Partial Holiday

This past week was my winter holiday. I spent my time traveling from a small village in the south of Germany to a small village in the North of Germany. For a small town girl myself, it has definitely pulled on my heartstrings in more ways than one. It also made me very thankful for living in Berlin instead of a small German village, where I couldn’t survive without family and friends. There is no English, nothing opened late, must drive a car (I think I could learn to handle this) and very hilly route for running! 

I couldn't help but daydream about summer evenings driving around town with my sisters. This view looks exactly like the hills outside of Mifflinburg. These kinds of views pull at me. 

Shall we start at the beginning of my break as the clock struck two and I darted out the door last Friday… I was making my way off the U3 to Wittenburg Platz where I met my friend, Umi. We decided to shop on the Ku’damm. Since my last post, I have signed-up to run the Nike Women’s 10km here in Berlin. 

I shouldn’t have to say but of course, I have now started to train. I have 19 weeks left until the race… and every day counts! With that distance to run, my Nike Free sneakers that I bought over a year ago wasn’t going to cut it. Plus, they say you should replace your sneakers every 6 months if you are running everyday. I know I wasn’t running everyday in the last year but I could just tell it was time. My shins were killing me from the lack of support. Now enough about my (lack of) knowledge about running, I went to Nike and purchased a new pair of sneakers.  The best purchase ever! I’m so in love. I’m finding reason after reason to wear them. It’s been easy since it’s been snowy and rainy lately and they are waterproof!  

 

After walking around the Teirgarten area of Ku’damm, we headed to The Bird. I’ve told you about The Bird. It’s that American burger place. Well, they now have two in Berlin. There is one in Kruezberg (X-Berg) that we frequent often. The night before Umi and I saw that the X-Berg restaurant was now serving mac-n-cheese poppers. It was a must to go! And we are so happy we did. Berlin has just become a bit more Americanized.

On Saturday, I went with one of my hockey friends to the German semi-finals. It was a tournament between the best men and women’s teams in all of Germany. Although in Berlin, not one Berlin team competed. It was an amazing day. I don’t think I ever saw hockey played at that level. It was crazy how big the crowd was for this. It was like a Bucknell basketball game… maybe a few less. Still for indoor hockey- this does not happen in Central PA. And the entrance/ announcement for the players… they shut off the lights and then there are spotlights, music, and smoke. It’s like announcing NBA players.

Of course after a long day of being out, I had to pay my dues on Sunday. I spent Sunday getting ready for my week of trips. (I promise to get to them soon.)  So it was a day of cleaning, laundry, packing, and running.

So now on to the trips… On Monday, I joined three new employees of FSAS to take a roadtrip to Künzelsau where the other FSAS school is located. This is actually the first FSAS School. It was built first and then the idea was to have a school in the capital. (I know when people say it like that it sound Hunger Games-ish.) For the three of them, it was really to see the concept in action and what the full potential could be back in Berlin. For me, it was to observe, compare, and analyze. Let’s just say I took three pages of notes… and if you want to hear about it- you’ll have to ask. Other than my “report”, the trip was very cool! The school is huge! Six separate buildings to create this whole complex. There is a primary school, a secondary, a furthering education, café/library, technology building, and a HUGE sports hall complete with a beautiful pool. The primary is similar to one that you would find in the States a bit more modern/ factory looking like on the inside. It’s hard to explain… maybe the pictures will help. The first night there we had dinner with our boss at the hotel. Oh WOW! That was certainly notably worthy. I should add we were out in the countryside. So when I say I had wild boar it will make you realize how good it really was! The next night we had dinner at a small Greek restaurant. It was delicious but just like in the States. Americanized/ Germanized Greek food. My new co-workers who I am dying to tell you about is Greek. She said it’s not like how mom would cook it. OK so that’s really all for the trip.

Next trip coming soon… it’s taking me too long to post. So I’ll leave you with this for now.

XOXO 

Happy Valentine's Day Week, my loves! 

PS: I'lll be working.