Week....??

Apparently some weeks have passed since I last wrote. Oops. At first I was busy because my friend Terrance visited one weekend. Then after that there wasn't much to talk about. I guess everything is much more normal to me now, even though I've still gone to different places, mostly with the school.

The school year ended and there are only about 15 kids that come (at the most). Allegro Grundschule is sort of a day care in the summer. Some kids come almost every day, some come a few days or weeks then don't come back, some come every once in a while. I think it depends on when their parents have vacation. People in Germany have a couple of weeks off in the summer. Around 3 if I remember correctly. I wouldn't mind that!

We take the kids somewhere several times a week. We mostly go to parks and lakes. One place we went to was the Grunewald (green forest). It's located in the west side of Berlin. We first climbed a big hill and when we got to the top we had a wide view of the area.

The camera doesn't do it justice, especially on the second pictures. One of those "you had to be there" moments.

As I mentioned earlier, my friend Terrance visited some weekends ago. That was really fun. I've met new people here and interact with them, especially at work, but it was really nice to have someone I knew better around. We went sight seeing the whole weekend. I actually got to see a lot of things that I hadn't done before. My favorite was the Berliner Dom. So beautiful!

The inside was just as beautiful, if not more. Terrance and I both loved the design. I guess it didn't have a lot of objects, but what made it great was the intricacy and attention to detail in the paintings and the objects they did have (like statues, organ, etc.)

This picture isn't great, but you can see the paintings on the ceiling which are actually illustrations of the beatitudes. And if you look closely, a little lower you can see carvings.

Last time I wrote about language barriers, and I said that I was gonna take some steps to improve my German and that there are many opportunities to do so. One step I've taken is to find a tandem partner. For those who haven't heard of this, a tandem partner is someone you meet with to help each other with the language you're both trying to learn. For example, you can meet for two hours and speak one hour in your native language and one hour in your partner's native language. I've met with two girls so far, and it's been cool! I've especially connected with my first tandem partner. We click well, I could see us being good friends! It may seem sketchy, I kind of thought it was at first. But so far I haven't gotten kidnapped, so all is good.

Ok, last big event that's happened–I went to Prague last weekend! Prague is great. Honestly, it was refreshing to get out of Germany. It's a great country and Berlin is an awesome city, but I really needed a break from everything. I feel much more refreshed after that weekend. We went to the touristy places like Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. I really loved that area. I wish I could've stayed longer. I don't think I got a good "feel" of the city and culture because there were so many tourists. Everyone around us seemed to be tourists.

Prague actually felt much smaller than I imagined. But I think it's mostly because I've been living in Berlin, which is huge. Nonetheless it's great and beautiful. Here are a few pictures.

Till next time.

Week 4: Language, Language, Language.

I speak Spanish and English both as native languages, and sometimes when I tell people I'm majoring in German, the rest of the conversation goes something like this.

"Wow so you can speak THREE languages!"
"Actually, more like 2 and a half."

I say this because even after two years of learning German, I still don't know enough. After spending two months in Germany last year, many people thought I must be fluent. I did become more confident speaking it, but I'm still far from being fluent.

I think many language learners would agree that when you're in the classroom, you feel like you speak the language pretty well because you can understand everything your teacher says and can communicate with them. But once you talk to a native speaker, you get really nervous. Or when you're in the country, you realize "Holy crap I don't know any German!"

This post may be a little different. It's more of a reflection of observations I've made on my experience here. It may sound like I'm complaining at times, but those aren't my intentions; I'm just stating what I experience.

Have you ever been with a group of friends and had another friend or family member in that group who didn't speak much English (or whatever language you were speaking)? That person is obviously quiet and isn't able to contribute much to the conversation. Maybe you and your group of friends are friendly and try to engage that person in conversation and have them practice your language. Other times...let's be honest...you kind of forget that person is there. Or you at least don't notice their presence as much as everyone else's.

I feel like I've been that quiet person in the group. I'm already kind of an introvert. I'm not very talkative in big groups and am usually the quiet one, unless I'm with my close friends. If it's already difficult to be in a big group when it's your native language, imagine being in a group of people speaking German very quickly! I rarely talk. I feel like I'm in the group and very present since I'm listening to everyone speak and trying to understand them, but then I realize I've hardly spoken. I honestly feel like that quiet person that's just sticking around. This happens when I'm with my co-workers. I've had to keep an open mind and be okay with this situation. Fortunately they're nice and they still invite me to things and some will try to engage me. I don't refuse invitations because I know it'll help me get to know my co-workers better and I'll have a good time.

