life. I will definitely recommend this trip to anyone who has the slightest opportunity to partake in such a trip.

I guess this is the last thank you to all of the people involved with the trip: Steffi, Olaf, Dr. Zäck, Dr. Wasser, my host momma Rosa, everyone at the AIB, Alisha, the Texas A&M Study Abroad Office, all of the museums and locations that allowed us to visit, and finally the best group of 15 ever. We need to hang soon. Thanks for everything and making this trip unforgettable.


Matt Bersi