How I know I've been in Europe for quiet some time:

The other day I got my first Subway sandwich in Scotland b/c they don't really have Subway in Germany. I decided to get a foot long so I could save some for later. When the lady was making it I realized, oh my god, how am I ever going to finish this?! This thought has never crossed my mind before.

Just a quick post b/c I've been doing horrible at writing on this, sorry!!

:(

This I will miss about living with Manny:

Discussions about religion and politics
My beautiful yellow/golden room
Always having a place to have dinner
Great coffee in the morning
My wooden wardrobe
Taking the 188 bus for 20 minutes to get anywhere
Eating dinner in the wintergarten
Discussions about Sira being a teenager
The heaters all over the house
The nice neighborhood
Hearing about Wendt, Abassi, and the other neighbors
New flowers in my room every week
The markings on my door from when Sira was like 8
Doing dishes while Manny runs off to watch the Sunday TV program
Frustuck on Sundays that takes up 3 hours
Waiting for the 188 bus b/c my life depended on it
Spending the majority of my travel time in the area of Rathaus Stegelitz
Squeaky floors, doors, floorboards, and doorhandles
The old house with the old double pained windows
The weird toilet and shower curtain
Family shopping time
"Krrrrrristina"
Hearing the latest news about which bar/cafe to go to
...so much more

I can't believe I only have one more week with Manny! :( Its so sad!!

Today we had such an awesome day. Sira came over and we went to Potsdam (finally like he's been talking about since like week 2 of being here) and we meet Andres, Patrick, and Raleigh for the Holland Festival in Postdam which was sooooo nice b/c the weather was sooo hot! I got burned for sure. It was one of the first times in months I've been outside for the whole day and it was lovely! Ah then we came back to the house and all 6 of us had a nice garten dinner outside. The whole thing was so lovely!

Its just so weird that everything is coming to an end! Everyone leaves this Friday or Saturday. So weird. We have finals this week then a goodbye dinner on Thursday and a party on Friday. So sad. I'm going to miss the normalcy of going to Brentanostrasse then at break heading over to Gunter's for coffee then Mensa-ing it, then coming back to Brentanostrasse for whatever reason. I know I'm going to have an amazing and totally different time when I move into my WG and go to the international Freie Uni, but still I'm going to miss Raleigh, Kevin, Danielle, Phil, Kirk and everyone. So crazy. One more week left. Its always in the last few days that you realize you've been taking for granted the great situation you're in. Ah its like what I'd give to have a normal day of school then Manny's for dinner.

Today I taught Manny the word "Procrastination"

1 ten page paper
5 weeks to write
3 actual days of work on the paper
2 pages completed

So this is pretty average for my life in LA, but here it just feels like I'm being robbed of more things to do like going out to bars, hanging out with friends, and riding a bike around Lichterfelde when I put off work then have to designate an entire day to writing. Ah I should really get on writing my paper.

In the meantime though I think I'll enlighten everyone into the serious story of Easter in Germany. So I knew things were getting serious here when they got Thursday (THURSDAY!) and Friday off for Easter. I mean Easter is a Christian holiday, there's no making that PC like the US does with "Winter" Break. Yeah so then after a lovely 4 hour hike in Northern Berlin forests on Thursday I went with my friend Danielle shopping with her host sisters. That's when she drops the bomb on me: Germans actually buy each other gifts on Easter. REAL gifts, like the kind of things Americans would get each other for birthdays. Craziness! I watched as my Danielle bought nice things for her family and comforted myself with the thought that Manny, surely, did not do this. I mean when was the last time any country was more capitalistic and consumerist than the US? Never! Or so I thought! So I got Manny a big chocolate bunny thinking that I could just keep it if it turned out Easter was just normaand thankfully Danielle let me borrow a blank CD so I could possibly make him a burned CD. I get home and realize that Danielle (natürlich!) was totally correct! Well Manny didn't get me anything, but he had put a chocolate bunny in my bookshelf and a "Frohe Ostern" embordered thingy. AH! Yes, so then Sira comes over and she goes on a search for her gifts which Manny has actually hidden outside. Ha. Anyways then it turns out we have frustuck plans for Easter morning b/c Easter is a big deal. The breakfast was good but the really exciting thing was going on Manny's scooter to get there!!! AHHHH! Call me crazy, but after what shall be known as the "snow-mobile incident" I haven't been too keen to get on fast moving machines. Still it was sooo sooo much fun to get on the scooter and go all around to get to his friend's house. I mean it was like a tour of Berlin by scooter! Hooray!

Anyways I think I'll go write that paper now!

HASSO!

Sony Center



HASSO!

So it’s been forever and I’m dropping the ball, so I’m getting back on with just writing about this week.

So last week I was supposed to go to Milan to see Eric, but due to the fact that I didn’t have a passport because we had to turn them into to get our Resident Permit, I couldn’t go. UGH, 60 euros down the drain and not being able to see Eric as planned was not the sort of beginning to a weekend I was hoping for. Eventually it turned out that this was really a blessing in disguise because I had about 4 major things I had to that weekend that would have been extremely difficult to make up.


