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Student Overseas Studying In Berlin

Editors Note:  We welcome local college student Brittany Kenny, as a guest columnist over the next five months as she studies overseas in Germany.  She will write about her studies and her travels to share with our St. Cloud In The News readers. 

 

Student Overseas

Studying in Berlin

By Brittany Kenny, Guest Columnist

 

I’ve only been in Berlin for a short time yet I feel like I’ve lived here forever.  I’ve made great friends, eaten amazing food and explored a city that has so much history it’ll be impossible to experience everything in just the few shorts months that I will be living here.

 

There have been a couple new developments since my last article. I now officially have word that for this Spring Semester I am a National Gilman Scholar, which means that I received a scholarship from the United States Department of State to help fund my schooling here in Berlin. I also recently found out that I am going to be a recipient of the University of South Florida Genshaft/Greenbaum Passport Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship at USF. I cannot believe how lucky I am and I hope that now since I know firsthand how influential scholarships can be I will be more influential in helping other students achieve their goals when it comes to attending a university or even studying abroad.

 

At first, my arrival in Berlin was anything but easy. I was jetlagged, confused and completely out of my element but everything came into its own after only a few days.  My studio apartment is super tiny but since I’m trying to “live as the Germans live” it’s perfect and exactly what I need. I have also never been so cold in my entire life! Living in Florida for so long, I didn’t even know what it meant to be cold. Thank goodness I had some guidance when I bought my winter jacket back home because I don’t know where I would be without it. For the first week I was wearing 3-4 layers of clothes every day and still feeling no relief. Luckily, now I’ve gotten used to it but I’m still waiting for my first snow experience. I haven’t seen snow since I was three years old living in New Jersey and I obviously don’t remember that. Every person I talk to in Berlin keeps talking about how warm this winter has been and how this time last year there was snow everywhere-of course not the year that I’m here.

 

Another thing I finally mastered was the public transportation system. Hardly anyone in the major cities of Germany actually own a car because you can get everywhere you need to go simply by jumping on an underground train (UBahn), above ground train (SBahn), or even a bus. During the busy times these all run about every 5 minutes and during the slower times every ten minutes. The stereotypical thing about the Germans is that they are very detail oriented and always on time- this even applies to public transportation!  I can’t even fathom how buses and trains arrive within the exact minute they’re supposed to but it makes traveling around very inexpensive and efficient, which I am a huge fan of.

 

I also really love my school and the program that I am in. There are about 114 students from all over America and we’re already really close.  There are so many things to do and explore in Berlin having so many new friends makes everything very interesting and really fun.  Since I’ve been here my German is improving immensely. I took almost a year of German at USF but I stopped for about 8 months before I landed in Berlin. It’s crazy how immersing yourself into a different environment really gives you the extra leg up to make learning another language that much easier.  At school I have intensive German language every morning for 3 hours so hopefully that in conjunction with my day to day interactions I come home fluent in German!

 

These past few weeks I’ve been all over Berlin exploring restaurants, clubs, markets, and museums. Next weekend I leave for Frankfurt, a city in southern Germany to go visit a friend that I met when she came as an exchange student to Harmony.  I’m also in the process of planning with my friends to possible visits to Barcelona, Greece and maybe even Poland sometime soon. I know four months seems like a really long time to be here in Europe, but with how quickly time is already flying by I’m really trying to take advantage of all my opportunities here.  Now that I’m starting to feel settled the adventures are really beginning so stay tuned for the new things that I discover in the upcoming weeks!

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Distribution of St. Cloud In The News

Distribution of St. Cloud In The News

SAINT CLOUD AREA

 LOCATION

 

American Legion

A-1 Pizza

Bank of America

BB&T Bank

Big Lots

Buffet City

Canoe Creek Charter School

Canoe Creek Elementary

Canoe Creek Tavern

Catfish Place (The)

CenterState Bank, Ashton

CenterState Bank, Montana & 13th

Chimento’s Spaghetti House

Cobblestone Cafe

Crabby Bills

Cumberland Farms

Dairy Queen

Dollar General

Dollar Store

Dunkin’ Donuts

Family Dollar

Fat Boys BBQ

Gold’s Gym

Hickory Tree Elementary School

Hotdog

IHOP

Internal Medicine Group

Koffee Kup Kafe

Lake View Elementary

McDonalds

Michigan Avenue Elementary School

Morse Groceries

Movie Gallery (Ashton)

Mutt's on 13th

Narcoossee Shopping Center

Nature’s Table (192)

Neptune Elementary

Neptune Middle School

New York Artist Shop

Osceola Glass & Mirror

Other Place (The)

Pat's Eatery

Patsy’s Cut & Curl

Pep Boys

Pete & Peg's

Philly Cheese-Steak & Sub

Plantation Bay

Quiznos

RBC Bank

Rife's

Savannah Court

Sip n Dip

Sisters' Pizza

Specialty Uniform

Sports Tavern

St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce

St. Cloud Circle Service Center

St. Cloud City Hall (A)

St. Cloud Civic Center

St. Cloud Diner

St. Cloud DMV (City Hall, B)

St. Cloud Elementary School

St. Cloud High School

St. Cloud Hospital (Reg Med Ctr)

St. Cloud Hospital (Reg Med Ctr) ER

St. Cloud HR (City Hall, A, 3rd Flr)

St. Cloud Library

St. Cloud Middle School

St. Cloud Police Department

St. Cloud Police Sub Station

St. Cloud Senior Center

St. Cloud Stationers

St. Thomas Aquinas School

Subway

Sugar Mill Lane

Teka Village

Veterans Memorial Library

Veterans of Foreign Wars

Village Inn

Winn Dixie, Ashton

Winn Dixie, Canoe Creek Rd

 

Distribution of St. Cloud In The News

NARCOOSSEE AREA 

Location

 

Sunoco, Boggy Creek/Narcoossee

 

Distribution of St. Cloud In The News

KISSIMMEE AREA 

Location

 

Florida Christian College

Kissimmee Bay Country Club

Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce

Kissimmee City Hall

Kissimmee Convention and Visitor Bureau

Kissimmee Jewelers

Kissimmee Parks and Recreation

Kissimmee Police Department

Kissimmee Welcome Center

Kissimmee/St. Cloud Gas

Lanier's Antiques (Historic District Market)

Orlando Health

Osceola Council on Aging

Osceola County Welcome Center

Osceola School District Admin

Osceola Sheriff Station

Remington Golf Club

Rodeo Diner

Shore's Mens Wear

Trader Nick's

Valencia Community College

Winn Dixie, Michigan & 192

 

09/19/2011

 

 

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