This week was quite a stressful yet accomplishing week for me. I visited Potsdam for the first time and saw my astonishingly beautiful campus. However, I had to devote over five hours of my day to round-trip train travel and to sorting out my enrollment. I quickly learned one thing: they really love their paperwork. Essentially, I had to resubmit all of my documents to a separate location, including very specific documents such as a notarized copy of my college diploma and even my high school diploma. Just be aware if you ever want to study in Germany, always read carefully of their requirements and print *everything* out!
Thankfully this experience exposed me to working with German health care insurance and navigating the German post system. Additionally, I have quickly learned the German words for stressful and relaxed: ,,stressig” and ,,entspannend.” To reward myself for successfully sending in my enrollment papers, I treated myself to a little cappuccino and cupcake. I’ve quickly learned here to never overlook any moment and always find time to celebrate the little things like finding the post office or remembering which direction to take on the train.
I actually had a situation recently (sorry Mom if you’re reading this) where my phone was on 1% and I had a 45 minute commute back to my apartment. Instead of asking for help–like the stubborn person I am–I relied on my own abilities to navigate home. Somehow even after getting off at the wrong station, two U-bahns, one S-bahn, and one bus later, I arrived home safe and sound. Needless to say, I’ll make sure I have my portable charger on me and actually fully charged next time.
Yesterday brought a nice surprise for me: I was able to reconnect with a friend from USC who also received the Fulbright a few years ago. He was in town searching for a place to stay, so instead of just sitting around, we walked all throughout Berlin. (22,000 steps...) We visited his old apartment in the same neighborhood I’m living in next month; we explored parts of northern Kreuzberg; and we saw one of his favorite artists‘ exhibit at the Gropius Bau. Wu Tsang had a combination of sculptures, visual art, and films in her exhibition. I have never felt so strongly towards a collection of artwork before. I actually felt uncomfortable because some of her works confronted some of my inner demons and thoughts. Nonetheless, I was extremely thankful to be introduced to her works.
Additionally, if you put your mind to it, you can manage to buy lunch for four Euros and call it a day. I went to a grocery store, Edeke, and bought enough to get me buy. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my travel silverware, so I fashioned two coffee stirrers into pathetic but usable chopsticks. I’ve become quite resourceful since being in Germany. You can make anything work and you can also use as little waste as possible. You nearly never throw things in the actual trash because there are so many other options for you! (Bio trash, brown/green/white glass, plastic, paper, and general trash.) Maybe one day the US will take a hint from Germany and be more conscientious on our trash and recycling habits.
Today was cleaning, cooking, and packing day. I made my host family a vegan stir-fry lunch, and my host mom’s very picky eater of a son actually ate it (and enjoyed it!). I really enjoyed this opportunity to eat with them and share a meal together. While I’m still not understanding every word they say in German, I’m getting a lot better (and more importantly am starting to learn how to insert some humor in my German speaking). My host mom is incredibly kind and patient with me when I speak German. We have a wonderful tandem together where I help her with her English and she helps me with my German. I truly will miss living here, but of course they are only a few train stops away from my next home.
Tomorrow I go to Marburg for orientation and meet all of the research Fulbrighters!!!
das ist alles für heute – schönen Wochenende!
Comments