Returning from Abroad / A Love Letter to Berlin

After landing in the JFK airport and returning home, I recount on my adventures fondly. It was only last week, yet I feel some kind of distance from my time in Berlin. It feels like a dream, a world I cannot simply step back into. By the end of my time in Berlin, I was ready to go home. I missed my parents, my bed, and being able to call my friends without fighting the time difference. Classes were coming to a close and my mind was in "departure mode”. I was so set on preparing to go home, I had forgotten the beautiful city all around me. In the last four days, I think I experienced more of Berlin than in the six weeks. I felt free, but I also felt the weight of time. Time slipping past and a whole city I’d need a lifetime to explore. 

My last days in Berlin were a whirlwind of sights and sounds. I saw Cabaret, I explored restaurants, I shopped, I danced. Cabaret was amazing. To see a musical about Berlin in Berlin was amazing. It changed the show, it changed how you receive it. The entire show was also in German. It made it feel real, it made me feel more. The cast was incredible and the whole production left me in awe. As discussed in my previous post, Berlin is the best friend of vegetarians and vegans. I ended up going to a seafood restaurant after my post where I tried vegan calamari. It looked like calamari and ended up being one of my favorite meals. It was somehow bouncy and flavourful, just without any squid. It was also one of my favorite meals as we toasted one last time to everyone being together. I met so many amazing people who I never would’ve met if I hadn’t studied abroad. We come from different states, colleges, majors, lives, yet we sat around laughing and talking as if we were meant to meet. We will always have our summer in Berlin. We will always have our time wandering the bustling shops together, haggling in German, giving approving glances from across the store. I had some worries about making friends abroad, but I ended up finding some pretty amazing people. Don’t be afraid to talk to people, a simple dinner invitation led me to meeting my friends of the past six weeks.

These friends and I also ended up going to a club. I hadn’t gone to one yet, so it was my goal to try it out before we left. It was the greatest time. We danced for hours, screaming across the dance floor and trying not to cry as we knew it was our last night together. The walk home after was pleasant. Quiet, yet the city was still alive around us. Berlin never sleeps. You’ll see someone coming home from a club as someone else is biking to work. While some find cities more isolating, I found the constant movement to make me feel a part of something. The city breathes with the people. Berlin had such a variety of people, languages, and cultures. I never felt out of place, I always felt there was more to see.

The baked goods are also a must. Even if it is a Backwerk at the train station or a cafe around the corner of IES Abroad, it’s one of the best things you will ever have. You can always find a good sandwich, a cup of coffee, or baked goods (schokocroissant, my beloved). I drank a lot of coffee, especially milchkaffee and flat whites. Coffee, espresso, and milk goes a long way. Despite this lack of sugar in my drinks, my return to American iced caramel lattes was also wonderful. Maybe I’ll have to try a flat white here in the states…

Berlin is a city filled with history. It was a city split only decades before. The apartment I lived in would have been in East Berlin, while my bus stop would’ve been in the west. One of my teachers remembers crossing through border control to visit when he was younger. The history seeps into everyday life, into architecture, into the current culture of the city. You can see how the city was changed, you can see the bricks trailing through the city showing the path where the wall once stood. It’s fascinating. I found I learned so much more about a history I thought I knew. I took an art history and architecture course that I found aided to this. We would walk the city as our professor showed how one seemingly unimportant building demonstrated a new period of art coming to Berlin and how it changed the scene. However, my German language course also helped. We took multiple walking tours, all in German, of course. Our professor showed us the sightseeing spots, but she also showed us the history that lived in the street beneath our feet. You cannot exist in the city without seeing the history and that is a powerful thing. 

The IES Abroad staff were all so wonderful and helped me create a summer I will never forget. The classes were so interesting and had an alternative teaching method that I ended up loving. We learned in the city, applying classes and lectures to the world we could see. We were connected to each other and encouraged to connect beyond. If I could do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Berlin, I hope to return and I hope to have the time to explore as you deserve. While my bags have been unpacked and many loads of laundry have been done, I don’t think I’m ready to be done quite yet. My final presentation for my German language course asked for tips for future IES Abroad students, so here is mine. Learn the city you are in. Learn it and love it. And finally, a quote from Cabaret as I sign off: Leben und leben lassen.