One of those things was going on an excursion to a mosque in Nelkoln on Thursday. As we walk up to this mosque there were a ton of people there. It was a Thursday so it was kind of startling that so many people would be there, then we see a coffin coming out and realize eek, we just almost crashed a funeral. After the people had left we met up with out tour guide. She was such a curious lady, I really enjoyed her. There were only about 6 of us on the tour and we were all girls so it was sort of relaxing. She was a German who converted to Islam and it was really interesting to hear her perspective on how Germans see Muslims and how integrated Muslims are in the community. What was most interesting was how she said that young Turkish or Arabic kids grow up hearing from other people that they're Muslim or that they should be Muslim so then these Turkish or Arabic kids feel like they have to own up to the label that people put on them.




The mosque was also GORGEOUS! Blue and turquoise mixed with other bright earthly tones, ah gorgeous. The chandelier in the middle was a bunch of lights with quotes from the Quran about God lighting up all ends of the earth. So beautiful. We all sat chatting about integration and Islam on the heated floor on the main worship room.

After that I went with Vivan to my lieblings-türkisches cafe (favorite Turkish café) off Kottbusser Tor. Its this really cool place with Arabic next to the German on the menu and Arabic music playing. This place seriously has the best döner in all of Berlin. Promise! They also have other types of pickled vegetables, sweets like baklava, and real mint leaves in hot water. So good!

Ah I’ve also recently become literally addicted and obsessed with Milka chocolate. Haha I think its bad when you eat chocolate on the bus and then worry about if everyone is noticing you’ve just eaten a whole bar of chocolate. Seriously though, Milka kicks all American chocolate’s ass. Its soooo good and its sooo cheap. Actually all chocolate in Berlin is really pretty cheap and sooo much better than in the US. Ah I’m going to gain so much weight, haha I’m trying to just buy the little bars in a small attempt to curb my chocolate intakes. Wish me luck, its sooo good!



On Friday we had an excursion to Potsdam, which is a small city outside of Berlin, literally 30 minutes from my house. It was really nice and quaint. Actually it makes me love Berlin. The small cities of Germany that I’ve been to like Lepizig and Dresden, are really nice, but they’re so small and I really like the variety of Berlin. Potsdam does have cool history though, it was where Alte Fritz (AKA Old Fritz, AKA Frederick the Great AKA Frederick II of Prussia) had his favorite palace called Sanssouci. It’s a highly highly Rococo style palace that’s actually really small. Ha, that’s why I like Alte Fritz I’d like a small castle too, I’d just get lost in places like the Lourve and Versailles. The palace name “Sansouci” translates into without worry and it was because Alte Fritz had been in his fair share of horrific battles. Also crazy fact about Alt Fritz: when he was 18 or so he tried to escape his serious father and when he was caught, his dad thought he’d teach him a lesson by forcing him to watch the beheading his best friend who he had tried to escape as well. AHH! Yeah so Alte Fritz grew into a really nice enlightened despot because he was trying really hard to not be his crazy father.

We also went to Cecilienhof which is where the Potsdam conference was held a few months after WWII was over in Europe. So I got to see where Stalin sat ( and touched his desk! Eek! Crazy man’s desk!) and Clement Attlee’s smoking room. The tour was actually really lame, but it was still really cool to see where the big round table was. Its just interesting in hindsight to see how things completely fell apart in that three some relationship.

We had a bunch of time to check out the whole city. So Raleigh, Kevin, Stephon, and I got some food at an overpriced restaurant in the middle of town. Kevin is such a character. Being the devout Catholic he is, Kevin gave of speaking English for lent which means the conversations between Kevin and I have recently become extremely one-sided and often need a translator. Ha, its kind of like talking to a child, and I mean that in the best way possible. Haha, I get to test my deutsch on him.

Also Raliegh is secretly the love of my life. Haha I love her.




Later that night a bunch of us had Oper tickets for the Magic Flute. It was really good, but all in deutsch so a lot of it was lost on me. Oper’s aren’t as horrible as people think they are, or maybe the Magic Flute is just really good. It was actually really funny and silly even with the translation. Oh and the Queen of the Night’s Aria was really good. That’s impressive! I believe it’s the highest note in an Opera.

So on Saturday, CIEE took us on a tour of Kreutzburg which is my favorite neighborhood of Berlin. It’s the really Muslim area where the art scene is along with all the cool bars, clubs, and young people are. The tour was really cool and the tour guide was this really cool Muslim lady who was super opinionated about how Muslims are treated and how horrible the gentrification of Kreutzberg is. Also we had the BEST Turkish food afterwards. It was the closest to Moroccan food I’d had outside of Morocco.

Later that night I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D with Kevin, Danielle, and Raleigh in the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz.


On Sunday things were a little interesting at my house. Manny and Sira got in a relatively large argument at the breakfast table with Ken, Sira’s boyfriend, and I sitting there trying to be invisible. It was all about how Manny had made plans for us all to go to Mauer Park Flo Markt (Flea Market) but then Sira didn’t want to go. Awkward family tension resulted. Ah all I can say is I’m so glad I’m not 15 anymore and this experience makes me never want to have children b/c one day they’ll be a teenager. Eveuntaully we all went to the Flea Market with Sira not wanting to be there the whole time. Awkward… But the market is actually really really cool and I want to go back some other time when its warmer. I’ve never seen such a big flea market. We were there for about 2 hours and still didn’t see the whole thing.

