School trip to Berlin!

5/8/23- 5/12/23

This was probably one of my favorite things I've done on exchange! It was so so great and fun and now I want to live in Berlin at one point in my life.

MONDAY

We took a bus to Berlin. There were two buses and we were split into a humanities and stem group. I was in humanities and our bus was so loud. We got the more annoying and loud boys. Someone brought a speaker and they played music and were singing for like 4 hours. So that was terrible. When we were in Berlin and driving through the city, I was so amazed. I love Berlin so much. It's so artsy and alternative, and the people dress so well. I don't think it's the prettiest city, but it's probably one of the coolest cities in the world.

We got to our hostel in the evening. I roomed with Anna, Judith, and Vera. We walked into our room and we were jumping around because we got the best room. Our room had lots of space and our own bathroom. But the best thing about our room was that we got a balcony! We treasured our balcony that whole week; it was our pride and joy.

We had free time for the rest of the night so after we put our luggage down and changed, we went outside. We walked around Berlin and went into this really pretty park which turned out to be a cemetery. If the weather wasn't so perfect, I would've been a little spooked out, but it was sunny and warm and walking around the garden was really beautiful. I thought that when I died, I would love to be buried here. Judith said, though, that she wouldn't want her family to spend that much money to bury her there plus she wanted to donate her body to science. She's so practical. So Dutch. We couldn't find the exit and we kept running into dead ends and it got a little spooky. But then, we found the exit and we could keep walking around.

We went to this pizza restaurant. I picked a pepperoni pizza and the guy warned me that it was spicy, but Europe spicy specifically Italian spicy is not spicy. However, when I was eating it, I thought it was kinda spicy. I'm curious to eat food at home and see if my tastebuds have changed. I haven't eaten anything spicy this year, so maybe my spice tolerance has gone down? I'll be sad if it has gone down.

After we finished, we walked to the Alexander plaza and got drinks outside. Then, we walked around some more and took electric scooters to go back to the hostel. The kids were obsessed with the electric scooters. The whole week, they would always want to ride them. We were a ten-minute walk away from the hostel once, and they all took electric scooters instead of just walking.

We were all at the hostel by 11 which was our curfew. The hostel was so huge and we were all spread out, so we definitely got more freedom at night too because students were in different parts of the hostel. Lots of people came over to uh socialize cause we had a balcony. That's one of my favorite things about Dutch high school. Kids have their own friends groups and sure there are some that are more popular and some that are less, but everyone still hangs out with each other and gets along with each other. Which, that sounds like common sense, but at home, high school is so clique-y for no reason. There were classmates next door to us, so they came over and we all hung out for a few hours.

Our beloved balcony

TUESDAY

Every morning, we had to wake up at 7:30 or 8, depending what breakfast you had (we were split by humanities and stem students.) I went with stem though so I could go with Judith so Judith and I went for breakfast and Anna and Vera went to the other one. Berlin that week was so freaking nice. The weather was so pretty and sunny and warm and perfect. After breakfast, I would do my makeup and listen to music and then sit on the balcony outside. We were supposed to meet at 9 downstairs. We went down like 10 minutes early, but I forgot my water so I went back up to get it and when I went back down they were already on the buses. When I got on my bus, my gym coach said I was late but it was 9:01. I was a minute late and everyone was waiting for me because everyone gets there on time.

Today, we went to Sanssouci Palace. We walked around the garden and to other massive looking buildings. Then, we went to Potsdam, a town on the outskirts of Berlin. Potsdam was really pretty. We walked around a market and then got ice cream and people watched. There was an aggressive Mickey Mouse walking around the square and making people pay him if they asked for a picture with him. After ice cream, we went to a grocery store and bought drinks, a baguette, and dip. We went to the park and had a little picnic.

That night, we got free time. I went with Roos and some other girls that night. We took scooters to the plaza again and went to Sephora. Afterwards, we got burgers for dinner and then drinks. We went back and socialized with friends and then went to bed. Also, another classmate Olivia moved into our room so that was fun.

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, we visited a Holocaust museum, an actual camp. It was pretty crazy to see something that we learn about in history almost every year in real life. After we went to the museum, we had a bike tour. So, I was very nervous because I didn't want to annoy any of my classmates for biking poorly because they are all Dutch and experts at biking. And then, we found out our bike ride was 3 hours. We had to go on a 3-hour bike ride. But it was actually really fun. We were very much in the city and biked around all the cool monuments and special parts of Berlin. It made me realize that all of us had been hanging out in the ugliest part of Berlin (no offense Alexander plaza.) The whole week, I just kept thinking, I want to live here so bad. The people were rude, the city was a little dirty, but Berlin is such a special and artsy city. Anyway, we were all struggling because our tour guide kept leaving us behind. We would be walking around in an area we stopped at, and all of a sudden, we'd see her biking off and we'd have to chase her down. We visited the main buildings, the lawn area with the special buildings, that university, the arch with the horses on top, we got gelato somewhere, went to a park, a Holocaust remembrance sculpture, and a skate park. My legs definitely hurt after that tour.

Afterwards, we got free time and I got to meet Jane, an exchange girl living in Berlin from Houston Rotary! It was soo nice talking to someone from home. I felt like I was at home with a fellow Houstonian. We U-Bahn or metro/subway. U-Bahn is such a cute word. We went to the arch area and that street with all those special buildings. We got bratwurst for dinner at a stand. We also went to a restaurant to get a coffee, but the menu was so expensive so we just snuck out haha. We walked down that street with all those buildings and the university. I was asking Jane what that building was or what this building was and she was like, I don't know what all these stuff are. Lol stuff. We sat on the steps of this big building with a lawn and those other two buildings. We pretty much talked the whole time together. It was just so great and made me so happy talking to someone who was going through what I was going through and who was from where I was from. It was great to talk about Rotary and our exchange year, but also about college and our cars and coming back home.

THURSDAY

Thursday, we went to Checkpoint Charlie and had a scavenger hunt around the city. I was with Vera, Anna, and Judith and we went to one location and then just gave up and went to the mall. We took the bus to that street with wall murals to check in with our teacher, and then we went back to the mall for lunch. I got sushi and fro-yo but the fro-yo wasn't as good as it is at home. After, we went shopping. At this point, I was feeling a little delusional because I was so tired. Anna and I went to a grocery store to buy some snacks. They have these flavored water bottles that taste like caprisun that we were all obsessed with. We went back to the hostel, and then that evening I went with Olivia to meet Jane again. We went to a park and got bug bites and allergies, so then we went to the horses arch again. We sat on a bench and talked and then Olivia had to pee so she went inside this fancy hotel and came back with the richest paper towels. They were so thick and fancy.

Then, we went to a Turkish fast food spot and got food. Olivia got falafel and flatbread and Jane and I split a salad, fried cheese, and fries with meat and sauces. It was crazy good. Then, we went back to the hostel.

Today was the last night. My roommates were playing card games with our teachers which was cute. I met Olivia in the courtyard and she was with our history teacher, Meneer Westerduin. She was giving advice to him on what she liked and didn't like about the trip. I personally thought the trip was so much fun and so well-prepared, but her and some other students there had a list of all the flaws from the trip. Typical Dutch. But honestly, her feedback was valid and Meneer Westerduin appreciated the advice, I just thought it was funny that it was the last night, and the kids were already putting in their feedback on how to make the trip better next year.

FRIDAY

Friday we went back. That was probably one of the worst roadtrips I have been on. The boys were so loud, so annoying and we were on the road for like 11 hours that just dragged.

Anyway, that was the trip! So so so much fun! I loved it and now I want to live in Berlin.