A Day in the Life of a Fulbrighter...

Dear devoted blog followers,

It has come to my attention that my blog posts are filled with stories of fun, travels, excitement -- and further illustrated with smiling faces, far away cities, Berlin magic, new friends, and all around images of me enjoying my year abroad.

Where is the work?? What is life really like day-to-day?? What exactly am I doing in Berlin??

I am glad you asked. I have decided to share a day in the life, to show that my Fulbright year is not all fun and adventuring... (though I cannot begin to tell you how much I love that each day here feels like an adventure, and looking back on my posts - I have done a lot of fun things while living in Germany!) So here it is:

8:20 AM: Alarm clock sounds.

8:21 AM: Reach over and hit the snooze button. 3 more times. (I love the snooze button - ask my Mom or my roommates, they will attest the the validity of this fact... I just need a few extra minutes to wake up and greet the day)

8:37 AM: Coffee maker is already brewing my caffeine addiction in liquid form.

8:40 AM: Still shuffling around the apartment, I grab my towel and make it into the shower. Now I am starting to really wake up.

8:48 AM: Drenched in lotion and sweet smells, I pour a cup of coffee and am poised in front of the laptop. Skimming headlines, sipping coffee, checking emails, quickly peeking at Facebook updates, and simultaneously eating yogurt. Or cereal. Or a warm wheat roll. Either way a delicious morning treat to start the day.

8:55 AM: My hair is starting to seriously air dry and needs to be blow-dried before the air dry look becomes permanent for the day (not pretty). Back in the bathroom for more primping and prepping.

9:04 AM: Selecting the best outfit for the day. Not always easy... today involved one change after facing judgement in my full-length mirror. I like picking out my outfit because it involves a lot of creativity. I do not have many things to choose from, as I dragged one large suitcase to Germany(though my wardrobe has been since supplemented with a few choice new items acquired in this hipster metropolis and also by carefully timed care packages from home). The main difference is the excitement of dressing up for university. At Georgia Tech, all of the girls rolled to class in jeans/sweatpants/shorts, complimented with a sorority t-shirt (carefully selected that morning from one of the three overflowing drawer fulls of such t-shirts, donning slogans from x crush party, y formal, and z bid day). We had a simple uniform and unwritten code - no fuss, just easy and casual. Now I am wearing heels to class and black skinny-legged pants with a thin jacket, a light pink scarf, red 80s style sunglasses, and long strand of pearls (as was the case today) or jeans and a cute top, or a skirt with tall boots, or a variety of other combinations -- all of which are met on a buzzing campus of 20 somethings rocking skinny jeans, button-downs, cropped jackets, '20s mobster hats, cardigans of every shade, big sunglasses, polo shirts, jersey-knit dresses, and trendy belts.

9:18 AM: Sitting back in front of the laptop, doing some work. Research, writing, or reading of sorts. Today it was writing some thoughts on Foucault's theory as a methodology that can be applied to international relations. Gearing up for my final two months of my Fulbright project, I am looking into employing a discourse analysis study of Germany's energy security policies. It's crunch time.

11:16 AM: Packing things up for an afternoon at Freie Universitaet. Frantically grabbing essential items and stashing them in my giant Vera Bradley bag -- bus pass, notebook, glasses, an apple, wallet/keys, pen, water bottle, ipod, my book, and an umbrella (the sky can turn in an instance here).

11:31 AM: Out the door. Walking down the street to the X11/M11 bus stop. Smiling at my neighbors as I pass them, though Germans do not make eye contact. And do not smile back. Today a group of second graders were jogging on the sidewalk with what appeared to be their teacher. They were adorable jogging in two line, two by two!

11:42 AM: X11 rolls around the corner, flash my bus pass, and I am on.

12:05 PM: Seated in class for a two hour lecture on "Speaking Security" at the Freie Uni.

1:55PM: With my ipod in place and set to shuffle, I head up the street back toward the middle of campus (if you can call it a campus - everything is really spread out and not at all like a traditional US-style university campus). Today's agenda included an afternoon of reading, note-taking, and Internet research - so I was looking to set up shop at the main campus building for the afternoon.

2:12 PM: Ran into fellow Fulbrighter Hannah! We chatted about general things, research, traveling, and how spring is really heating up as our Fulbrights are coming to an end...

2:16 PM: Seated outside on the terrace of the Sportler Cafe with half a sandwich, an apple, a free Fanta Zero (a promotion for university students today! whoo!), an edited volume on rethinking EU foreign policy, and my notebook.

4:19 PM: Downstairs for the computer lab. Answering emails (this always is a daily chore!), coordinating dinner plans for tomorrow evening, looking up things for UGA Law, and researching a bit.

5:37 PM: A fight for my printed documents. Students are huddled around a giant printer like vultures, picking off printed items in a sort of frenzy.

6:01 PM: Shamelessly running to the M11 bus and am greeted with a smile by the bus driver. Danke was given for his generous pause so I could board the bus home.

6:16 PM: Rounding the corner near my apartment, I step off the bus with a sense of productive accomplishment and an overwhelming love for Berlin in late spring -- it was gorgeous outside!

6:19 PM: I veered off my path toward home, inspired by the sunshine, to finish up a last bit of reading at the Greek restaurant near my house. I ordered a cappuccino and soon had the outdoor table covered with UK security speech print-outs, my project proposal write up, my notebook, and the EU edited volume. I soaked up the sunshine while pausing every once in awhile to enjoy side conversations with my busy waiter.

7:00 PM: Done for the day. I packed up my Vera, asked for the check, and was told that I need not pay - it was covered! How sweet! I am definitely going to miss my neighborhood Greek restaurant when I go.

7:52 PM: Called Mommy! She had a brilliant day filled with the pre-school family picnic, including bouncing a bit with the 4 year-olds in the giant inflatable bouncy thing!

8:00 PM: In the kitchen fixing dinner. I really enjoy this part of my day as well -- something fun to do for myself while living alone. Though you really have to enjoy one major item, one week at a time, when cooking for yourself. This week it's goat cheese. Other weeks it's shrimp, chicken breast, pork meat, mushrooms, left overs of sorts, or some other item that you cannot buy a small quantity of.

8:25 PM: Eating dinner and catching up on my fav american TV shows online. Perfect.

12:25 AM: Ending my night with a phone call from Kenny. Then bedtime! I have a lot of work for tomorrow.

So a run-down of a day in the life. Many other things could be substituted or added in - grocery shopping, library, meeting with my professor, dinner party with friends, laundry (nearly requires an entire day for the ordeal of schlepping everything I own across town), attending a special lecture, swim workout, drinks downtown, tandem partner meeting, writing, Skyping with friends back home, a local conference event, cleaning the apartment, riding my bike, etc. Things are pretty routine throughout the week, as I continue to follow the EU energy security debate. But I do have a lot of flexibility with my day - which I love. I feel like I am on a sabbatical, and I am only just beginning my academic career -- I have time and resources to focus in on one particular project that interests me, attend lectures as I choose, read whatever I want (I am loving the freedom to catch up on so many books and articles), and in general the time to engage and enjoy Berlin, the people, the culture, and my friends.

So just a normal day here... : )

xoxo,
Halley