hübsch.

It's been a while since I wrote an entry but this just means that my days in Germany have been extremely eventful and fulfilling! For those who have not been keeping up with my photographs, I have just recently come back from an amazing four day trip to Berlin, Germany. Not only that, but I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday there too. It's funny though. My friends and I did not go to a bar, instead we visited the STASI prison museum in the morning, headed towards a small park downtown and laid in the sun and ate baked goods, then saw The Blue Man Group right here in Berlin. It was the best birthday that I've ever experienced. I'm very happy with the way that I spent my time there. I was a little concerned about the fact that Berlin having so many things to see . My host mother and I were up the night before my departure with a glass of wine talking about the places that I should visit and the things I should do. She recommended a few museums and landmarks but I was more interested in simply observing the lifestyle of the Berliners. I wanted to see why this city was so amazing, with art on garbage cans and on the walls of the U-Bahn. And I did see all fo this. It was still very sweet of Martina to tell me about the history of East and West Berlin before and after the Fall. That's another thing too. I think it's about time for me to talk a little bit about my host family. I am so BLESSED. I live with a single German mother named Martina and her seventeen year old son, Tamil. I was worried that I would encounter difficulties with my host family but they turned out to be perfekt for me. I get along with both Martin and Tamil extremely well, sometimes it feels like Tamil has been my brother all this time. I guess it's because we are very open with one another and comfortable. They feed me extremely well, with both exotic and german dishes and other times I make my own food but that is not a problem for me. A few friends of mine came over for dinner and were so surprised at the quality and the amount of food that I am given. Although, I have to admit, I am a little concerned about gaining weight in this lovely country. I have been consuming cheese, beer, bread, meat, etc. but on the other hand, I have also been keeping up with my fruits and vegetables. I have, of course, also been speaking a LOT of German. Immer, immer immer. It's funny, my English is fine but I have been noticing my french becoming a little rusty. If I am speaking in German, it takes time for me to switch gears. I've also noticed muttering casual german slangs in my conversations with others. It's great to travel to different cities in Germany but I think that being in one city and living like a local has helped with my german speech. I am being immersed in the language perhaps? All in all, it's great. I am learning so many new things, in a way that is impossible to receive back in Kanada, in a classroom at Mcgill.
Not only have I been able to speak the language, but I was also able to experience some nature in my surroundings. On the last day of our Berlin trip, William and I visited Plötzensee, a nudist beach (FKK: Freikörper-Kultur).No, I was not nude but I will go to a nude park in München after the CSSG program. There was actually a wall at Plötzensee between the nudist beach and the more decent one. I didn't strut out naked but it was still so nice to get out of the city for a brief moment, sit on top of a massive jungle climber, look at the sky and feel both the heat from the sun and the cool breeze on your face. I was longing for that in Montreal during the winter semester.
Oh, how I longed for that. I was so happy this past Saturday. The Berlin trip really felt like a vacation for me. I think I needed it. I laughed like I've never laughed before, smiled about the smallest things and saw as much as I could in the small amount of time that we had.
It was also very nice to come back to Kassel and see my host family. I actually missed them in Berlin. When I got back, we had a wonderful little bbq with some of our friends and it was absolutely perfekt.

I wish I can say that I am homesick but I can't. I'm not at all. I miss my friends, and I would love to see them if I could, but I'm doing great. I have met amazing people on this trip and I know that there are still more to come. If anything, I have already started to think about how sad I am going to be when I have to say goodbye to everybody here.

Life life to the fullest, right?

God, I can breathe.

erin.