Yesterday, I spent most of my day at home getting work done. It was rather productive, and it felt nice to not have too busy a schedule for the day. I made myself some breakfast (okay, it might be getting old to have the same stuff every day). Very filling, for sure.
I had neglected to finish an article for a scholarship newsletter before I left the US, mainly because my last few days were nuts. So, it was good to get it all done yesterday. It felt like it had been quite a while since I'd written anything outside of my blog, so it was nice to get my writing juices flowing again. Plus, the view wasn't half bad.
Around 4 pm, I met up with Brandon after he got off work to head to a dinner with German students participating in a special seminar through Fulbright. I actually hadn't even known it was happening until Brandon told me, so we decided it'd be cool if I emailed them to ask if I could join. It was really nice to be back in the German Fulbright fold, and I made sure to get a picture with our Fulbright director, Reiner, who was very supportive of my work when I was here a few years ago.
The students in this program typically have a chance to go to the US, but because of budget cuts, the Fulbright Commission planned events to bring America to the students. Hence, the hamburgers and mashed potatoes. The beer was still German, though, thankfully. All in all, good times.
After dinner, we continued our conversations with several of the students at the nearby Prater Garten, the oldest Biergarten in Berlin. Some of the students are studying education, so we had lots to chat about. It was also really nice to right back in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg, just like Brandon and I used to do back in the day.
The students had some reading to do for their program, so they decided to head home soon after. But, Brandon, some of the other Fulbrighters, and I decided to head to Druide, the absinthe bar with cheap drinks on Wednesday nights. It couldn't have been a more perfect way to cap my trip to Berlin — returning to the places where we'd had many a great memory.
Of course, afterwards, I had a case of the munchies, so I spent last few Euros on a dürüm döner. Yum.
I am extremely grateful to Brandon for letting me crash at his place for the past few days. It's been somewhat surreal to be back in Berlin and hanging out at his apartment again. A wise friend recently told me that you know you have a good friendship when you can pick up exactly where you left off, even if the time between chatting is longer than ideal. That's certainly been the case for me back here in Berlin.
This morning, we had some pancakes, too, with an Aunt Jemima pancake mix that Brandon had. A good ol' American breakfast!
Today's my last day in Germany, so I will be heading to the train station shortly to catch a train to Frankfurt. It'll take about five hours, but thankfully, it's a direct ICE (intercity express). Then, later in the evening, I will fly to Singapore (a 13-hour flight from Frankfurt) and catch my connecting flight to Bali two hours (a 2-and-a-half-hour flight from Singapore).
Not exactly sure what time I will arrive in Bali, but I will have plenty of time to get settled and then head to my friends Jess and Fredrik's wedding on Saturday. So, my next update will probably come from somewhere in SE Asia.
Until then, tschüß!
I had neglected to finish an article for a scholarship newsletter before I left the US, mainly because my last few days were nuts. So, it was good to get it all done yesterday. It felt like it had been quite a while since I'd written anything outside of my blog, so it was nice to get my writing juices flowing again. Plus, the view wasn't half bad.
Around 4 pm, I met up with Brandon after he got off work to head to a dinner with German students participating in a special seminar through Fulbright. I actually hadn't even known it was happening until Brandon told me, so we decided it'd be cool if I emailed them to ask if I could join. It was really nice to be back in the German Fulbright fold, and I made sure to get a picture with our Fulbright director, Reiner, who was very supportive of my work when I was here a few years ago.
The students in this program typically have a chance to go to the US, but because of budget cuts, the Fulbright Commission planned events to bring America to the students. Hence, the hamburgers and mashed potatoes. The beer was still German, though, thankfully. All in all, good times.
After dinner, we continued our conversations with several of the students at the nearby Prater Garten, the oldest Biergarten in Berlin. Some of the students are studying education, so we had lots to chat about. It was also really nice to right back in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg, just like Brandon and I used to do back in the day.
The students had some reading to do for their program, so they decided to head home soon after. But, Brandon, some of the other Fulbrighters, and I decided to head to Druide, the absinthe bar with cheap drinks on Wednesday nights. It couldn't have been a more perfect way to cap my trip to Berlin — returning to the places where we'd had many a great memory.
Of course, afterwards, I had a case of the munchies, so I spent last few Euros on a dürüm döner. Yum.
I am extremely grateful to Brandon for letting me crash at his place for the past few days. It's been somewhat surreal to be back in Berlin and hanging out at his apartment again. A wise friend recently told me that you know you have a good friendship when you can pick up exactly where you left off, even if the time between chatting is longer than ideal. That's certainly been the case for me back here in Berlin.
This morning, we had some pancakes, too, with an Aunt Jemima pancake mix that Brandon had. A good ol' American breakfast!
Today's my last day in Germany, so I will be heading to the train station shortly to catch a train to Frankfurt. It'll take about five hours, but thankfully, it's a direct ICE (intercity express). Then, later in the evening, I will fly to Singapore (a 13-hour flight from Frankfurt) and catch my connecting flight to Bali two hours (a 2-and-a-half-hour flight from Singapore).
Not exactly sure what time I will arrive in Bali, but I will have plenty of time to get settled and then head to my friends Jess and Fredrik's wedding on Saturday. So, my next update will probably come from somewhere in SE Asia.
Until then, tschüß!
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