Lübeck

Realizing that I will be home SUPER soon (cannot wait to see everyone!), my friend Joanna and I decided we should try to fit in another last minute trip, so we planned one to the cute little german harbor town of Lübeck!

We HAD to catch a train at 6:31 AM, so I set my alarm for 5:30, thinking i would have ample time to get ready. You know, cause i’m so responsible like that.

Next thing I know, I am woken up by strong knocking at my door. Confused, I roll over and look at the alarm clock. It says 6:22. Woops.

In record time I got dressed, grabbed my train ticket, and then we RAN to the train station, and made it with about 30 seconds to spare. It’s actually really funny looking back, but mostly impressive.

Lübeck was awesome though. I love going to different cities and experiencing them, and this was no different. It was pretty small, AKA we saw the entire town in a day, but i loved it.

Cue the pix.

Lübeck is super cute, here is an example…

The first thing we did was go to the top of the highest church tower in the town. From it we could see the entire town. It was supes cold and windy, but so worth it.

Here is the view from the top! Man, i am going to miss adorable old european towns.

Here is my mockery of the puppet museum.

Now, the REAL reason we came to Lübeck was their renowned Christmas Markets! I know I have already declared my love for Christmas Markets to the world, but it has gotten even bigger.

It was gorgeous.

And so festive! But the best part? Children love Christmas Markets, and bundled up children are the cutest. You might look at this picture and say, “Why would you pose in front of that so awkwardly Kaitlin?” to which I respond “Look at the child in the car. precious.”

Other Lübeck highlight? This huge wolf statue.

We met some cool people, saw some beautiful things, and ate some dank food. great success!

A week from yesterday I will be in NYC with my sister. A week from tommorrow I will be home. What?!

Cannot wait to see you all!

love,

inappropriate? maybe.

kaitlin.

some little lists.

I have already started getting nostalgic.

it’s a little ridiculous, actually. the other day, as i sat with a friend, it suddenly hit me, in a week, we will be back in America. And in about a month, i will look back and say “hey, remember that one time i lived in Germany? yeah, that was awesome.”

now, don’t get me wrong, i am beyond excited to come home and see my family and friends. like, WAY too excited. but i have appreciated being here so much. i have never had so many adventures, experienced so many things, and learned as much about myself as i have these past few months.

People ask me: do you think you’ve changed?

yeah, i have. it’s kindof impossible not to while being over here. and i’ve been trying to figure out and analyze some of the ways i’ve changed. so here goes nothing:

i think i appreciate those in my life more. being so far from everyone i love back home has shown me just how important you all are to me.

i am a lot more independent. Now that i know i can navigate a city on my own, travel to a country where no one speaks my language and get around, cook and clean myself, and handle a lot of culture shock, i am not as afraid of the future. i have confidence that wasn’t there, and im not as timid when facing life’s challenges.

i’ve realized that i don’t know everything. in fact, i know a lot less about the world than i ever thought i did.

i’ve also realized i can’t judge people at all. not only do i have no right to judge, but i have no time to love people when i do that.

and most importantly, i’ve learned that God is the same God over here as He is in America. And even though my life can do a complete 180, He’s solid. it’s the best.

Here are a couple fun lists:

Things i will miss about Deutschland:

1. the absolutely amazing friends i have made here.

2. learning a lot about being independent.

3. getting to travel to another country for a weekend.

4. the kooky people you meet in hostels.

5. bakeries and breweries. enough said.

6. christmas markets and gluhwein.

7. the best teachers i have ever had in my life.

8. public transit.

9. speaking german

10. the history of this place.

11. all you can eat sushi sundays, pizza mondays, and doner donerstags.

Things i miss about America:

1. my friends and family. i honestly think i appreciate you all now more than ever.

2. free water at restaurants.

3. free public restrooms.

4. good mexican food.

5. my mom’s cooking

6. understanding what everyone is saying around me.

7. getting to communicate with everyone around me.

8. having internet that actually works.

9. economics and accounting classes. (i know, weird, right?)

10. getting to pet dogs without getting weird looks.

