Aufwiedersehen Berlin!

And that's a wrap!

My time on the CBYX program is over and I can only think to myself- where has the time gone?

It's incredibly emotional being "done"...leaving Berlin was one of the most difficult tasks I've ever done. After facing so many challenges and overcoming each and every one, I can successfully look back and say this year was a success. I'm ending this experience quite honestly on Cloud 9.  I have significantly improved my German, gotten amazing business and in general, life experience and have developed friendships that will last a lifetime. I'm so  grateful for each person I met this year and for every experience- both good and bad. Here's the problem. I don't want to leave now! I'm so happy with my life here and have grown to have Berlin as my second home, I'd rather continue on with it, than head to my original home. However, it's a part of the experience and please, I WILL BE BACK! So the goodbyes I'm saying are mostly "see you again"s. Beautifully summed up in a German word: Aufwiedersehen.  

So here's a recap of my final two weeks in Germany (but more importantly, Berlin):

I had to put the suit on one last time for end of the year seminar with all the CBYX Programs!

Congress Bundestag Youth Vocational Exchange Class of 2016!

My favorites, Noah and Annika,
inside the Reichstag, Germany's
parliament building.

Gingerlee and I.

End of  the year was a blast. Bitter sweet since it was our last time together as a group, but very memorable. We were on a tight schedule but managed to have a lot of fun and all-nighters on the side. As a part of the program, we gathered together with all the other CBYX programs to go to Germany's parliament building, attending a panel with several of Germany's top politicians, listen to a parliament session regarding the integration of refugees and attended a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy.

The entire Berlin gang

Cuddle puddle with Hartwig

One of the most bitter sweet moments of the seminar was saying goodbye to our program director, Hartwig. He ran our program for over 25 years and retired at the end of our program. He quite honestly made the program. His bakery tours, outings to Cologne and his crazy Oma Anna stories were greatly appreciated and will be greatly missed. So thank you, Hartwig!

Bumped into some familiar faces! I met up with Felix, a former exchange student to my high school and Will, an old foco friend as they were passing by Berlin. I also bumped into Ashley, a friend from a trip I took to Singapore and Malaysia. Then, on my last weekend, Jonas, my old exchange student/ host brother visited me! It's so cool to reconnect with so many friends half way across the world! What are the odds?

Annika's birthday weekend on the Baltic!

Noah, Annika and I enjoying the sea breeze

Thanks momma K!

One of our favorite traditions is the German breakfast. In Germany,
it's stressed as family time. So to wrap up our year together, we made a very
 quaint breakfast with rolls, fruit, eggs, and every topping you can put on bread!

One last sunset at the Baltic

Having spent several weekends at the Baltic with my host family and adding to the memories they already had there, the Baltic will always hold a special place in my heart. I'm glad to have had one last weekend there with Noah  and Annika. It made for one incredible 19th 

birthday! Noah, Annika- we conquered the Baltic! :p

The last week with my host family :((((((

Before I could leave, my host fam assembled a list of things we needed to do together.

Fortunately, we had already checked most things off our bucket list, including skiing, going to the Baltic, windsurfing, eating American pancakes, and training a dog. However, we had a lot to do at the last minute. So here's what we did:

We went sailing. One of their family hobbies! Too bad I didn't take any pictures!

And of course, a family photo with Austin, our not so little puppy!

Kayaking with Arved and Austin!

Tennis with my host dad!

Needless to say, I am so incredibly grateful for my host family. They have truly become my second family or as we joke, meine deutsche Familie ("my German family"). I'm thankful for all the adventures we went on together, the many nights we spent binge watching Heroes on Netflix (they are now hooked on Netflix) and the many late night wine conversations we had on politics and life. Although it was incredible difficult saying saying goodbye, I'm 100% sure that I'll see them again and our adventures will pick off where they left off..plus .we still need to check off skiing in the Rockies together! (Winter 2017!)

The last day in Berlin...

Going to miss riding the S-bahn everyday!

All of Grit's Kids together for a family pic! Thank you Grit!

A travel tradition I have kept for long term travelling is buying
a flag and getting new friends to sign it. I wanted to share this tradition
with the Berlin kids,  so I got them all flags. Each person's flag looks
different and has its special meaning...

Dinner pic

The entire Berlin group with Grit, the 6 Berlin kids, JT, and most importantly, the host families (and our dog!)

And the travel begins...

"Straight Outta Berlin" 

All bags were exactly 23 Kgs...

One last pic on the European side of the Atlantic

HOME!!!