And actually, there's been a plus side to this. Remember when I said I tend to be the quiet person in a big group even when I know the language? Sometimes people will ask me why I'm so quiet. Or they'll ask me if I'm okay. I'll usually respond saying I'm tired (because sometimes I do get tired and it makes me quieter) or that I just don't have anything to say (because I really don't).  I don't mind this, but I've noticed that when it's in German I don't have to explain myself. Nobody asks me why I'm so quiet because, well, they already know I'm still learning German. I also tend to space out when I'm not very engaged in a conversation, and the last times I hung out with native German speakers I appreciated the fact that I could space out of a conversation or jump back in whenever I wanted (not that I spoke much anyway, just tried harder to understand what they were saying :-P).

I can't say this is great. I don't plan to stay like this–I really do want to get better at German and participate more in conversations soon. But this is where I'm at right now.

I can see differences in the work place too. Like I said, I'm kind of an introvert. I'm not the most assertive person, but when I'm comfortable with my ability to do something, I'm definitely more confident. I take more ownership and initiative. This time, it's been harder to do that.

My internship involves a lot of taking care of kids. If this were in English, I think I would've been leading the kids in more things and planning some cool art project to do with them or start English or Spanish classes. But it's a lot harder to show assertiveness when you're not as confident with the language yet. It is for me anyways. And with the kids as well, it's a little harder to show your authority when you can't say as much as you want. When they do something they shouldn't–like arguing amongst themselves or saying mean things to each other, I can't get them to stop as easily. But hopefully I'll get there soon.

I don't plan to let things remain like this. I've realized how important it is for me to be proactive about my goals. It's gonna take more than just going to work for me to get better at German and to contribute what I can. I'm trying harder to meet people and find new opportunities to speak German, and fortunately there are many here!

I hope this post wasn't too boring. Maybe more introverts may have appreciated this, and the language learners as well.

Bis bald :-)

Week 3 has passed. I did a few interesting things. On Friday I went to a Sommerfest with some of the "Erziehers," I guess these are sort of like teachers or teacher assistants. This Sommerfest included Erziehers from other schools too. It was in this really cool place. Maybe it was a party hall but it had this lounge/club feel to it. They had AMAZING food. And it was by the Spree–I think being near water makes everything feel cooler :-P I had a lovely time.
Yesterday, Saturday, I went to Potsdam with two friends from Cultural Vistas. It was nice to get out of Berlin a little. The city still feels kind of big, but it is much more quiet. We walked through a really nice park. And you didn't hear the roar of all the cars. I love nature! As cool as Berlin is, I don't know if I'd want to permanently live in a big city. I love peacefulness. But we'll see if I still feel this way at the end of the internship.
After walking through the park we ate on a street where no cars went through. It was all cobblestone with people walking through. It reminded me of south Germany, when I was in Schwäbisch Hall and visiting Freiburg. I had a Curry Chicken Pizza, and I really liked it! Afterwards we went to see a palace. Actually it was three, but I think they all belonged to the same family. Yeah....I have to do a little more research on that. What I know now is that the Sanssouci belonged to Frederick the Great and was built in the mid 1700s. This was the third palace we saw. I liked the first two better. We actually didn't go into any of them; we were just on the outside. And the landscaping is beautiful. The whole area where the palaces are is actually a park. And it has this Alice in Wonderland kind of feel to it. I loved it! I just want to have a front lawn and backyard like it. I'd be playing there all day.

Week 2: Getting more used to all this

I broke my promise. I said I wouldn't wait a week to put up my next post but here I am, a week later :/ Better step my game up.
Last time I said there was more I wanted to talk about. I think what I wanted to mention was the whole transition period. Honestly, that first week wasn't easy! I felt a little overwhelmed and lost in a big city, and not having a big group of friends you know well definitely makes a difference. You're on your own, and that feels kind of weird. But the weekend after the first week was really helpful. I was able to go to church in Berlin, and it was really good to be around something familiar. It turns out, they have a service in German, then one in English, then one in Spanish–all three of the languages I speak! I made it to the end of the German one and stayed for all of the English service. I plan on going to the Spanish one next Saturday and can't wait!
After church I met up with some other Michigan students who are also in the internship program and we went to Kreuzberg, a part of Berlin with a lot of young people and street art. It's a pretty interesting place! We walked by the East Side Gallery, which is a portion of the old Berlin Wall. It is now a gallery full of paintings themed around freedom. It's pretty cool!

