End of Finals

I need to head to bed soon, but I really wanted a little closure on here before I embark on my adventure with Kye and Barb tomorrow morning! Or really, later this morning. Oops.

As of Thursday at 11:09am, I have fulfilled all of my academic obligations for my spring semester. Finally! And it felt so good to be done. I turned in my paper for my history class on Wednesday and then on Thursday I took an exam for my International Political Economy class. I lucked out on the exam: we had to choose two of three essay questions to answer, and we were given two hours, and the exact two topics that I'd already said would be my favorite to write about were on the test! It felt good to make my outline and know that I had plenty to say for each question, and to be confident that I knew what I was supposed to say. I really enjoyed that class, and studying for the final was encouraging because I still find the material interesting, and so it's always nice knowing that I made the right decision in taking that class.

That meant that today (Friday) was my last full day in Berlin. But I think I spent it well! I went to the Uni to say goodbye to Carmen, my program director, and I met Emma and Hilary at the Konzerthaus for an awesome tour of the building. It's the Spielzeitpause, or break in the performance season, which means they're catching up on some repairs and cleaning. It was a very unique look for the grand concert house! I enjoyed the tour and loved that I was able to understand our friendly guide as well.

In one of the smaller performance halls

Afterwards we stopped by Fassbender & Rausch to see the Brandenburger Tor made out of chocolate, picked up a few more chocolates from Ritter Sport, did a little shopping, and then met Maria and her parents for dinner. We wanted to eat at Salat Boutique but it was closed, so our beloved Vapiano's stepped in and saved the day! I loved having the opportunity to meet Maria's parents, they are so friendly. She's from Romania, if I haven't explained, and her parents drove to pick her up and spend a few days seeing Berlin with her.

This whole week has felt pretty weird, because the time crunch suddenly hit me. However up until Thursday I had to spend a fair amount of time studying, though I continued to do much of my studying at cafes or bookstores. I took most of Tuesday off and went to Szczecin, Poland with Hilary and Emma, which was a really fun experience and a nice break. We saw a castle, churches, and the busyness commonly found in a beautiful harbor town. And I can't forget the pretty Polish money.

The very cool, very old mechanical clock in the castle courtyard

Polish złoty!

But it's still been weird, feeling a deadline in the back of my head. And it's not like a school deadline, where once you finish the work or take the test you don't have to think about it anymore. I can't "finish" Berlin before this deadline hits, but thankfully I think I can look back and say that I'm still happy with what I've accomplished. And I don't have to really say good bye yet! Kye, Barb and I leave tomorrow for Prague (hopefully I'll be able to post an update or two during our trip), but I will return to Berlin on the 30th, next Saturday, to run one last 10k and finish packing before flying out on the 31st. It's comforting to know that I may be leaving Berlin, but I get to come home to it one last time!