On Tuesday my deutsch class had früstück (breakfast) at my deutsch teacher’s apartment. There’s only 6 of us in the class and its really cool. I love my deutsch teacher. She’s like 27-30 years old and really opinionated. We made a HUGE fruit salat and had tons of cheese and toast. She lives in Kreutzberg next to this nice park. Ah she’s so great. We always have a break in the class because its 3 hours long and during the break her and I always walk down the street to get cheap coffee together. (Milka sometimes for me too… sooo addicted!) haha she calls Günter, the old coffee shop man, her drug dealer b/c he sells her coffee, an understandable connection.

After früstück I went to Manny’s work because he had told me he worked close to Kottbusser Tor. Manny is a psychologist that works at something like an alternative school for kids who are prone to violence. Its an interesting job, so I went to visit him and he took me around his work and then we walked around Kreutzberg. He used to live in Kreutzberg in the 70’s when the wall was still up. Then we went to a Turkish café that he loves the most. It was really cool because Manny really works in a really cool place.

On Tuesday night I saw Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others). SO GOOD! WATCH IT! GOOGLE THE TRAILER! (Trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhWWQDAdcE8) This is seriously, one of the best movie’s I’ve ever seen. Its about life in the DDR (or GDR, German Democratic Republic, AKA Eastern Communist Germany). Not only is the story captivating, but it’s the cinematography is wonderful! I don’t even usually notice that sort of thing, but this was just such a good movie. WATCH IT!

This Thursday night a bunch of us decided to go to the Weineri, (Winery) which is a café like room where you pay 2 euros for a wine glass then drink as much wine as you’d like. At the end you’re supposed to be so drunk that you actually give them 2 euros per wine glass. It was really really fun and totally crowded at this little place in Prenzlauer Berg. It was super fun. I really just enjoy going to bars and cafes and drinking because its so nice to just sit and chat and drink. I had a really great time and drank plenty of their cheap wine.

The next day though we all had our last excursion to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in the far north of Berlin. It was the first concentration camp in Germany and at first was just for political prisoners, but then later Jews and other people persecuted under the Nazi’s racial laws. It wasn’t intended as a place for mass murder and extermination because those places were meant to be in Eastern Europe, but 30,000 people were murdered there. Much of what was left after the Nazi were defeated was destroyed by Soviets who bombed out most of the camp’s buildings including the gas chamber and crematorium. (PS I didn't take any of the Sachsenhausen pictures they're from Wikipedia, I didn't bring my camera that day)

It was really surreal being there. I can’t really explain it and maybe I haven’t absorbed it yet, but the whole thing was really really surreal. Its astounding that these events ever happened and its hard to understand how humanity can sink so low so its difficult, even when standing there, to understand how horrific and horrible it was. I think what struck me most was walking into the former barracks where prisoners lived. It was been burned when the Nazis left the camp, but there was still bunk beds, toilets, and the “shower” rooms. I mean actually standing where so many people were forced to live under the worst conditions. Its hard to imagine and take in. The cruelty prisoners endured is astounding. I mean the guards would just do horrible things to the prisoners just because they could, such as forcing as many people as they could into a small closet then letting them die because there wasn’t enough air for so many people in such a small room. Then there was the gas chamber were all that was left was the ground floor of the building. This particular place had a gas chamber, a “doctor’s room” where they would systematically shoot people, crematorium ( in the above picture), and an execution trench where people were shot. I think looking back on visiting there it has just made my comprehension of horrible people were treated even clearer. Just talking about the holocaust now is harder than it was before simply because I been where so many people were brutally and ruthlessly systematically murdered.

Hmm… its hard to follow that depressing topic, but I’ll try with something light and fluffy. Today Manny, Sira, and I had a relatively peaceful Sunday that involved all 3 of us biking to the Flo Markt that is about 500 meters (that’s right it’s the metric system) away from our house. This was nothing like the Mauer Park Flo Markt because it was tiny and apparently we were too late to see anything good. However it was really nice to get on a bike and spend some time outside. It was really good to do something active instead of just walking around in the freezing cold.

Oh yes and on Saturday evening Raleigh, Kevin, Danielle, and I went to an absinth bar then to a dance club. HA! The whole place was filled with FU BEST students. I have no idea how we all ended up here, but it was great! We had such a good time dancing, again, just nice to be active! I’m dying trapped in buildings with all the snow and cold outside! I’m ready for zommer!

Basically I’m having an amazing time still and I’ve been really busy which is why I haven’t been keeping up with this. I mean this post was just one week! Eek! So much happening and I’m just trying to enjoy it while it lasts!

Gheez Oops

Okay so sorry its been FOREVER! So much has happened and I'm going to write about it but with three 10 pages research papers and weekend trips still happening I've got a lot going on so here's a summary for now and later I will expand on the on goings.

--Anti Nazi Protest in Dresden
--Borous Collection and Art Day in Berlin
--Day of Museums
--Mid term panic (Is it really half way through? AH!)
--Dresden and Leipzig
--LONDON with Callie
--Paris with Eric, Shilpa, and Abigial (Whittier Reunion)
--Magic Flute
--Better Deutsch Sprache
--Turkish Berlin



Okay well as you can see its A LOT and I know I missed some stuff somewhere. Anyways basically I have a lot of catching up to do b/c I'm seriously slacking, BUUUT Manny and Sira (and possibly Ken?) are going to the Mauer Park Flea Market today which is really cool b/c apparently its the best and biggest flea market in Berlin! Whoo! I love flea markets! Alright well expect some updates soon!

