Friday, January 22, 2010

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.

Saturday, January 16, 2010



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!


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hooray I'm here!

So I wrote this a while ago because I'm jet lagged and keep waking up at 5 to 6am, but didn't have the blog set up. Here you go!

January 3, 2010 7:19am

So I survived my first night in Berlin! Yay! Yesterday I got all my luggage (hooray!) and took a taxi to my hotel which was SO much less expensive than in Paris. This is a good trend, I hope it keeps going. After settling in at the hotel I started reading my travel book which just stressed me out further b/c I could not figure out what would be a close place to visit and I didn’t want to tackle the metro in my sleepy stooper. So after frustratedly deciding that my travel book was a piece of crap I dedicated to just wander around the area of my hotel. It was 3:30 and I figured I probably had an hour of light left. I just decided to go wherever there would be lots of people and found a Bauhaus building which is really cool because I just read about him in Euro City. Then turning at the building I just went straight and ended up amazingly at Wittenburgplatz which is this really cool area with tons of shops, cafes, bars, and a U-Bahn entrance.

The HUGE KaDeWe department store (picture below) is also in this area and it is just like Euro City! The store was still decorated for Christmas and the theme was circus. The whole entrance was decorated extravagantly to be a circus with 4 merry-go-rounds and even a funny mirror place to walk through. After that there was designer clothes and make up and perfume. The whole thing was 6 stories and had literally everything you could possibly want to buy: men, women, and children’s clothes, all types of shoes, a huge kids toys section with bears and dolls, paper works, a fabric section like JoAnn’s, soap, a book section the size of most book stores, a lighting area for different types of light fixtures. But the top floor was the most amazing because it was a food court. This food court is nothing like American mall food courts. This was 3 course, good expensive meals with fancy chefs and all the works. The amazing thing was that there was more than one fancy place to eat! Just to let you get a grasp on how huge this place is on top of the few restaurant type places there were several full bars, espresso stands, and huge candy kiosks. Also there is a deli where you can get fresh meat AND a bread shop. It was crazy! So cool!

Unfortunately after that little outing I fell asleep which was around 7pm yeah which is why I was up at 4am today haha. At least I know now that it gets light here at 7:50ish. Ha. Anyways now I’m about to get some breakfast through the hotel and attempt the metro to head over to Potsdamer Platz to see some of the Berlin Wall, Hitler’s bunker, and the square itself. Yeah wish me luck! =)