Dzien Dobry!

That means hello in Polish, pronounced Jen Dobre. I have Poland on the brain, having just gotten back, my first time in a foreign country, and hopefully the first of many international travels in my life. Here's a little bit about me:

The Berger family consists of me, Sarah, my mom, Ruthy, dad, Ron, two brothers, Corey and Chad, a sister-in-law, Kristi--whom I will refer to as my sister from here on out since I've known her for most of my life, and who, for all intents and purposes, is my sister. I also have a niece, Talya, and a nephew, Logan. My brothers are much older than I am and have moved out, so right now I am living alone with my parents, with the exception of my dog, Sam, and bird, Rainbow, who hates me. I say that semi-jokingly because he hates everybody.

I am part of an inter-faith family. My mom is Lutheran, and my dad is Jewish. We celebrate Christmas and Chanukah, Easter and Passover, and so on. We don't go to church or synagogue often, but being raised in a combined religion has taught me to be accepting of others, listen to other beliefs, and never to discriminate. We all live on this planet, and we should coexist in harmony.

I like to cook, read a lot, and love music. One of my favorite bands is The Beatles. I have at least 200 songs on my iPod featuring the works of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. But I like many different artists, and I listen to a lot of music people haven't heard of. I love to look for new artists to listen to. There are any number of great, undiscovered artists out there to find and to expand your music listening horizons. My friends and I are always making new discoveries, burning cds, and passing them around to each other. I also like to watch movies. People say I have strange taste. The weirder the plot, and the more eccentric the characters, the better. I just say what seems to be my weird taste in movies, books, and/or music is a reflection of my own eccentricities. We're all weird, so let's embrace it. Normal isn't always best.

I plan to go to college after high school. I'm not sure of the place yet, but I know that I want to at least minor in Spanish. I want to go into social work as well. Of course nothing's for sure; I might discover something completely different between now and the time I'll be declaring my major, but I think it's the right path for me. I want to help people, especially kids, get over some of the obstacles I've had little or no help with in my life. I've been pretty lucky to have parents who have fought for me to have equal opportunities, but there's still a long way to go. I want to help open up doors for all people, but people with disabilities especially. Hopefully I will be able to help someone get what I couldn't; everything is always changing and progressing, and I want to keep it that way.

This is just a little piece of who I am. It seems long though; I don't usually talk about myself. I'm changing all the time, but above are some of the things about me that are likely to stay as they are. On that note, I'm going to go get my jetlagged self some caffeine. It feels like 9:00 at night right now, and it's the middle of the day.

Do Widzenia! (Bye!)