Last Week in Berlin!

Howdy dearest readers! Welcome to the last week of my study abroad experience in Berlin. Don't worry - I'm still planning two more posts after this one (stick around to see what else I'm up to!). Unfortunately, the last week in Berlin also means it's finals week :/ (Un)fortunately, all my finals are on Monday and Tuesday meaning I have the rest of the week to pack and see some final sights around Berlin. I started off the week with a presentation in my German class which went pretty well considering I didn't put as much time into it as I would have preferred. After that, I did some work on my finals due Tuesday and some last minute studying for my afternoon finals. I eventually headed over to the other IES location and started the afternoon with my Germany and EU final. It took a bit longer than I would have hoped, but I still got a good break before my German Welfare State final. By the end, my hand was cramping but I made it through two essays and 20 short answer questions between the two! I was feeling pretty tired by the end of the day, so I headed home to make some dinner and watch some TV before bed.

I got to sleep in a bit Tuesday morning before heading to finish up my last finals! I had two short presentations in my business class which ended up being pretty fun! We had a mock interview and a mock seminar on business culture in our hometowns. I will definitely miss that class! Afterward, I headed to the Rotes Rathaus to meet my pop culture class at a Christmas Market to ""study the pop culture"" there. We did actually have a worksheet which I thought was a bit silly but we had 30 minutes to walk around and observe (and eat food) before meeting up and chatting as a class. Then, IES paid for a trip around the Ferris Wheel and some Glühwein! I headed with some friends to another Christmas Market in Alexanderplatz and got some potatoes on a stick (it tastes better than it sounds I promise) for another little snack. We wandered around and chatted for a bit before heading off to our respective houses. I got home and relaxed for a while before starting some cooking! My dad brought me enchilada sauce from the US so I decided to make enchiladas - one of my favorite dishes. I asked my mom for her recipe, then got cooking! I think they turned out pretty well for my first time ever, but they definitely weren't nearly as good as my mom's. Anyway, I cleaned up before watching a movie and reading my book.

I woke up Wednesday morning then went to meet Tal at a bagel shop. I had a delicious bagel and we hung out to chat for a while before heading toward the Social Hub to do some work. Tal was still working on finals stuff while I worked on some scholarship/job application stuff. They had a meeting so I headed to the Ring bahn and rode it all the way around! It took exactly an hour and I got to see so much of the city! Definitely something to check off my bucket list. I actually rode a few stops further than all the way around so I could transfer to the U-Bahn and head back to my apartment. I chilled for a while and made some dinner before heading out to do some christmas market gift shopping. I met up with some friends at the Fizz but we didn't end up leaving early enough and the christmas markets we were planning to visit were closed :/

Woke up and did some laundry on Thursday before really starting to pack up my stuff. I can't believe I'm leaving on Saturday! I packed and organized my stuff for a while before heading back out to meet some friends at a christmas market - this time at Schloss Charlottenburg which was very pretty! We walked around and bought some gifts, ate bratwurst, and had some glühwein to keep warm before heading to another market more in the city center. I found a few good things there and the christmas market souvenir mug I wanted to take home! All in all, it was a pretty successful trip :) I headed back to my place to do some more packing and application work then made dinner and chilled before meeting my friends for a final night out in Berlin!

A solid farewell handshake between Kaitlin and Tal

I slept in a bit on Friday morning since I was out late the night before. I did some packing in the morning before Willa came over to move some stuff in. She also was able to take some of my leftover dry food which was super helpful! After she dropped off some stuff, we headed out together to do some last minute gift shopping with Tal. We got a bit of a late start so we only visited one art store before heading to IES for the farewell party! There were snacks and drinks and we had some chats about highlights from the semester. They gave us some gift bags and I took a few photos with friends! It was very bittersweet to say goodbye to everyone but overall it was a really nice party and great to see everyone one last time. Afterward, Willa, Tal, and I went to the ampelmann store and a few other places to pick up some gifts before I said goodbye to Tal. Willa and I headed back to my apartment (soon to be hers!) and I finished up some packing. We ate dinner with Petra together before Willa headed out for her trip to Graz.

I was a bit nervous about my travel so I didn't sleep great on Friday night. I was also super sad to be leaving Berlin but so excited to meet up with my friends! Petra and I left early for the airport - she offered to come with me to help carry my bags. We had a teary goodbye in the airport before I went on through security. I'm going to end this blog post here since leaving Berlin offers a bit of a natural close. Don't worry though, I have 2 more posts planned! One for my travel in Scotland with friends and one for some reflections about my experience. Thank you all so much for following along! I appreciate you! I'm so grateful for the time I was able to spend in Berlin, for the opportunity to greatly improve my German, and to my friends and host mother here who gave me a home away from home. I will love and miss you all!

The gang back together (we miss you Paige)!