The rest of the week flew by! It seemed unreal that I had actually finished my last final of college ever!! Or at least for undergrad. I just couldn't help but think that in January I would return to Purdue. I figured eventually it will sink in - probably the first day of work when I'm wishing I was back at Purdue haha.
Wednesday Marco & I accompanied Malia to the airport. We were attempting to send her bags home before she traveled Europe with her aunt. This was quite an adventure in itself. The bus dropped us off and we walked a good 15-20 minutes down this access road to even get to any buildings. Might I mention that the snow is probably 6 or more inches deep. At this point, I was deeply regretting not bringing any snowboots to Berlin. My Pumas were drenched, including my socks. When we finally got to a building, we tried asking where to go, and they pointed us to some loading docks with semis. I was sure they didn't understand us. We walked around aimlessly and eventually asked a lady that looked like she spoke English. She directed us inside the building with the docks. After a goose chase inside, we found out that you can't send your bags unaccompanied anymore. At least not after the recent terror escalation. Malia was S.O.L. and would be dragging all her bags with her the entire vacation.
After this, we went to Dolores for another helping of delicious burritos. My excuse was to show Marco how good they are. And good they were! Afterwards we walked around Galleria, a big department store. I ended up buying 2 more watches. Initially I let myself buy 2 because I intended to give my sister one, but that didn't happen.
Later we went to another Weihnachtsmarkt. I was in search of a painting of Berlin. I had gotten some from Italy and wanted one from Berlin too. Oh boy did I find some. I really wanted several of them. I had to step away and think about it before I purchased any. So I went to the beer garden, had a beer, and mulled it over. Actually it was more like I ordered a beer, chugged it, withdrew the cash, and was back at the booth in no time. I ended up buying a HUGE one for my apartment and 3 others, 2 would be for gifts and the last one for me. It was quite a crazy scene negotiating the whole ordeal. Marco was speaking Spanish to the one guy, me German to the other, and some English mixed in. I felt like we got a good deal when we left there. The paintings wouldn't be ready until Friday night.
Thursday Marco & I went to the Holocaust Memorial & little museum. I think the memorial is amazing! It consists of a bunch of different height concrete slabs. Also, the museum is underground. You walk through the memorial to go down into the museum. The whole area is pretty cool!! In the museum, they have stories from different Jews - actual letters, whole family lines, etc. They even have a database where you can search for Jews that were killed. I believe they have a little over 3 of the 6 million Jews' stories recorded. Family members can fill out information and submit it to the database. The database is also online. I thought that was a really cool project that someone started. Afterwards, we ended up walking to the Reichstag and Museum Island. It was snowing so hard. It was nearly blinding to walk through it. It even was huge flakes. If my feet weren't so darn cold, I would have loved to have walked around in it more.
Thursday evening my host family & I went to the farewell dinner for FU-BEST. While I was getting ready, it didn't seem like it really was a good bye dinner. It just seemed like another school function. The dinner was held at the same place our welcome dinner was held back in August. It felt strange to be back there sitting in the same place. Where had the time gone?! It seemed like yesterday that we all sat there scared and nervous to begin our semester abroad, and now it was over. I almost started crying right there at that realization. It hit me even harder when Daddy Dirk, as he affectionately became known, gave his closing address to the program participants.
At the end of the dinner, we received a FU-BEST "newspaper." It was a binder filled with articles, poems, etc. that each student had wrote in German. I was really glad they did that for us. It was so neat to read through all the articles. At the close of the dinner, it was a slap in the face to realize it was the last time I would see a lot of those people. Friday night, our close group of friends was having our own good bye dinner. I could only imagine how sad that would be.
After our dinner, Malia, Trevor, & I went out for a beer to lift our spirits. Of course, since it was a Thursday, we almost missed the last U-Bahn back home. After 4 months, and we still weren't used to the U-Bahn quitting at 12:20 on Thursdays.
On Friday, we started the day out right. Marco & I went to Mustafa's. It has "Berlin's best döner." The döner they serve is actually chicken and vegetarian. The difference for Mustafa's is that they use cooked veggies instead of raw vegetables, like the rest. Also they put cheese on there too. It was pretty good! I really liked it. The only strange this was the cooked vegetables - for me at least. I think it's because I ate "normal döner" for so long that I couldn't get that taste out of my head. I fulfilled my Berlin specialties list: best currywurst and best döner. haha.
Afterward we met Anna, Malia, & Trevor at Tacheles. Tacheles is an old department store that artists took over and live in. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before (that's not saying much...since I haven't seen a lot, but trust me - it was really cool!). There are several floors to the building and each floor has rooms or areas that are filled with artists. Most allow you to walk through their area and purchase some of their work. Of course the building has it own unique smells - mostly urine. The building isn't heated, so it was very cold in there. From the looks of it, some of the artists live there, while others don't. I don't think I would be scared to go there by myself, just a little nervous haha. Out back, they have a really cool shop where artists make sculptures out of metal. I took some pictures, so you'll just have to see what I mean.
