On Berlin, and Love at First Sight

Berlin might be my favorite place on Earth. The strange mix of old and new architecture, the heavy atmosphere, and the music. Anything was possible. It reminds me of the first time I went to Copenhagen, yet the connection felt different. I’ve been looking toward my study tour for the entire semester, and it surpassed my expectations in every way. 

We departed by train in the morning, which I enjoyed a lot. There was a lot of time to think and to play around with my classmates — eight long hours to be exact. We stopped in Hamburg, got three pretzels that cost three euros, and hopped back on the train. I fell asleep on the second train. 

When we arrived in Berlin, it was late at night, and raining. We walked for a long time to the hotel where we would stay for the next five nights, and each got keys to our rooms. I got a single room, and when I got inside, hung my soaked backpack up with a hanger in my open closet with no one to tell me otherwise. 

Our first group dinner was that night, and I slipped into a puddle on the way to the restaurant, drying my pants with the electric dryer in the bathroom once we got there. We ate together, stumbled around for much of the night, played cards, and went to bed. I kept my window open, free to breathe in the air from outside all night. 

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It feels like most of my time was spent outdoors. The sun was out, unlike in Copenhagen, and my classmates and I sat outside for so many hours. Every morning we’d eat breakfast and read in the hotel. Later, in the early afternoon, we would all meet at a place and talk about what we'd read. 

After that, we’d typically be free to walk around, eat, look around. DIS had given a generous stipend for meals, which we spent on the incredible variety of food there. In the night, as a class, we went to the cinema, a playhouse, and to see the Philharmonic Orchestra. Later, I’d go out into the dark and brisk night, to a jazz club on my own, a bar with my classmates. We spent a lot of happy time together. 

Our second-to-last night, we had our final group dinner, playing Wavelengths with the faculty. After we went out a final time, running around in the street guessing numbers, all I remember is bunny, who is the bunny? I tried to take in the city that I’d see for the last time. I sit on the steps of B-Flat, with three of my classmates, peering in on the set. 

By the time we boarded the train on Friday, I couldn’t believe that we were done. That was it. Done. The time had felt so short, I was sure that I had more to do. My body heavy, I stared out of the window as we left Germany, the language on the train switching from German to Danish. That’s what shocks me. The impression it left on me was so much greater than my time there. That must mean something, right? 

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If this gets you excited for our long study tour, it should. It was the happiest of times, maybe out of the whole semester.