Running Through the Streets of Berlin
Anh Tran
One of my passions in life is running, and I have been doing it for years. Running first started off as a solution for me to lose weight, and I used to dread going for a mile run. Today, however, I’m a member of the Hiram College Cross Country team, and I try never to run fewer than three miles on any day.
When I joined this study abroad program, I knew I would be traveling to several different countries for thirteen weeks, and I knew running was something that I would have to put on hold. Before I left for the trip, I promised myself that whenever I got the opportunity to run, I would do it. Unfortunately, there weren’t many places where I could go running.
During the duration of the trip, it was hard to find a place and time to run. In Alaska, I couldn’t run on the streets because they were completely covered in ice. After snorkeling all day, everyday, in Hawaii, it was really hard to find the energy to go for a run in the nearby park.
In Thailand, India, Egypt, Tanzania, and the Maldives, it was uncommon for women to wear clothing that showed off skin. If I wanted to respect their culture, I would need to wear a long sleeve shirt and pants. With hot and humid weather, there was no way I was going out for a run unless I wanted to die from overheating. It wasn't until we made a stop in Berlin, Germany, that I finally found an opportunity to run.
Our class went on a field trip to see the Charlottenburg Palace. Inside the palace, the rooms were decorated and designed beautifully. My audio guide told me at one point to take a peek out of the palace’s window to look into the garden. The first thing I noticed in the garden wasn’t the design or the plants. It was the people running. I was so excited to see that running outside was a common activity in Berlin. In a split second, I told myself that when we had a free day I would come back to the palace garden to run. Conveniently and thankfully, the very next day was our free day.
I woke bright and early at 6:30 a.m. and took the city bus back to the palace. It felt a little awkward being on the bus in just my tights and Under-armour, because everyone else on the bus was wearing business clothes and probably going to work. All of this was out of my mind as soon the bus reached my destination, the Charlottenburg Palace. Once my foot touched the street, I was off.
It was a wonderful feeling to get my blood pumping, the wind blowing in my face, and being with the great outdoors. I ran through the garden, taking a quick glance at the different pottery and its designs, passing the pond, and then jogging off into a park located behind the palace. Running past all of the trees, glancing left and right at my surroundings, going across the bridge, listening to the morning birdcalls, I loved it all.
After running through all of the possible paths in the garden and park, it was time to head back to the hotel. I started to jog towards the bus stop, but I had such a runner's high that I decided instead to run back to the hotel. During my run, I noticed so much more than I would have had I taken the bus. I found a small Vietnamese community and a few interesting stores that I later visited.
When I finally reached the hotel, I checked my stopwatch and realized that I had been running for nearly two hours. This was such a great feeling. I was able to run for the first time in two months, and I still had the stamina to keep going. I'd seen so many sights and the hidden beauties of a foreign city. Just being outside and being able to run was all I wanted to do during this study abroad trip, and I'm so thankful that I was able to finally do it in such a lovely place.