Day 4

Today was a pretty chill day. After breakfast we went on a boat tour which was very relaxing but could’ve been better if the entire tour wasn’t in German. Even though i didn’t know what all the buildings were and the history the tour still showed us some great views of Berlin. After the tour we were fee to pretty much finish our assignments. I couldn’t complete my interviews because no one who worked at the spas we visited spoke any English so I pretty much just compared prices, services, advertisement of the various services and the location. I did wash clothes for the first time here which was sort of difficult because everything on the washer and dryer was in German and I had to translate everything so i wouldn’t mess my clothes up.

River Cruise

Our week in Berlin is almost over and I’m a little sad. Because it was so hot earlier this week we weren’t able to do much and tomorrow is going to be even hotter so we won’t be able to spend that much time outside so I’m a little disappointed. I was able to travel to a few different areas of the city and I finally tried some German street food yesterday so this week was still fun. For future students, bring old, comfortable shoes because there will be a lot of walking. I already have blisters and we still have two weeks of this trip left.

This morning we took a river cruise and it was really nice. It was pretty hot and the boat was open but it was such a nice view. This cruise was in German so I wasn’t able to keep up with what the tour guide was saying but I did take a few pictures. The architecture of the buildings here is really interesting to me so I got a few pictures of the buildings I thought looked nice. After the cruise I visited a few hotels to try and get my interviews done but that didn’t go as great as I thought. I’m meeting with Dr.V tomorrow to go over what I have so far and hopefully he can help me figure out what to do next.

Berlin Day 4

Today has been a very easy going day. It started with the same sandwich breakfast of course. We then went on a boat ride of the city which was very nice. The only downside of the boat ride was that it was only in German so we couldn't understand anything they were saying. The view of the city was beautiful and I was able to take many pictures. After the boat ride, we went to a couple of stores to get snacks and then attempted to work on our projects, but no one in the area spoke English very well. For the first I was able to come back to the hostel and take a wonderful nap. The week has been a bit draining because of all the walking. I did get a lot of work done today and it felt good to be able to relax.

Trip to the German Parliament

Today started off pretty much the same as the last few days with added back pains. The hostel put new mattresses on all the beds and they were extremely hard. It felt like I was sleeping on the floor. After breakfast, my class and the economics class took a field trip to two different malls to complete a pricing assignment. For the assignment, we had to compare the prices of similar items from each mall. First, we visited KaDeWe which is the second largest mall in Europe but its not like the malls we have in America. Instead of individual stores, each floor is dedicated to a specific product or department. It reminded me of a giant Macys. The second mall we visited was the Galleria in Alexanderplatz. This mall was a lot smaller than KaDeWe but it was structured the same. The biggest difference between the two were the prices and the type of products each mall sold. The items and brands in KaDeWe were luxury brands, their whole first floor is only luxury stores such as Rolex, Chanel, and Bulgari while the Galleria carried more affordable brands.

After the mall trip, we visited the German Parliament and it was pretty boring to say the least. I feel like I shouldn’t say that lol but it was true. And our tour guide didn’t make it any better. She was very knowledgeable but her delivery wasn’t great so it was hard to follow along with what she was teaching. At the end, we were able to go to the rooftop and take pictures. It was very pretty up there and the view made for a nice background for pictures.

Day 3

Today began with the same breakfast as yesterday as well as a green apple because i felt i haven’t been eating enough fruit. We then took the train to the West Berlin mall which is the second largest mall in Europe. The mall had seven levels and reminded me of a huge department store. Next, we went to the Alexander Platz which was were the East Berlin mall was located. Both “malls” where actually department stores who carried a lot of the same brands but the West Berlin mall had more high end choices. Another thing i did notice about the West Berlin Mall was that no matter which vender you shopped with they all gave the same standard bag with the shopping mall logo KaDewe. Lastly, we ending the day visiting the German Parliament. We were told to “dress up” which i regret because i didn’t know how far we were going and my “dress up” shoes are definitely not as comfy as my walking shoes so be prepared. Any who, the tour was long but informative even though i was fighting to stay alert because of the exhausting day. We saw the room where they have hearings and discuss important policies and things and the Reichstag Dome which was very beautiful architecturally along with the breathtaking view of Berlin.

