Sarah – Germany
Hallo! My name is Sarah Pickup. I’m a rising Junior attending the Berlin Summer 2025 Study Abroad program. I’m double majoring in Sociology and History, with a Concentration in Public History.
I am very excited to travel to Berlin, Germany as it will be my first time out of the country. This also makes me a bit nervous because although I’ve flown many times domestically, I’ve never flown internationally, so I will be starting this trip with a brand new experience.
I wanted to talk a little about myself. I am disabled. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is thankfully in remission, meaning my immune system is no longer causing damage to my joints though I have already sustained joint damage from when it was uncontrolled. I have ADHD, and I’m on the Autism Spectrum with low support needs. I also recently received a new chronic illness diagnosis this past semester, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, or IIH, which means my brain has too much cerebrospinal fluid in it and they don’t know why.
When I started looking at this program, I was worried that I would be unable to attend it due to my disabilities. I was reassured by my faculty leader that ECU has accommodated many students with disabilities in the past but I’m still nervous about the trip. I decided to include my disabilities in my blogs so that others like me can see my Study Abroad journey.
As a history major, the majority of my personal research about Germany has been from around the 1800s-1950s, so I fear most of my knowledge about Germany will be unhelpful in modern Germany. I have learned a bit about the country in my German 1001 class during the Spring 2025 semester and I bought Rick Steves’ Berlin guidebook as well as his German phrase and dictionary book so hopefully all three will serve me well.
I am taking two German language courses from Inlingua Berlin, which will transfer over to ECU when I return to the US. I am also taking GLST 2600: The Holocaust with Dr. Jones in Berlin. As a history major, I am very interested to learn about the Holocaust in Germany, as this is an opportunity that rarely comes up.
Guidebooks for visiting Germany
I am very happy to be traveling to Germany since my maternal side of my family is half German. My mother also lived and worked in Heidelberg, Germany for two years in the 1980s and I always wanted to travel to Germany ever since I learned that. It’ll be exciting to reconnect with my familial culture.
I’m now about a month out from Berlin and I can’t wait to start my exciting adventure!
Auf Weidershen!
Pre Departure Preparations
May 28, 2025
Hi guys!
I thought I’d update you all on some of my preparation work for my journey to Berlin.
Part of traveling to a foreign country as a person with a disability is figuring out all the logistics. When you have a disability, or multiple disabilities like me, you have to plan ahead and work around obstacles that non-disabled people might not otherwise have to think about.
For example, my living accommodations. This study abroad’s living arrangements has host families. I haven’t been assigned my host family yet but I was worried about my host family’s home as many buildings in Berlin are walk-ups and I can’t do a whole lot of stairs due to the damage in my joints. I was also worried about the temperature of the house since, due to a combination of medications I’m on and my Autism, I don’t tolerate heat well. I brought these issues up with my faculty leader who has assured me she would find accommodations to suit my needs.
I don’t worry so much about the stairs but I do still worry about the heat since air conditioning isn’t as common in Germany as it is here in the United States. I’ve bought items to help keep me cool that I’ll bring with me. Cooling towels, hand fan, neck fan, sweat towels, Liquid IV in case of dehydration, fever wipes. It may sound like overkill for Berlin, whose summer temperatures average 57°F (14°C) – 75°F (24°C), but with no air conditioning and lots of people, it’s a disaster in the making for the heat intolerant.
Another problem I’ve encountered is medications. I’m on quite a few medications for my conditions. Most of them are fine. One, however, is a controlled substance in both the United States and Germany. Traveling to a foreign country with a controlled substance is a completely new and honestly terrifying experience for me. I don’t want to be detained by German Customs for not following their laws correctly or have my necessary medication taken away. To make sure I’ve followed the law to a T, I not only consulted ECU’s Office of Global Affairs but called German Customs and BfArM (The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices, Germany’s version of the FDA). In order to bring my medication into Germany, my prescribing doctor is required to fill out a Schengen Medication Certificate. It is a multilingual form that declares what my medication is, my prescription strength and dosage, and my prescribing doctor’s information. My situation could be worse. I had considered doing a study abroad in Japan, where my medication is completely banned.
Flying with a disability can be challenging as well, though I feel I have a bit of an advantage here since although I haven’t flown internationally before, I have flown domestically more times than I can count. I booked my flight well in advance, as soon as I got the go ahead from my faculty leader. I wanted to make sure I got the seat I wanted since I have a bad hip and can’t sit in middle or window seats. I actually regret it a bit since I looked at prices a few weeks later and they were a couple hundred dollars cheaper but what can you do?
There were no direct flights out of Raleigh (RDU) to Berlin (BER) so I’m flying a connection first to New York (JFK). That’s exciting in itself to me. I’ve never flown or been to New York before. From New York (JFK), I’ll fly overnight to Berlin (BER), arriving at 7:25am.
The RDU, JFK and BER airports are all part of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program, which aims to bring awareness to people with invisible chronic illnesses and conditions. All of my disabilities are invisible unless I’m having a bad day and using my cane so I will be wearing my customized lanyard which airport employees are trained to recognize. It doesn’t give me any special privileges or rights but it lets airport staff know that I may become overwhelmed easily due to my Autism or I may need to sit down if the TSA lines are too long. It’s just a way for airport employees to know “hey, this person’s disabled even though they don’t look like it, so keep an eye out in case they need help and can’t ask!”
Writing about my disabilities and Germany has got me thinking about my GLST 2600 class. I really hope we discuss Aktion T4 in it. It’s not technically part of The Holocaust but it’s an important part of Nazi Germany’s systematic killings. Aktion T4 is often overlooked when people talk about Nazi Germany’s victims. It was a forced euthanasia program for those with disabilities in Germany, Austria, and surrounding European countries. The first season of the PBS/BBC WWII drama World On Fire doesn’t name Aktion T4 but it does have a good plot line about it, if you’re interested. I plan on visiting the Memorial to the 300,000 victims in Berlin.
