In another sign of how close the conclusion of it all is, all program participants just attended our end-of-year seminar here in Berlin. It was a fun, action-packed week filled with meeting the American ambassador to Germany, discussing our experiences with each other, and meeting many very important German politicians. Among them: a number of members of the Bundestag (the German parliament), President of the German Bundestag Norbert Lammert (his American equivalent would be John Boener), and... FRAU DOKTOR ANGELA MERKEL, Chancellor of Germany! That's right. She spoke to all 320 participants in the CBYX program and told us she was a fan of the work we were doing here in Germany. Seeing the most powerful woman in the world was an unforgettable moment!
Earlier that week, I joined up with two American and two German participants to give a presentation on a pilot project we had participated in that brings our exchange program's participants on both sides of the Atlantic together. Our group's topic was Civic Participation and Democracy, and after several months of discussions about our perceptions of the nature of political involvement in Germany and the U.S., we carried out a survey to see what Germans and Americans at large thought. I mapped out our results in an infographic here. Check it out, we had some really interesting results! And if you filled out the survey, thank you. It made for some great material for our presentation, which was done via videoconference with our counterparts in Washington, D.C. and attended by the CEO of my exchange program's parent organization, fellow program participants, and officials from the Bundestag, U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.
In two weeks I jet off with a friend from home for a two-week trip through Europe. We will be stopping in Croatia, Montenegro, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. After that, I spend over a week in New York City with my sister. Pictures from those destinations, as well as from my trips to Amsterdam, Poland, and Budapest, will all be uploaded... eventually. After this post, I am going to take a break from blogging for three weeks in order to plan and enjoy the very last bit of my time here in Europe.
And so, I say Auf Wiedersehen for now. Check back in a month or so as I rapidly bring this blog up to date!
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| The U.S. Embassy's photo of us with Chancellor Merkel. I'm ten rows back, right of center |
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| Photo from the U.S. Embassy of us with the Chancellor in her offices |