I think that it is impossible to ever feel truly ready. Perhaps the extent lies at “sufficiently comfortable” or “prepared enough.” The only essence which remains fixed in this universe is the transience of life. I grow melancholy at the realization that everyone eventually leaves and that every experience eventually ends, yet this leads me to appreciate moments and opportunities very much more.
We have left Berlin and are en route to Essen. I still realize that I am in Germany, as it is my first experience flying abroad. To be brief, Berlin is a beautiful, innovative, sophisticated, and introspective city. I look back fondly to the memories I have shared with all the people I have met, from the airport cab driver to practicing Landscape Architect professionals. One of the greatest focal points of the Berlin segment of our “Landscape Architecture in Germany” summer study abroad program was the charrette, or the two-day intensive design collaboration with the Landscape Architecture students at Technische Universität Berlin (AKA TU Berlin). I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with and learning from the talented students of the class, as their instructor sought for a more creative approach to the class design prompt.
(Photo by: Tiffany Nguyen)
I am very grateful to have worked with Sarah, Jonas, and Arseni. It seemed that everyone was comfortable with sharing ideas and critical yet constructive feedback with one another throughout the charrette. Also, our group was extremely patient yet diligent along with spreading light-hearted humor which I think helped us push through and maintain the morale high throughout pretty much our time together. There was one point during the abstraction portion of our design process that we simply sat and doodled/painted our ideas and visual interpretations of our project site. I remember a TU student telling me, “You can use everything, we are like a family here.” Although I do wish that we had more time with the TU students, I am happy to know that I will return to New Jersey with friends from abroad whom I can stay connected with.
We are en route to Essen and I am looking forward to the latter half of our summer study abroad program.
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