After two weeks of running around and hopping from one university building to another, I finally feel that my routine for the rest of the semester is starting to take shape.
As I’m writing this, my classmates back at Bowdoin have already entered the final stretch of the academic year, with barely four weeks left to go, whereas I have just finished my second week of classes. The German academic calendar is pretty unique in that semesters run from October to February and April to July.
Speaking of the academic system here, I have to say that it takes a while to get used to it. In the last two weeks I visited about ten different classes at Humboldt to pick out the best classes for me. After some minor hiccups (for example, accidentally going to a Master’s-level seminar), I’ve settled down on two Sociology courses, German as a foreign language (required), Arabic, and the IES internship seminar. IES actually offers a lot of interesting courses but in the end I decided to challenge myself with Humboldt University courses instead. I know I will be too nervous about my German to speak up in class for a while, but I’m going to push myself as much as possible because it’s the only way my German will improve.
I’m actually pretty excited about staying here until July (or maybe even a bit later) because I hear that Berlin is gorgeous during the summer months. We’ve had amazing weather here ever since Easter (well, everything seems amazing after two months of below freezing temperatures and snow storms in March), and I’ve been jogging and sitting outside a lot. Everybody just seems to be so much more relax when the sun is shining – I love it!
Last weekend I travelled to Istanbul, and this weekend I’m off to Dresden – I promise some updates later!
Marta Misiulaityte
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Marta is a Sociology and German double major at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, but has a hard time staying within the boundaries of these two disciplines just the way she cannot stay in any one place for a long time. The thirst for knowledge and adventures is her biggest drive; over the course of her college career she has taken classes ranging from film studies to psychology, and she just spent a semester studying Arabic in Jordan. Originally from Lithuania, Marta has been fortunate enough to call many places her home. When she is not devouring books, she coordinates and leads campus tours, serves as a proctor in a first-year student dorm, works at the Admissions office as well as helping out at the Registrar’s office at Bowdoin. In her free time, she can be found either taking photographs or swing dancing. She can’t wait to check out the Berlin lindy hop scene!</span></p>
