Back Home in Washington

It's been a few weeks since I got home to Washington, but it took me a long while to get back to the blog. Here's what's happened since my last day in Berlin. It only took me a few hours to pack up my whole room, but I did get everything into one suitcase and a duffel bag. 

Lenz and Aga made me dinner, which was really quite delicious.

Lenz thought my suitcase was over the maximum 20 kg, but it turns out it was only 18.1 kg. So I didn't have to pay extra!

My friend, Tamar, also sent me a picture from my farewell party in Mauerpark, and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Brian and I were playing one-on-one, and Tamar managed to capture us playing with the TV tower in the background. I miss Berlin...

However, it's nice to be back in Washington, and I have already gone several times to my favorite German restaurant in Seattle.

I also made schnitzel with Michael, which turned out really well. It only took 15-20 minutes to do it all too.

As much as I love Berlin, there are also parts of Seattle that I missed, particularly the cityscape. Ain't it nice?

Of course, I also went to several Mariners' games, which was fantastic. They even won two of the three games I went to.

At one of the games, one of my friends even got free tickets to sit behind home plate, so we got to sit back there and tried to catch foul balls. We failed.

Baseball games are a fun way to meet up with friends too, particularly ones who may be going away for a while.

I also went to a game with my Fulbright friend, Jill, who is also from the Pacific Northwest. We had tried to watch a game together in Berlin, but never got a chance to. So it seemed that going to a real game would be a good idea.

Being back in Seattle also means cooking with my sister. I think it turned out pretty well.

I'm back in Spokane at my parents' place now, and I have been trying to organize all my stuff from Berlin, including pictures that Brandon sent me from the past year. Here are some of those highlights:

Paddling down the Lahn River in August 2010 with our program director, Nora.

Eating Christmas goodies with Michelle in Dresden in December 2010.

Enjoying our Fulbright Conference in Berlin in March 2011.

Grocery shopping at an Asian supermarket in Schöneberg with Brandon in April 2011. (Duck feet!)

Swimming in Attica with Thanasis and Brandon in June 2011.

More swimming in Greece.

Checking out the Acropolis in June 2011.

Cooking with Doros in Athens in June 2011.

Swimming on the island of Aegina in June 2011.

Checking out all my pictures is making me miss Europe quite a bit, but I'm sure I'll be back there soon. Hopefully, I'll have more adventures to document on the blog soon enough.

Till then,

Sam