Tschuss!

Oh man its been a long time since an update so this one’s going to be long.



So Manfred (now nicknamed Manny) and Sira left for the Alps in Italy on Friday night which leaves me to fend for myself food wise. I’ve had pasta and pizza so far. Basically I can’t wait for them to get home. Also it was quiet an experience discovering yesterday evening that Manny has hid the toilet paper somewhere in the house so I had to buy some this afternoon.


Deutsches Historisches Museum (above)

So the week before Manfred left was good. On Saturday I went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (The German Historical Museum) and it was SO worth the 5 euros to get in! It was one of the most comprehensive museums I’ve ever seen. It started in prehistory, then went to Roman times with actually parts of Roman arches and floors from around Germany. On and on! There was SO much to look at and see! Coats of armor, swords, ancient wedding contracts, Martin Luther’s famous painting, old masks worn for those who had black death, clothes from the 1700’s. The whole museum was amazing and I plan on going back. It really showed how German was this really established and historically rooted place before Hitler and WWII. I mean in retrospect the horrible stain Hitler left on Germany is such a tragedy because Germany had so much going on before WII and now people forget that there was a foundation to German life before that and the atrocities of WWII are all that’s retained. Oh man and for people who think Germans try and shy away from the Hitler period of time and greatly mistaken. The museum had a brutal factual account of Hitler’s rise, the tests ran for racial purity, “euthanasia” of thousands of mentally ill, and the atrocities of the holocaust. I know when we go to Sachsenhausen it’ll be worse, but there are some images I can never forget from this museum like pictures of women and children walking off to gas chambers, and the clothes of people who were in concentration camps. All in all, if anyone is in Berlin they should make Deutsches Historisches Museum a must on their list.


old marriage license


Famous painting of Martin Luther


Mask for those who got close to people with the Black Death


Propaganda for Germany during WWI. I love it.


Bullet holes in WWI helmets.


Different Nazi Uniforms


A concentration camp uniform

On a lighter note, I came home from school on Monday and Manfred said I have serious news to discuss with you. Yikes! Not! It turns out there was a benefit Haiti concert that night and he had bought 5 tickets if I was interested. YES! It was great! I got to go to the Berlin Philharmonic Hall which is famous for its design. The stage is in the center of the concert hall so there’s 360 view in the seats around them.

The musicians were amazing especially this 16 year old boy who played Franz Liszt’s La Campanella. AMAZING. (Here's a link to some famous guy playing the same song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnfZjqMSy0) I love Germans because at the intermission they sell wine, beer, and PREZELS. Haha, there’s a bunch of fancy dressed Germans sipping their champagne and eating pretzels.



On Wednesday I ended up going to stammtisch again, which was fun, but only so-so. Then Kirk showed up with his house brother, Lion (pronounced Leon) who’s 17 and we all went out to a tropical bar. Kirk and Lion were planning on going sledding, but the rest of us weren’t so convinced. Eventually we looked down at our watches and it was 1:45am so the U Bahns were closed so we might as well! Raleigh, Danielle, Kirk, Lion, Stephon, Phil, and I all trucked it over to this hill in Kreuzberg (quickly becoming my favorite district in the entire city. I love Kreuzberg!) We met some other fun Germans there and had sled races with them. Although I was a little too eager and we found a shopping cart and I jumped in thinking, “Oh great a free sled!” Yeah horrible idea! My butt still hurts from the fall! Yikes never use a shopping cart to go sledding in! Still it was one of the funnest nights I’ve had here! We stayed out sledding (mind you, in jeans, pea coats, and normal shoes... I didn’t even had gloves or a hat that day) until the U Bahn’s started running again, which is pretty late. I had such a good time though haha sledding here is serious business.

Oh and we even had races with the other Germans of a Germany versus Germany and the US on 2 sleds. It was basically blizzarding the whole time and by the time we all stopped we were soaking wet, but this was seriously my best night here so far!




On Friday the school took us to Hohenschonhausen which was a Stasi prison headquarters in East Germany. It was really creepy. The prison was basically testing grounds for psychological violence where they put people naked in rooms with 4 inches of water on the ground and tortured them until they confessed. Scary place. What’s really interesting though is how fresh the history is in the minds of the people. Most of the tour guides at the prison (although unfortuently not ours) are former prisoners. Its really amazing b/c there’s no where in the US were people that were really part of history are still alive. Its really amazing there’s so much history here that touches everything.

Also Freie Universtiat gave us 3 free tickets to cultural events and mine just happened to all be in one week. I went to see Swan Lake at the Deutsches Oper on Thursday night and it was really good, although I learned the valuable lesson of “always know the story line to any ballet you’re going to see.” Yeah I had no idea what was going on, but the ballet was really good anyways. Also on Saturday I went to a soccer game at the Berlin Olympic Stadium which was built in 1936 for the Nazi Olympics. (Note: Germany was actually awarded the Olympics in 1931 before Hitler had taken power so I wouldn’t really blame the Olympic committee for picking a horrible place.) Anyway the Stadium is built in the Nazi dictator style, attempting to be like the Roman coliseum with huge statues and dominating concrete blocks. The game itself was really cool. There is a whole section of people who go all out and buy like 9 scarves and wear them like some sort of kilt over their jeans. Hertha BSC, Berlin’s team, just happens to be the worst team in the league and was playing to go up in standing, but they tied. Getting back on the U Bahn was quiet an experience. People had rushed the platform and the doors almost wouldn’t open b/c people were pushing on them then we were squished in as close as possible. Haha also people kept shouting “Scheiße auf du” which means “Shit on you”… very interesting.

