Initially, my plan was to create a physical map featuring all the landmarks I visited in Berlin. However, I am not very good at Arts & Crafts and could not produce the results I had envisioned. Therefore, I opted to use StoryMapJS. This time, following the advice of Harshini, I chose not to focus excessively on the grade I might receive. Instead, I concentrated on enjoying the process of creating this story map and coming up with engaging titles and humorous descriptions. You can find the final presentation here.
Here are the explanations for the different titles and their descriptions:
2. Only place to call home.
Title: This is the only campus residence in NYU Berlin for J-term. Unlike a normal semester, there aren’t any other option.
Description: Based on the state that our common living room is in, I have to say it has taken a toll on me.
3. Academic Excellence and Beer Gardens — What more could you want?
Title: The restaurant right in front of campus, where the orientation was organized, has ample seating areas and alcohol options.
Description: One of the primary reasons to apply for a campus site in Europe is the Schengen Visa. Seeing that most students are extending their stay in Berlin to travel across Europe, it is hard to refute this fact.
4. I’ll lose weight some other time.
Title: I have been trying to get my body back in shape but with the order I had at this restaurant: Butter chicken, pineapple juice, spicy chicken wings, and Naan, I am a bit far from my goal.
Description: Related to the fact that there are a lot of Doner in Berlin and a Nepali guy eating Indian food doesn’t really scream variety. Spice is a staple in our cuisine.
5. My first photoshoot model
Title: I take a lot of pictures of the same objects from various angles to get that one perfect shot.
Description: Unlike this building, most usually have a rectangular shape. And from what I understood from our little conversation as part of Mariam and Fatima’s description, Linda likes squares.
6. One route, twice the stop.
Title: I travel the same route twice a day between campus and residence and therefore use this station often.
Description: Since I frequent this station, one would expect it to be a historical landmark of some sort.
7. BEST DINER IN THE CITY
Title: I get all my groceries from this place so most of what I eat comes from here.
Description: Once food digests, it becomes waste.
8. AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!
Title: Related to the fact that we had to wait for everyone to gather in front of our meeting point. Also, a popular Marvel movie phrase.
Description: This is related to the meme about popular anime series Dragon Ball’s characters Goku and Veget looking for an empty space to fight. Since the FIELD studio was very empty, it fulfills their requirements.
9. NOT THE PERSON I THOUGHT HE WAS
Title: When I first looked at the graffiti, I thought it resembled a famous dictator.
Description: The graffiti turned out to be dedicated to a Ukrainian soldier who was shot dead in captivity by Russians after saying “Slava Ukraine”.
10. DON’T FORGET YOUR BOTTLE
Title: Considering the number of drunks at the park we were in. Also a reminder to myself before leaving for the airport.
Description: The food hunt, and the laughs we had courtesy of the drunks. Since we joked about Aaron paying for our food, the only thing that couldn’t make the day more perfect as him not doing so.
11. LEG DAY FOR EVERYONE
Title: For the fact that we had to stand for the entire visit, as well as outside Gazzo, the pizza restaurant.
Description: We wanted chairs to sit on.
12. GOOD FOOD, BETTER COMPANY
Title: The demonstration for the day was about building connection between two people and the food was great.
Description: We all remember the encounter we had.
13. NICE DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU
Title: Darko was very excited about being hired at Flora&Fauna.
Description: Related to the book we all received. I feel like they gave it to us also because there were a lot of them lying around and they wanted to get rid of some of them.
14. THE KISS OVER FOOD, ANYDAY
Title: We decided to see the socialist kiss at the East Side Gallery first, even though some of us were hungry.
Description: Choosing to see the kiss over the food (sort of) tells us where our priorities are.
15. MY FAVORITE WORK
Title: Self-explanatory. My favorite work from this class.
Description: The joke here is the sarcastic remark about there not being a joke. It is a straightforward title and I wanted to end the presentation with this creation I am most proud of.