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Executive Report

Right after I got back from my year abroad, I wrote this reflection about the whole experience; a brief look from A-Z of what the year consisted of. If you want to read more, that is what all the other posts are for!
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[Leaving with only a backpack and a bag for Chile, Summer 2007]

On July 17th, 2007 I started an incredible journey. It began by flying to the other hemisphere to Santiago de Chile and ends on July 23rd, 2008 when I return from Berlin. Although I could probably write a book about my experiences, I will keep it (somewhat) brief.

[Arriving a day early, Ali, Brittany and I stand with the Andes at our backs in Santiago, Chile]

For the fall semester 2007, I chose to study abroad in Valparaiso, Chile - the second largest city of only 1 million people in the skinny country that lines the pacific in South America - with International Studies Abroad. I knew that I wanted to study in South America because it would totally put me out of my comfort zone; I had no idea what to expect but I knew it would be an incredible experience.

[My host mom, host brother, and neighbor take me to a beautiful overlook of the ocean]

When I arrived, the learning curve was fast. I had no idea what Valparaiso was going to be like. I quickly learned it was a old port city, built on hills, with buildings of Victorian architecture that had survived many earthquakes. I had no idea what all these words that I kept hearing people say were. After all my years of Spanish, I felt lost. I soon realized that all of it was Chilean slag, something unique to Chile and something I learned to love. I had no idea what classes were going to be like with Chilean students. I realized they were pretty normal, but much more relaxed than what I was used to. I had no idea how Chileans would react to gringos in their town. I learned that "gringo" is no derogatory term in Chile, it just refers to a white person; I was "la gringa" and liked it. I learned that Chileans are probably the most friendly people in the world. They wanted to know everything about you; why you came to study in Chile, foremost.

[A street on a hill in Valparaiso]

Of course, there were the ups and downs of living in a new household, leaving friends and family behind. But these were always momentary and didn't compare to what I was learning and experiencing every day.

[Trying surfing for the first time]

The other amazing part of study abroad was the trips that we were able to take. Not only did we see Santiago and Valparaiso, but I went to the beach town of Pichilemu, we went to the lakes region and Pucon, I went to the very tip of the world in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and then I made my way north to Peru and Macchu Picchu, where hiking the ancient Inka Trail was a highlight of my trip, if not my life.

[In the courtyard of the Palace in Santiago, where Pinochet and his men stormed in, while popularly elected leader Salvador Allende killed himself rather than let Pinochet take his honor and his Presidency.]

[Climbing an active volcano in Pucon]

[Hiking in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia. These mountains are not actually part of the Andes Mountain Range, but rather their own separate geological formation. The views were spectacular and the mountains bizarre and beautiful.]

[To wake up to this view in the morning was a dream.]

[We also saw a penguin colony]

[And made it to the end of the earth, the island of Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America]

[Ruins in the Inka capital of Cuzco, Peru]

[At the start of the Inca Trail with strangers: 12 hikers, 2 guides, 12 porters, and 3 days]

[The highest point on the trail, almost 20,000 feet above sea level]

[On the trail. Even though it was the beginning of the rainy season, the views were still incredible]

[Finally at the top, with our two guides.]

From Chile, I was home for a day, and then my family had planned a family trip to the Grand Canyon. We stayed a night at the rim, hiked down, spent three nights at the bottom (including Christmas Eve and Christmas) and then hiked out. Again, it was fabulous to see the sights and spend time with friends and family.

[The entire crew that we hiked with. We brought life to the bottom of the Canyon on Christmas with our caroling.]

From there, I had about a week at home, and then I was off for my next adventure: studying in Berlin, Germany with the FU BEST program.

My spring semester began when I flew across the Atlantic on January 8th, 2009. I arrived with everything in full swing. In the first four days we were in Berlin we had to go get our pictures taken, make sure all our documents were in order, met our host families, went on various tours of Berlin, took our language placement exams, finalized our classes, met 74 new people, and began to explore the city.


[On a tour of Berlin's underground: the bunkers of Hitler]

Not only is the culture of Germany extremely different from that of Chile, but the whole layout of my experience here was going to be different. Associated with the Freie Universitaet, the FU BEST Program is not run on the main campus, only has American students taking classes with American students, has a mandatory language component, and all but one of the "content courses" were in English. Of course, this was very different than the immersion-style in Valparaiso. However, I knew this when I was signed up for the program, and since this was basically the only program in Berlin, I decided to go for it anyway.