11. the sun. (funny cause it’s true)

something i’ve realized over the past year is that i am so blessed always having a hard time leaving wherever i am. the fact that it is hard for me to say goodbye to those i love and places i love just shows how wonderful it was.

ok, prepare yourselves folks, because im about to get all cheesy on you.

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Dr. Seuss.

so wise. too bad i’ve already started the cry fest. oh well. sorry Dr. Seuss!

i love you all so much,

kaitlin

ps- can it be noted that i wrote this entire sappy blog entry while simeltaniously listening to gangsta underground german rap. i don’t know what that says about me, but i felt as though it was relevant.

pps- sorry for no pictures. i am working on some other more interesting blogs, just you wait!

PRAGUE

Thanksgiving in Prague was wonderful. It was a beautiful city, and i got to spend it with beautiful friends, it doesn’t get much better than that!

That was probably one of the lamest introductions i have ever written, but i mean it. We took the bus to Prague Thursday afternoon, and came back Sunday, so it was a jolly good time.

As always, I feel as though pictures can do a better job than my writing can, so let’s go for it!

First things first, it was a really pretty city. Not just a, “oh it looks nice at night” or “oh that is a pretty view” kind of thing, EVERYTHING was beautiful. Here is an example:

yeah. i just stared a lot at the cool buildings. But i did some other things too. For example, I tried to pose like a statue.

We also cooked a nice little Thanksgiving meal in our hostel. It wasn’t as good as what my family makes, but it sure was nice to have a little piece of home while we were in the Czech Republic. Here is our cute lil “Family at the Dinner Table Pic”.

Here is my, “I freaking love Thanksgiving!” pic:

We also hiked to the top of this really big hill/mountain/whatever so that we could climb to the top of their version of the Eiffel Tower. It was literally a copy of the Paris one (so I thought of you Caroline!), except baby version. Supes cute.

Here’s an action shot of the hike, because letz be real, every blog entry needs at least one action shot to keep the masses entertained:

Ok, maybe the action shot wasn’t supes cool, but this picture of the view from the top sure is!

We also found a swing at the top of the mountain, and we wanted to swing on it, so we waited an awkwardly extended period of time for a child to get off of it. But it was totally worth it.

After, we went to the Lennon Wall. Which until we got there, i was under the impression it was called the “Lenin Wall” aka all about Communism. But to my surprise, it was all about John Lennon, and the Beatles! Who would’ve thought! So we obviously took an indie band picture.

I also became a Theta during my stay in Prague.

JUST KIDDING. But my friend needed someone to complete the kite, so I figured my sorority girl status could help.

We also ate these fried cheese sandwiches. I had friends who had been raving about them, so we tried them. They were good, but i felt like i wanted to vomit for about 2 hours after. Was it worth it? YEAH.

Another cool thing about Prague was the MARKETS. First we went to a cool street market, so many veggies!

We also went to a Christmas Market. I have never been in the Christmas spirit more than i have been this past week. There is something magical about being in such an old and beautiful city with so many festive stands and decorations. I just love Christmas markets! I was tempted to type that in all CAPS, but i thought i’d spare you. Instead, here is a picture.

We also visited the Prague Castle, which just happens to be the biggest castle in the world. Pretty sweet. We took a picture with the guard, who an hour later, during the changing of the guard, made sure to give us the biggest evil eye ever. I think that means we took a successful picture?

Here is my favorite statue in Prague. Why would this be your favorite statue Kaitlin? it is of a dying Saint!” You question/exclaim. Good question. Even better answer: for some reason the angel baby cherub is choosing to suck on the foot of the saint. Why? The world may never know. But i love it!

In honor of Mustache Movember, I took this poster from the wall of a club. Who knew even the Czechs celebrate Movember! Here is a pic of me trying to fit in with the boys.

Looking back, I am so blessed to have gotten to go on this trip. It was so much fun, and so much beauty. Here is one more pic, I can’t help myself.

By the way, I have my friends Ian, Christina, and Paz to thank for all of these pictures. (Due to the fact that my camera is broken haha)

I cannot believe I only have a week and a half left here. I am so excited to see all of you back home, you can’t even imagine, but i’m kind of freaking out about leaving. I have so much more to do in Berlin.

