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Book Review: Let’s Take Berlin by Jessica Guzik

Have you ever been planning a trip, a short vacation or maybe even an entire move to another country for so and so many months or years? If you have, then you surely have at times wanted to know what may await you at your destination . What is life like outside the tourist bubble? What can I get at the supermarket? What do people eat after a hangover? etc. I can…

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About Poetry

  It was a small gathering and to be brutally honest, it was only a matter of coincidence and good luck that I remembered the little note in my calendar. In school they used to tell us that if it didn’t rhyme, it wasn’t poetry so when she told me that in her writing, there was no such thing as a metrical pattern, I was yet again convinced that my whole school life…

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Germans and Small Talk

I started watching a vlog by a charming American woman who lives in Munich with her German husband. In her cheerful voice full of positive energy, she talks about living in Germany, explaining different aspects of the daily life here to those from abroad while also addressing habits and the lifestyle in the United States. In one of her  videos she talked about how small talk is not really a thing here in Germany…

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Being a Local in Berlin

  A while ago, I wrote about why traveling to other places can be so much more exciting than one’s own hometown. Today’s subject of my random thinking session after I had finally finished my French revision was what makes the difference between living in a country compared to just visiting it for a few days. When you become a local somewhere you notice that the carefree days of being an explorer of…

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A Book Nerd’s Heaven

“I have spent way too much money this month”, my friend Aidah said thoughtfully. I agreed with a nod she couldn’t see and we both crossed the street in the Prenzlauer Berg district, not sure where exactly we were headed. “Look!”, she exclaimed out of nowhere, “a book store! Let’s go in.” In front of the large window stood a row of tables with books that looked as if they had already been read…

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What is Education in University?

The first semester is officially over but now that I think about it, I don’t really know if I have learned anything entirely new. I am not so sure about whether there has ever been a moment when I said to myself: “Wow, there is no way I would have known this or that about the German government system or the Cold War or research methodology. had I not been in university.”…

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Lecture Hall Noise: Concerto Nr. 1 in E Major

Some scattered thoughts on all the things you can hear inside a lecture hall instead for the actual lecture: Some people type so vigorously on their laptops, you might think their lives depend on it. Maybe in a way they do. Two more weeks until finals. While the crowd has just now managed to get seated, another group comes in (10 minutes late) like some animals who are finally let out to run…

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End of Term Thoughts

It’s been three hours since I have been sitting inside the Philological library of my university (we lovingly call it “the brain” because of its shape) and I can’t believe that I have another two hours until my French seminar, which I actually can’t afford not to attend and therefore don’t have time to go back home in between. Looking at the bright side of things, my desperation may have been bigger…

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Christmas in Germany

Over the last two days I found out that Russian Orthodox Christians actually don’t care very much about Christmas. I listened to the Russian radio online and noticed that none of the wishes that people sent to each other and had the radio hosts read out loud on air were about Christmas or Christmas Eve, instead everyone was congratulating the rest on the upcoming new year. Some people may wonder, upon reading…

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Talking to Strangers

So far I have met many people who had the ability to strike up a conversation with pretty much anyone. Yet, as much as that trait impresses me I am rarely able to adapt it myself. I am not so sure whether I am already German enough to say that I can’t stand small talk or whether this is due to the experience that last time I approached someone at random, that…

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