Berlin Study Abroad Experience

Cooper Robards  Blog 8     I am back now in the States.  It feels weird not being in Berlin anymore. I grew very accustomed life in  Germany, so, many of the small cultural differences I noticed while abroad seem even bigger now. The most immediate thing I noticed that signaled I was not in Berlin, was people no longer adhering to the unwritten rule of escalators: stand on the right and walk on the left. While I know this isn't just a Berlin, or even German thing, it was still somewhat infuriating to see people not follow this and something I had definitely grown accustomed to.  Since being back I have also caught my self several times wanting to say "karte bitte" when paying for things with card. Not only would this have been weird for me to say because its obviously German and not English, but paying with card is significantly more common here.  It is almost implied that you pay with card instead of cash, whereas is Berlin, at least I found this to be the case, it was m

 Cooper Robards  Blog 7     A couple weeks ago my program did an  excursion to Dresden. It was my first time traveling within Germany while I was abroad and something I am defiantly grateful to experience.  Going into the trip I knew very little about Dresden or its history. I was shocked by the events that took place there during World Word Two.  You could still see and feel the impact that moment had on the city. What was also interesting was the controversial nature behind the attack as it had little to no military advantages for the Allies.  Although I'm not confident on all of the history surrounding the event and what followed, my professor did mention more controversy involving responses to the attack. For instance, while under communist control, as it was in East Germany, people in Dresden used the attack to point to the west as the bad guys during the Cold War for their necessary bombing (I'm not articulating the story/point he was making well, but it was very interest