I literally pinch myself everyday, It seems like a dream being over here. I am so blessed and thankful. And I am SO thankful for all of your love and prayers, and even the fact that you read blog stuff like this.

with all of the love that my dope heart can handle,

kaitlin

some little but wonderful things.

[PRETEND THAT THIS WAS POSTED ABOUT A WEEK AGO]

I haven’t written in a long time. I’m sorry. And I know that I say this all the time. But I am sorry, life has just been crazy hectic and filled with fun that its hard to find time to sit down and hash out a blog. But here it goes!

Also, note: this may be a little word heavy, due to the fact that my camera broke, so I rely on stealing pictures from everyone around me. RIP camera.

Battle of the Bands: such a cool night. So one of my friends here had sweet hook ups with this band, and got us on this private list for an underground battle of the bands: German style. It was so legit, and really cool to see 8 bands play (ranging from supes hardcore to country-esque).

My German really came in handy as I yelled out “Ich mochte deine Babies zu haben!” which roughly translates to “I wanna have your babies” auf Deutsch. I got a couple weird looks, I guess that isn’t as common to say at German concerts as it is in America? But I was so proud of my German that I didn’t really notice. Also, I learned something. Some German men shave their armpits. It is a weird sight to see a fully bearded rocker man lift up his arms and NO HAIR. I also feel like this is a weird thing to write about on a blog, but I couldn’t stop laughing, so naturally, I thought, man, I should probably post it online.

Where in the World is Angela Merkel? I got to see the Chancellor’s office this past week. The tour was not the most interesting tour I have ever been on, so a couple of us decided to come up with a legit photo-journal entitled, “Where in the office is Angela Merkel?” (think, where in the world is Carmen san diego? Or where’s waldo?) It was great. So, even though we didn’t get to meet the Chancellor ourselves, she was definently watching us the whole time. I have my friend Brenden to thank for these pictures and the photoshopping.

Inspired by http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/09/dad-photoshops-ewoks-into-his-family-photos-to-convince-his-kids-ewoks-are-real/.

School: I have written 32 pages worth of research papers the past week. It’s kind of a joke. In fact, one day I had been sitting at my computer for so long typing that my butt hurt so bad that I couldn’t sit on it anymore. This is why I am not an English major. BUT! I got them done, and now am basically smooth sailing until finals.

Here are some examples of what i look like when i go crazy from studying too much with Lauren.

we hot.

i call this one alien chic…

 Berlin Philharmonie: May have been one of the only people under the age of 60, but it was one of the coolest things I have had the opportunity to see/hear. An entire orchestra playing Mozart for three hours! I literally got lost in the music, and absolutely loved it.

All dressed up with my friend Ian, because, everyone knows you have to get all dressed up to compete with the fashionable older folk.

I am honestly love it more and more here each day. I am so incredibly blessed to just be here and experience so much life. BUT I am coming home real soon, and I cannot wait to see all of you beautiful and wonderful friends and family.

LOVE LOVE LOVE,

kaitlin

POLAND

I really should be working on the ridiculous amount of work that I have to do. But after being in Poland for the past nine days of my life, I really just want to write about my adventures. So, being the great student that I am, I decided to exercise self-control and do just that.

So this past week, 75 people from my program went to Poland for our excursion. After planning all of the other trips I have gone on, it was awesome to just get to sit back, relax, and let someone else do the planning.

It was by far one of the funnest weeks of my life. [don’t worry, my faithful reader, lets just pretend like funnest is a word. wait… is it a word?]. 

Some things that are good to know about Poland:

1.     Polish people are adorable. So huggable and precious. This man gave me bird seed. Isn’t he the cutest?

2.     The Polish train system is terrible. Also, the train ticket collectors are mean and will yell at you in Polish. When you respond by saying you don’t speak Polish, they simply increase the speed at which they talk in Polish. Then, when you proceed to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, they WILL threaten to kick you off the train at 10 PM. However, if you simply refuse to get up until your stop (2 hours later) they will eventually give up.

3.     You do not need to speak English in order to be a tour guide for English speakers. Direct quotations “Ummm… there were museums and … inventories… the mermaid change… see? Yes. It change”. It was probably the funniest/worst tour I have ever been on.

