Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit- Oktoberfest ein zweites Mal!

Viele Grüße von München!

As many of my good friends or fellow snapchatters know, I spent this past weekend at Oktoberfest. For anybody who doesn't know what Oktoberfest is, think German stereotypes-people dressed up in Dirndls and lederhosen, piled in a beer hall singing and drinking beer by the liter-and there you have it! That's Oktoberfest!

Also, if you want to talk and meet people from around the world, then Oktoberfest it destined for you!

Reunited with a good ol' friend

Last time I was here, I went with Celine, an old exchange student friend from sophomore year and had a blast. This time, however, we dialed it up and took it to another level. Once more, I went with my friend, Celine, but also met up with 18 of the 25 CBYXers also there.  Thanks to Celine and her local connections, we got lucky and found ourselves in the Hofbräu tent both nights, though we also hopped biergartens time to time.  It pretty much went like this: If you wanted to talk to people, you went to the biergarten, if you wanted to sing and dance, you'd try to get into a tent. We struck a really good balance between the two, getting caught up with one another in the biergartens and making new friends with people from all over the world and then heading into a tent to get the real Oktoberfest experience of singing and dancing. No matter where you were and what time of the day it was, it was fun.

Back at with the group

The beergartens were lined with rows of picnic tables with people filling every seat. You just sat where there was room and struck up conversations with your neighbors. It was also the prime location to catch up with Celine (we haven't seen each other for 2 years, but we picked up right where we left off) and also talking with the CBYX squad, who are like family.

Inside the tent, it had a similar set up, but with a band playing in the center, and with more energy. Everybody's dancing on a table singing to one of the classic songs playing on repeat: Ein Prosit, Atemlos, Cowboys and Indianer, and the American favs: Country Roads and Sweet Caroline. The atmosphere was so up beat and cheerful and the feeling was simply gemütlich (comfy/warm smashed into a word.) It made for a really, really good time.

It's really difficult to describe the scene at Oktoberfest in words, so I hope the photos help. But in the end, the memories and crazy stories that sprouted from Oktoberfest are going to stick with me for a lifetime, and will probably be some of the highlights of this entire trip!

Berlin- Ich hab dich lieb!

I'm officially all settled into Berlin, and I am in LOVE with this city (or maybe just city life!)



East Side Gallery Repping...Berlin

As I've been getting into the swing of everyday life here, I've realized how much my German's improved.  I've become so comfortable with speaking German. Initially, I would process what I wanted to say in my head and how I was going to say it, all concerned about how American it was going to sound, but now I just own my accent and speak! Though I'm sure the German's are getting a kick out of how many grammar and pronunciation mistakes are in my sentences, but they understand what I'm...attempting...to say.



My School- Werner von Siemens Gymnasium

(High) School officially started last week and it's going well, though it's taken a while to get there. People used to tell me they'd have anxiety nightmares of getting lost heading to class, and I never related to those, until I got here. At my last Gymnasium, I had a support system of friends and my host family from day 1 (I have now realized how incredibly lucky I was.) On the other hand, here, I was completely left to fend for myself, which was quite humbling. After a week or so of looking helplessly confused, asking probably half the students for directions in desperation, and showing up late at least one class a day, I can officially navigate myself around the school like a pro! I'm finally comfortable being at the school, and with that, I'm starting to make friends. Since many people in my class have studied abroad, they relate to me and really put make an effort to talk to me. Now, it's getting to a good place and I actually enjoy going to class, hearing the language, and talking with others!

As for free time (which I have an abundance of,) I use to apply for internships-which to all my friends who think I'm on vacation for a year, I will be working 40 hours/week-and to try new things. Although I plan on keeping up with tennis, my friend, Annika and I have joined a rowing club-a sport I've always wanted to try but haven't had the chance to! Much to my surprise, there's lakes all over the suburbs of Berlin that are gorgeous! Rowing is a ton of fun and seems to be a great way to make friends. I'm also planning on volunteering with the Syrian refugees, a topic off significant contention here. I plan on helping tutor refugees in German and English.

There's one more thing I'd like to say today...




Squad at the Brandenburg Gate

Living in a city is ridiculously cool and I can't get enough of it. Berlin is a lively city full of street performers, markets, shopping and festivals around each corner. Es gibt immer etwas zu tun! Whenever I have nothing to do, I call up the other CBYXers in Berlin and we head into the city center and always, repeat, always, find something to do. We typically meet up at Alexanderplatz or Fredrichsstrasse and just wing it and I genuinely can't express how much fun it is to just walk around and explore. That brings something else up, a difference from the last time I studied abroad here... there's Americans going through the same thing as me nearby! It makes it so much easier and it's a difficult feeling to express...It's really nice to have each other as a support system.

The Berlin Group-Noah, Gingerlee, Annika, Allison, our area Rep, Gritt, and me!