Orientation week was extremely interesting to get to know the landscape of Berlin and immerse ourselves in the history and culture of Germany. I thought this was beneficial because we could become comfortable with public transportation around the city, and also get to learn basic German through our classes. In addition, we got to see interesting sites and companies that connect well to many of our internships. It would be difficult to go right into work life without interacting with the community and getting to know the current geopolitical environment that is present. The most impactful aspect of this past week was the visit to the Federal Agency for Civic Education. This was eye opening for me because as the speaker explained, this agency is mandated to be at least somewhat established in German schools. It is a way for students to learn about the past and its connection to current politics today, and how important it is to stay involved. As a political science major this was riveting and helped me to better understand how Berliners – and Germans in general – feel and interact with their political environment. It helped me to compare and contrast the U.S’ current political climate with that of Germany.
Attached is an image of gold blocks indicating those who were killed during the Holocaust. These blocks are all of the city and used as a reminder of the atrocities committed under the Nazi regime. I took this picture directly outside of the hotel we are staying in which was so fascinating and sad to think about. To me, the idea to install these reminders was valuable and works to never have history repeated.
The second image attached is showing a street vendor located on the East side of the city selling traditional communist hats showing a hammer and sickle. It confused and frustrated me in a way to see this, because it seemed like an ignorant way to make money off of naive tourists. The history of the USSR seemed to be overlooked and instead was used as a gimmicky way to profit, which surprised me to see in a city that valued understanding its own dark past.
The third image attached shows the Berlin wall that our group walked alongside. It was interesting to see how much of it was still standing, which once again is a great reminder of the history of the city and shows a rich part of history. I did not know the city would allow so much graffiti on it, which I thought was very cool because it was covered in murals and thought provoking artwork. This was important for me to see and it was interesting to learn about the ongoing divide between East and West Berlin despite the city being unified.
I am working for a political outreach group that focuses on community building and enhancing the connection between civil society and the federal government. It is a great intersection of my majors – political science and urban studies – and I am looking forward to making connections to my school work and using my in-depth knowledge to my advantage while here. In my opinion, the biggest skill for me to be successful is my ability to build relationships and interact with others in a smart and productive way. I believe I already do well in this area, but it will be more difficult because I am in Germany where I do not understand the language and am still learning about the cultural differences at hand. Another strength that is necessary to be successful is being proactive and being able to think on the fly. Creating my own tasks when not asked is important for my work to go smoothly. It would be valuable for the company if they had an intern that was able to bring up new ideas and tasks that would improve productivity and minimize questions. Time management skills are also vital for this skill to be enacted.
An important competency that I will continuously be learning about is the cultural expectations that are different from that of the U.S. As we learned in orientation a while ago, Germany is a more low context culture, meaning there are less questions asked regarding what needs to be done. I will work on figuring things out on my own and asking less questions compared to what I might do in the U.S. In addition to this, I need to start getting comfortable with getting no compliments at all, and having a brutally honest supervisor that tells me exactly what I must improve. I am used to compliments followed by constructive criticism, but this will not be the case here. If I can get comfortable with these cultural workplace differences I believe I will succeed in my internship.