Berlin begins

To my faithful readers:

First off, I apologize that this post and all posts until further notice are in English. I would love to continue to write in German, but so far in Berlin I have found that I simply do not have as much time as I used to to dedicate to this blog. To all my past German teachers, please do not fear, I am still speaking German for eight hours a day in my nursing internship in the general surgery wing of Charite hospital (more on that later, if you’re curious where I work type in “hospital” on Wikipedia, click “Deutsch” on the left to get the German translation and the first picture on the right is where I will spend 40 hrs a week this month). Second, I apologize that it has been 2 WHOLE WEEKS since I last wrote, but things have been pretty busy lately . . .

On my birthday (Mar 24), I successfully moved to Berlin. It was kind of a pain to lug my 50 pound suitcase to the Mainz Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station) and transfer in Leipzig, but once I arrived at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, I was delighted to see my friend Pete, who has been studying abroad in Berlin since October. (See, I still can use some German here and there ;) The first thing that struck me about Berlin was how ENORMOUS it is. I knew it was big before coming, but for example it took 40 minutes by bus to get from the Hauptbahnhof to Pete’s place in Steglitz, a locality in SW Berlin. That felt like an eternity compared to the 5 minutes it took to get from my former residence in Mainz to its respective Hauptbahnhof. In the end though, I saw it as a good thing. There is more than enough to discover in Berlin during the 5 weeks I am here!

I had a nice time staying with Pete for three nights (Danke schön Pete!). We saw the new movie Hunger Games at Potsdamer Platz on Saturday night which was fun and also went to listen to some really good jazz music at das Edelweiss on Tuesday night. Saturday night, was of course my birthday, so Pete and I along with another friend went out to an Eiscafe (ice cream café) and it actually turned out to be the same one I went to with all my fellow American GAPP students when I was in Berlin in 2008. You can still order ice cream that looks like a burger and fries or a snowman. Weird, yet also delicious!

I spent two nights with a colleague of my Dad’s named Gregor and his family. They were really nice to host me and I had a great time with them. (Danke schön Gregor und Familie!)

Then, right before I was able to move into my apartment a week after I had arrived in Berlin, my friend Talel lent me his couch for two nights, so that was really awesome of him! (Danke schön Talel!). He also organized a nice get-together at his place on Friday night that Pete and some Wellesley friends of ours attended. The night concluded by going to a bar in Friedrichshain called the Sanatorium, where a friend of Talel’s was spinning records. It was a lot of fun!

Since then, this past Monday, my internship started and that has not been nearly as fun, but definitely super rewarding! Prior to starting, I really dreaded the thought of being around sick people for a whole month. I thought at the very least, I would have the opportunity to explore Berlin when I am not working. Instead, I honestly look forward to going in M-F at 6 AM to see “my patients” and the team of nurses that I have been assisting. I can’t go into too much detail, because of rules about confidentiality, but there is something just really powerful about the way that patients allow you to see them when they are most vulnerable and trust you to do nothing but the best you can to help them get better. Then, after you take their blood pressure or check their glucose levels (the two simple tasks I have learned so far, that I am nevertheless extremely proud of!), most of the patients just have this incredible smile on their face and say thank you in this way that makes your day. I guess we’ll see if the month takes its toll on me or if I remain in this honeymoon stage with nursing indefinitely.    

Even after just three days of my internship, I am now set on applying to med school and seeing what happens. I feel like I am behind all of the pre-med students that have been preparing before even starting college, but I know that if I try my hardest and use my brain, I will have as good of a shot as anyone else trying to get in.

That’s all for now. Gotta be back at Charite at 6 AM tomorrow for Day 4. Should be good! Danke furs Lesen und bis nächstes Mal! (Thanks for reading and until next time!)