Berlin End-of-Stay Camp

Well I really hadn't expected my End-of-Stay camp in Berlin to come so soon...but like I've written before, "The time DOES really fly by." Overall, Berlin was a great time, but there were some major disappointments.

The disappointments were:
- We saw only a small bit of Berlin.
- Due to alcohol that was purchased and consumed by some, we lost the privilege to have a few hours to roam Berlin independently.
- We also couldn't watch the USA vs. England World Cup game as a part of the "punishment." Instead we went to the "Kuppel" (view point on top of the Reichstag) to see the sunset. Sad that we missed a bit of the World Cup, a major cultural event in Germany - the Germans go crazy for the World Cup (Weltmeisterschaft).
- I found the workshops, except for one, to be dumb.
- The liaisons were younger than me.
- The youth hostel was on the sixth floor of a converted warehouse, and we had to always climb 6 flights of stairs. And we weren't exactly in the main part of Berlin.
- Our "cultural experience" was two museums and a city tour in a bus (I missed half of it because I met up with my representative.) Just forget...We went to the Berlin Wall Memorial. I got to stand in both the former East and West Berlins.

The highlights of the camp:
- It was a great reunion with the CBYXers. It was wonderful to converse with other Americans experiencing similar things to me. I hadn't seen some of them since I left the Frankfurt Airport in September. Congo Line in the Train.
- I got to meet up with my Bundestag (German Parliament) representative, Otto Fricke. I'm the noodlehead that would wear a Copenhagen shirt to a meeting with my German Representative.
- On Friday, we spent the day at the Reichstag (House of Parliament) and the American Embassy. That was a phenomenal day. The American Ambassador, Philip Murphy, is from Middletown, New Jersey, and acted more like a celebrity than an Ambassador. It was hilarious. We also had a "CBYX Function" (I'm not sure how to really translate: Parlamentarisches Patenschafts Programm Veranstaltung.) in a huge conference room, where we were highly praised and congratulated by representatives from the Bundestag; some people shared their stories and how Germany has really impacted their lives. I give kudos to anyone who gave a speak not in their native language to a group of more than 300 people. Friday was the best day of the camp, in my opinion.
- I got the opportunity to speak English...with Americans! There's a big difference because Germans have a tendency to always say "homeworks", "informations", and use incorrect prepositions, or words that are "British English".
- After hearing some other exchange students speak German, for the first time in my year, I felt fully confident in my German. I also noticed a huge personal improvement, particularly grammatically, since my Mid-Stay camp in March. I really feel like having the spectacular host family that I'm blessed with has really enhanced my German and overall experience in Germany.

Me in front of the Brandenburger Gate

Some specific things that I noticed were:
- While many CBYXers aren't ready to accept that we're going home in 24 days, some were very open and shared the issues they fear when I fly back home, or they will miss their host family and/or friends sooo much. This involved many tears, and I had expected a more cheerful camp; I was astonished at the burdens some people carry. I felt happy to be able to say that I get along great with my host family and feel like a member of the family, and I'm looking forward to seeing my family in the States. Others had different opinions and qualms.
- The chiques within the CBYX group seemed to have altered. Some people seemed to present themselves differently in comparison to the first impressions they made at our orientation in Washington, D.C. in September. It was very striking how differently most portrait themselves. But on the other hand, some didn't seem to change at all. But there was a ton of personality in our group of now 48 CBYXers. (Two have gone home.)

Overall, this End-of-Stay camp gave me a wake-up call to how the time here is really winding down. I've already started to say good-bye to some people. Many have asked me when I'm going home. Three and a half weeks sounds quite nerve-racking. I have a few things that I'd like to do before I go home, and I know I'm really going to miss Germany...however, I'm equally excited to catch up with everything at home. This has been a great opportunity, and I feel like I got the most out of it as I possibly could, and I ain't stopping just yet. I'm expecting that the next few weeks will be very hectic. I'm going to Paris with my host family this weekend. I guess the car ride will help me brush up on some French...should be interesting. :-)

Bis dann,
Matt