Just two weekends ago, my French and Greek friend and I decided that it was time to head to the excellent Jewish Museum here in Berlin. During our marathon 4-hour visit, we learned thousands of years of Jewish history, with a particular focus on the Holocaust. What made me particularly happy was that the modern architecture was stark but impressive, and thus made for some nice photos.

 

Blue skies have become a bit of a rarity these days 

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Unfortunately, I have some bad news to report. My exchange program, the Congress-Bundestag Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX), is in peril! They are facing major budget cuts in the coming years. Not good!

CBYX is a intercultural exchange program funded by the American Congress and German Bundestag (their parliament). The goal is to make the important relationship between the German and American people tighter by exchanging hundreds of participants each year, who then act as "citizen ambassadors" and get engaged in their new country. The best part for us participants is that nearly everything is paid for: the flights, living with a host family, public transportation, discounts on trains within Germany - this has allowed people of all walks of life with wildly different careers take part in this special year-long experience. For some, it is their first trip abroad; for others like me, it is our first time living abroad and thereby getting firsthand experience in a new culture.

The program is now in its 31st year. In addition to the approximately 700 high school participants, there are 75 German "young professionals" in the U.S and 75 American "young professionals" (including me, of course) here in Germany. You can click the "About CBYX" tab in the ribbon at the top of every webpage on this blog to read more about the details of the program.

The problem: the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which is responsible for our program, received a big budget cut. More specifically, HALF of our program's budget is gone, starting next year. That means half as many participants as this year will be able to have this amazing learning experience! Thankfully, the Germans have miraculously come to the rescue and agreed to make up the funds for next year. But for the year after that, the program will really be in serious trouble if the budget is not restored.

Please help us save our program and thereby strengthen relations with one of our strongest, closest, and most important allies. We have a website up where you can simply sign our petition: http://savecbyx.org/

Thank you!

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After that thrilling journey to Vilnius, we can finally return to the country we all care most about - Germany! The weekend after my return from Lithuania, my "Cultural Orientation to Berlin" class had our last educational field trip - this time, to one of the most up-and-coming, "trendy" areas of Berlin: Kreuzberg.

I, unfortunately, do not live in this trendy quarter. It's about a half-hour subway ride from my berth here in Friedenau, which I have already mentioned is more of a peaceful place for families. Kreuzberg, however, is traditionally known as the prime example of Berlin's ethnic diversity and the center of the city's Turkish immigrant population. Kreuzberg still has the highest percentage (about 30%) of foreign-born residents anywhere in the city. But lately, it has come to represent the "scene culture" and is now considered a hotbed of gentrification. The Turkish supermarkets and döner stores (but not all, since everyone is a fan of the Turkish delicacy) are heading out, and the hipster-looking bars and cafes catering to a young, artsy student crowd are coming in. 

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Back with more reportage from my trip to Lithuania! After sleeping at our cheap but cozy hostel, we set out to enjoy our final 12 hours in the city.

In the last post I brought up the Užupis Republic, which is sort of like an unofficial city of artists within the city of Vilnius. This statue is their guardian angel

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Finally back with updates and more wonderful pictures! Last week, I was in Frankfurt for a CBYX (my exchange program) seminar, and stopped in Nuremberg for a day on my way home. But don't worry, those will both be subjects of their own blog posts.

I'm happy to announce that, as required by my program, I have found a 6-month internship related to my career interests! I will be working at Kompakt Medien, a PR and communications firm in Berlin that focuses on political issues and works mainly with the German federal ministries. I'm fairly relieved to have finally found a position - I applied and interviewed for internship spots exclusively in German, which was a great learning process but very taxing and time-consuming. 

Now, getting back to the pictures: this time, from the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius! My American friend Tony and I wanted to get off the beaten path and visit a country neither of us had ever seen before. After finding a decently priced bus ticket, Vilnius became our destination! And after the 18-hour ride, we finally arrived safely.