Anyways so basically I’ve been super super busy and didn’t have to time to update, but hopefully I’ll have some fun things to say about this coming weekend b/c I think I’m going to Dresden with a bunch of other students to protest a Nazi group that’s going to march.

Tschüs for now!

Life is great. I'm having the best time here!!



I went out to this really great local bar on Tuesday with Callie and Elena and found out my favorite beer EVER is hefeweisen b/c it doesn't taste that bitter and its pretty sweet. The old bar we were in was so cool and quiet. It was decorated like some 70's house with weird flowery pea green wall paper and like barf yellow accent colors. Ha, I really liked the place.

Oh and last saturday I had a bought of homesickness that came about in the weirdest way possible. I was going to a bar with my friend Kirk to this place that a few people had heard was really good. WORST IDEA EVER! It was a hostel bar with basically only Americans in it. The people I was with were really fun, but there were some guys there who were American that were SOOO annoying. They were the obnoxious Americans who were like, "Oh I love America! I never want to leave again!" "I'm from Boston and its the best place on Earth! Blah blah blah, I'm drunk and American and annoying." Basically. Yeah so that was a total bust! They were even playing football! American football on the TV!! UGH! I don't even watch football in the US and I sure as hell did not come to Germany to hang out in a bar with a bunch of Americans watching football! It was horrible. Luckily I just called it a night early and went home.

After that night things went back to being really fun though. On Wednesday Manfred was having dinner with his nephew so I was to find my own food. It just so happened that Adam and Raleigh wanted to get food that night too and then Kirk came along b/c his family did the same thing as mine. The four of us found this really cheap place in Charlottenburg near Raleigh's house and enjoyed the ambiance of eating out. We decided to go to stamtsch, the student meeting in a local bar, because it was right near us. Ah stamtisch was such a good idea b/c there were SO many students there and it was really fun. I met this German Bavarian guy named Fabian (haha Fabi for short) who had some interesting insight on what it was like to be from Bavaria and living in Berlin. He was really funny and the best foosball player I'd ever met! Oh Fabi! He did say that he thought Bavaria was not that different, but Stephan (pronounced Stephon), a native Berliner and one of the student assistants, said that Bavaria is really different because its a lot more traditional and people are more religious. Also I think just from being here I've noticed that much of the German stereotypes we think of are actually Bavarian things like leterhosen, beersteins, and the hats with feathers in them.


Dinner with Kirk, Adam, and Raleigh. You can see Kirk is missing home a little bit there with the cheeseburger.


Here's Fabi on the left, then me, then Kirk. The flash wasn't on so its a little blurry.

Then last night I had a great night again! First I had dinner at Manfred's friend's house who had a daughter who was 19 and spoke really good english. She was really nice and had a lot to say about living in Berlin. Her mom was also really nice and kept asking me about why I chose Berlin and what cultural differences there are. Haha I said the fact that there's no open bottle rule is the weirdest thing b/c on the weekends there'll be kids in the UBahn drinking out of vodka and beer bottles. Even going over to thier house I brought a bottle of champagne and I felt like the bus driver was going to tell me to put it away. Haha its really weird growing up with something then having it mean nothing in another place. Yeah they said they thought it was so weird that in the US you couldn't drink openly. Haha she said they were camping once and had a wine bottle out and a ranger told them to put it away even though they were all like 30 to 40 years old. Ha she said they always forget when the go to the US about the open bottle rule.

Later that night after I exchanged numbers with the 19 year old daughter, Raleigh and I met up and for lack other place to go we went to stamtisch again b/c it was still going on. Ah stamtisch is so much fun! The bar we were at is one of the few places were beer comes in the liter mugs. Haha like the really stereotypical big glasses that are really heavy. Ha and then we kept making up names for Stephon's children that he doesn't actually have haha. We were going for the most stereotypical names like Hansel, Gretel, Fredrick, and Hans. Haha oh Stephon is such a good sport for putting up with us. Yeah we even went out to get more beer b/c its really common to leave a bar, buy more beer, drink it outside, then go back to another bar. Haha so Stephon and Raleigh and this guy Max all went and stood in the FREEZING cold (its like -9 Celsius here! BRR!) and drank our beer. It was a good night all in all and Stephon is a pretty funny guy. We talked about religion for a good while and then went on to talk about Berlin and America.


Raleigh and I with our HUGE liter beers.



Here's Stephon, Raleigh and I outside in the cold! He was such a good sport! Oh and I think you can see that someone wrote I love Germany in graffiti on the wall. Haha how appropriate! I do love Germany!

