Networking, Networking, Networking

Park Inn Hotel

I just got back from the German National Fulbright Convention 2011 in Berlin.  It was a wonderful experience.  Berlin is only about an hour and a half from Braunschweig and our hotel was in the heart of the city.  Fulbright really broke the bank and put us up in the Park Inn Hotel at Alexanderplatz.  Alexanderplatz is part of former East Berlin and was seen as the "Capital of the GDR."

After checking with Fulbright and the hotel, I went up to our room and was really impressed.  They were so modern and sleek!  We also had a wonderful view of the square.  I met up with Erin and we set out in search of real burritos (very hard to find in Germany).  Erin had done her research and we were soon chowing down on something similar to Chipotle and it was wonderful!  We then decided to walk to the Berlin Jewish Museum.   This museum is not only important because of it's contents, it is also a very important architectural piece.  The building was designed by Daniel Libeskind and the actual museum has no doors, you must enter the building next to it, and then walk through a tunnel.  There are also spacial voids built in to represent the missing Jewish population of Europe.  There was so much to see and so little time to see it in!

The real program began the next day with a panel discussion on the "Future of Transatlantic Opportunities" with MdB Ulrich Klose (Vice Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag and Chairman of the German-American Parliamentary Group) and Reinhard Bütikofer (Member of the European Parliament and Vice Chairman of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance).  Unfortunately, I did not know who these speakers were before the conference, but the German students in attendance there were really impressed, lol.  There was also a panel on "Life After Fulbright."

The best part for me was the "Meet a Friend from Oversees." There we met the German students who will be traveling to the US next year as Fulbright Grantees.  In my group I met Jens, a Chemistry student who's going to GA Tech next year and Vera, an international business student who's going to the University of South Carolina with me next year!  We exchanged info and hopefully will see each other again on the other side of the pond.  After the networking session, we were greeted by the American Ambassador to Germany and had a lovely networking reception.  I think we had at least 4 different networking receptions as well as multiple panels on how to network.  OK Fulbright, we get it, networking is important!  We also me some wonderful German students at dinner one night, and decided to hang out with them after the panels were over.  They didn't stay the whole week, and we really missed them!

On Wednesday we were welcomed to the Red Town Hall or Rotes Rathaus.  We heard from other Fulbrighters throughout Europe and their experiences.  We met and had a session with the former mayor of Berlin and current senator of urban development Ingeborg Junge-Reyer.  After another networking reception, I set off for the Deutsches Historisches Museum to see thousands of years of German history.  I was certainly impressed, especially since they had so many pieces of period clothing on display!

Deutsches Historisches Museum

After our free afternoon, we enjoyed a dinner and music concert by the Fulbright Music Students over here in Europe.  We also got to hear the world premier of some of their compositions.  Wednesday was the only panel specifically for teaching assistants where we got some helpful hints for the classroom and shared experiences.  I skipped the next panel to go sightseeing, because it really was for the research students instead of me.  I got some great pictures out of it too!

Berlin Cathedral

Berlin Cathedral

Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Reichstag

Bundeskanzleramt

Deutscher Bundestag

The Ampelman - Berlin's Crossing Guard

Wednesday night we had our closing panel - "Europe - A Lame Duck?" with one German representative and one American representative.  It was mostly a discussion of economic policy.  Later that night we had our farewell party at the Kulturbrauerei, Frannz Club which was a big dance party.  It was sooooo much fun and a great way to end a great week.

For more pictures of Berlin, click here.