Time to think about geography - where exactly is Lithuania? Well, it's the southern- and eastern-most of the three Baltic States in north-eastern Europe, and it even borders a chunk of Russia. So it is quite far removed from comfy Western Europe. Despite their relative geographical remoteness, all three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) are European Union members. And on January 1, 2015, Lithuania became the last Baltic State and  19th European state to adopt the Euro currency. 

What day were Tony and I in Lithuania? January 2! So just the day before, Lithuanians had seen the introduction of the Euro in their country. It was an exciting time to be there, and all the prices were in both Litas (the old currency) as well as Euros. But the best part was that the prices were CHEAP, cheaper than you could ever imagine! Lithuania is probably going to be the cheapest country I'll visit all year. What a great decision it was to go to Vilnius!

Ever since gaining independence in 1990, Lithuania has been doing quite well for itself. As a city, Vilnius is known for being vibrant, open, and forward-looking with spectacularly clean tap water and some of the fastest internet speeds in the world to boot. It is located near the geographical center of Europe, has a population of 540,000, and has well-preserved Old Town architecture that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. As far as personal observations, Tony and I found that it is not at all touristy, and any tourists we did see running around were not speaking English. It was a wholly different but neat environment! 

Tony and I only had 36 hours to experience the city, so we got right to work. We had a, shall we say, neutral start: right off the bat, a passing car splashed us with water from a puddle and we had to navigate down some treacherously icy hills by foot (which Tony, who has experienced Polish and Nebraskan winters, did with significantly more ease than me). But it got much better from there.

This is the Ensemble of St. Anne and Bernardine Church. The Church of St. Anne is the Gothic-styled one on the left, and it has survived the past 500 years without any changes 

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This is it, the one and only... Neuschwanstein! Germany's most famous castle! One of the country's most wildly popular tourist magnets, Neuschwanstein is just 2 hours by train outside of Munich. So, early on my last day in Munich during my post-Christmas trip last month, I hopped on a Deutsche Bahn train headed for the castle.

What I would eventually see later that day - the front of Neuschwanstein Castle!

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And now, back to my post-Christmas trip to Munich, in the German state of Bavaria! Day two of my trip was action-packed and full of amazing sights that made for tons of especially cool photographs that I am excited to share with you. Let's get started!

I specifically made sure that I was in a good photo-taking spot at dusk. I definitely succeeded! More photos from this vantage point below

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Shortly after the Christmas festivities with my host family in Berlin came to an end, I headed 360 miles south to Germany's largest (in terms of geography) state, Bavaria, and its capital city of Munich. When you think of some typical German products and traditions, you may in fact be thinking of things that originated in Bavaria - particularly beer gardens, Lederhosen, BMW, and Oktoberfest. Therefore, Germans often complain that when foreigners think about Germany, they really think about Bavaria. Don't make that mistake! Keep following this blog to get to know the non-Bavarian parts of Germany.

Bavarians don't have a ton of fans elsewhere in Germany. Outside of Bavaria, it's highly fashionable to hate the state's wildly successful soccer team, Bayern München. The Bavarians' strange regional dialect, Bayerisch, is also reviled by non-Bayerisch speakers. I heard a few shopkeepers speaking it, and it sounds like a strange perversion of German that I cannot for the life of me understand. Non-Bavarian, native German speakers also find Bayerisch impossible to understand, so it's not just me. 

But the fact remains that Munich is one of Germany's wealthiest cities and a popular tourist destination. I had actually been previously, about 6 years ago. But I knew I had to go back to experience it all again and, of course, get some killer pictures. I think I succeeded!

Munich's most famous landmark (I still remember it very clearly from my last trip, even after all these years) is the Neues Rathaus, or New City Hall. It was built between 1867 and 1874, and now houses the mayor's office, city council, and city administration

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Finally, I have reached the end of my pictures from the photogenic city of Prague. Between this December trip with Tony and the previous trip in November, I've spent a cumulative seven days there! Each day I succeeded in finding something new and exciting to see. I know my way around the city pretty well now, I feel. It's a great place, and highly worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Europe. 

