Leap

So I haven't talked much about my classes, if at all. I'm taking 4 classes. Berlin: Experiment in Modernity, German A1, Bertolt Brecht: The Study of Staging of Epic Theatre, and the Internship Seminar.

The Berlin: Experiment in Modernity class is pretty much a history course on Berlin starting at the 1800s. Right now we are focusing on the political impact on architecture and art. I usually loathe history, to the point where I can never remember dates and have a hard time staying awake. This course, however, is turing out to be very, very different. I would almost say that I love Berlin's history. It is so recent, visible, traumatic and relevant. My professor, being from Germany, has lived through huge historic events. No, he's not 215 years old, but you get the point. He grew up when the Berlin wall was a reality. In his lifetime, his country has become unified. It becomes more than teaching when the teacher lived through the events they are teaching. Not to mention that religion has a big role in their history and I, of course, love that.

 My German course is great, although I need to put it into practice more often. Too many people speak English here. It makes it really hard. I'm currently having to lean body parts. Der Kopf, das Auge, die Nase, die Zähne, der Mund, die Haare, das Ohr, der Arm, der Hals, die Schulter, die Hand, das Bein, das Knie, der Fuß, der Finger, der Bauch, und der Rücken. I needed to practice, so I decided to write them all. Hopefully I'll be able to say that I can hold a conversation when I return!

My theatre class on Brecht I cannot contain my joy about, seriously. It is SO amazing. The professor is so animated and loves what she does and Brecht's style of theatre is fun and exciting to take on. To give you a taste of how Brecht's style of acting is different/unique, let me explain. In the US, most actors become their character. When they step on stage, they themselves do not exists, it is solely the character (at least that's the goal). Brecht on the other hand believes actors to be almost like puppeteers. On stage, the actor is showing the audience the character while remaining him/herself the actor. This leaves room for the opinion of the actor to show. Brecht is a big fan of gestures and facial expressions. The point of his theatre isn't for the audience to relate with his plays, but for the audience to critically think about his plays and ask questions about what it is that is going on. Because another thing about Brecht's plays is that they almost always have a political issue imbedded. At least that's what i've taken away thus far.

In class this week my group took the three little pigs and made it Brechtian. We made the three little pigs lower, middle and upper class and made the wolf the government. This made for the story to be told a little differently. The whole process was loads of fun and I look forward to every single class!

My internship! My internship! I'm more excited about my internship than about my Brecht class! Can you believe it? It almost makes me want to cry. After two and a half weeks of waiting for interviews and meetings, I finally nailed down a portion of my internship. I doesn't really qualify under the term internship, but that's what the college is calling it, so that's what i'm calling it.

Today I met with Timo and Danielle. Timo leads a church in the district I live in. Danielle is an american who lives in berlin doing web design, teaching english and translating. She is currently working with Timo to create a new website. Because there aren't many religious people in Berlin, all of the religious communities know each other really well. Timo's network is huge. The goal of the meeting was to narrow down how I could help in Timo's church, or so I thought. Timo kept naming projects and churches and events that I could help with. Legitimately, it was almost endless. He didn't care if I was helping him or his community specifically, he was more interested in what I was interested in and finding spaces for me. It felt like a personal team of job/internship/volunteer hunters. My college's assistant of student affairs was also there with us. They were all so excited about it.

What we came up with I could not be happier with. For the majority of my 10-12 hours a week, I will be working with a woman named Kerstin Hack, well for her. I've only talked to this woman on the phone and I know she's amazing. Not to mention all of the wonderful things Timo and Danielle said about her. Kerstin's current project is renovating a ship. Yes, that's right, a ship. Why am I so excited about cleaning up a ship? I don't know, probably because the woman is awesome. She is renovating this ship in order to help people. This is translated from her website, so it's a bit rough but I tried to make the best of it.

"I dream of people who have fallen into a crisis by a stroke of fate, to get back on the feet. To give them a place where they stare at rest on the water and can handle things even with professional help. I believe that every crisis presents an invitation not only to deal with the crisis, but to throw equal to some incriminating behavioral patterns and ways of thinking overboard...There is plenty to do. It's a bit crazy. And a dream come true." More here: http://kerstinhack.de/schiff

She isn't just renovating a boat. She is an author and a coach (a coach in the sense of like a life/crisis coach, relating deeply to her dream of the boat).

I get to meet Kerstin Saturday and I cannot wait. It'll be hard work, but there is nothing more important to me than helping other's dreams come true. Especially when their dreams involve the benefit of so many. Her work is important to me, even if it is scrubbing the side of a boat.

Other than the boat, I will be accompanying Timo in meetings with other churches to give me an inside look of how the many christian churches work. I will also be attending his church on Sundays. And on top of that I will be helping a café run by Christians that puts on craft nights, kids cooking days, runs, and so much more.

It hasn't even started yet and I am overjoyed by the potential in what is to come. The people, the experiences and every single encounter. I know the hard work will make for long days and learning German will make for many headaches but I know it will all be worth it.

I'm leaping in to the adventure set forth.

Off to the Opera!

<3 Abbey