Abschluss Seminar

So I just recently returned from a week in Berlin. My program had a mandatory end of year seminar there. Normally the word "mandatory" would denote something boring, stuffy, or unenjoyable. My week in Berlin was anything but that. It was one of best times I have ever had. If you can survive waking up early for what my program had planned for us, then you can have a ton of fun in your free time in Berlin. Now, I am no stranger to Berlin. I have been there countless times while living in Germany. Besides the people who actually live in Berlin, the people who live in Magdeburg (like me) live the closest out of anyone in the program. Lucky us! But having the other 73 participants in Berlin together gave it a new light for me. We all arrived on Tuesday and basically just checked in to our hostel. I was lucky because my last name falls at the end of the alphabet so I only had 5 people in my room as opposed to 7 or 8. Shortly after checking in, our program took us to a nearby restaurant and we got to eat dinner fo free! After dinner we got to do whatever we wanted. A bunch of us decided to go to this wine place where you pay 2€ for a wine glass. You can then drink as much wine as you want and pay only about 2€ per glass. The thing is, this place does not keep track of how many glasses you drink. It is the honor system so you pay what you think you should at the end. Dangerous huh? We had a fabulous evening and really enjoyed each other's company.

Wednesday was pretty uneventful in the morning. We attended an intercultural seminar where we got to reflect on our year abroad and do group activities. Later that night, there was a big soccer game. It was Germany against the Netherlands. Okay, so when there is a big soccer game like that, there is what is called a Fanmeile (Fan Mile) by the Brandenburg Gate. So we got to watch the game on huge screens in the street in front of the Brandenburg gate. Yes, you heard me right. I got to watch the soccer game on a huge screen...in the street...surrounded by crazy German fans...IN FRONT OF THE BRANDENBURG GATE! How fricken cool is that? If that was the only interesting thing I did this whole year abroad I would have been happy. It was so cool and, on the way into the Fanmeile, we all got a bunch of free swag. I got a Thomas Müller T-shirt, a Thomas Müller scarf, and a leis with German flag colors. When I left to go to the game, I had no indications on my person that I was rooting for Germany...by the time I got into the Fanmeile, I looked like a fanatic German. It was so cool! Germany won, of course, and the celebrations continued throughout the city of Berlin. I guess, whenever Germany wins a big game like that, Kudamm Straße basically shuts down because there is just a huge gathering of people there. Kudamm Straße is short for Kurfürstendamm Straße. So that is where my group headed and it was basically a big mosh pit with crazy people. I, of course, joined in the insanity for about 5 minutes and then safely walked away. Before you gasp and fear for my life after reading that I was in a mosh pit for five minutes, please remember that I survived New Year in Berlin when drunk people were lighting fireworks off in their hands in every direction at street level. If I can survive that without a scratch, I am pretty sure I can survive anything. You also forget, that living in Magdeburg has given me mad street cred.

Me and the gang decked out in our free swag! The Brandenburg Gate is on the background!

My awesome Thomas Müller T-Shirt. His head is on the inside of the shirt so that you can flip it up when he makes a goal. Thomas Müller is a very well known soccer player in Germany. He plays for FC Bayern. This is my favorite shirt of all time.

Thursday we were treated to a 3 hour long boat tour of Berlin. I actually really enjoyed it what with the fresh air and all but it did get a little boring after the first 1.5 hours. It was also pretty chilly out that day so we were all a little cold. It was on the Spree river in Berlin. I got some cool picks but mainly just saw some pretty cool graffiti on building and the Berlin wall. That night, however, something amazing happened to me...one might even say life changing. Our program treated us to a live performance called LOFT by Seven Fingers. I was kind of "whatever" about the whole thing at first. Being a retired thespian myself, I can appreciate live performance but I couldn't help but wonder what else I could be doing that night. Boy am I glad that our program took us to see that performance. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen...ever. It was like Cirque du Soleil on crack with really good music. There are seven performers and they all did at least one performance of their own where they either hang from the ceiling by ribbons, juggle like 10 balls at once, contort themselves, or do something else completely unbelievable with their bodies. I was in awe for 2 hours and I would watch that show on repeat for the rest of my life if I could. I have never seen human beings make art with their bodies like that...not to mention you can't stop thinking about what amazing athletes they are to do what they do. I literally told someone afterwards, and I quote, "It was like they were entertaining my soul."I stand by what I said...it was that good. Okay, I am rambling. That was my life changing experience. Here is the link to the show LOFT. The show is currently playing in Berlin but keep an eye on it to see if they will come to the US. I am sure the other shows put on by Seven Fingers are also amazing so if anything by Seven Fingers is ever being performed near you, GO TO IT! After the performance, we all headed back to the hostel because we had a very important day the next day. We were gonna go to the German Bundestag! The Bundestag is the German equivalent of congress.

