Hallo Leute! Ich hoffe, dass sie eine schöne Woche hatten. I was incredibly busy this week with the rest of the Berlin IIP group. Although I’m tired, I’m grateful we’ve had a chance to grow acclimated with our new environment while exploring what Berlin has to offer. I had an absolutely exquisite time today at one of Berlin’s weekly flea markets, which I’m including as my featured image! I can’t wait to see what else we’ll be up to for the rest of the trip.
Over the next seven weeks, I will be working in the growing social justice industry. While I am pre-law, I’m hoping to have more of a focus on women’s rights and safety. Interning at L-Support, an organization offering anti-bureaucratic help to queer women who have suffered from acts of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, will allow me to explore this. I wouldn’t say that the social justice industry is “new,” but it’s surely grown over the past decade or so. Based on my experiences as a queer feminist activist and GSWS student, I find that being historically aware of your environment and the issues you’re fighting against will largely increase your chances of success (“success” can mean multiple things to multiple groups. Progress is not always linear). As I’ve discussed on my prior blog post, I am comfortable in my knowledge of LGBTQ+ German history. I’m aware of the significance and influential culture of the Weimar Republic and several queer German figures. I am not, however, entirely aware of Berlin’s modern gay culture and the current priorities of Germany’s queer population. This is something I will need to learn, as I will be assisting L-Support in planning their Pride events for the city. My cultural awareness is important!
Regarding my individual internship, I am prepared to not have as much workplace space as I am typically used to. I have no problem working with other people, but I do my best when I’m able to break apart from the group and do some work on my own. This will not be the case during my internship with L-Support. I will be working with about 6 other people, and the workplace is fairly small. Within such tight-knit groups, it’s impossible to ignore your colleagues. More than that, planning and organizing Pride events (or any event for that matter) is a team effort. I won’t even have the option to do major planning work by myself considering I am not representative of L-Support’s team or Berlin’s queer population.
Another crucial skill to have when working in the social justice industry is flexibility. When planning any large event, it’s important to remember that plans change. Obviously, there will come a time for finalizing larger parts of the project and tweaking smaller details. But in the early stages of my internship, many of the Pride events I help plan may be altered or scrapped entirely. I will need to remind myself that my work was not done in vain and that my efforts helped contribute to a reevaluation of what the Pride celebration should look like/what Berlin’s queer population needs.
Other than planning Pride events, I’m not entirely sure what else I will be doing at my internship! But regardless of what field you’re working in, I think it’s very important to expect honesty and bluntness when working in Germany. Based on what others have told me who have worked in Germany and cultural context clues, Germans are very straightforward in telling one another when a mistake has been made. Through an American-workplace lens, this could appear insensitive and personal. But through a German-workplace lens, this is anything but a personal attack. It is an effort in getting a team goal back on track. I admit that I am not perfect, and I may make a few more mistakes than I normally would while speaking German. I am prepared to receive the truth!
With all of this in mind, I’m glad I have a baseline plan going into my internship. My two main concerns are educating myself on the current priorities and needs of Germany’s queer population and being a member of the team, 24/7. Despite all of this reflecting, I still have no idea what to truly expect! This is my first internship, and I’m eager to become well-versed in workplace culture. The only thing I can do is truly try my best and remain open to criticism. I am confident in myself and know that my social justice industry-specific competencies will become more refined over the next seven weeks. I can do it!!!
Bis bald und viel Glück!