[At the Grune Woche (Green Week) Expo, one of the biggest agricultural expos in the world, Winter 2007]

However, the program did have many opportunities that were extremely useful for us students. For one, they had two German student assistants that organized Bar Nights with German students, language partners for all 75 students, and a final good-bye party where all the people we knew in Berlin were invited. They really worked hard to make it a great experience for everyone. We also had a number of field trips and trips that helped enhance our knowledge and cultural experience of Berlin. All students got 4 tickets to various cultural events around Berlin - from operas to ballets to concerts to soccer games. We also took field trips to the Federal Chancellery, the East-German Secret Police Museum, Potsdam, and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Finally, also included in the program was a 8-day trip to Hamburg and Copenhagen in order to learn more about Germany and Europe. All of these events gave us the opportunity to do things in Berlin, Germany, and Europe that we might not have had a chance to do otherwise.


[On our trip to the Federal Chancellery, like the German White House, Winter 2007]


[A group of friends in Hamburg, Germany. Going on this trip was the perfect chance to get to know others in our program, although traveling with a group of 75 Americans proved to be difficult. Spring 2008]

Of course, traveling was a highlight of this trip as well.


[With friends at the Volkerschlagdenkmal in Leipzig, Winter 2008]


[Enjoying the sunshine in Lisbon, Portugal, a city with an interesting mix of European and Latin culture, Spring 2008]


[Easter on the island of Rugen, on the northern coast of Germany, famous for it's white chalk cliffs, Spring 2008]


[Acting out a scene from Hamlet at the Kronborg Castle, known better as Elsinor in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Spring 2008]


[Drinking a Guinness at the top of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland, with magnificent views of the city, Spring 2008]

At the end of April, the FU BEST Program was officially over. But, since I felt that I hadn't learned as much German as I had come to learn and hadn't really had the German university experience, I decided to stay for the real German semester and take classes with German students. Since this overlapped with the end of the FU BEST semester (which follows the American semester system), there were two weeks where I was so busy and confused that I wondered if I had made the right choice.


[On a bike ride with some of my rugby friends, Summer 2008]

Once the nice weather came to Berlin, I knew I had made the right choice. The whole city changed; not only was it sunny and beautiful on a regular basis, but the people were friendlier and nicer than they had even been before. I almost felt as if I were in a completely new city.


[My parents friend Jurgen rented a boat for the weekend, which we toured around Berlin and Potsdam, Summer 2008]

Then, my dad came for a visit and we took a boat tour of the rivers, canals and lakes in Berlin, thanks to his old friend Jurgen that now lives in Berlin. Realizing how much water the city has even though it is landlocked and seeing all the sights from the water was amazing.


[My aunt Helene and I riding in the boat to the island summer house where the festivities take place, Summer 2008]

After my dad finished his conference in Berlin, we headed to Sweden to visit my family and celebrate probably the biggest Swedish holiday: Midsummer. Being able to jet up to Sweden for the weekend and see my family was really great, and made me appreciate how small Europe actually is.


[All 30 of us sitting down for a meal at Midsummer, Summer 2008]

My entire study abroad experience has been amazing and I can't believe that I have seen and done so much in the last year. I knew that it would be difficult and strange after a year away, and I am only starting to see the beginning of that. But I know that I will be back to see all the places that I visited again and see all my friends again.

Even with the ups and downs of studying abroad, it has been the best experience of my life and I have learned so much in so many ways. I can't recommend it enough.

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Bad Köstritz

Also known as the weekend where I got the German rugby experience.

My last weekend in Germany I went to a Beach Rugby Tournament in Bad Kostritz. I knew that it was going to be a good time simply because I would get to play rugby as well as get to know the team better. But all I really knew about the weekend was: 5:30 pm, Fehrberlliner Station; Beach Rugby; Tents; Bad Kostritz.


[Waiting at the station for our bus to arrive. About 30 people from the men's and women's teams]

Since it was called "Bad" (meaning bath), I assumed that it was like other places that I had heard of with the name, which were all on the coast. We would also be playing beach rugby, which made me think we were going to the coast as well. I was wrong. It turns out that we were going to a place completely landlocked, three hours south of Berlin.