4.     Poland has peacocks running wild. Who would have known?

5. Auschwitz is one of the most powerful places I have ever been. I have never felt so moved and so saddened. I am so blessed to have been given the chance to visit it. I could literally write a whole post about it… but I wont because I will probably cry again. Let me know if you want to hear about it though, I would love to share :)

6. All Saints Day is a HUGE deal in Poland. So we visited some cemetaries. It was such a cool holiday to witness.

7. Poland in the fall is BEAUTIFUL.

8. Children in Poland like to pose on lion statues for no reason. Which automatically qualifies it as one of the coolest countries ever.

9.     Having random photo shoots at castles and museums are the BEST. Especially if it gets you yelled at by a Policeman. Here is such a picture. (Notice the policeman in the left hand side)

    Here are some more photo shoots. I like to call this first one, Indie band pic.

I call this one, “posing on a medieval toliet in a castle”

I like to call this one, “Worm, frog, and Lisa chillin with some cannon balls”. I feel as though it is self explanitory.

Here is one I like to call, “Oh just chillin with my guns out in a speedo looking thing”

I like to call this one “Sometimes palace tours get a tad boring, so you need to take pictures as if you are a lion statue thing”

Just dropping trough in a Tectonic Knight castle…

I can’t remember the last time I have laughed as much as I did this past week (and that is saying a LOT because I laugh allz the time)

One thing I am especially grateful for on this trip is friends. I have made some of the most wonderful friends I could ever ask for while abroad. I am so blessed. Here are some pictures of them.

Look at how cute they are :)

and look at how awkward they are as well!

Needless to say, it was a wonderful trip. And i have my wonderful friend Nora to thank for many of these pictures. Including this gem of a pic…

I cannot believe I have only a month left here in Berlin. It is crazy how fast time has gone. I have so much more I want to experience here, but at the same time I am so excited to see all of my loved ones back home.

Thank you guys for your love and prayers and just for being the best ever!

with all the love my little heart can handle,

kaitlin

Zeit mit meine Mutter!

That means time with my mother auf Deutsch. I know, I know, I am really improving aren’t I? But in all honesty, I am getting better! I can actually speak to people (somewhat) and sometimes I just get the urge to speak in German to everyone. Which I guess is good because I am in a country where everyone speaks German? I don’t know where I am going with this. Moving on.

So, I spent this past week with my Mom. It was the best. I could literally just sit here and cry (happy tears) of joy and gratitude for the time I got to spend with her. But instead of doing that, I decided to be a little more productive and write a blog for you, my faithful reader. So if you don’t know my Mom, let me tell you something. She is one of the most wonderful people on planet earth. She cares about everyone far more than herself, and is super loving. She also hates flying. However, she overcame her fear and flew all the way to Germany to see me. It was totes crackin’. (that combines my love for abbrevees along with my love for Scotland)

Look at how cute she is!

We did basically all of the touristy things you can do in Berlin. We saw the East Side Gallery, cool museums, Bradenburg Tour, ate Doner [so dank] and just took public transit all over the place, it was fantastic.

Just chillin in front of touristy berlin stuff… WITH MY MOM.

Sup Bradenburg Tour

And while I could concentrate on these things, I would prefer to tell you some of the more memorable moments. I will also sprinkle in some pictures with no relevance to what I am talking about.

I like to call this one “Carol Takes a Tumble”. If you would like a visual description, youtube “Scarlett Takes a Tumble”. So, I had just picked up my Mom from the airport and we were taking the subway back to my apartment. She didn’t know that the trains start as quickly as they do. I am laughing right now just trying to write this. You know when someone tries to tell a joke and they can’t because they are laughing? Imagine that. So basically, the subway starts, and she FLIES back, and falls on a German woman (a grumpy one at that). Oh my goodness, I just wish I had a video. Needless to say, we couldn’t stop laughing, and Mrs. Grumpy German Lady gave us evil eyes for the next twenty minutes. It was fantastic.

Look at me now, look at me now, im buying tickets!

