It was one of those “he was the only person I noticed in the room” type situations. My Berlin Buddy. My first thought was “wow, he is gorgeous” Which is significant in that I was now allowing myself to even THINK outside my three-year high school relationship. The very next thought that popped into my head almost instantly after the first was “I could never get a guy like that.”
I walked through the smoky room filled with the strangers that would be my summer abroad classmates for the next month. I stepped out onto the balcony as the pot and beer fueled meet and greet inside continued. My Berlin Buddy approached me. He lit up a cigarette and offered me one. Up until that day I had never had a desire to put substances in my body. But it seems that the moment I decided to I changed. I am not saying that drugs and alcohol are necessary to have an interesting and exciting college experience… but it sure helps.
Just as soon as the conversation between my Berlin Buddy and I had started it was cut short when I spotted German police entering through the outside door below us to put our noise to a stop.
I stuck my head in the door to warn everyone and the smell of marijuana and grape filled my nose. I mouthed the words “police” to a classmate and frantically pointed towards outside.
The fifteen of us erupted into a frenzy trying to think of a plan. It was our very first day in a foreign country and we were already getting in trouble with the local police. Aside from that, it was my personal last chance to stay in college. I was eight units behind before I left for Berlin and the class was worth eight. The only way I would continue after summer was if I passed this class. Going home on the first day would certainly put a stick in those spokes.
The police made it to the door far before any of us would have ever been able to decide what to do. In a nearly strait line, we filed out the door, past the police, and up the stairs to the top floor where another student was living.
The room was pitch dark but I knew that there were three others in there with me. We could hear everyone hushing “SHHHHHHH!” from the next room. The drama subsided and the lights came back on. It was my Berlin Buddy’s room. I did not know it in that moment but I would be spending every night there on return from Locarno, Switzerland.
We had evaded the police but with our buzz completely mutilated, we all went to sleep. I think that was the last night of full sleep anyone got on that trip. Weather it was sex, drugs, or homework, we always had a reason to stay up all night. I lived the next month as a completely different person knowing I would have to go home and return to my boring old life. Or so I planned.
