Alexanderplatz

I got out of class early one day and decided to go to Alexanderplatz, which is in the central Mitte (middle) district of Berlin and explore!  All of Alexanderplatz used to be a part of East Berlin before the Berlin Wall came down 25 years ago!

The Fernsehturm (TV Tower) is the second tallest structure in the EU. It is one of the most well-known landmarks and was intended as a symbol of Berlin when it was constructed in 1965-1969. 

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This is the Welzeituhr (Worldtime Clock). It displays the time for various cities around the world. 

I just thought this was a pretty place for a picture :) 

A pretty fountain!

This is the Ampelmännchen. It is the symbol you see on traffic lights signaling that one can walk across the street she in East Berlin.  Half of the time when I was walking around the city of Berlin I had no idea if I was in East or West.  In order to figure it out I would look for a pedestrian signal. It is one of the only surviving icons from communist East Germany. 

This Is Not The End

These last few months abroad have been amazing. I have new lifelong friendships and I have traveled and seen and experienced new destinations I had only ever dreamed. I have also consequently learned quite a bit.  I learned to book flights, trains, hostels, and tours all on my own. I have had the privilege and opportunity to travel to France, Italy, Czech, Denmark, and Austria without "parental supervision," but with new friends right along next to me. Surprisingly, I have grown the most right here in Berlin. For the first time I learned how to not be afraid to hop on a city train or bus on my own. I am fully capable to get from one destination to the next without worrying that I will become eternally lost. I have learned how to become more aware of my surroundings. Everywhere I look, there are new opportunities. Whether it is to visit a museum or learn a few more words in German. 

By the end of my time here in Berlin I'm really starting to feel like a local. I started being able to identify and be aware of the carbonated water and instead buy still "natural" water, I learned how to ask locals for directions in German while actually understanding their responses, and I even learned how to live in my own studio apartment.  It took me until I had my license and a little too many times getting lost to feel like I really knew my way around at home in California, but it only took a few months in a foreign country to learn my way around. I hope to come back and eventually become a real local (without that whole school thing getting in the way)!

Copenhagen

I went to Copenhagen for the weekend with Haley and visited a friend from home, Greg. This weekend in particular was extremely rainy, windy, and cloudy. Even with my beanie on my head tightly pulled down over my ears, it would fly away as soon as I would release my hands from holding it down!  Although it wasn't great weather, we still managed to do and see a large part of the city.

Out of all the places I have visited, Copenhagen was one of my favorites. It is on a beautiful port and has so many trees! Even though we visited at the end of November, some Christmas lights and festivities were already set up. While shopping, a marching band of little kids randomly marched through the street playing Christmas music! :)

The price of everything was incredibly expensive. To put things in perspective, a small fries from McDonalds (only halfway full) cost $4!!

It was really nice seeing a familiar face again. I hadn't known anyone in my study abroad program before I had arrived in late August.

Haley, Greg, and I

Christmas decorations

The Port

Legos originated from Denmark!

The Little Mermaid Statue

The view of the city from... (insert tower's name)

The elephant exhibit at the Denmark zoo has a fence that keeps it open to the public.

Oh so much wind!!

Christmas Time

Christmas time in Berlin is absolutely gorgeous!  All of the trees are decorated with bright lights and there are over 15 different world-famous Christmas markets. 


During this winter I managed to get to about 5 of them. The markets have booths with different Christmas foods like candy apples, sugary nuts, snowballs, and of course huge varieties of sausages because Germany loves its pork. They are very well known for their Glühwein which is spiced, hot wine. Although I'm not a big wine fan, I found that these actually tasted pretty good! 

Haley and I at the Alexanderplatz Christmas Market

Busses, Trains, and Subways! Oh My!

Before coming to Berlin I had never taken public transportation. Sure I had been dropped off at a train station where I had been either picked up by my sister in Davis or met up with friends in San Francisco, but those were special circumstances.  It wasn't every day life. 

I've discovered positive and negative aspects of taking busses, trains (S-Bahn), and subways (U-Bahn).

Positives:

• You never have to return to your start destination
• You never have to worry about finding a DD because nobody is driving
• It saves gas AKA money and less carbon emissions 
• You don't need to concentrate or worry about being distracting to a driver
• It is legal to drink and eat on trains
• During every hour of the day, I saw people with a beer in their hands
• It is easy to discover new places by hopping on and off a random bus or train
• If you don't feel like walking a mile in the rain with heavy groceries, you can take the bus for just one stop

Cons:

• Takes much much longer than a car because of the amount of time you must wait before it arrives or during transfers
• Sometimes you won't find a seat and you need to stand for extended periods of time
• Smelly people use public transportation just as much as everyone else- sometimes you need to get off and on quickly at a stop in order to be able to breath again
• Yes, this is based on a true story
• If it is freezing outside, sucks for you! You will just have to wait around in the cold until your ride shows up 
• During the cold evenings after class, every time I saw a big truck in the distance I remained hopeful that it would be the bus
• People will try to pick-pocket you if the train is crowded. Hold onto your things tightly!
• A man once grabbed my phone while I was texting. Luckily I sustained my grip and his hand hit me in the face as he ran off without anything. 

Going up and back to school everyday required taking the train (for two stops) and then a bus, a total of about 20-35minutes every day depending on if they were all running on schedule. If there is a train strike (which happened WAY too often!) It could take up to an hour via busses. 

Besides school which wasn't located near any cool destinations, it took me about an hour to get anywhere!  

-If you went to a club on the weekend you must leave at 11 to arrive at 12am and if you leave a club at 4am you won't get home until about 5am. Also, keep in mind it could take longer because at night time the U-Bahn and S-Bahns only run ever 15-30minutes. I witnessed too many sunrises than I am comfortable admitting. 

Back in California it takes about 40minutes without traffic and about an hour via CalTrain to get to San Francisco, but I had always deemed it as too far away.  I will not be taking much more advantage of the "short" distance. 

Everyone of all ages use public transportation.  I saw five and six year olds with cartoon backpacks traveling on their own to and from school. I would have really appreciated their knowledge and confidence when I first arrived.

Waiting for the U-Bahn to arrive

On our way to a Halloween Party! 

I'm Pippi Longstocking, or as the locals like to call her: Pippi Langstrumpf 

That is the sun rising in the distance...