BERLIN -- how i love you

We talked about Berlin in my german class and I came to realize how i miss/love this place. My 23 days in Berlin were undoubtedbly the highlight in my year in Germany. Berlin is a city of creativity, a city of ruins and revival, a city where cultures and art flourish intensively...Berlin has a very special atmosphere and is incomparable to the rest of Germany. I showed a photo which was taken in front of the Brandenburger Tor to my class. I put this photo in my wallet in case I think of my time in Berlin. It is definitely my favourite city after HK(home is always the best anways...)






I went through a lot (specially emotionally) during my exchange last year and sometimes I was doubtful about whether taking an exchange year at 17/18 was a good idea because I was still at the stage of looking for self-identity. 17/18 is a turning point in anyone's life because people usually develop their standard of moral value and judgement at this age. I would say it is the most critical and crucial time in one's life because this set of morality might stay with you in your whole life (okay. people still change their values but this set of moral value sets a basis for your later development). It might have been better if I took an Uni exchange year instead of taking in during this critical age.

Even though there were many bad times last year, it was worth it because my 23 days in Berlin could outweigh all the unhappiness and tough times. You might wonder why I love Berlin so much and what I ACTUALLY did there. erm... basically I just hanged around with other exchange students and did some crazy stuffs. (chilling out with exchange students is always fun. i wish i could see all of them again before I die) went to a lot of meseums and tourish spots...there are still some reasons though...haha... People have been asking me why I chose Germany ( i guess most of the exchange students must have confronted this question). It is really hard to anwser actually because I don't want to make up some irrelevant reasons...I was a history student and spent 2-3 years studying modern world history. From WW1 to Cold War in particular. What interested me the most is that Germany was the key player throughout this period and I wondered why Germany was so influential in modern history and politics.(and Berlin is definitely a controversial city!!!) So... I went to Germany and experienced its culture as well as got to know their mentality.

I am not going to judge Germany here because my experience and cultural shock wouldnt do Germany justice. All in all, I am STILL glad that I went there because I think I become more outspoken and confident in what I believe in. Life is so interesting because you never know whether you've made the right decision until later. No matter what had happened and how tough the time had been, my time in Berlin made them worth. I still remember how excited I was when I arrived the main train station in Berlin...seriously, I am really envious of those exchange students living in Berlin... Berlin is not a pretty city like Paris or Prague and somehow it is still very worn out, but undeniably an awesome city in Europe. If you ever have a chance to travel in Europe, don't miss out Berlin!!

Berlin, Berlin, wir fahren nach Berlin!
Berlin, Ich liebe dich. Vielen Dank fuer alles....