Its so interesting how alcohol is treated here. Its definitely just part of the culture. Its like going out for coffee in the US. No one thinks anything of it to just sit with a beer outside. Its really freeing. Its not like I'm going out and getting drunk every night (although after that liter of beer I'll admit that was a lot of alcohol) but its so normal to just go as a social thing to bars. You order one drink and sit there and talk about life or whatever. I just like the atmosphere. Its really casual compared to drinking in the US which is usually binge drinking. Its a really good place to meet local people too which is really nice. Basically I'm not getting wasted every night I'm just going out to see people. The US should really consider changing its moralistic view of alcohol and maybe we'd have less binge drinking.

Basically I'm having an AMAZING time and its really the best to go out to pubs and bars and just hang out with people then go to museums and cultural places during the day. AMMAZING. I am living the life.

So classes have been good. I finally got out my camera and took some pictures of my house and stuff so I'll have to put them up soon. 

Here's (from left to right) Andres, Sira and Manfred at the welcome dinner. They weren't really looking when I took the picture. Haha and I think Manfred was talking. 

The other night Manfred and Sira took me out to dinner and to the movies. Ah it was sooo cool! Sira and I met Manfred at a bar in Schöneberg that was really a hole in the wall that Manfred said was a place for old intellectuals to meet. Then we walked around Schöneberg near Eisenerstrasse which was a really funky place. Eventually we got to a cafe which was sooo cool. The bar/cafe was a Cuban place with writing allll over the walls! The entire place was covered and the drinks were really good and they even gave Sira a shot afterwards b/c the lady knows Manfred and gave us all, after dinner shots. Ha, then we went to the kino (movie theater) and it was this really cool hole in the wall place that had graffiti all over it. We got inside and its totally one of those huge old theaters from the 40's and 50's. There's only one screen and it was so cool! Its hilarious seeing the a dubbed George Clooney speak German in a really weridly deep voice. Ha, luckily our move Dr. Parnassis' Imaginarium English with German subtitles. Anyways the whole evening was really cool.

Here's me writing on the wall at the Cuban cafe/bar place. I wrote "Me gusta Berlin!"

Last night we had a welcome dinner with a bunch of families which was nice and afterwords everyone planned to go out to bars. Unfortunately there were about 30 Americans wandering through the U Bahn looking for a place to go. Yeah... so luckily Raleigh, who's really funny and werid and cool, and Adam, a kind of sarcastic older brother person, decided to ditch out on the American take over of some random bar and we wandered around the city until the wee hours in the morning. UGhh. I blame Adam b/c he speaks really fluent German and loves the city so he's all about staying out until 7am. The three of us had a good time going to a few bars then going to the infamous Berghain which is rumored to be the best club in Berlin. Haha yeah I don't know. It was my first club so it was kind of interesting to listen to weird house music and have the walls pounding. The Berghain is an old powerplant they made into a club. Apparently people stay there till 10am and at 6 or 7am they open up the roof so people can watch the sunrise. Ha, yeah it was interesting and I was much too tired to stay until then. Raleigh and I stepped out early while I'm sure Adam was there until 8am. 

On the school side of things, classes are going well. They're more of a seminar than actual class b/c they only meet one time a week for 3 hours. My history class got off to a terribly boring start, but my Islam and Totalitarianism classes seem really interesting. The classes are only with American students in one buliding but its okay.

Above is Vivian and Raleigh in the Brentanosstrassa school house. 

OHHHHH I have the BEST small world story EVER! So I was eating in the Mensa which is a huuuuge cafeteria for all 40,000 students at Freie Universitat. I can hardly find people that I know there, but on Wednesday I was sitting eating with Raleigh and Adam when we were about to get up from the table this girl taps me on the sholder. IT WAS TERRY FROM CK! Terry was an exchange student at CK in Silverdale 4 years ago! We did swim together and I didn't really know her that well but GHEEZ here she was in the Mensa in Berlin! Terry's not even German! She's Belgium! CRAZY! She's studying abroad at Freie Universtat and she just happened to be at the Mensa at the same time I was! Also Anna, a girl who studied at CK with Terry was also in Berlin! We exchanged numbers after talking for a bit and we're going to all hang out with Anna soon! How crazy! What are the chances?! Its just so cool!

Anyways needless to say my time in Berlin has been really awesome so far and I'm totally loving it! YAY!

I'm really living here now!

Sooo I'm finally here and living here!

My homestay (so far) has been really good! I live with Manfred who's 64 and his daughter, Sira, (prounced Ziira) who's almost 17. They're really nice and we live in Licherfelde which is like a subarb in Berlin. We live in a house that's really cute and small. I love it! Its super old and creeks, but they have this thing called the Wintergarten that I'll have to take a picture of b/c its like a greenhouse sort of room that they use all the time for dinner. Manfred makes dinner every night from scrach and its SO nice! Also they have a big fat cat named Lollo who thinks my bed is his nap place.

Here's my room (above) and the wonderful Wintergarten eating place (below).

Ah I've just had SO many experiences and things its hard to fit it all in one post. So orientation was interesting. One big cultural rule is to be on time… ALL the time. Its considered really really rude and disrespectful to be late. So of coarse day one I leave about an hour early than I thought I needed to and then I ended up walking around for about 40 minutes in the freezing cold totally lost in a foreign country in an area I have never been before. That was fun. The orientation was pretty boring, but I met a bunch of nice people so that was good. Dirk, the director, is Mr. Rules. Its really a German thing to follow rules. I swear. Almost no one crosses the crosswalk when its not time, even if there’s absolutely no cars coming. Also there’s no gate to check tickets on the U and S Bahn and no one really goes without a ticket. (there’s these crazy people though who are all dressed up in normal clothes and every once in a while, usually during rush hour, they walk in and ask everyone to see their ticket) Yeah also buses and U bahn’s are soo efficient, everything is usually on time to the minute. Anyways Dirk, the director of the program, is very much a product of following the rules. He’s not trying to be rude, but he’s very brisk and straightforward which I think Americans take as rude.

