February

February's already nearly past, and I haven't been keeping up on my blogging--we've been staying busy! Some highlights from the past month:

Cologne

At the beginning of February I decided to take a long weekend trip west to Cologne. I had been feeling a bit directionless, and decided a change of scene and some friendly faces were in order. I spent a total of four and a half months in Cologne in 2016 and got to know the city quite well, so it really did feel a bit like coming home. My friend Anne was kind enough to lend me the use of her couch while I was there, and we spent lots of time relaxing, chatting, eating good food and drinking good wine, and of course, enjoying lots of snuggles and long walks with her dog Nala.

 Our delicious antipasti feast!

 Nala can't believe some of that cheese isn't meant for her.

Anne and I have a tradition of going to the Thermalbaeder (thermal baths) when I'm in town, so on Friday afternoon, while Nala was hanging out with her trainer, we packed up our towels and swimsuits and headed out for a relaxing day of soaking in warm waters and enjoying a truly marvelous spa-like setting. Talk about chilling!

 

I also got to meet up for Kaffee und Kuchen with two of my former GLS coworkers who work at the Cologne office, which was a good time. And of course, I had to take time for a walk past the Koelner Dom, just to say hello!

 I love this cathedral!

My second cousin on my father's side, Tina, also lives in Cologne and has become a good friend. She and her partner Andy had a baby in October, and I got to meet her, and see their new place, at Sunday brunch. I also got to meet Tina's brother Beni for the first time as well. Baby Carlota is a delight, such a sweet little gal! I was in love immediately.

 

 Me with Carlota, my second cousin, once removed!

 We spent a fun few hours drinking tea and coffee, talking about the world and our families, and entertaining (and being entertained by) Carlota. It was so good to see Tina and Andy again, and I'm already looking forward to the next visit to Cologne!

 Grammar classes

The day after returning from Cologne, I started a German grammar review course which I had signed up for a couple of weeks before. One of my goals for my time here in Germany is to significantly improve my German skills to near-native fluency, and grammar has always been a weak point for me. The language school I found offers a four-part grammar course, each twice a week for one month, so I signed up to take the first two parts in February for a total of four classes per week. The classes have been quite good, I'm finding that I am understanding a lot of concepts better the second time around, and I'm liking the teachers. It's also nice to have an excuse to get out of the house every day and interact with the other students!

 Final exams and hiking

Ben's classes ended last week, and he had his first final exam in one of his classes last Monday. He was nervous about it, since it was the first exam of his career as a Masters student, and wanted to take plenty of time to prepare, so most of his free time the week prior was devoted to studying, and he spent the entire weekend at his office at the university, reviewing and preparing his notes. This meant that I was left to my own devices, so our friend Alex and I decided to have some girl-hangout time. On Saturday we went to the Urban Nation for Urban Contemporary Art (www.urban-nation.com), which is a free museum with absolutely stunning artworks from street and urban artists from all over the world. This was my second time there, and it won't be my last. 

Afterwards we did some thrift shopping, and then met up with Ben that evening to watch some Legend of Korra and help him relax from all that studying.

On Sunday Alex, her roommate Marcel, and I decided to go for a hike, since Alex was itching to get out of the city and see some greenery and trees. Unfortunately, Germany in February doesn't have a lot of green to offer, but we did find a hike with lots of trees and several lakes! It was freezing cold and snowed for part of the time, so we modified it slightly (including adding an unintended 7 or 8 kilometers after we missed the bus from the train station to the trailhead and decided to just walk rather than waiting an hour for the next bus). It was still great to get out in nature for an afternoon, though, despite the cold and wet, and we were thoroughly tired out by the time we returned home!

ATA Certification!

One other exciting event in February was the fact that I learned that I had passed the American Translators Association exam for German to English translation, making me a Certified Translator! I took the exam back in September (actually the weekend before Ben left for Berlin), and had been waiting on the results ever since. The exam has only a 20% pass rate, so getting the certification is a pretty exciting thing, and I am suitably stoked! And Ben, wonderful guy that he is, brought me flowers after I told him :)

I'm official!

 There have, of course, been more happenings--Ben's program has been holding its Student Conference this past week, with lots of talks by students and professors, interviews with new applicants, and social events. Ben has enjoyed the talks, and we've both attended several of the social events. The Berlin Mathematical School has a really good group of people, and they have a lot of fun together!

 Ben has the tiniest beer mug!

Ben still has two more exams coming up in the next weeks, but they are both oral exams and for classes he feels pretty confident about, so there is less pressure for those. And after that he has semester break until the second week in April. His parents are coming to visit us at the end of March and we're already planning what we'd like to show them while they're here in Berlin. It will be so fun to show off our new city!

I'll be sure to post more frequent updates in the coming weeks so I don't have to write novels next time!

For now, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures from around Berlin:

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church)
at Kurfurstendamm, which I walk by every day on my way to class. It was bombed in WWII and the ruins preserved as a memorial of a different sort.

Sunset sky over our street.