Introduction
Hi everyone. A late holiday wish from me, but I'll send it nonetheless. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas time, New Year's, and decent beginning of 2021. In December, I took some time away from the computer, and once January came around, I was surrounded by school to-do's, so here I finally am, making it on the last day of January to write to you all. I think another reason why it took me so long to get around to writing was I didn't know what I wanted to write. I wasn't sure if I should discuss what happened earlier this month, discuss the goings on of the pandemic in Germany and in the US, or a different topic. Instead, when going through my photos, deciding which ones I wanted to post, I figured the best thing to share was updates on where I am in my studies and share some of the pictures I've taken over the past two months.
Studies
First, on my studies. My university like many in Germany started in November last year (which is a month later than normal). Therefore, it felt rather reminiscent of high school to lead up into winter break in December, but still have classes and exams looming over my head, waiting for me the following month. Thankfully, with my class schedule, I only have one exam coming up in a few weeks, which is for my introductory cognitive science course. The other two courses I have are statistics and a lab internship, both of which don't require exams. (This doesn't mean that they don't require a lot of work!) I have definitely learned a copious amount of information during this semester, and to my good fortune, have the second half of my statistics course in the following semester. While I am struggling a bit with getting a grasp on the subject, since it is entirely new for me, it's been quite an interesting class. My math background is coming in handy with how to read mathematical textbooks and from having learned the Greek alphabet!
For my lab internship, this is still in the works, so I will gladly share about it later. Spoiler alert: it's involving music :)
One of the best parts of my degree so far are the people I've met. I have never felt so close to a cohort before, which is maybe something that is more typical when you're in a smaller program. We are a small group of 12, and I get to see them weekly (virtually) for both seminars and also weekly meet ups on an online platform. I feel extremely supported by my colleagues in this group and am so incredibly thankful that I met them all. We come from such diverse backgrounds, that everyone brings particular aspects to the table, but we each are nonetheless coming from the same idea of supporting and encouraging one another when possible. This cohort has been such a highlight of my master's, and I'm excited to continue working with them in future semesters.
Language
In addition to my classes, I'm taking German courses! I have a grammar course going on and will be supplementing that with an additional language course. Resuming my language endeavours here was initially very goal-based. "I will be at this level by this time." or "I will be perfect in my grammar." As of late however, I have revised my approach to leave it more open-ended: I focus now on being able to understand general ideas when I hear or read literature and being able to speak more comfortably and confidently. I am making *plenty* of mistakes. But for once, instead of shying away from the mistakes, I'm embracing them, seeing them as opportunities for me to learn. Sometimes the mistakes can be funny and lead to a memory I won't forget. For instance, today I used the word for lid (Deckel) instead of blanket (Decke) when I said a friend of mine should take a blanket with him since it is so cold outside. When I was corrected, I then was gifted with the amazing mental image of him holding a Tupperware lid on him to keep him warm...Obviously wouldn't be of much help.
Being able to speak, read, and understand another language opens new doors for certain reading opportunities and other experiences not available to me in English. I've started reading poetry, newspapers, listening to news podcasts, listening to the news, and speaking to friends and colleagues in German. While I can't understand everything, having a better handle of the language has given me access to a whole new world (yes, a Little Mermaid reference) in which I can obtain different understandings of topics, experiment with sentence construction, and find new and differently nuanced ways of expressing myself. There are a lot of English words that find themselves in German or are quite similar in German, so when I don't know a word, I use a German pronunciation of a word, and many times it's actually right. (i.e. Situation = Situation, Diskussion = Discussion, orientieren = orientate, imitieren = imitate...) It's a lot of fun because learning a new language is as if I'm having another shot at being a chlid, exploring my surroundings and world around me, feeling out ways to convey meaning and myself to others.
I'm really excited to see what comes of my language learning and am looking forward to writing more updates about in in the future :) For now, if anyone has any German podcasts or book recommendations, I'm on the hunt for new material.
Pictures
Now for the fun part! the pictures:
Christmas
In December, I unfortunately did not get to return to the US for the holidays. It was a really hard decision, but for the safety of myself, my family, and others, we felt it was the right thing to do. Therefore, we made the most of it: I facetimed all of my grandparents either on Christmas Even or on Christmas Day. Christmas day began with watching The Christmas Story with my dad (a yearly tradition), followed by gift opening via Facetime with my parents. They were so kind to ship me a care package with some gifts packed inside, so here I am modelling with a few of my gifts (the most important being the peanut butter, of course). Additionally, I was cat sitting, so I was extremely elated on that day because while I couldn't be at home, I had a cat in my arms majority of the day.
Snow
I took a LOT of snow pictures. Like a lot a lot. It's really funny because the first snow, I was overwhelmed with excitement, even though there was next to no snow on the ground, just simply falling from the sky. And now, at the end of January, we have had snow so often that it has become more of an afterthought or even sometimes an inconvenience...oh dear, it snowed again, guess I have an obstacle course to battle when I go running this morning...
Click on that not so easily seen arrow to watch me gradually become unamused by the snow:
However the snow does allow for some beautiful landscape pictures, and more importantly snowmen! So here are some fun pics from my *favorite* place to run. (This was from the snow of yesterday/Friday (29.01-30.01).
Cool architecture
Some fun buildings I've seen in my mini-excursions in Berlin in Potsdam.
Friedenau
Friedenau has some gorgeous Altbau homes. I am biased towards the yellow one since it is indeed a favorite color of mine.
New U5 Line
After a while of being under construction, the U5 now has it's newest additions of Unter den Linden and Rotes Rathaus. Museuminsel is still under construction, but the U5 passes through it, and it has blue wall paneling with lights dotting it to look like stars in the sky ~
Neuer Garten
A few buildings from a walk with a friend though yet another beautiful garden/park.
Aaaand that should be it for now! I'll be going back to listening to a podcast (have become obsessed with podcast listening, always in need of recommendations) or reading a book now. I wish you all a pleasant Sunday - stay safe, stay healthy, and until next time. Cheers x
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