On the second day of orientation we went to bunkers used in WWII which was really cool and creepy. I met Vivian though who was a life saver and speaks German really well and helped me get my phone. Also she told me about grunwied, or something like that, which is this spiced wine that’s hot. Ah, I can’t wait to have it! Later that night Manfred had talked to his friend Andres, who also has a student, if we could have dinner together. So we went to Andres’ house and I met Pat, Andres’ student. The meal with Andres was AMAZING! It was FOUR courses annnd it was all hand made with amazing presentation! Pat is soo lucky! Afterwards Pat and I went to shstamtiz which was a meeting of students to get them to met at a bar and just hang out. That was really fun b/c there were a bunch of people I had met all there and we had a really good time exploring the Orianianstrasse, which is an awesome place. Ah the only thing I really wish is that I spoke more German! I’m really going to learn though b/c everyone that’s here speaks well and is really into how awesome Germany is.

The next day of orientaition we had a walking tour of the historic parts of Berlin. Yeah it was like 30 degrees and basically a blizzard. I was wearing 5 layers, my thick long jons, and my ski gloves and I was barely warm. It has been SOOO cold. The worst part is that I picked up my snow boots at home and thought, “Hmm should I take these?... No it’ll be too much to carry and won’t be that snowy.” HORRIBLE MISTAKE! I do not have a pair of shoes here that can withstand the snow. My boots do rain, but not the snow. Everyday I end up with wet feet and once you have wet feet its all over. Tomorrow or maybe the next day I’m thinking of buying snow boots b/c its totally worth it and I’ll wear them everyday b/c they’ll be the only thing that doesn’t get wet. Anyways yeah the weather has been really really cold and snowy. It supposed to be -7 by the end of the week and then more snow!! Eek! Let me tell you, waiting for the bus for 8 minutes in the cold with wet feet is probably the worst.

The public transportation here is really good. Its nice not to have to drive anywhere, but the downside is waiting for U Bahns and buses. I’m lucky b/c my bus is 24 hours, but at night it only comes every 20 mins. Still it can get pretty annoying to leave from hanging out at 9pm then only be able to get home by 9:40 or 10. Still, all of the students are in the south so we’re all far away together.

Classes started yesterday and I learned to say really important things like, Hi. My name is… and other really boring stuff like that. It should get better though.

Anyways that’s all I can think of now, so I’ll write more later and put more pictures up.

Tschüs!!

(that means bye haha one of the only words I know)

Lots of walking around in the cold

So here's a REALLY long post to keep anyone who reads this entertained for a bit. GOOD NEWS is that my family has wireless! Hooray! Now I can email/blog all the time, but for now I have to finish unpacking at my family's home. 

January 5, 2010 Tuesday 6:41am 

On Sunday, after wandering around the UBahn for a good 15 minutes I finally found the correct train to take. It turns out I’m not good at telling the difference in German words which would be a handy trait if I could do it. (You try remembering the difference between Kufurtenstrasse and Kleistsrabe and Kurfurstendamm when you’re confused) Anyways I got to Potsdamer Platz and found the old parts of the Berlin Wall that have been preserved. Not much is left because when the wall came down everyone just wanted to take it all apart. The paintings on the wall are really interesting. I’ll put some below. Oh yeah and throughout Berlin wherever the wall used to be there is a brick line inlayed into the ground.

 

On my way to the Brandenburger Tor I saw the Holocaust Memorial which literally translates from German into “The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of the Holocaust.” It’s large concrete slab blocks that are on uneven ground for an entire block. Its hard to explain so you should just google it ha. After the memorial I found the Brandenburger Tor which is really cool because I’d say it’s the most recognizable spot in Berlin. I wandered in some tourist shops b/c I was FREEZING! Did I mention the average temperature has been 22 degrees Fahrenheit! BRR! Right next to the Tor is the Reichstag so I went over there only to find out it was closed for “weather conditions.” Along the way I also saw the memorials for those who were shot by Soviets attempting to cross into West Berlin. There were a lot of memorials for them, a lot of people died.

 

Only a little way down, on a kind of small street next to the Tor I found Hitler’s bunker. This is the most surreal place I’ve ever been. Hitler’s bunker was bombed into oblivion by the Soviets and then after reunification it was filled in to become a parking lot. Its really surreal to stand on the ground where Hitler had actually been. I was lucky enough to have a English tour next to me when I walked over there and found out that Hitler shot himself because he believed a solider dies from wounds. After Eva Braun and Hitler had died his soldiers were directed to burn his and others bodies in the garden near the bunker. AKA the street that was behind me. It’s just crazy to think that one of the most evil people, who murdered so many, used to live underneath the parking lot that I was staring at with people brushing snow off their cars and little kids playing.

 

The street where Hitler's body was burned. On the right is the parking lot that was previously the top of Hitler's bunker. 

