Celebrations In Berlin!
Today is International Women’s Day, so in Berlin, many stores are closed and no one has school. It feels like a Sunday because on Sundays almost everything is closed. On Sundays, most people stay at home, but today there were a ton of people out and about. I followed suit and did not spend the day inside my apartment. The sun was shining and my friends and I went to have a picnic in Mauerpark! Yesterday, we all went to Edeka to buy food, and today we met up to eat, listen to music and attempt to slack line. A lot of people at my university went to women’s marches and protests, and we talked a little bit about International Women’s Day in classes, but for me, it was a day of relaxation. I got to the park early and read and journaled. I am currently following a read the Bible in a year plan, so I read ahead on that. It was warm enough to not wear a jacket, and the park was packed with people of all ages. Most people drank and smoked, but that is very typical for a chill day in Berlin. There was even someone walking up and down the groups of people selling beer out of a box like they do in ballparks in the U.S., which I found to be hilarious. My friends and I ate fresh baked bread and croissants from bakeries with an array of different spreads, and we ate fruit as well. I like to think bread and sugar makes everyone happy. After that, we all sprawled out in the sun on the grass. When we finally were able to move, we ate a cake out of a tin that my friend, Becca, won in class, and then we packed up and went to find trees to set up Seth’s slack line. I found out that I am horrible, but I am now determined to get better. After the sunset, and it became cold, we all headed back to the S-Bahn station and parted ways.
Today isn’t the only celebration this week. My birthday is also tomorrow! I am really excited to have my birthday here. I think it will be pretty chill. My host says I should go to a club because they are now open, but I don’t think that is going to happen. My friends might go just once some time to see what it is like, but I don’t think I will because I know it’s not going to be my scene, and I’ll want to go home early. I think this weekend, my friends and I are going to either each buy a bottle of wine and try them together while watching a movie or the Great British Baking Show, or we are going to go out to eat either Döner or Currywurst and then go to a bar we really like called Que Pasa. I think I am also going to buy an apricot pavlova from a bakery near my house as my birthday cake. I sadly have a test tomorrow, but hopefully, it will go well. My plans tomorrow are to call a bunch of my friends and family, so my evening will be very busy because of the seven-hour time difference. I really like celebrating things in Berlin, because it feels like there is a lot that you can do. I can’t wait to celebrate Easter here. I think it is really fun to see the differences in how Americans celebrate versus Germans.
Image 1- This is the currywurst we had for Jada’s birthday, two weeks before mine.
Image 2- This was the picnic we ate at Mauerpark.
Image 3- This is all of us enjoying the day and the food at Mauerpark.