Berlin Project Week
Arriving in Berlin, we were greeted with an icy cold, and later even some snow. At least, I found it cold. Half of the 6 students being Norwegian, they probably wouldn’t agree.
On our first full day, we were taken to the central area of Berlin and told to explore, and Eirik and Caroline took advantage of this opportunity. The remaining 4 of us decided to look through the chocolate and toy sections of the Galleria department store. The area was actually very interesting but didn’t quite live up to our tour of the Prenzlauer Berg area with Christian’s (our teacher’s) brother. Here is one of many interesting quotes from our tour guide: ‘Berlin is a city of beer. You must know that.’
The next day we travelled to Potsdam, where we took a tour of the Sans Souci palace and then ate schnitzel for lunch. I was certain that schnitzel was a typical German dish and that we were being immersed in culture but alas, it was served with tagliatelle. On Sunday we were treated to a typical German brunch, of course in a Mexican restaurant. It must be noted, that our diet did include many bratwurst, currywurst, chocolate (of the German varieties only of course!) and our evenings included plenty of German beer (consumed by a select few) and a strange card game which Miguel seems to have invented.
Monday included a tour of the foreign office and tea with Christian’s parents, as well as a second visit to the Rittesport shop, much to Lina’s delight. Tuesday included a whistle stop tour of the Brandenburg gate, Humboldt University, book burning square, the new synagogue, the impressive Pergamon museum, however the majority of the afternoon was spent in a squat house full of artists and interesting graffiti, named Taacheles. Strangely Eirik felt very at home there.
Wednesday included a visit to a school in the east section of Berlin, where we were able to talk about Atlantic College, and also realise how lucky we are in our location and situation here at AC. We were treated to a tour of the Parliament buildings by a friend of Christian’s in the afternoon, which were a strange mixture of old and very modern architecture, as with many buildings in Berlin. Thursday was time to go home, but not before a visit to the vast Jewish museum, which somewhat overwhelmed me and Miguel!
We as a group would like to thank Christian for his time and effort into such an excellent trip, which both bettered our German and was extremely enjoyable. Who could have thought learning German could be so much fun?
We love Berlin.
= Sarah Pettem.

