Later that night, Malia, Anna, Trevor, Lisa, Keith, & I went out for our final good bye dinner. We tried the Kartoffel Keller, but it was full. So we ended up at a nearby restaurant. I felt schnitzel was a fitting last meal in Berlin. We all had a great time. When we finished, it was really hard saying good bye to these people who I had spent so much time with in the past 4 months. They literally were like my family in Berlin. We all knew each other so well, and leaned on each other from time to time - a little bit of physically and figuratively :) I suck with good byes, so I did my usual "Until next time." It always givse me hope that I will see them again. Malia, Trevor, & I had become the 3 Musketeers. I couldn't imagine going back to a world without them. They made plans to visit me in Chicago over spring break, so hopefully those 3 months separating us won't be too hard.
Afterwards, Trevor and I went to one last bar. We closed out the night in perfect fashion. I fulfilled my goal of drinking on the U-Bahn. However, I was classy and had wine haha! It was a great night to finish out the semester. In the morning, Marco & I would be flying to Egypt!! As sad as it sounds, my despair of leaving my friends overshadowed my excitement for Egypt.
Thursday Marco & I went to the Holocaust Memorial & little museum. I think the memorial is amazing! It consists of a bunch of different height concrete slabs. Also, the museum is underground. You walk through the memorial to go down into the museum. The whole area is pretty cool!! In the museum, they have stories from different Jews - actual letters, whole family lines, etc. They even have a database where you can search for Jews that were killed. I believe they have a little over 3 of the 6 million Jews' stories recorded. Family members can fill out information and submit it to the database. The database is also online. I thought that was a really cool project that someone started. Afterwards, we ended up walking to the Reichstag and Museum Island. It was snowing so hard. It was nearly blinding to walk through it. It even was huge flakes. If my feet weren't so darn cold, I would have loved to have walked around in it more.
Thursday evening my host family & I went to the farewell dinner for FU-BEST. While I was getting ready, it didn't seem like it really was a good bye dinner. It just seemed like another school function. The dinner was held at the same place our welcome dinner was held back in August. It felt strange to be back there sitting in the same place. Where had the time gone?! It seemed like yesterday that we all sat there scared and nervous to begin our semester abroad, and now it was over. I almost started crying right there at that realization. It hit me even harder when Daddy Dirk, as he affectionately became known, gave his closing address to the program participants.
At the end of the dinner, we received a FU-BEST "newspaper." It was a binder filled with articles, poems, etc. that each student had wrote in German. I was really glad they did that for us. It was so neat to read through all the articles. At the close of the dinner, it was a slap in the face to realize it was the last time I would see a lot of those people. Friday night, our close group of friends was having our own good bye dinner. I could only imagine how sad that would be.
After our dinner, Malia, Trevor, & I went out for a beer to lift our spirits. Of course, since it was a Thursday, we almost missed the last U-Bahn back home. After 4 months, and we still weren't used to the U-Bahn quitting at 12:20 on Thursdays.
On Friday, we started the day out right. Marco & I went to Mustafa's. It has "Berlin's best döner." The döner they serve is actually chicken and vegetarian. The difference for Mustafa's is that they use cooked veggies instead of raw vegetables, like the rest. Also they put cheese on there too. It was pretty good! I really liked it. The only strange this was the cooked vegetables - for me at least. I think it's because I ate "normal döner" for so long that I couldn't get that taste out of my head. I fulfilled my Berlin specialties list: best currywurst and best döner. haha.
Afterward we met Anna, Malia, & Trevor at Tacheles. Tacheles is an old department store that artists took over and live in. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before (that's not saying much...since I haven't seen a lot, but trust me - it was really cool!). There are several floors to the building and each floor has rooms or areas that are filled with artists. Most allow you to walk through their area and purchase some of their work. Of course the building has it own unique smells - mostly urine. The building isn't heated, so it was very cold in there. From the looks of it, some of the artists live there, while others don't. I don't think I would be scared to go there by myself, just a little nervous haha. Out back, they have a really cool shop where artists make sculptures out of metal. I took some pictures, so you'll just have to see what I mean.
Later that night, Malia, Anna, Trevor, Lisa, Keith, & I went out for our final good bye dinner. We tried the Kartoffel Keller, but it was full. So we ended up at a nearby restaurant. I felt schnitzel was a fitting last meal in Berlin. We all had a great time. When we finished, it was really hard saying good bye to these people who I had spent so much time with in the past 4 months. They literally were like my family in Berlin. We all knew each other so well, and leaned on each other from time to time - a little bit of physically and figuratively :) I suck with good byes, so I did my usual "Until next time." It always givse me hope that I will see them again. Malia, Trevor, & I had become the 3 Musketeers. I couldn't imagine going back to a world without them. They made plans to visit me in Chicago over spring break, so hopefully those 3 months separating us won't be too hard.
Afterwards, Trevor and I went to one last bar. We closed out the night in perfect fashion. I fulfilled my goal of drinking on the U-Bahn. However, I was classy and had wine haha! It was a great night to finish out the semester. In the morning, Marco & I would be flying to Egypt!! As sad as it sounds, my despair of leaving my friends overshadowed my excitement for Egypt.
