But through it all, I still maintain my philosophy when it comes to living the international life—I'll be back again soon. Who knows when I will return to Berlin, but I asked myself the same question in September 2007 when my dad and I boarded a train from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to head back to Frankfurt to fly home from there. Less than a year later, I was back in Berlin as an HIA Fellow.
Even at the end of my junior year, I wasn't exactly sure I'd be coming back to Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar, and luckily, things just fell in place. As such, my approach to this next phase of my life will be to take it one step at a time. Officially though, I will be unemployed beginning July 16, since my Fulbright grant period ends on July 15.
Last night, after English lessons, I met up with Brandon for a last night of hanging out before he returns to the U.S. for his vacation. We went to Druide, which seems to be our normal hang out spot on Wednesday nights.
I expect that at some point in the next few weeks, I'll blog more about the people I met (like Brandon) during my year abroad, but I'll be honest: it's a bummer that I won't be able to hang out with my good buddy in Berlin like we did this past year anymore.
This afternoon, after sleeping in (finally!), I spent time with a few HIA friends, who are still in Berlin. We met up outside the HIA office and walked across the street to the best Thai place I've visited in Berlin so far. I had forgotten about the Thai restaurant by the Fulbright office, but the place we went to today was even cheaper!
I had a nice big plate of pad thai, and I think I might've shocked our program director, Antje, by the amount of chili sauce I promptly dumped on my plate. 'Twas so good! :)
After catching up and chatting with Antje, Holly, Emin, and Judith, we decided to go get a beer and chill in Mauerpark. Just Holly, Emin, and I went, but it was a lot of fun. From there, I headed home, edited a paper, took a shower, and then headed right back out since I had planned to meet my old program director from the UW, Phil.
When I first came to Berlin in 2007, it was with Phil on an Exploration Seminar, and today was actually the second time that we've caught up with each other in Berlin. The second time was during HIA in 2008. But he and his friend, Erik, were traveling through, so we decided to meet up for some currywurst and some drinks.
Later on, Julie, the associate director of UW Honors whom I visited with James in Rome back in February, came along with Manuela and Tobi. Julie's leading the Honors in Berlin program this summer, so it's so nice to see her in yet another part of the world. Nice reunions for sure!
Seeing friends from the UW also reminded me of how excited I am to also return to Seattle despite my feeling somewhat bittersweet about having to leave as cool a city as Berlin, but it's all good. I'm sure I'll find a line of work that will keep me traveling internationally. I hope.
Tomorrow will be a catch up day as I still have lots of emails to respond to. Looking forward to relaxing with my new crate of Stara Bohemia beer! :)
Sam
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