Tony and I started off at the Dancing House, a Frank Gehry office building I saw last time in November as well. Back then, I figured we weren't allowed inside the building and that were wasn't anything to see. But this time, before I could stop him, Tony strode across the street, into the lobby, and as I followed, he summoned an elevator all the way up to the top. Boom, free viewing platform! Awesome! Good find, Tony

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Back with more great pictures from my second trip to Prague! Considering this is my 5th blog post about the city and still have one more to write, we are about to become legitimate Prague experts.

On the second day of our trip, my American friend Tony and I first hung out with his host family for a bit and checked out a mirror maze. That was the first time I've ever been in one, and it was much more disorienting than I ever thought it could be. I definitely walked straight into my reflection in the glass one or two times.

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Just before Christmas, I was given the chance to go to Prague for FREE! As one can see from my three blog posts about the city I recently posted, I had already had a trip there. But as I previously mentioned, Prague is both an interesting and super cheap city, so I went along for the ride!

I was with another American participant in my program, Tony, and his host family. His host family seems just as nice as mine, so it's good to see he is having a positive living experience as well. His host parents wanted to make a quick trip to Prague, as it is one of their favorite cities. Years back, on one of their previous trips, they got engaged there! So Prague was the destination, and off the seven of us went.

Back in the good ol' Czech Republic!

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Happy New Year! It's crazy to think that 2014 is over. It was the single most eventful year of my life, as it included my interview for this cultural exchange program, my graduation for college, the news that I got accepted to this program, and my departure to Germany. But on December 31, 2014, it was time to look forward to a Guten Rutsch - a good transition into the new year.

In the afternoon on New Year's Eve, my host father, little host brother, and I headed out to purchase some fireworks to set off that night. I could hardly believe we were legally purchasing some firecrackers for personal use! Doing so is illegal where I grew up. Our destination was a flower shop that had been converted to a full-on, fully-stocked firecracker outlet for the day. While we were shopping at about 2 p.m., we already were hearing firecrackers here and there go off in the streets. Some street corners were already hazy with smoke from firecrackers! It was a sign of even more exciting things to come. It was then that I started to realize just how much Germans LOVE  firecrackers on New Year's.

By 10 p.m., fireworks were regularly going off in our usually quiet neighborhood that is primarily populated by families and old people. The noise and smoke outside steadily increased, and we headed out to join the fun and set off our own mini explosives. And when midnight hit, all hell broke loose.

It was nuts! Fireworks were everywhere and the celebration went on for hours. The scene got so chaotic right at midnight that I knew I had to take a film:

 

You'll probably want to skip around and see the highlights:
2:35 - A neighbor's firework rocket fails, falls back towards the earth, and explodes nearby right at eye level
3:25 - My host brother lights what turns out to be an extremely explosive firework directly at my feet. I flee, but not before getting hit in the face
6:00 - I struggle to light a small rocket of our own
11:50 - Our neighbors get better at firing rockets and stage a big finale
14:20 - Other neighbors down the street, not to be outdone, have an even bigger finale

Keep in mind that we could hear even bigger explosions on neighboring streets, and that this neighborhood is relatively peaceful for Berlin! Some areas of the city I wouldn't dare enter on New Year's Eve, as the amount of reckless firework launching virtually guarantees at least a minor injury.

My little host brother lighting his own firecracker

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Happy New Year! It's now 2015, and thankfully I just have two Christmas-themed posts left before I move on to post-Christmas happenings.

I decided the Christmas markets in Spandau, Dresden, and Kurfürstendamm weren't enough, so I made sure to hit two more before the season was up! First up was Potsdamer Platz.

Sony Center, which plays host to countless film premiers and the Berlin Film Festival, all lit up

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