I was going to tell a story here called “Always lock the Boys Bathroom door when you decide to use it instead of the girls bathroom when it has a super long line”, but I decided that would not be appropriate for a public forum.

Mom’s first Doner. Welcome to my staple food of about 3- 10 times a week.

I will call this last story, “Mom’s got Game”. So there is this super nice Chinese Restuarant right by my apartment complex that I have wanted to go the whole time I have lived here, but unfortunately it doesn’t fit into my 2 Euro a meal budget. But I got to go with my Mom and it was marvelous. Our waiter was also marvelous… until he started to make the moves on my Mom, then it got real awkward. I wont go in depth, but lets just say that it started with “Are you two sisters?” and ended with “I get done with work at 11 tonight, would you like to go out and see the town?” LOLZ. Rest assured Dad, she declined the advances.

In front of a fountain in Hamburg… cause you know, gotta get those pix in front of all the fountains you can.

We also took a weekend trip to a city in Germany called Hamburg, about 3 hours outside of Berlin. It was really great. The best thing about Hamburg? Well, other than the fact that I got to hang out with my mom there, the people are called Hamburgers.

Yeah, I know, the puns were endless. Here are some that I thought of:

“Look at all the talking Hamburgers!”

“I wonder if the Hamburgers are cannibalistic”

“Look, another talking Hamburger! Oh man, they are just everywhere.”

“Mom, I just talked to a Hamburger! A real life hamburger!”

Biking in Hamburg around the bay 

Ok, let be real, the puns were not endless. I mainly repeated the same ones over and over. But I thought they were funny. We saw some wonderful things, biked around a beautiful bay, and ate some traditional German food. It was legit.

Taking an elevator up the tallest church/memorial in Hamburg.

But Moral of the story, I am so blessed by this past week. I am so blessed by my Mom. I am so blessed for all of the friends I have made here, and for all of the friends back home that I miss immensely. Over the past couple of months, I have been learning more and more about myself, about others, and about God, and I could not be more excited about it all.

You guys, life is so good.

I love you all so much!

Thank you for the prayers and love you send me all the time,

Kaitlin

Is this real life?

Answer: No.

Looking back on the past 12 days, I am honestly in awe of the experiences I have been blessed to have, the beautiful sights I have seen, and the incredible people I have met. And even as I sit here and try to write a blog, I have a hard time knowing that I won’t do the trip justice. But if I don’t write about it now, I never will, so I am just going to give it a whirl.

12 days. 4 flights. 3 countries. 2 people. 1 experience I will never forget.

We started out in Ireland. Dublin was beautiful, filled with hundreds of wonderful pubs with live music and the friendliest people ever. We arrived at midnight and hopped on a bus to our hostel, and were greeted by about 15 very drunk Irish 20somethings. After being in Germany for so long, it was awesome to have people that were both speaking our language AND louder than us. [the loud American stereotype doesn’t exist in Ireland]. They sang us a couple of songs, told us where to hang out, then stumbled off the bus. It was the best greeting ever.

The Irish Countryside was beautiful.

The windy but wonderful shore. My brother says to put up more pics of my face covered, because i look better in them. so i did.

i felt at home in dublin nightlife, as people wore TIGER ONESIES. i love this place!

THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD. LOOK AT THIS EXCITEMENT.

We explored the city on a tour (the tour guide just happened to know one of my good friends from Trinity College- SUCH a small world), went to the Guiness factory, listened to cool live pub music, explored some Irish beach and harbor towns, ate some dank food, went on a tour to see the Cliffs of Moher (it was too foggy to see anything haha), and met some fantastic people. But after only three days, it was time to pack our bags and move on.

Irish farewell. Which is fitting, because at this point of the blog, i am moving on.

We flew into Edinburgh, and were picked up from the airport by a bus that would become our tour vehicle for the next three days as we explored the Scottish highlands. Scotland stole my heart. I was blown away by the beauty that was around each and every corner. I was just so in awe of the beauty of God’s creation everywhere we went.

I literally just sat in awe.

I also looked into the distance. I call this one, “A warrior contemplates her existance”

This is my hairy cow friend. I wanted to bring him home. Ryannair said no. I was all WTFBBQ!

