So I started my blog on livejournal, but then realized that livejournal only lets other livejournal users read your blog and there was no link, so here is my new blog, below are my first two posts from April 9 and 12. I am not a very good blogger, and I will sincerely try to do my best to blog more often, but lets be honest you'll probably get a weekly update. But anyways here it is:
April 9:
Ok so I am finally getting to writing a blog about my experiences here in Berlin. I will do my best to make sure they come more frequently than every 2 weeks. So here we go:
March 25: Left California, just as hard emotionally as I expected, maybe even a tiny bit worse, but I got through it and once I was on the plane I didn't cry once. The flight was uneventful, I slept for a few hours and watched Twilight New Moon. It was ok.
March 26: Arrived in Zurich in the afternoon and had literally 30 minutes to catch my next flight, that was a bit scary. i had missed breakfast on the other flight because I was sleeping so I was a little hungry, lucky for me Swiss Airlines rocks and they had nice little cheese sandwiches and drinks for everyone on our little hopper flight to Berlin (southwest should take tips from them). When I got to Tegel Airport in Berlin I was preparing myself for a long wait in customs and also a chance to pee (I had now been holding it for like 2 hours) and change my pants, however there was no customs when I arrived, the luggage carousel was directly in front of the exit gate and then you just walk out to the taxi line. Needless to say I was a bit flustered and confused, still really needing to pee, still in my sweats, and having difficulty managing my bags and catching a cab. But I caught one and got to my hotel quickly and safely.
The hotel room was small but comfortable and I had all I needed. After I got settled in and had skyped Tyler and my parents, I ventured out to find something to eat. I had previously heard that in Berlin, every other shop is doener kebap or a bakery, so i figured it wouldnt be hard to find something quickly. Well KuDamm (short for kurfurstendamm) is not such a place, as it is more of a ritzy shopping district. But I managed to find a little place that sold Currywurst, a traditional Berliner meal, and decided to get some. Ok so currywurst is a bratwurst with some sort of tomato sauce on it, topped with curry powder, and that is exactly what it tastes like. I wasn't horribly impressed but it was ok. On my walk back to my hotel it began to rain and by the time I reached my room it was pouring and i walked into the hotel lobby with my face dripping.
March 27: Toady I got a phone, not too challenging and then used it to call people about housing. Saturday night I went to see a place in Kreuzberg and they were having an open showing. I got there at 6 and there were lots of people there, so I sat chatting with them and finally left at 10. It was nice just to hang out and meet people. I have realized I don't do well being on my own, I am not a fan of solitude. Anyway, I met this guy Marcus, and American from Denver who has been teaching English in Berlin for almost 3 years now. He invited me out to get a drink, and he took me to some really cool bars. One was called Madame Claude, and its very eccentric and quirky and everything is upside down and they have tables and chairs glued to the ceiling so you feel like your on the roof of the room. Then we went to another bar that had kinda a cool vibe, it was very typical loungy bar upstairs and then in the basement it had dancing and candles and it was pretty cool. Then the last club we went to was in Neukoelln, and didn't have a name. It was a little sketch, but once we got inside it was really cool. It was another basement club, and they had a huge basement, with red lights and candles on the bars and they were playing kinda jazzy swing blues music from the 50s and 60s and i felt like I got transported back in time. It was really cool. (Oh and on the way to this last bar we passed a fox running through the streets, random). I left the club around 330 or so, and it took me like an hour to get back, so i thought i was getting back at 430, but it was daylight savings time so it was really 530, however I didn't know this so I was kinda freaking out when none of my clocks matched.
March 28: Slept most of the morning and then went and saw more apartments. The first one was in Friedrichshain and all the people were really cool. Michael is from Austria, Rasa from Lithuania, and the other, whose name I can't remember, was German. All are young and they were all very nice, and they offered me the room, however I didn't take it for 2 reasons, I couldnt move in for 2 weeks, and they smoked in the house, which i felt would not go well for me. The other rooms were not too great.
March 29: Orientation Day 1: Went to orientation, met the other EAP students. There are about 13 of us total. Everyone seems nice, and we spent the orientation time filling out forms. Can't remember if anything great happened this day soooo......
