Chapter 7

This week we started off my academic adventures with pharmacology workshops that involved everyone in the program. The workshops were brilliantly structured and organized, and involved a lot of skills that many people in STEM, or us in the enmodes project, would use. As enmodes gets more intense, the time in class needs to become a bit more sophisticated than simply using google, so this workshop really refreshed, reinforced, and renewed our searching skills. 

Our final german lesson, well actually, our final exam, was this week and it was bittersweet. I wished the program was more language intensive, because despite english being quite the lingua franca, having the opportunity to learn german well in Germany is an experience that translates to a useful skill. Lately, I’ve been watching shows in Germany with English subtitles to help me learn. 

I had to do a professor meeting over Skype for my writing class, and that helped me complete my first final writing assignment. However, the entire time, I kept coughing and sniffling to the point she recommended that I visit the doctors. I noticed that my professors at AIB were also telling me this, but I usually don’t go to the doctors unless something major happens — my parents usually tell me to tough it out. Eventually, I got sick enough that I went to the doctors and I was not even given a diagnosis that pinpointed my illness. I was told it was just something everyone else in Germany had. I might have picked it up from public transportation, as the holding bars, escalators, and seats aren’t really sanitized. Additionally, I felt like I bought a bunch of medications in an attempt to get me to spend more at the apotheke.

Despite being ill, I still went to the Kendrick Lamar concert because not only were the tickets cheap but also our seats were pretty close. Kung Fu Kenny is great live, as he’s quite interactive: he tells the audience to sing, stand up, pull out our cell phone lights, or what have you so it’s not just us (the audience) staring back at him most of the time. We didn’t get to see the opener due to class ending a bit late.

For the weekend, I was planning on going to Berlin but instead I decided to maintain my health and get some rest. Therefore, I lost about 60 euro and 12 USD because I didn’t go, but health is important. I essentially slept for about 18-22 hours each day on the weekend, only getting up to eat, take my medication, and maintain my hygiene. On Sunday, my host mother had her friend and friend’s son (who was around my age) over and it was slightly embarrassing for me because not only was I out of it, but I was not Peak Whitney™. Then again, I’m not much of a great small talker. They all went out and got me mandarins (as I’ve been munching on them lately) and chocolates, which was real sweet of them. Hopefully I get to go to Berlin in the future.