Germany: The First Days

So. It certainly has been a while since I have posted as I was kindly reminded. The last few weeks have been a blur of sights, sounds, smells, emotions, and badly pronounced German. From the start of my journey in Cleveland, to D.C. and the pre-departure orientation, to the flight to Frankfurt and the amazingly long day that I had, all of that, could not compare to what lay ahead for me in Berlin. I remember the first day clearly through a haze. It felt surreal. Suddenly, there were all these people talking to me in German. I do not know why, as I was in Germany, but that fact shocked me deeply. All the rest of the culture shock was still to come though. My first day out in Germany was spent at I.F.A. The largest public consumer electronics show in Europe, if not the world. The main thing that I love about I.F.A is that you can actually try out the items that are being exhibited. Sennheiser allowed you to listen to one of its examples of one of the most advanced head phone systems ever made: The Orpheus. It was a shining mass of chrome and vacuum tubes. The sound of it matched the glory of its appearance.

      The rest of the day was spent seeing the rest, a goal that even after eight hours and ten kilometers of walking was not accomplished. The day after that, language school began. My host brother took me to the school in the morning and told me which bus stops and lines to use as well as the same for the UBahn. When I came home I remembered the proper UBahn line and stops, but I only remembered which bus line. I also did not know where the bus stop was at the UBahn stop. So, I walked down the street which I knew the bus took towards my town for twenty minutes until I found a stop for my bus line. I got on the bus feeling proud of myself, that is until I remembered that I did not remember what the name of the stop was to go to my house. I spent the whole bus ride looking out the window trying to remember what my stop looked like. Eventually I saw it, but the bus did not stop, because apparently, you have to press the stop button to get the bus to stop. (I would like to say that as a suburban midwesterner I have never ridden a city bus before, although I do admit that a stop button should be self explanatory.) It did stop at the next one though. I got off and found my way home with the help of my host father, who had seen me go past the right stop and ran up to meet me. It seemed like a big deal at the time, but now, just a few weeks later, I cannot help but to laugh at myself for messing up one of the simplest things possible. Now, I know better and can actually use the public transport fairly effectively. 

      

      Language school rolled on regularly imparting new knowledge and reawakening much forgotten knowledge from my years of German class. The fun part though, was exploring Berlin when I had free time. I have seen Checkpoint Charlie, Alexanderplatz, the Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamerplatz, and Sansoucci Palace to name but few of the many landmarks that I have been to. The sights have been truly amazing. 

      Despite all of airs that are put on to maintain a facade of absolute happiness during exchange, even in these first few weeks I can assure all that it is not easy in any way. It is not some T.V. show-esque parade of happiness. You feel lonely, you feel confused, and you wander the streets sometimes having absolutely no idea what is going on. The language is difficult, and once you think you can complete a simple task, something goes wrong to ensure that it does not go smoothly. The smallest successes seem like huge victories. e.g. "I finally ordered a döner entirely in german!" Despite all of the hardship, the entire experience is more than worth it, already I can feel myself changing, and growing as an individual. You learn a lot about yourself when you are exhausted and mixing up two languages constantly. Sometimes, you make little revelations as you are thinking about someone in one of the most beautiful buildings on Earth, that it is not really the places that you visit or the things that you buy that live on in your memory; but rather it is the people that you were there with, the people that you shared the experience, and the thoughts, and the words, and perhaps most importantly the feelings with. It is the people that you meet over the entire process that make the exchange experience worth it. And therein lies the value of exchange programs, their true value lies in their ability to not just speak to people, but to their hearts and minds.