This week has been a week of expanding my taste palate. Before coming to Berlin, I always believed that most of the restaurants would just serve German food. I had also read that Döner Kebab was a popular meal all across Germany. I knew that Berlin was an incredibly multicultural city, but no one told me just how diverse it truly was in terms of the food offered in this incredible city. Wherever you walk, you see different cultures’ cuisines. It has been really hard not to try all of them because I am trying to stay on a budget. However, this past week, I made an exception and allowed myself to indulge a little and expand my taste buds.

My friend Tracy, another Pitt student in the program, and I decided to go to a West African restaurant nearby. It did take us some time to pick which restaurant to eat at because most West African restaurants closed early and were far away. Then we came across this small restaurant nearby that seemed to offer mouthwatering West African cuisine.

To preface this, I had never eaten West African food before, so I was unsure of what to order. When we walked in, we were the only two people in the restaurant. But we were immediately greeted warmly by the women who owned the restaurant. It was run by a woman and her mother, who were so kind and helped us order some food. I chose a fish dish that came with Jollof rice, and Tracy ordered beef stew with fufu.

The food came, and it was a lot of food. As soon as we took our first bites, we fell in love with it. I love spicy food, and the fish came with a spicy chili sauce that paired perfectly with everything. I could spend this entire blog post talking about how amazing it was, but I will just end it by saying that I now love West African cuisine.

Later in the week, I was craving Mexican food. I was talking to several other people in the group about what we missed most from back home, and it seemed like the consensus was that we all missed Mexican food. In Berlin, I have not seen many Mexican restaurants. Most are Spanish. However, while entering a flea market this past Sunday, my friend Mehek and I, who were absolutely famished, saw a Mexican food stand selling tacos. We immediately made a beeline for the stand and ordered four tacos. The first bite I took made me feel at home. We finished the tacos so fast and could not stop raving about how good they were.

Now let’s talk about success. In both Berlin and America, I believe there are some similarities and some differences in how success is defined. In American culture, especially in the workplace, success is often defined by always working, never going to bed, and stretching yourself thin to achieve something. In my host country’s workplace culture, success is defined somewhat similarly, but with key differences.

For example, Berliners also believe in working hard, but they prioritize work-life balance. Working hard means working hard while you are in the office, not continuing to work after hours. This is something I really love about the workplace culture here. People leave their work at the office, and they do not usually discuss work outside of it. Everyone respects that their coworkers have lives outside of work, and they treat work as something that stays within working hours.

There are certain qualities that make someone a successful and effective employee in my internship and industry. One key quality is the ability to work independently. Sometimes your boss will give you vague directions, but you have to take that and run with it. You cannot rely on someone to hold your hand. You have to take initiative and do it on your own. In my internship, comprehension and writing skills are also very important. This is because you need to dissect and understand complex EU laws. In order to craft a research paper that clearly conveys the point, you need to be able to write clearly and effectively.

I will say that the behaviors and actions of a successful employee do not differ that much between my host country and my home country.