Last 4 weeks

So the last 4 weeks of my stay in Berlin begins. Like a friend said on FB, “So fast.” J

I slept quite early last night. I stayed home the whole day and since there was nothing nice to watch on TV, I decided that an early night would do me good. I woke up this morning feeling fresh and energized. There was no snow or rain but it was cold outside.

I left the apartment quite early as I wanted to get breakfast on the way. I went grocery shopping as I have finished my supply of bread, ham, muesli, coffee etc. I would have gone yesterday but then everything’s closed on Sunday. I still find this weird. Lol!

The sun was up by the time I sat down at my work space and started working. This week will be quite eventful as a retired senior lawyer from the UK is visiting. He’s also going to be the guest at the trainees meeting, conducting a hands-on workshop on investigating companies through their financial accounts. It should be interesting, although right now, the idea of going through a company’s financial accounts sounds quite boring. Nevertheless, let’s see.

During lunch, after we had eaten, a few trainees and I had a ‘team building’ exercise i.e. assembling the new couch. It took us about 45 minutes but the end result was worth it. J I wonder if we’ll ever have one back in the Penang office.

I must also say that I am becoming slightly more adventurous. Now that I sort of know how to read the public service network map, I’ve started to look at how I can go to places that I want to see. I also Google Map the directions just to be sure. That’s how I managed to find my way to Jemimah. I’ll only go exploring on weekends though, so that I can do it when the day is bright, and should I get lost, I’ll still have time to find my way around and be home before it gets dark. :p

Jemimah and her friends were planning to go to a concentration camp yesterday which is about 1 hour away from Berlin, and I was supposed to join them. But plans changed and we didn’t make it. I Googled the place ‘Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp – Oranienburg’ and the place looks really interesting!! I spoke to one of my colleagues about it today and she said that she was planning to go too. So we’re both going to ask the other trainees and plan for a day trip one of these weekends. Yay!

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this in my previous entries, but Berlin seems to have a lack of elevators! My apartment doesn’t have an elevator; my office building has one, however, people tend to use the stairs. This is one reason why once I am in my apartment, I try not to go out as that would mean going down and up 5 floors. Today I counted how many steps there are in my apartment building. The result: 50 steps. No wonder I feel breathless whenever I reach my apartment. 50 steps may not sound like much but to someone like me who never exercises, it’s a lot, especially when I am trying to hurry and get to the warmth of my room! I’m sure that whatever leg muscles that I have gained from all the walking and climbing, will disappear after a few days of being back home as I’ll be driving everywhere then.   

I met Claudia at the bus stop on the way home and she suggested that we have a meeting this Thursday as I am already at my half-way point of the trip. It is to assess how I have been doing so far, and see what else I can do to maximize my remaining time here. And suddenly, I felt scared! I tried to think of what I have learned so far in terms of work and I feel as though I haven’t learned much!! So when I reached home, I immediately scrutinized my work plan and made remarks on what I have done and learned so far. The plan looks full but somehow I feel like I haven’t done much. L Hmmm….maybe it’s just me being insecure and doubting myself. I don’t know. I really hope that when I return to Penang, what I have learned and experienced will justify my time spent here. Sighs…let’s see what happens on Thursday.

Till my next entry…

--