We later all went to an Indian restaurant. That's an interesting thing about here–I actually haven't seen many restaurants serving German food. Everything seems to be ethnic–a lot of Thai food, Italian, Turkish, even Mexican which I am very curious to try here. But I've actually only had German food once since I've been here!

But anyways, that weekend was cool. And the following week was a lot better. I'm getting more used to things here. I've gotten the transportation system nailed down, at least with the S-Bahn and U-Bahn. That definitely makes me feel less lost (and literally get lost less). I'm a little more comfortable around work too–I can't really speak much because of the language. Also, since the kids have a lot of recess and free time, I'm usually watching them most of the time. Sometimes that feels like I'm not doing much, so I go and play with the kids and practice my German with them.
I'd promise to post something soon again, but I'll avoid the risk of breaking a promise. I definitely will try to though!

First Week in Berlin

I've been in Berlin for a little more than a week now. There's a lot to talk about but I'll try to be concise!

After an almost five hour delay in Detroit, the plane finally left for Amsterdam. The delay was actually a little helpful for me in calming down and not being so nervous. I had to wait a couple hours in Amsterdam because the delay made me miss the transfer, but it was all good and I made it to Berlin. Then when I was getting ready to get off the plane, I met two other students who are also in Cultural Vistas (the internship program that brought us to Germany). It was really helpful because then we could all go to the hotel together and I didn't have to worry about getting lost.

Orientation was good and helped prepare me for what was coming ahead. They warned about culture shock, which I hadn't really expected to get, but this week I have. It's taking some time for me to adjust, but I am–slowly but surely. Last Sunday I figured out how to get to work. I'm really glad I did because it took hours to figure out and I avoided being late the first day of work! Now that I've gone several times, it's actually really simple and a lot quicker.

My first day of work was great. Actually, before I write any more about it, I should talk about what my internship actually is! Like I said, I'm interning at Allegro Grundschule, which is an elementary school located in the middle of Berlin. The majority of its students have immigrated from other countries, or their parents have. The school offers all day care to the students, and I am there most of the day helping with homework and watching/playing with them during recess. I am also helping a little with translating for parents and students who do not speak German.

I work with a class of students grades 1-3, and I really enjoy the kids! I like kids, but I've never been a person who absolutely loves them. Honestly, I've worked with kids enough to know that they make you so happy and you become attached to them–but they also make you exhausted and frustrated at times. But this time it's been different. The kids make me feel so much more at ease. I still feel like an outsider at work because I'm new and because I don't speak German as well as I'd like, but the kids like me and will ask me to play with them. They even help me with my German :-)

I have more to say but I think that's all I'll write for today. Otherwise this will be a very very long post. I'll write again tomorrow, or maybe even later today. I promise I won't wait a week this time!

First blog post: final preparations

This is my first blog post! To give you a background, I am writing this blog because I am doing an internship in Berlin, Germany with Allegro Grundschule. I will try to write once a week to journal my experiences.

As I make final preparations before flying to Germany, I’m becoming more and more nervous. I’m not gonna lie, I was a mess a few days ago! This isn’t even my first time overseas–I went to Germany last year and stayed in Schwäbisch Hall for two months while attending the Goethe Institute. But this time it feels very different. I’ve had to look for an apartment on my own and this time I will be flying alone. Last time I was on the plane with a big group of Michigan students and could rely on them to be able to figure out the transportation system, read the maps, and make it to our destination in one piece. This time I’ll have to do that all on my own! If I were in a big city in the U.S. I wouldn’t be as nervous, but the fact that I have to do everything in German is a little terrifying sometimes. Yes, I am a German major and lived two months in Germany, but there is still a lot that I don’t know. But that’s why I’m doing all this for, right? When I came back from Schwäbisch Hall I knew I wanted to go back to Germany the next summer, but this time to work there. I wanted to be able to get the language down better and get valuable work experience. I know living in Germany for almost three months will be hard at times, but I also know that it’ll be super fun and I will get so much out of it. I’ll probably write again once I’m there, so you'll hear from me on the other side :-)