Well, that’s all for now. The next time you hear from me, I’ll probably be on the plane or in Berlin!
Tschüss!
Hallo vom Berlin!!
July 24, 2025
I am writing to you from my bedroom in my host family’s apartment. It’s rather late, but I haven’t had much time to work on this since landing in Germany. We’ve just been go, go, go.
My flight to Berlin had 3 other members of my study abroad group on it, though I won’t name them as I haven’t asked them if they would like to be mentioned by name on my blog. It was nice not to be traveling alone to a different country, especially because it was my first time.
Once we landed, my main concern was avoiding an autistic meltdown due to jet lag, overstimulation and just general overwhelm. Autistic meltdowns are not only mentally and physically draining, they’re actually super embarrassing too. I hate having them as much as people hate witnessing them. They can be traumatic for everyone involved so I do what I can to avoid them. Occasionally that means shelling out some of my own money for an Uber to my host family instead of trying to navigate Berlin’s public transport system after a long day of travel like the rest of my study abroad group. Sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on experiences because of my disabilities but this is what life with a disability is. You have to constantly adapt yourself to situations and try to predict what your tolerances will be. I wasn’t absolutely positive that I would have a meltdown trying to navigate Berlin’s public transportation system on my way to my host family but I know my mind enough to guess that I would.
My faculty leader was very helpful in arranging a host family only seven minutes away (well, seven minutes for the average person, I timed it and it takes me about ten-fifteen as I’m a slow walker but I very much appreciate being close) from Inlingua Berlin, where we take our German language classes and I and a few other students take our Holocaust class with Professor Jones.
My host is a Friseurin (hairdresser in German). She’s been doing it for over 40 years now. She runs her salon out of her apartment so I get to see her clients sometimes. Once I got to see a bride on her wedding day! She went for a 1920s hairstyle and looked absolutely beautiful!
My host’s apartment is in the so-called “gay district” of Berlin, which is super interesting for me. I am a member of the LGBTQ community and it’s very cool to live in a “gay” district, something I’ve only read about and visited once when I went to the Castro District in San Francisco, California a few years ago. This weekend is Lesbisch-Schwules Stadtfest Berlin (Gay and Lesbian City Festival), which is one of the largest Pride festivals in the world. My apartment is on one of the main streets, so I’ll be right in the middle of the action. Despite knowing I’m part of the LGBTQ community since I was 16, I’ve never taken part in any Pride events, partially because my disabilities make it difficult for me, so I’m very excited to experience my first Pride.
On the first Tuesday after arrival, we went on a 4 mile walking tour of Berlin followed by dinner at an authentic German restaurant. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it. That’s a lot of walking after a lot of travel. But I was lucky enough to have the encouragement of the group, who have been really understanding and supportive of me. We got to see a lot of the history of Berlin, some of the museums we’ll be visiting later this month, and what was left of the Berlin Wall.
The view from my balcony
At the Brandenburg Gate
The Memory Void at the Jewish Museum
Costumes on display from previous shows
Then that Thursday we visited the Jewish Museum. I had seen a bit about the Jewish Museum online. I knew that it was the museum with the metal faces on the floor but I wasn’t prepared for how interactive it was. It really made you think and feel about the victims of the Holocaust. I was also impressed by how accessible the museum was to people with disabilities.
That Saturday, we went to the Deutsche Opera to see The Magic Flute by Mozart. It was an absolutely amazing show, with beautiful voices. I think we all had a great time, despite the rainy and chilly day. That was also the day I attempted to travel via the U-Bahn (subway) by myself for the first time. It was a success!
I feel like I’m finally settling into my life here in Berlin. It took the whole first week, but I feel like I have a routine and I’m ready to seize the day everyday. My chronic pain level is finally settling down and my fatigue is getting better. I’m excited for the rest of my stay. I hope to update you guys soon!!
Tschüss!
Sarah
Hello all, I’m back in Greenville!
I still can’t believe all this was real. I did it. I went to Berlin. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would actually get to travel to Europe.
When I was 11 years old, I got the diagnosis of Idiopathic Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It changed the entire trajectory of my life. I was already technically chronically ill, as I had been diagnosed with asthma at 3, but this was another potentially life-long disease which could actually cripple my mobility and in severe, rare cases, kill people through secondary causes. I will be the first to admit that I victimized myself after that diagnosis for a while as a pre-teen and teenager. I also had other traumatic things going on at home and overall it just fed into my mental state and I began to believe that things like traveling overseas would be impossible for me. I thought even if I got the opportunity to go overseas, there’s no way I could handle the pain or the mobility challenges. I can’t believe how wrong I was. I’m so immensely happy I was wrong.
This trip has quite literally changed my life. I’ve decided to add a German minor to my double major as I plan on pursuing graduate school in Germany and having a bit of a background in German studies will look good on applications. I’m looking forward to learning more about Germany here at home.
Being in Berlin also helped me figure out what I wanted to do career-wise. People always ask you “what do you plan to do after you graduate?” My answer has always been “graduate school,” because that has always been a goal of mine but then they’d want to know about after that and I’d never have an answer for them. Now I do. I’m not going to go into it because I’m not too sure how I’m going to go about it but I’ve never been more sure of something in my life about where I want to go career-wise.
It’s been strange how different I feel after a month overseas. I’m more confident than I ever was before. I feel like I know who I truly am now and what I am capable of, which is more than I ever thought possible.
Dankeschön, Berlin, für alles.