[Damien making his case for why he should be team 'captain']

Meeting at the station was a surprise, too. I got there and some people were just hanging around and it wasn't until 6 when people really started to show up. With beer. Lots of beer. There were probably four crates (24 half-liter bottles in each), some six packs and a couple of bottles of wine. I assumed this would be for the whole weekend, and prepared myself for a pretty calm bus-ride.


[Team Mascot Tina, who couldn't play but got to wear a bikini instead]

The bus-ride turned out to be anything but calm. First, a team captain was chosen, who was supposed to make rules and keep everyone in order during the weekend. I realize this was a joke when Jackie was chosen as captain and the first rule she had was that all boys had to put on bikinis.


[Volker and Stuart being good sports]


[Boys on the bus, many had new, creative ways of wearing the bikinis, others needed help getting them on]

By this time we had been on the bus for about an hour and a half, the beers had been processed and we needed a bathroom break. As 20 half-naked, beer toting men got off the bus I could not help but think that there could not be a more stereotypical group of rugby players in the world. They even played a little half-naked rugby to let everyone know what our sport is.


[The men's team group photo]

We got back on the bus and things were a bit calmer. I asked Jackie if I was allowed to pass around the brownies I made, since I thought it was going to be a calm bus-ride. As team captain, she replied that I would only be allowed to serve them if I wore a bikini. Feeling as if I had no choice, since I wanted everyone to have some of the delicious brownies I made, I went and put on my bikini. The brownies were thoroughly enjoyed; I'm not sure if the bikini had anything to do with it.


[Hi, my name is Julien, and I am a BSV drinker...]

From there, Stuart took the microphone and had everyone introduce themselves. But not in the conventional way. After introducing themselves, everyone had to take a drink.

After that came pee break number three, where the team was rowdier and nosier than ever. As they off the bus, we got numerous, judgmental looks from other tour-buses that were stopped.

We finally arrived in BK long after most of the other groups and had to set up our tents in the dark. There was also a welcome-party going on by the sand pits. Even though we were supposed to be playing rugby the next day, there were lots of people dancing and drinking. I guess at this point I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.

The next morning we woke up and I realized what a camp we were living in.


[About half the tents]

We then walked to the sand-pit pitches and got ready for some rugby, although our first game wasn't for another hour and a half. This meant that we got to watch some of the other teams play.


[The men's team playing]

We also got to see some pretty quick injuries. Ben, a Brit on another men's team from Berlin who was on the bus with us, played about two minutes before splitting his head open and getting a concussion. Volker on the men's team played a little longer, but ended up having to go to the hospital and get three stitches.


[Sitting with the injured]

The best part of playing beach rugby is that tackling doesn't hurt when you hit the ground. This meant making some great tackles. But people are still as hard, which is maybe where the injuries come from.


[Me, making a tackle against team "Pink Power." I like the color pink, but this team was just annoying. Unfortunately, we lost to them. I did rip a couple of their 'jerseys' during tackles though.]

Another great part of the tournament was the swimming pool that was right next to the sand pits. This created a lot of entertainment for our team. I didn't even have time to go get my bathing suit because I wanted to get in the water. It was also nice to cool our muscles down in between games.


[The boys going down the slide]


[The girls jumping into the pool]


[Everyone by the pool]

In the end, we ended up winning two games and loosing two. This meant that we didn't qualify for the next round, but it was kind of nice to just sit back and know that the day was over.

That night there was an awards ceremony and more celebrating. Since Bad Kostritz is also known for its brewery, there was a lot of beer too.


[Jackie, Stuart, me, and Volker at the after-party]


[The boys celebrating their 5th place in the tournament]

The next morning, we tried to pack up and go back to Berlin. Unfortunately, one of our players couldn't find her bag. We were also entertained by a player who had been looking for his sleeping bag. He would periodically come on a megaphone and say, "I'm looking for a sleeping bag." In more desperate times, he started reading all the stats of the sleeping bag, giving descriptions of it, and offering rewards to anyone who found it.


[Stuart singing rugby songs]

The best part of the bus trip was when they started breaking out the rugby songs. One of my favorite traditions from UMBC, I didn't realize that it was also something they did in Germany. It also made me proud that I could add verses and songs from songs I thought I had forgotten.

The weekend was really fun and gave me a real experience about what rugby in Germany is like. Or at least, what I think it is like. I will always be left with the idea that Bad Kostritz exemplifies German rugby until I have a different experience.


If you can read German, you can read Volker, a player on the men's team, recount of the weekend here.

