Hobedere,
It's been 15 days since we left the other exchange students at the Munich airport, but it feels like almost a week. We spent our last few days as a whole group in the capital and very historic city of Berlin.
After parting with our host families at the Rosenheim train station, (for most students it was the last time) we travelled to Munich to catch our connecting train to Berlin. It was a 7 hour trip, but it definitely didn't feel that long. I think most of the time was spent sleeping, listening to music or just general chatting.
When we arrived, we caught another train and then a bus to the accomodation we would be staying in for the next few days. I think most were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. We had dinner at the restaurant we would be having dinner at every night, the 'Cayenne'. We even made some new friends here as well.
The next day, we headed down the Ku'damm, having a look as we went, and ended up out the front of the 'Story of Berlin' museum. We had a bit of a quick look around and then chose pairs and were each given a questionnaire. Nath Gasperoni and I teamed up and we were the last ones out by a while. But it turned out to be worth it, as we won the prize for the most correct. We also visited a nuclear bomb shelter, built under a car park. It was built in preparation for a possible nuclear attack on Berlin during the Cold War. Even though it was very eerie, I quite enjoyed being down there, as I felt I was actually inside the history. Compared to most of the others' comments, I don't think I would mind having to live down there.
The next day we visited another museum, this time on Berlin's 'Museum Island'. This museum was called the 'Pergammon Museum' and contained many, many artefacts and recreations from classical history. This was very interesting for me, as I am interested archaeology and these types of things. Again, I was among the last out of the museum. After a burger at an Aussie restaurant nearby, we had some free time. After another good meal at our restaurant, we headed straight off to the Reichstag (Bundestag). There was quite a line out the front, so we had to wait for a while. Once we were in, we had to pass through a security check and then made our way up the 'bee hive' with a great view of the city at night.
The next day, our last day in Berlin, we travelled back to the Reichstag, where Frau Kusch informed us a bit about the building itself. We also visited the Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish Memorial, the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and a few other sites during the day. That night we all had to pack and get ready for our departure the next day.
Since leaving the others at the airport in Munich, we had one week of full schooling. This past week has been holidays for the students, and we've been up to quite a bit. Some things I've been up to during my free time has been a trip to the beautiful Austrian city, Salzburg, watching some movie, playing a bit of football and just generally hanging out with Adrian and his friends. I am very glad that I get on well with them all.

In thanking people, to Herr and Frau Kusch, I've experienced first hand how stressful and exhausting organising everything can be, but you always seem to do a good job and we are all very grateful for the work you put in. Thanks also to Herr Lehrer, Frau Kreplin, Frau Marx, Mr. Pryor and of course especially all the host families who've made the trip so succesful.

Bis naechstes mal,
Joshua J. E. Kusch