Mission Impossible?

Sometimes I get all caught up in how much German I'm not learning. I am going to visit my parents in 2 weeks and I will see my grandma, who was born and raised in Berlin. I am afraid of what she will think when she sees her granddaughter, who has just spent the last 6 months in Germany, and who can still hardly speak.
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Sometimes I feel like I haven't learned much and that I have failed on my mission...but then I need to remember what my mission actually is:

To become more outgoing.
To be able to think on my toes and know how to react in a variety of situations.
To explore the world and learn a 2nd language.
And most of all, to break out of my comfort zone and really put myself out there, to see what I can find!

6 months ago, I would have never...
...met a group of people I don't know out for a coffee or a drink.
...gone to a show with someone I just met.
...invited almost complete strangers to come over and cook dinner with me.
...crashed on a strange couch in a strange city.
...gone out to eat, out for a coffee, or grocery shopping in a place where I don't speak the language.
...gone out jogging by myself in a city I'm not familiar with, with nothing but a map, 10 euros and a calling card in hand (in case I get lost, which I did, in Rome...I had to take a taxi home after being lost for 3 hours hahaha)

6 months ago, I would have been terrified to do any of those things, and now I do them without a second thought. And I've met the most amazing people this way. People I would have never had the chance to meet otherwise.

So is my mission complete? No. I'm not sure it ever will be. There's always room for improvement.

But is my mission a success so far? Absolutely.

On our way to new adventures in Italy

The view from the cottage in  Tuscany

New friend and boyfriend :)

Christmas dinner in Berlin, with new friends and old
http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Einen Einblick

An insight...yesterday I took a break from studying (the semester is almost over! so much to do!!) and went in search of thrift stores here in Tübingen. I found myself walking through the Altstadt, and as I made my way down the cobblestone streets, I heard an accordion player...for just a minute, I felt like I was in the movie "Amelie" (one of my favorites)...

Right then, I suddenly realized, just how happy I am to be here :)

Altstadt Tübingen

The Neckar River Tübingen

Österberg, Tübingen

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Bursting the American Bubble

Ok. I am in the midst of a serious freak out. Again. As we speak, boyfriend is on an airplane, on his way back to the States. The day I have been dreading for the last 4 or 5 months. So I went from spending 5 weeks with him, almost 4 of which were in Berlin, which is the one of the most amazing cities I have been to yet, and with the raddest roommates I could have ever hoped for...to my dorm room in Tübingen, with no boyfriend and rather lame roommates that never, ever come out of their rooms.

It's kind of like taking a ride in a really comfortable, warm and cozy car, playing your favorite tunes, and then getting in this sudden car accident that rips you out of your beloved environment and dumps you into a smaller, lamer car that's playing really bad German techno music.

Talk about culture shock. I've had a headache for exactly as many days as I've been back--4. I'm trying to get back into the groove of things here--diving into classes, going running again (at least the weather's being nice to me!), and preparing to transfer to another university next semester--but it's hard....really, really hard knowing my boyfriend, best friend, and my mental support system all rolled into one is flying home right now.

What I am trying to concentrate on is me. I know that I could have made things better for myself here. Even though the odds were against me breaking out of the California bubble when the International Program I'm enrolled in dumped 54 Californians together in this tiny town, I could have done it. But now that my time here is ending, I realize I have only made a few real connections here, because I've spent most of my free time visiting my boyfriend. Now that he is gone, it is my chance, my last chance, to do what I came here to do. To put myself out there and meet people from different cultures and make real international connections.

If you study abroad, do not only hang out with Americans!! Do your best to break away from them, no matter how many of them there are around you. Get involved with an international student program (most universities should have something like this). Sign up with Couchsurfing (if you dont know what this is, check it out!!!  http://www.couchsurfing.org/about.html ) Get out there!!

If you don't make an effort, you will not meet anyone new! It is SO easy to only hang out with the people in your program, but then what was even the point of studying abroad? Don't just pick up your American bubble and set it down in a different country, break out!

Now I'm going to spend the rest of my time here trying to follow my own advice ;)

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program

Einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!!!

I'm a little under the weather, so I won't be typing an epic blog today...still in Berlin, still loving it! New Year's was fantastic--the Berliners really know how to celebrate! Fireworks are legal here, so everyone had 'em, it was like a war zone here! The streets were filled with people and fireworks, a massive celebration to say goodbye to last year and hello to the one to come. The clubs stay open pretty much all night here, and on New Years, some of them don't close at all! And at 8am, when my dancing shoes couldn't dance no mo', the Berliners still packed the dance floor, going strong. I guess some of them sleep all night and then go out at 8am to celebrate all day!

Here's to Berlin!!!

Warschauer Strasse, New Year's Eve 2010

 

 http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program