Berlin Day 3

Today started with excruciating back pain due to new beds in the hostel that basically felt like I slept on the floor, the same sandwich breakfast, and lots of walking. We went to two different malls, the Westside mall and the Eastside mall. Both malls were similar in the fact that they were department malls or the example I gave was that they were 7 floor Dillard's or Macy's. The malls differ in the products that they carried. With the Westside mall being the second largest mall in Europe, it began to be a bit overwhelming. They carried literally every designer brand you could think of and it was a higher class meaning I didn't buy anything basically. The Eastside mall catered to the more average people and only had high class stores here and there, not everywhere. Also, the crowd that hung around the Eastside mall was different. There were many homeless people who approached us asking for money. The best part about this trip was that we found our way back to hostel with no problem this time lol.

We also took a tour of the Parliament today. It was boring sorry. The tour guide kept asking us questions that no one knew the answers to. It was almost like we were supposed to take a class before we went and that was the test. Also, there wasn't really much to see and she just stood and talked to us for the whole hour. I recommend not dressing up because your feet will hurt. I've done more walking here than I've probably ever done in my life. Overall a very productive and tiring day.

Westside Mall

Getting Lost...

So far, staying in the hostel hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. The food, especially the breakfast, has taken some getting used to. On the other hand, the fact that they do not put ice in their drinks is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. Drinking warm apple juice with my breakfast is a weird sensation. Besides all that, I am enjoying my time in Berlin.

The temperature dropped greatly today so we were able to go out into the city today. After breakfast, Dr. V took us to Potsdamer Platz where we got to see pieces of the Berlin Wall. We also visited the Mall of Berlin and it was huge! I think it was the biggest mall I’ve ever been to. There were so many stores, we couldn’t get to most of them but the few stores we did go in we’re having nice sales and I was able to get a few nice things. For lunch we decided to eat McDonald’s to see if the menu was any different than the American one and sadly there were a few differences but not many.

After leaving the mall, we got on the train to go to a different part of town just to look around and go to a few shops. When it was time to return to the hostel, we ran into a little issue. We put the wrong address into the gps and got on the wrong train. After getting off and waking for a few minutes, we realized we were going the wrong way. But once we were able to get the correct address, we decided to just walk back to the hostel instead of getting on another train and possibly getting more lost. Eventually we were able to get back to the hostel. Although we did get a little lost and had to do some extra walking, I enjoyed being able to see the different parts of Berlin. I wish I was able to go and experience some more of this beautiful city but we still have a few more days here so hopefully I’ll be able to see everything I want.

Day 2

Today has been exhausting in the best way possible. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hostel which included a roll and some sliced meat with cucumbers and a side a yogurt with honey smacks and corn flakes. The sandwich was good the yogurt wasn’t. We then took the train to Potsdamer Platz where Dr. V showed us a part of the Berlin Wall, the Sony Center and the Berlin Mall which was huge! The mall had three levels and outside shops, it was so big that we couldn’t see all the stores they offered. We ate McDonald’s in the mall just to see if it was different and it wasn’t. The only differences were that we placed our order on kiosks and not at the actual register as well as the large fry being about the size as a US medium. On our way back to the hostel we put the name of the hostel in the gps but google has the wrong address so we went all the way to Alexanderplatz station and passed the “home station” Friedrichstraße. Once we got the correct address the gps told us to take the M1 bus towards Ersatz Richtung. After sitting at the stop for about 5 mins Taylor points out a sign that says that the stop is temporarily unavailable. I cried. There was no other routes shown on google maps so we walked 1.4 miles for about 30 mins back to the hostel.

First Day in Berlin

When we arrived last night, we had to take a train, a bus and walk a little before we reached the hostel. At the orientation, Dr.V mentioned that there would be a lot of walking to the hostels and to pack light. I honestly thought I did but as we were walking here and I was pulling my luggage I discovered I did not pack light enough. I can be a over packer so I asked my mom to help me out and I still ended up with a heavy suitcase. Advice to any future participants: when Dr.V says to pack light, PACK LIGHT. You’ll be thanking him when your dragging a 40 pound suitcase down the street.

Today is our first full day in Berlin and it is beautiful here but it is so hot! Somehow we managed to end up here on one of the hottest days this summer with temperatures up to 98 degrees. With it being so hot, Dr. V advised not to spend too much time out in the sun. So after breakfast, which consisted of bread, lunch meat, yogurt, and cereal, we went out out to explore a little. We walked to a convenience store similar to walgreens were I made the mistake of purchasing sparkling water instead of plain water. We also walked to a atm where I was able to take out a few more euros. After this little adventure, we came back to the hostel to relax before going on a group excursion.

