YallaByeBerlin

On our last night, we had no choice but to be the ridiculous crew we have become over the last ten days. It feels like we’ve been together for a year, as often happens with intense and rigorous Jewish group programs. After a dinner with the best piece of perch I’ve ever had, our group went to a workspace called the Wostel for a final discussion and reception. Everyone shared their reflections on the week and here’s a paraphrasing of mine:

Two key moments stand out for me in this trip. The first was a small gathering in a hotel room where we shared stories and laughed really hard and also discussed the way we were thinking and feeling through this experience. These kinds of conscience conversations, these relationships were so open and honest on a one-to-one personal level that was nothing short of exceptional. I felt close and connected to the group. The second moment involved my dinner with three FSU Jews at the Dresden synagogue – I was talking to them and doing a bit of a meta-analysis of the conversation as it was happening – in what crazy, interconnected, intricate world was I afforded such a unique and strange opportunity to dine in their company, and them in mine? This made me think of the bigness of the world, and how we, and our conversation, were just a tiny, not-so-random part of a much more complex global picture.

These two experiences make me recognize the bigness and the smallness of the entire worldwide community – I have this reverence for the amazing connection we can build between two people, and the fact that in an enormous world edging on 7 billion, we’re just two small people (yes, me and you, reader, we are two small people) in a crazyhuge system. I conclude that more than anything, I am committed to my convictions that open dialogue with people across backgrounds and nations is the way to a better world, and I am continuously humbled by what I gain from travel.

After all this sentimental stuff, we hit the town hard at Kim’s Karaoke. Yes, a traditional Korean karaoke bar with pleather couches and broken screens and non-Americans singing the pop hits of the 80s and 90s. Glory, I have entered your home. All twenty of us dominated the stage with classics from the Spice Girls, Kelly Clarkson, the Backstreet Boys, Rihanna and more English-speaking artists. Only one song was played in German the whole night. I briefly befriended a British girl named Haley who told me she wished I could come teach her roller derby team how to pop. I think that’s the weirdest compliment I have ever gotten, and may ever get, but I took it and we boogied. At midnight, we celebrated Arielle’s 22nd birthday with her singing a remarkable duet with some foreign guy we didn’t know.  I clung to my 10-day good friends – I can’t believe how time has flown, and that early in the morning I would be ripping through the ravines of the Czech-German border by train. The night was absolutely stellar, down to the cab ride home across the heart of Berlin. I owe Allie 3 euro – remind me that, Mom.

Though I couldn’t fall asleep until 3, and I woke up at 5:45 am, I’m still riding on the high of such a magnificent week.  I’m also riding on a train, literally speeding across the stunning Czech countryside. Next stop, Prague!