Week 11

Well my internship will be over in two weeks and then I can fly back home. I can't wait! Berlin this past weekend was great, as always. I met up with my old host family on Friday evening in a little neighborhood in Friedrichshain, where they cooked salmon for dinner. Afterwards, we all sat around and chatted for a long time, and watched one of their friends' wedding videos. I didn't tell them it was my birthday, because I didn't want them to feel pressured to do anything, but they remembered anyway and surprised me at midnight with champagne and a small gift. It was very sweet. For my actual birthday I sat around my friend Sam's apartment and played videogames all day. In the evening we traveled to Cupcake Berlin to pick up dessert and then sat down to dinner with a bottle of my favorite wine that I bought at KaDeWe.

Work has been very stressful lately. I think my problem is that both bosses forget that I haven't been working here for years. They give me directions that are extremely vague and then expect me to just know what they mean. I feel incompetant when I am forced to ask them questions constantly. It's even worse now that my direct supervisor in Mainz is on vacation, since I have to communicate all by e-mail with my boss in Jena, who is traveling at the moment. This week I have to finish about five more projects. At the very least, I can now put on my resume that I'm a great multi-tasker.

I can't wait to come home. I miss water fountains, vanilla extract, and pancakes. I don't know how I'm going to get all my luggage back, but I'm ready to leave Germany. I wish this had been a better trip.