Along with the Econ class, we traveled to the DDR museum. This is an interactive history museum that focused on life in East Germany after the Berlin Wall was built. The museum exhibits touched on how the government owned all means of production, a “house” where guests could go from room to room and see how Germans lived during that time, and a mock kindergarten classroom. I appreciated how each exhibit was in German and then translated to English as well. This made it much easier to follow along. As someone who generally enjoys museums, I found the DDR museum to be really nice and informative.

Berlin Day 2

Once again, we woke up bright and early to get breakfast, which was the same as yesterday. Immediately after breakfast, it was time for us to go into the city to work on our project! Dr. V attempted to teach us how to take the train. We all took the train to Potsdamer Platz to go to Mall of Berlin. Before walking over to the mall, we were able to see part of the Berlin Wall. Eventually, Dr. V left us to adventure on our own and start our projects. For my project, we visited various beauty stores. We also did a little bit of retail therapy, well actually I did a lot. We ended up eating lunch at McDonald's, which Dr. V sore it was same, but it was completely different. I played it safe and got chicken nuggets. In an attempt to get back to the hostel, we ended up lost for an hour. When we put in the hostel in the gps it gave a completely different place. We walked from Alexanderplatz back to the current hostel. In the end, my feet hate me.

First Full Day in Berlin

On our first full day of being in Berlin, it just so happened to be on of the hottest days ever! We woke up bright and early to get breakfast, which was a little unusual. For they offered bread, lunch meat, apples, and yogurt. They had a variety of juice, but what I learned is that Europeans are not big fans of ice and cold drinks. It was challenging to drink warm drinks in such warm weather. Also, I ended up making a sandwich and yogurt with cereal in it. Sandwich good, yogurt terrible.

After breakfast, we had orientation and then broke up into our classes. While most classes went out into the scorching heat, Dr. V made it very clear that he didn't want his class to go out and do too much walking. We did end up going to a store similar to Walgreens and a grocery store to get water and snacks. Both stores weren't too much different from what we have in America.

After going to the both stores we came back to relax before going to the DDR Museum. It was only a short walk to the museum and we were able to a bit of sightseeing. The museum showed what is was like to live in East Berlin after World War II. It showed a mockup of what a house would look like, how education and sports were run, and military life. They showed how the government controlled everything from what people wore to what groceries they could buy.

Overall it was a good first full despite the heat!

Day 1

Today was our first official day in Berlin! I didn’t sleep great in the hostel because of the inescapable heat and we didn’t do much walking during the day because of it. We did walk to the nearest drug store called DM and grocery store called Rewe where I accidentally purchased sparkling water instead of still water 🙄. We were able to visit the DDR museum it showed the way of life in east Berlin and also talked about World War II, education, the scarcity of goods, and fashion during that time. This is my first hostel experience and I am very pleased, they conserve water and energy by having dim and motion sensor lights in the hall. The water in the shower runs about 30 seconds until you press the knob and it comes back on, initially i thought it was weird but I believe it’s very innovative and eco friendly.

Goodbye Nashville, Hello Europe!!

From the moment I inquired about the TNCIS GEC II program, I was immediately excited. I started applying for scholarships and researching the countries before I was even accepted. Eventually, I put in my application and prepared my other documents and after that there was nothing else I could do but wait. As time went on, it seemed like forever before I finally received my acceptance email.

As the days leading up to the trip passed by, it seemed like time was dragging by but eventually it became time for me to travel back to Nashville. This will be my first international flight so I’m not too sure what to expect. I packed American snacks and brought a pillow and blanket for the pane just in case! Unfortunately I didn’t have a window seat on any of the flights so I wasn’t able to take any good pictures while we were in the air. The flight from Nashville to Chicago was short but the second flight is the one I was worried about.

Before this trip, I had never flown for more than a hour and I didn’t know what to expect but surprisingly the flight from Chicago to Helsinki, Finland was better than I expected. The downside to this flight is I was not able to sleep that well. A word of advice to any future TNCIS participants: try to get as much sleep the night before as possible. With this being an international flight, they did provide us with dinner and breakfast the morning after. It was...interesting to say the least. I’ll insert a picture below and let you guys form your own opinion about it lol.

Finally after flying to Finland, we took our final flight to Berlin!! I’m so excited about being here and seeing what the city has to offer.