My guide thought I had a weird obsession with animals. I think that was a bit absurd. I only asked him if sheep liked hugs. Here are some sheep. I ran up to them and they all ran away, i still like them though.

Here is my, I’m on a boat picture. Because I was ON A BOAT. we caught some awesome seafood and ate it. It was absolutely wonderful. ALSO Lotus. I want you to know that lotsa people loved the headband you made. So, you should just move to Scotland and open up a shop.

Our tour guide Jaime took us around to some beautiful castles, majestic hikes, rolling hills, wonderful lakes (I even took a swim with Nessy in loch Ness), and small towns. We cooked our meals in a homey hostel right on a lake, caught scallops on a fishing boat and ate them raw (IT WAS STILL TWITCHING), got a ride in a tow truck for five hours, and heard legends and stories from Scottish history. It was crackin’. (That is a Scottish term for “cool”, im trying to make it work).

I gave Scotland a big hug, here is a picture of it.

When we arrived back in Edinburgh, I was lucky enough to get to see my friend Gavin who is studying there! It was so nice to just get to catch up, even for just a bit. Also, David, if you are reading this, Gavin says to tell you that you are from Wales. Haha I tried to mimic Gavin’s Irish accent after being in his Homeland for 3 days, but sadly my Irish accent is almost as bad as my German one.  

GAVIN IS THE BEST

After Scotland, we boarded a plane and landed in London. I absolutely loved London as well, but it was a bit of a shock when we first got there. We arrived at our hostel at midnight, and I entered the 20 person room. That’s right, 20 person.  As I got settled in my bed, I realized a very important lesson, Italian and Spaniard men are creepy. I don’t like to generalize, but oh well, sometimes we do things we don’t like to do.  I don’t know if it is because I am tan or what, but Spanish men would just come up to me speaking Spanish, thinking I understood. I didn’t. (4 years in high school helped me a lot… not).

But, here is an example of said creepiness: As I get into bed the first night, a man in the bunk above me pokes his head down “Hello there!” he says. “Hello.” I respond, not super friendly-y (it was 1 AM and I was sleepy) “What is your name? Where are you from? What are you up to?” immediately followed. I couldn’t help but LOL. What was I up to? I was in bed, with covers on. I was def about to go clubbing. He proceeded to play me some of his favorite music, which he sung along to, and tell me a bit of his life story. Three days later, the same man asked me to marry him, saying that “then I will be able to get a green card and live in America” … I always heard the Italians were Romantics.

But creepers aside, London was awesome. I have never seen so many Tourists in my life, so I had so much fun people watching. The parks were beautiful, and there was so much history. We got to see “We Will Rock You”, a musical made of all Queen songs, which I loved, ate some awesome food in Chinatown, explored Soho and Covenant Garden, saw Big Ben, took Communion in Westminster Abbey (I know, right!?), walked over a lot of bridges (London loves their bridges), and explored some beautiful and colorful markets.

Look ma, I made friends!

There were so many large animal statues in London.

Me and my friend Sarah on the London Eye

We ate this super dank food from the China town. Here is a picture. I don’t remember what it was called. I also don’t remember what kind of meat was in it. but i do remember it was super cheap and yummy and made my tummy hurt for about two hours afterwards.

London has leash kids too! I would have set them free, but scissors weren’t allowed in my carry on.

The markets were the bomb. Free samples all over the place. It was like Costco, but better food, and everyone had british accents, and it was outside.

Sup big ben

I also had the opportunity to meet up with my friend Pebbles (or Jillian) from FOHO. It was awesome to see her school, meet her friends, and catch up a bit.

FOHO reunion!

And in the blink of an eye, it was time to go home. We soon realized that our flight was so early in the morning that public transit wouldn’t run, so we got to have an awesome little sleepover in the airport! The floor was a tad cold, but it could have been worse [it hit me that people sleep outside on the ground all the time. I don’t know how they do it. I just know that I want to do whatever I can to help get people off the streets].

Overall, I had so much fun. I hope I never forget the past 12 days.

I love and miss you all!

Kaitlin

 What better way to end a blog than with a picture of a hairy cow?