Okay, so Friday we all went to the German Bundestag. We had to wake up ridiculously early in order to get through all the security and still be able to see the Bundestag. The great thing about this day is that it was a CBYX day. What I mean by that is there were people from my program for young professionals AND people from the high school program. You may recall that I mentioned that there are separate college and high school programs within the CBYX program. Participants from the separate programs rarely cross paths simply because we are all doing our own thing. You may also recall that I applied to the high school program when I was in high school and got REJECTED so it was weird to see those kids standing where I almost stood. I am glad that I got rejected from the high school program though. If I hadn't, I would not have met all the amazing people I met this year or have experienced what I did. So we got to sit in on a Bundestag session which was about some kind of renewable energy. The room was very warm, I was tired, and the topic was less than thrilling so my eyelids got real heavy for the half an hour we were listening to the session. In my defense, I never actually fell asleep but oh man did I want to. There was also no opportunity for coffee that morning since we had to be on a bus so early. After the session we got to have a Q&A with some of the big shots in the Bundestag including the American Ambassador to Germany. It was cool. Some of those high schoolers were speaking pretty awesome German...and some of them were just plain acting like...ummm...high schoolers. After the Q&A, we got to eat an amazing lunch complete with Magnum ice cream bars that were served to you by a waiter on a platter. Did that really happen? After that, we got to have an open air meet and greet at the American Embassy across the street. It was lovely weather and it was great to speak English so freely. At the American Embassy we basically learned a lot about the Foreign Service and how to get a job in the Foreign Service. We also had some fun. There was a competition to see who could come up with the craziest German word that is actually used by Germans. Someone from my group won with "Schweinsteiger" which literally means "pig mounter" but it also happens to be the last name of a very well known soccer player for FC Bayern. I would have submitted my word but you had to submit through social media and I had no internet access on my prehistoric phone. My word was "Beuteltier"which literally translates as "bag animal" but actually means "marsupial". How crazy is that? Those Germans have some of the most literal words I know of. After the embassy we were free to do what we wanted and we enjoyed our last night in Berlin.

Saturday we had a very short presentation in the morning and then it was all over. As soon as we started the seminar, we were finished with it. I don't think 5 days has ever gone by so fast. I chose to stay in Berlin for a couple of hours longer with some other people. I had my heart set on going to the Ritter Sport store in Berlin. If you don't know what Ritter Sport is, shame on you. They are these amazing chocolate bars that are made in Germany and have a gazillion different varieties. My family has gotten to know Ritter Sport very well because I send Ritter Sport bars home as often as possible. You can buy Ritter Sport in the states but you can only find 3 or 4 varieties. There are so many varieties and even seasonal winter and summer varieties. The big seller right now is white chocolate coconut. At this Ritter Sport store, you can make your very own Ritter Sport chocolate bar. They have all of these fun ingredients to choose from and you can pick out up to 3 to put into your chocolate bar. I made two very fun chocolate bars. I made a dark chocolate bar with chile and pepper. The spicy ingredients are supposed to go well with dark chocolate. I also made a white chocolate bar with marshmallows, sprinkles, and gummy bears. I know the spicy one will be different but how often can you say you ate a piece of chocolate with pepper and chile in it? It is an experience. I can eat "normal" chocolate whenever I want.

That's my white chocolate bar she is making with gummy bears, sprinkles, and marshmallows!

So many ingredients!

So after Ritter Sport, I headed to the train station and headed back to Magdeburg...and so ended one of the best weeks of my life. It was amazing and too short but I am so happy to have had it.