End of the Semester

Greetings from Copenhagen, Denmark!

lis greeted me with this cute flag! 

After a week of final exams, yesterday was the last day of my semester, so we had our closing meeting and farewell dinner, and I said goodbye to my host mom.  This morning I got up at 3:20am and made my way to Copenhagen (only a 45 minute flight from Berlin!).

Leaving Berlin was really difficult.  We spent 1.5 hours at our closing meeting discussing/'learning about' the culture shock that we're going to experience when we return to the states.  I must say - through that, I discovered that the BEST thing I've done for myself was to keep this blog!  Not only did it allow me to think through and document my experiences, but more importantly it told you guys about my experiences, so that you at least have a partial understanding of what has been happening with me and how I have changed in the past 4 months.

BUT!  I could not start thinking about the cultural re-entry process (as they call it) just yet!  First, I am embarking on the trip of a lifetime through Europe for the month.  This past week I had a mixture of feelings of (1) really wanting to be home at the lake spending time with my family, (2) really wanting to stay in my comfortable and awesome life in the great city of Berlin with the awesome support system of IES, a few close friends, and my host mom, aaaand (3) wanting May to start so I can explore Europe!

Luckily, Mom knew just what to say and told me that I'm so silly to want to come home, that I've got a whole continent on my hands and that feeling uneasy about the change is okay.  So!  Feeling a little better about that, I left Berlin - but it wasn't a "goodbye" (thank goodness), but just a "see you later":  Here is my schedule for the month:

April 27 - May 2:             Copenhagen, Denmark
May 3 - 7:                        Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria
May 7 - 13:                      Copenhagen, Denmark
May 13 - 16:                    Berlin!
May 15 - 23:                    The March   (Berlin; Krakow, Poland; Warsaw, Poland)
May 23 - 29:                    Istanbul, Turkey
May 29 - 31:                    Berlin!
May 31:                           Fly back to the States

A bit of explanation:

Munich:
       A close friend of Lis' Grandfather lives in Bavaria (Southern Germany) near Munich.  We are going to go visit him for a few days, and see his wonderful area.  Lis, Werner, and I are all really excited!  We're going to make a day trip to Daschau, a concentration camp right outside of Munich, and another to the castle Neuschwanstein.  After that we're going to spend 24 jam-packed hours in Salzburg, Austria and go on a Sound of Music tour!!!

The March:
     This is a Holocaust Studies trip which is run by my Holocaust professor from HWS, his wife, and two survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  The trip starts in Berlin on May 15, where we will see where the Wansee Conference took place, and other memorial/historic sights around Berlin.  The following day we take a bus to Krakow, Poland.  We will spend several days there visiting camps and historical sites.  On Friday night we will have a huge Shabbat dinner - a highlight of the trip, which sounds so cool.  For the last segment of the trip we will be in Warsaw, Poland visiting nearby camps and sites as well.  It is truly going to be an incredible and life changing experience, since my professor is endlessly knowledgable and we have two amazing survivors with us.

Istanbul, Turkey
     For my last week in Europe, I will be traveling from Warsaw to Istanbul to spend 6 days there with Lucy! I am so excited to finally see Turkey, since the culture has been SO present in my studies, cultural experiences, food experiences, etc., in Berlin.  I believe Berlin has the largest Turkish diaspora, so going to the actual country, which is something I've always wanted to do, will be absolutely amazing.  Better yet, we have an acquaintance from HWS who is from Istanbul, so he will show us around, too!


But don't think that my blogging is over!  I still have to tell you about many things, among which are my trip to Dresden, the tour of the high-end Volkswagon factory (they're made 96% by HAND!), the Stasi Prison, and more.  Luckily, I'll have lots of time on my hands while Lis and my other friends in Copenhagen are in class, and as I travel.  So stay tuned for what will be more frequent updates on my blog, both about past experiences and about my current travels.

Thanks so much to those of you who are still following along with my experience - it means so much to me that you take the time to read (what are rather lengthy) posts.  You guys are the best :)