On a happier note after getting some snacks at the hotel I went to Alexanderplatz which I really enjoyed. Its got the TV tower called Fernsehturm. I went into St. Mary’s church then over to the DDR museum which attempts to show what life was like in East Berlin. It was pretty interesting considering people were raised with communal potty breaks, went to apprenticeships instead of college, were pressured into becoming friends with their fellow workers, had to apply to get cars and flats only to receive them years later, while a chemist made less money than a bricklayer. Along the way I also saw a memorial to the women of Rosenstrasse who came together without organization to protest the Nazi’s because all of them were Christian women who’s Jewish husbands had been arrested and were about to be sent to concentration camps. Instead of gunning down 25 unarmed women or sending them to concentration camps the Nazi’s actually gave them their husband back. Its really quite an amazing story.

 The Rosenstrasse women memorial (above)

Yesterday (Monday) I decided to go back to Alexanderplatz because it was so full of people out and about. I went to the Marx and Engels statue which is kind of funny because its in such a capitalist area now I don’t think Marx or Engels would really approve of the work that was going on in this square. After that I passed by the Rotes Rathus, the town hall of Berlin, to get to Nikolaiviertel which is a square that used to be one of the oldest parts of town until it was bombed to smithereens during WWII (a constant theme of Berlin’s historical landmarks). In 1987 the whole place was rebuilt to look like it once had. So basically none of the buildings, except maybe one or two, are older than 1987, but its really lovely all the same.

 

Then I wandered/got lost then turned around again to find the Franziskaner Klosterkirche which is church that was bombed in WWII (see! It is a constant theme!) but instead of rebuilding the church they let it stand as a testament against all war. It is completely vacant and cold inside with only natural light and no one was there except this creepy man who stared and smiled at me so I decided not to go inside. After waiting a few minutes I finally just said I’d do it because the whole place was soo cool with scratches and chunks missing out of it. Then the man popped up again to say in broken English that he was going to “sing songs of Christmas.” But the most amazing thing was when he sat down and started to sing it was gorgeous! He was so good, he sounded like old church choirs do. Anyways I was still freaked out because I thought maybe he was homeless or something and was going to ask me for money. So I left and went to the first Berlin wall which was built in the 1200’s as a protective town wall. So cool! On my way back from the wall I walked past the broken church only to find that the creepy man was working on the sign for the church! I’m such an idiot! He was the caretaker of the church, not some creepy homeless man!

 Here's the church and the man is on the bottom left... ah I feel so bad!

Anyways I then went into the huuuge Galeria Kaufhof which is basically the KaDeWa of the East side of Berlin, although I’d say not as extravagant. I planned the rest of the day with my new travel book. By then I was totally frozen and my feet were wet. Never a good thing. I bought myself a bratwurst from these guys who walk around with grills strapped to their front haha and had my first German sausage and immediately decided that mustard here was always grey poupon (GROSS) and never to get mustard again.

 

After that I took the UBahn over to the Topography of Terror, an open air museum that is dedicated to not letting the horrors of the Nazi’s go unnoticed. Its really quiet horrible. Its on the actual ground where the building that was the main office for the Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security was housed. The building’s gone because after it was bombed in WWII it was torn down, but just recently they found old torture rooms in the basement floor under the ground. Yikes. You can actual see the torture rooms b/c they’ve only just found them. Its pretty scary. This was a really good exhibit b/c it focused on the whole history of the place and then on ALL people who were harmed by the actions of the Nazis. It really brings to the forefront that the stereotypical idea that everyone in Germany was a Nazi during WWII was probably a myth except to a few people because so many Germans were hurt, forced to flee or had family members killed its hard to see how many people supported the Nazis. I mean thousands and millions of people were affected by this reign of terror. Many of the first people to be killed were simply people who went to a socialist meeting once then were detained beaten in the building I was standing on and sent to work camps that later became concentration camps. The section of Jews and Gypsies was really powerful and horrible. Pictures of people being shot and thrown into mass graves were blown up and it was all really awful. The walk was really powerful and I liked that it was outside, almost like no one should be allowed to ignore the atrocities that happened.

 Topography of Terror photos:

Yeah... its really horrible

After that I saw the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Professor Sage would be so proud. Ha. Then I walked over to Checkpoint Charlie which was chalk full of tourists and a guy dressed in an American solider uniform ha speaking perfect German. Anyways it’s a major sight b/c its one of the only checkpoints still left, although I think its actually a replica. From there I walked over to the Jewish Museum which is really amazing. The building is jagged and weird. It took forever to get in, but the whole feeling of being confused and lost is really pervasive. The ground goes up and down and I felt completely lost and turned around the whole time I was there, if you don’t understand, just google a map of the museum then try and figure out how to get around it. Its hard, let me tell you. The museum itself is really cool and touches on 2000 years of Jewish history in Europe which is punctuated by horror and death, but is all fascinating all the same because its less a focus on the holocaust and more of a focus on Jewish life throughout the years.

 

Anyways then I practically ran back to the metro because it was dark and late and there wasn’t a good lighted populated area around. Ha after speed walking I made it back to my hotel and passed out!

 

So that’s been my time in Berlin so far. I know this is long, but I figure I’m not going to get much time to write much later b/c I have orientation today so here’s a bunch of information to keep you busy until I get time to write later.

 

Whoo here it all goes!