Peace out Deutschland!

I have just under two days remaining in Germany. I would like to say "the time has flown by", but I'm not sure that's an accurate representation of my feelings at the moment. It has been a good ride. With that being said, I am ready to move on.

A lot of my time and energy during the past 11 weeks has been dedicated to school. I had my last day on Thursday and received my certificate to confirm my level of proficiency: B1. I started school (back on September 24) in the very beginning of level A2 and have improved tremendously in such a short period of time. I can be very proud of that. After all, that is really the main reason I came to Germany in the first place. I also believe I have the resources and ambition to continue learning the language from home. I'm looking forward to it. I have been told that your first foreign language is the most difficult to learn, because you often need to reacquaint yourself with grammar terms that you have long since forgotten (or perhaps never learned) for your native language. I really want to learn more languages: Spanish for sure (which I've heard is MUCH easier to learn than German). That will give me something to do in my free time :)

Of course another large chunk of my time here has been spent exploring Berlin and traveling to other regions of Germany as well as other countries. It is cool to look through my Lonely Planet book and say "Saw that. Been there. Did that." Of course I have many many many other places to visit, but I have really already accomplished a lot! My dad jokes that he lived in Germany for 3 years, but I have seen much more than he did during that time. I feel like I know Berlin like the back of my hand. Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it is nowhere near as intimidating as it was 11 weeks ago. I have seen the German cities of Dresden, Pirna, Erlangen, Nuremberg, and Stralsund. I have walked through the canal-lined streets of Amsterdam. I have admired the architecture of Vienna. I have toured fancy art museums in Berlin, Dresden, and Vienna; walked along the Berlin Wall; stood outside the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam; hiked through the gorges of the Saxony Switzerland; rode a 4-person bike on the railroad tracks in rural Brandenburg; stood through a 3-hour Italian opera at the famous opera house in Vienna; enjoyed a Las Vegas-like spectacle on the biggest theatre stage in the world (in Berlin); and much more. Like I said, it has been a good ride.

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Vienna...

Staatsoper (Opera House)

My hosts in front of Schloss Schoenbrunn

Cafe Central - A famous traditional meeting place for names such as Freud...there was a picture of this cafe in my German textbook the next day at school! I had the Viennese original: Sachertorte

On the streets of Vienna

Belvedere Palace and Art Museum

Ok, what next? Yesterday I mailed home my biggest suitcase filled to the brim with things deemed unnecessary for my remaining travels. It feels good to know I won't need to lug that around from London to Sweden to Dubai and back to the US.

I am back on the job hunt! Please keep me in mind if something crosses your desk or email inbox. Ideally I would like to work at a college or university in Student Services, but I am open to working for some other types of education-related institutions. 

More recent pictures...

My walk to school everyday in Prenzlauer Berg - a trendy district in Berlin

Another view on my walk to school. Typical street in Berlin.

Friedrichstadt-Palast - the largest theatre stage in the world!

Check out the trailer for "Show Me" - the performance I saw with my host parents as my "going-away" present :)

View from my bedroom window on Saturday morning - the first snowfall in my village of Zepernick!

An autumn morning waiting for the train at the station closest to my house. Everyday I would bike 10 minutes to the train station, ride the S-Bahn (city train) for about 20 minutes, and then change to take the underground train for about 5 minutes. Then I would walk about 7 minutes to finally end up at my school.

I also saw an awesome dance performance a couple of weeks ago at Admiralspalast in Berlin. Check out the trailer here. It combined classical ballet with funky jazz and sexy latin dancing with lots of partnering. This reminded me that I need to be performing. It is what truly makes me happy, and I couldn't help but smile throughout the entire concert. I am eager to get home and seek out performance opportunities. If you know of anything, please pass along the information to me!

Today I am going to Jakob's soccer game and then to visit some of the Christmas markets in Berlin with Lutz and Barbara. I also saw several Christmas markets when I was in Vienna.

I spent the day on Friday with Barbara at her school. It was fun to watch her teach (I even did long-hand multiplication and division problems!) and talk with her 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. After the school day, there was a Christmas festival complete with food, crafts, music, endless cake, and even a light snowfall that I admired from indoors. I think it will be the "normal" days like those that will stand out most in my memory when I look back at my time in Germany...

That is enough for now. It's not the most organized post I've ever written, but I wanted to be sure to document some of the experiences I have been having before I move along to London to begin a new leg of this journey. Thank you for reading!