Good answer, my faithful reader. There is no better way to end a blog.

Deutsch Abenteuer

I am smack dab in the middle of midterms. I know, its weird, right? I kind of forgot I was here to go to school. Just kidding mom and dad. :) But you know what I mean.

Here are some tidbits of my life:

Accomplishment:

A couple of days ago, the light in my bathroom completely broke. This meant I had to go see the Hausmeister (aka the apartment manager). He is notoriously very bad at English and especially stern. I was pretty scared to go talk to him, but I thought, hey, this will be an excellent opportunity to test my German knowledge!

Low and behold, I am not as bad as I thought! (or as my german grade reflects).  Also, a big smile goes a long way. I may have told him the wrong room number, but he only LOLed at me a grand total of 3 times, and understood me. “Die Lampe in mein Badzimmer ist kaput!” My light is now good-to-go, and I feel like I deserve a cookie or something.

However, I did laundry for the first time this trip. (I know… it has been over a month. Haters gonna hate) the laundry machiene pwned me. Like a noob. I don’t want to go into it, but basically, couldn’t get the dryer to work, and now my clothes are hanging all around my room.

Fußball!

So freaking fun. I went with some kids in the program to see Hertha (Berlin’s team) play. The soccer culture is huge here. And the cheering section is like the UCLA student section times 15 on steroids and super intoxicated. In fact, the cheering section never stopped singing and chanting. It was awesome.

Just a Normal day in Class:

My European Business Cultures Class had a field trip. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was sehr kuhl! We went to Deutsch Welle, an international German TV station headquarters. We met with the head of business operations, sat in a boardroom and drank out of champagne glasses, saw a live taping of the news, and at the end they took us to the roof and we saw a BEAUTIFUL view of Berlin as the sun set over the city. It was probably the best fieldtrip I have even been on. I love my classes here, because we get to really learn things and experience them first hand. It makes it slightly easier to study for midterms. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the rest is true.

Oktoberfest:

One of the best nights I have had here to date. A couple of friends and I decided to go out, and get off the subway at Alexanderplatz. We walk out of the underground, and low and behold, stumble upon Oktoberfest! (Granted, this wasn’t the huge, Munich, touristy Oktoberfest, but it was Berlin Oktoberfest at its finest). We couldn’t believe our luck and decided to hang out there for a while, grab some wonderful food and drink, and soak it all in. To be honest, I still don’t completely understand Oktoberfest, I think it’s just an excuse for tons of people to drink tons of beer and eat tons of food, but hey, I’m not complaining.

After hanging out for a while we decided to head down to a pub down the street, and as we are walking, we stumble upon a street performer with a huge crowd. I run on over, and its just a guy playing guitar, but everyone around him is singing along and dancing. I absolutely loved it. So we stood there, sung along, had a jolly old time, and then a man in a giant penis costume runs over and starts dancing in the center. Why? I have no clue. It was one of those “Is this real life?” moments. I seem to be having a lot of those this trip, which is awesome. 

Today:

I found a cool church, called the International Church of Berlin. I like it, it is so nice to just worship with other believers here and be reminded that I’m not alone in this city. God is so faithful. However, being here has made me so greatful for the wonderful teachers and churches back home. I will never take them for granted again.

I also went to The East Side Gallery, which was so LEGIT. Its weird to me that I’ve been in Berlin for over a month and haven’t seen probably the most toursity thing there is after the Bradenburg gate. It is much better described by pictures.

Future:

So on Thursday I leave for 11 days for an adventure with my friend Sarah. I could not be more excited to see Ireland, Scotland, and London on our own. I would really appreciate all of your prayers! [knowing my directional skillz, prayers are needed haha] But really, I am loving every minute, and each day I feel more and more blessed to be here.

I feel like the best way to end this post is with a picture of me and a couple of dead old guy famous actor ghosts.

Pretty cool, huh?

I love you guys a whole lot,

kaitlin

copenhagen

Ok, so i know it has been a while. i’m sorry. i hope my three readers haven’t deserted me due to lack of material. life has become a little crazy (in a good way), and i keep WANTING to write, but i never seem to find the time.

