Who am I and what am I doing?

Welcome to "Camille Goes Places," because I am going! 


If you have not heard yet, I have embarked on a journey most marvelous to Berlin, Germany. I am an English Teaching Assistant through the Fulbright Program. Basically, after a lengthy application process in my senior year of college, the U.S. State Department and the German Education department agreed that I should go forth and represent the best of American culture. While I hope I am a big help in the classrooms where I am assigned, I am eager to illuminate my learnings in the community to all in the world through this blog. 


Here is a map of Germany! The star is Berlin.

My official grant period is September 19th to June 30th, and I will be working at an elementary school for 12 hours a week. With this unprecedented free time, the least I can do is put my journalism degree to use and write stuff down. 

I am not here to tell you what you *must* do in Germany/Europe. But if you want a fun, snappy journal of personal insights and experiences -- I will give you that! If you want well-researched articles about historic landmarks, architecture, and art, I will deliver that with the utmost quality! Do you want me to interview people on the street in German and then translate it back to you? You know what, I might attempt that, too. As I learn, you learn; wir lernen zusammen. 

I'll also embed plenty of art, doodles, photos, audio, and videos into this, because multimedia is cool. 

Before going any further I guess I should show you who I am and what my life is:


1. I graduated with a double major in journalism and history and minor in dance from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL in June, 2022. (Pictured above).

2. I speak German nearly fluently because I went to Fairview-Clifton German Language Elementary School in Cincinnati, OH, and kept up classes through high school! 

3. I honestly cannot think of any more facts to share at the moment I am female, 22, she/her, Black and I...  like reading? 

Okay, you'll just have to learn more along the way. 

And here's a recap of my journey so far:

I spent a couple hours of my last full day in the U.S. at a fundraiser for kidney disease in West New York, NJ, with -- in my opinion -- a brutal tasting India Pale Ale.

On August 28th, I departed with my mother from our fabulous apartment in West New York, New Jersey, hustled through JFK international airport, and braced my mind, body, and spirit for a 6.5-hour flight across the Atlantic. 

We left at 6:30 pm Eastern Standard Time but arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 7:00 am in Central European Time. Having jumped six hours ahead, we thoroughly skipped the nighttime. But after another short flight, we were in Berlin, the glorious capital city. 

I am staying in a hotel/AirBnB for a month until I move to my permanent housing on October 1st. 

So far all we have done is walk around, eat, and relax. Just vibes and German language television. Here's a selfie of me along the Spree River, the main river which flows through Berlin.

I shall post again in 3-7 days! But in the meantime, write in the comments and on Instagram @ellimac_camille. Where shall I go? What random questions do you have for me? 


So long, farewell,

Camille







Location: Berlin, Germany

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