4:30 am arrival into Denver

The first meal...Kurt, my neighbor and also a CBYXer,
and I met up to have burritos at Cafe Mex! Boy did we miss spice!

Reunited with the girls!

So, now it's time to move onto the next chapter...Dickinson College Class of 2020 where I'll be studying International Business and Management.

One last thing, Germany- you have not seen the last of me. Ich habe noch einen Koffer in Berlin!

Bis spaeter,

Deine Kirsten

The Southern Swoop!

Twas the month before leaving...so what do we do?

We planned...

"The Southern Swoop"

Porto, Lisbon, Portugal

Madrid, Barcelona, Spain

With the clock ticking, my friends and I have a been in a frenzy trying to cover and do everything. Since we have a few weeks off after completing our internships, we decided to celebrate our success of surviving our year (or least to 11 months at this point) in Europe.  So we channelled our inner "Americanness" and traveled at a fast pace to cover a completely new and unique region of Europe.

Through this pace and the through overcoming several unforced travel errors, Annika, Leighty, Rigel and I can officially say we're seasoned travelers.

So here's a gimpse into our trip...

PORTO...

Porto is one of the cutest cities I've visited in Europe. It's relatively small, hilly and scenic, which makes it give off a very homily, "Gemütlich" feeling. While there, we stayed in an awesome hostel and met all sorts of interesting young people travelling Europe. Each at their own pace and with their own style. Everyone bonded on their experiences and enjoyed hearing one another's stories. At one point during our stay, we had almost every native speaking dialect of English represented in the conversation (Canada, England, Australia, US, Ireland, and US). HOW NEAT IS THAT?!

The city's architecture is unique, carrying the Arabic influence in its work which was seen in the detailed tiles.

 The streets were tight, narrow and winded up and down the hills making it a good work out to work off all the Port wine! 

Drinking Port wine along the river

Leighty, Annika and I loved the skyline

LISBON...

Town Square

Lisbon was very similar to Porto, but on a larger scale. We loved exploring the city, but the most exciting memories from Lisbon were our little adventures...

In hopes of finding cheap food in the
 suburbs, we stumbled on a festival and market.
 Streamers were decorated accross builings
all over a neighborhood. It was stunning!

Annika, Leighty and I invented
 a game: dodge the waitors
They bombared us on the touristy
 streets with menus and bizzare comments.
We got creative at times...

But here's the best memory...

Since our overnight bus was overbooked, we ended up spending an extra night in Lisbon. This turned into a great adventure. It was 10:30 and we needed to find a new hostel so we stumbled around for a little before finding a place. To my satisfaction, pur extra day was spent on the beach a trainride away from Lisbon. The beach was incredible. Cliffs and rock formations were sprinkled across the coastline and the water was warm! I was a happy camper!

Poor Annika and Leighty though...the sun was not in their favor and they got terribly sunburnt to a point where they could barely move! So I bathed them in aloe and fed them pain killers. (Thank God for my Swedish skin and sunscreen) 

MADRID...

Due to our unexpected travel delay, we ended up only having one day in Madrid. Since the day at the beach turned Annika and Leighty into lobsters unable to move without feeling ng the pain of their sunburns, I traveled the city on my own. I did a free walking tour (highly recommend to all travelling Europe), went to a museum and walked and explored the city...I also attempted to apply my elementary Spanish skills which reminded me why I chose to learn German!

BARCELONA....

To sum this part of the trip up in a few words:

Gaudi, Tapas, Beach, and Sangria!

Family pic with Gaudi work!

Barcelona's artwork is like none other...In every way, shape and form, there is something truly unique about this city. I can't get a grasp on it, but the least I can say is it's vibrant and I couldn't get enough of it! I will definitely return to take this city on again!

The fresh squeezed juice and fruit was heavenly!

This market was definitely a highlight of the city. Every type of fruit, meat, candy and drink was represented there...I even saw mangostean (my favorite fruit from Malaysia)! We could've definitely eaten our way through the rows for days and wouldn't have tried everything! Our group foodie, Annika, definitely was content! And Rigel, had new juice in hand everytime I looked over.

I can't even begin to express how much I love this city!

Rigel- our personal lifeguard

And some more Gaudi............

We might have waited until 9:30 pm with all the
 other students to take this picture for free...

 Although the last has come to an end and there were several times where we got on each other nerves, this trip will always hold a special place in my heart. It allowed me to become even closer with Leighty, Annika and Rigel and to have lasting memories taking on Southern Europe with them. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to be t