Back to Profiles

 

Job description: With a list of the programs and projects (past, present, and future) at work in Flughafenkiez, I was to research similar best-practices in Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. This project gave me an understanding of many projects in the neighborhood and allowed me to discover a lot of very successful programs in the United States. While I had a lot of practice over the summer reading, speaking, and listening to German, this project also required me to write.

In addition, I did a weekly study of the trash and discarded household items on the streets. This was in response to many complaints by residents. I often had translation projects as well, especially in preparation for an international conference that Stadkümmerei hosted in October 2018. I helped at various meetings and neighborhood gatherings, and performed various basic office tasks as assigned.

German is definitely the most useful skill I acquired. I feel much more confident and have improved a lot over the course of the summer. Learning how an office of this type functions in Germany was also very valuable, as I hope to work in the country again. All in all, the conversations, both about neighborhood planning and the weather, with my coworkers were by far the most valuable.

See also her report "Summer in the City" in: Briefe aus Berlin 2018, pp. 25-26 in our downloads section.