Our second ASF seminar in Berlin

It turns out that the trains in Germany don't always run on time. As Lena and I set off at the end of November for our second ASF seminar in Berlin, we had no fewer than three delays and did at one stage end up going back through Weimar, having left it over an hour beforehand.

After this (and spending another while wandering through the streets of Berlin looking for our hostel...our own fault this time), though, we did arrive just as everyone was sitting down for dinner so we weren't too bad off.

Above all, the seminar was a great opportunity to catch up with all of the others. As I mentioned before, we are a group of 18 international volunteers living and working throughout Germany, and while we of course keep in touch on Facebook, it was good to have the whole group together again - and for the first time since our introductory seminar in September.

We started the seminar that evening by each presenting one or two photos that symbolised how our initial impressions of Germany had changed over our first three months of living there. I chose a map of Germany to show how the naive idea I had in September that I would spend my weekends travelling around the country visiting all the different cities had gone completely out the window once I got here and realised how big it actually is (and how expensive it is to travel around).

It felt a bit odd saying that in a room with several people from Russia (earlier that day, while we sat waiting for one of our many trains, Lena had said 'Germany is so small!') and the United States, but I suppose I can't help the fact that I come from a small island!

The following morning, we broke into small groups and each had the opportunity to present our work to the other volunteers. I really enjoyed hearing what the others do, because, while some of them also work in memorial sites, many are doing things that are completely different. For example, there are people working in the ASF office, others who work with elderly people and there is one volunteer in a youth club. Despite the variety of work however, we're all experiencing the same issues in terms of settling in and finding our feet in a completely new environment.

We spent one day visiting the House of the Wannsee Conference, exploring many of the issues relating to anti-Semitism and the Final Solution. The exhibition at the site is excellent, charting the history of anti-Semitism in Europe and helping to explain what led to the ultimate decision to exterminate the entire Jewish population of the continent.

That day ended with a visit to a synagogue for a Friday-evening service, which, as many in the group remarked afterwards, was quite refreshing after spending so long speaking of Judaism in the past tense. The exterior seemed a bit unwelcoming, with two police standing at the door and another keeping an eye on the security cameras (something which I have often seen outside the synagogue near my house in Dublin on a Saturday morning too) - a sad reminder maybe that some things haven't changed - but once we got inside, the atmosphere could not have been more different.

It was my first time ever inside a synagogue; I have to admit that the one I just mentioned near my house is somewhere I have passed thousands of times, but have never actually considered going in to. I immediately felt very welcome, with many people asking us where we were from and what we were doing in Germany and there was a group of old men sitting nearby who kept showing us where we were in the prayers and hymns, even though it was all in Hebrew anyway!

There was also a great sense of community: everyone was catching up with friends after the week's work and finding out all the news and gossip, just like many people do in Ireland after mass on a Sunday. As someone who is quite critical of religion in general, this gave me a different perspective on the role it can play in people's lives in terms of bringing them together with their neighbours and creating a sense of belonging.

And religion is a theme that came up again and again throughout the seminar, in particular when we talked about the meanings behind some rituals and festivals (mainly Christmas and Hanukkah, given the time of year) and the ways they are celebrated throughout the world.

Unlike our first seminar, this time we did everything through German. It was difficult at times, and I found myself getting quite tongue-tied when speaking in front of the whole group, but there was definitely a determination among those of us who had mostly spoken English in September to stick to German this time.

In comparison to the first seminar, which was geared primarily towards providing us with an introduction to the whole programme and our work, this seminar involved dealing with a much broader range of topics. As well as everything I've mentioned above, we also talked about many other things, including the concept of 'identity' and how we label ourselves and other people, the issues around how our perspectives of our own lives can change over time and even the most feared topic of all: what we're going to do once our volunteer service is over.

It was strange to be thinking of what comes next already when it seems like we've only started, but as I thought about it on the train home (perfectly punctual this time, thankfully) I realised I've been here for almost four months now and I'm well beyond the stage of 'just starting'!