Dresden and Radebeul

While my dad was in Berlin, in between being in Sweden and flying home, we decided to take a day trip to Dresden. Yet again we used the "Schones Wochenende" ticket, which got us both there and back for 35 euros on the regional trains. As we saw when we were on our way, most of the people going to Dresden were tourists taking a day trip from Berlin.


[Dad outside the Radebeul Ost train station, the adventure begins]

As we were reading the Lonely Planet guidebook entry about Dresden, they mentioned a suburb called "Radebeul" which was supposed to be know for its vineyards. Since we thought there wouldn't be that much to do in Dresden, we took a detour to see what Radebeul was like.


[Our rented bikes]

What first struck me about the town was how quiet it was. Not that I find Berlin particularly loud, but on a Saturday in Radebeul it was silent, not to mention the fact that all the stores closed at noon. We did manage to find a bike shop right by the train station where we rented two bikes for the day for 5 euros each. We planned to bike up to the vineyards and around Radebeul a bit.


[Vineyards]

We biked up the hill and went through a wonderful neighborhood with old houses and eventually got to a winery. Here they had a museum about the history of wine-making and the vineyard itself.


[Dad biking to the winery we found.]

The most interesting thing that I learned there was about how corks are made. They had a very interesting video about the whole process, which made it seem as if the cork should have been as valuable as the wine itself; a single cork could in the process of being made for 20 years or so. No wonder that so many corks these days are being made of synthetic material!


[The museum]

We were also tempted to sit at the cafe and have a bite to eat. But, they claimed they had no tables available inside (although there was no one there) and we did not want to sit outside when it started to rain. The prices also seemed higher than they needed to be at the vineyard, with a glass costing almost as much as a whole bottle in the museum shop. So we moved on.


[The staircase]

We walked up a very long staircase to the top of a ridge, which looked over the valley and Radebeul. We could see Dresden, and how the surrounding towns had melted together in the valley.


[Dad and I overlooking the valley]

Coming in on the train, we had also seen a very interesting building on the top of the ridge. Since we were there, we decided to check out exactly what it was. It turned out to be a restaurant and a wine/beer garden. We decided to take a little break with a great view of the valley. Dad had a wurst and a glass of wine to complete the vineyard experience.


[In the wine garden]

From there, we headed back down to the bike shop, turned in our bikes and decided it was time to move on to Dresden.


[Walking in to Dresden]

We got in to the main train station in Dresden and walked into the old part of town. But to get there, we had to walk through a new, developed walking street that had lots of stores and shops and contrasted sharply to quaint Radebeul. While in a bookstore, we saw a picture of what the street looked like about 10 years ago when it was still East Germany. Although it was by no means pretty today, it looked like a big improvement from the communist housing and concrete blocks.


[The Frauenkirche]

In the center of Dresden the atmosphere was very different, where they have tried to rebuild the old buildings as they were before World War II destruction.


[Mixture of old and new stones on the facade of the church]

There is no better example of this than the recently re-opened Frauenkirche. After WWII, it stood completely in ruins after the fire-bombing of Dresden. As the communists ruled East Germany, the church was somewhat rebuilt, but not completely. Since the fall of the wall, it has been completely re-done with a mix of original stones and new ones. Unfortunately, it was not open to the public when we passed by.


[Dad overlooking the Elbe]

From there we walked to the other side of the city, Neustadt, where we came across a wine festival. Apparently Rhineland-Westpfalz, the 'real' wine region of Germany, needed to show that it really had better, cheaper wine. The result was lots of local wineries setting up booths to promote their wines.


[The booths]

What Dad and I found particularly good was the free wine tasting that we came across. There was no limit to the amount of wine we could try, and we took advantage of that. We were even being served wine by the 'Wine Queen' of Rhineland-Westpfalz. We guessed that she won some sort of wine-related beauty pageant, but we weren't sure.


[Postcard of the Wine Queen and the Wine Queen herself]

After we finished our wine, it was time to head back to the train station to make sure that we caught the train going back to Berlin. It was very fun taking a day trip and getting out of the city. It is amazing how much you can see and how far you can go with a little weekend trip on a train.


[The train station in Neustadt Dresden; proof that Dad has been in Dresden... for 'research' on how Putin was in the KGB here during the DDR years]


[Dad and me, tasting wine. The obligatory self-portait of the blog]