This past weekend, I went on another hike with my coworkers from the lab. This time, we went to an area of lakes called Liepnitzsee. Liepnitzsee is located just north of the border of Berlin in the region that surrounds Berlin named Brandenburg. At the lake, we were able to see a lot of different plants and animals. There were fish, ducks, swans, herons, woodpeckers, as well as birch, oak, pine and beech tree forests. I was especially happy because my coworker, Ibai, brought along his dog, Argie. Argie has a lot of energy and loves to run. We all took turns holding Argie’s leash and running with her. However, she is very loyal to Ibai so she would always stop running and wait for him to catch up!
I had a great time hiking with my lab friends. It made me think back to the first time I went hiking with them when I first moved to Germany. So much has changed since then! The first time we were hiking together, I was nervous and very quiet because I did not know them very well. Now, I was talkative and felt right at home. On our first hiking trip, I did not know my way around Berlin and I hardly knew any German. Now, I hardly ever have to check my GPS to get where I am going and my German has improved a lot!