So, this past weekend i went to Copenhagen. It was absolutely wonderful! I didn’t really know what to expect, but i was blown away by the city and loved every second.

We flew in on friday (i woke up at 3:30 AM to catch the first train to the airport… gross) and ended up getting there at 8am (worth it). we had a packed weekend and had tons of fun.

I figure that pictures may be a better way to explain the weekend. Here goes nothing.

When we first got there, we went to the hostel and dropped off our bags. We then headed over to the Botanical Gardens. Sehr schon! The leaves were actually “fall colored”, and i got so excited i took a picture in them. It looks like a senior picture. You know, the ones you send out so that people send you graduation money? So here it is. You guys can send me money if you insist.

But for reals, the gardens were beautiful.

i love nature!!!!!!!

funny story: midway through the first day, i meet a nice danish person. they inform me that wearing a dress or skirt without tights is the sign of a prostitute. which was really cool, especially because i had been wearing a dress all day and getting interesting looks. so i changed.

This is just a normal sight on a Copenhagen street. NBD.

BOAT TOUR TIME. it was actually really cool. highlight: there was a double rainbow all the way across the sky. Now Richard, i know that you don’t read this, but i thought of you. I loved getting to see the harbor and the canals of Copenhagen.

Now, i don’t know if you are ready for this next one. Copenhagen’s most famous attraction is the Little Mermaid. (like the disney movie, i dedicate this picture to you, Briana Jones).  Hans Chrisitian Anderson wrote the story here, so they love it. We get to the statue, and there are hundreds gathered around it.

I don’t really get the big deal. But, i jumped down on the rock and posed. Don’t i look like her? pretty sure i’m in about 20 tourist’s pictures. H8rs gonna H8.

Here is my token harbor pic. The harbor was absolutely beautiful. I loved all of the different colored buildings and sailboats.

Yeah, i ate that.

Guard tower. I’ve realized that my captions have gotten shorted due to laziness and lack of time. my bad.

Just an artsy palace pic with a weird looking lion in the front.

I frickin love roses. Note the fact that i wore tights today. No prostituting for me!

Palace Gardens with Martha, Stephanie, and Sarah- the girls i traveled with.

We then decided to go to the top of Saviors Church. It is the tallest building in Copenhagen, and you can climb over 400 stairs to the top of the tower. (see the winding stairs around it?) So cool! From the top, you could look down at the entire city.

So, here are some pictures from that:

Here is my, “oh my goodness i’m at the top of the tower and taking a myspace pic of myself with a big golden ball” picture.

We then hung out in the town square for a bit. My friends went back to the hostel, but i decided to just hang out and enjoy the street performers. So i bought a hot dog, sat on a bench, and relaxed. it was probably my favorite part of the day.

As i was walking back to the hostel, i came upon this cool tower looking museum thing. so i thought, why not go to the top? It was awesome. I just sat and watched the sunset as old people couples watched around me. [don’t ask me why there were so many old people couples, i guess they just eat up those tower museum sunset views].

As the sun peered through the clouds in that amazing way that is occasionally does, it hit me. Even though this city was beautiful, it did not even compare to the glory of God. Everything is simply rubbish compared to Him. God is so freaking good you guys!

Overall, i would give this trip an A+. (minus the part that i may have gotten a minor concussion, but that is a story for another time)

Another thing. When i came back to Germany, i had the weirdest feeling. As i walked out of the airport i thought, “that was wonderful, but it sure is nice to be home”. Home? who am i? But in all sincerity, it is so nice to feel so at home here. I cannot believe i am 1/3 of the way done.

This blog would not be complete without a picture of Danish children. They are probably the cutest little balls of fun i have ever seen.

I love you all a whole lot, thank you for the prayers and love you all send me! It literally means the world to me,

kaitlin

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

Incredibly powerful and moving. I don’t think i will ever forget it.
It made me literally sick to walk around a place where over 40,000 were murdered. I cannot even comprehend the evil acts that people can do to one another; but it serves as a stinging reminder of how we have to help the helpless.

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s case.”

Isaiah 1:16-17

with all of the love that my heart can handle,

Kaitlin