March 30: Orientation Day 2: Learned about academic stuff. That night Danny and I met Caroline and some of her friends for drinks in Kreuzberg. Caroline is from Santa Barbara, and is really cool, we've been hanging out alot since we met.
March 31: tough day. Registered with the school and then saw 5 apartments, after having lunch with caroline, keighlie and paloma from my program. Definitely felt discouraged when none of the apartments seemed like they were going to work out. Really missed home today, but I got through it.
April 1: Saw an apartment in Schoeneberg in the morning and by 2 pm got a call that I could have the room. YES YES YES! CELEBRATION! I HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE! So now all I needed to do was find a place for a few days which was easily done with the help of craigslist. Huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally relax and enjoy the city. Went out with danny and Caroline that night, felt great to have a place to live.
April 2: today is good friday so all shops in berlin are closed, although most cafes were open. I moved into my temporary place in Prenzlauerberg today. just kinda hung out. can't remember what I did.
April 3: today's mission: grocery shopping and finding a hairdryer and curling iron. I went to alexander platz to The Galleria, to find the last two items. The Galleria is a giant department store that has everything you could need. Its 6 stories high and is like a mall all put into one store, a bit overwhelming. But I found what I needed so it was a success. Went grocery shopping for a few things and then walked around prenzlauerberg. That night I went out with Marcus again and Michael (from friedrichshain) joined us. It was another "Berlin Night" as I have deemed them. A night where you go from bar to bar beginning somewhere around midnight and returning home when the sunrises. the memorable bars of the night were this little Austrian pub we passed. It had a sign with the Austrian Flag and said "No Kangaroos," since when people say they are from austria it is often misunderstood as australia. The bar looked like a little Tavern inside, with ski lift chairs serving as bar stools. It was made from wood that came from a 400 year old cabin in Salzburg. We drank Austrian beer and ate some Austrian dishes, such as kaisekrune, i don't think that's spelt right or if that's even the right name but it is a bratwurst that has cheese in the middle that melts when you cook it, and then you eat it with bread and mustard. Very Yummy. But the best part was that the hallway to the bathroom was made to look like a forest, with green lights and a soundtrack that included birds chirping, sheep baahing, and cows mooing. AWESOME, haha. I ended up out til 530 in the morning when I decided to go home. Once more it took me an hour to get home and then I slept all morning.
April 4: Woke up about 1. Michael called me at 230 and I met up with him and Rasa and another friend of theirs at Alexanderplatz. We went to the flea market (Flohmarkt) at Mauer Park for an easter egg hunt. You had to go around and find easter eggs at the different stands and take pictures of what you saw. I found 3, Michael found 25. haha. That night I went out with Danny and David, both from UC Davis, and we went to this huge Easter party. It had like 8 different clubs in two buildings with a kinda courtyard area in between. There were tons of people there and it was really fun. It reminded me more of American clubs with crazy lights and djs and how people were dancing, but it was really fun. Danny and I were on a mission to find "black music" which is what they call hip hop here. I think part of the appeal is how politically incorrect it seems to call it that. Over all a good night.
April 5: Monday after easter, everywhere is still closed, but Danny and I got together in the afternoon and went to the Charlottenberg Palace. Its kinda Berlin's version of Versailles. It was really pretty, but we didn't go inside because we didn't want to pay the 7 Euro fee. Then we went to the Gedaenknes Kirche, which was an old church nearly destroyed in WWII. It main tower remained standing so they have preserved the church in its curmbling state as a reminder of the past. They also built a very modern church that is an octagonal building with little 5x5 inch squares of stained glass making up the walls and there is a big "floating" jesus at the front. It was pretty neat to see it.
April 6: I MOVED INTO MY NEW HOME TODAY!!!! it was so nice to finally unpack and have a place to call home. I spent most of the day running errands, which included an afternoon with caroline in the Kreuzberg turkish market. it was a good day.
April 7: So my roommate Renee said that the room was bright in the morning cuz it faces east, and he wasn't kidding. Woke up to a very bright room at 6am this morning. It was so bright it even penetrated my sleeping mask at the edges. Today I had my first orientation at Free University with the other international students. It was a cool day, I met a few girls during one of the talks, Cecile is Swiss, Maria Finnish, and Anna Australian. All were very nice. I also made friends with this guy named Jack from the UK. Tonight I made a curtain for my bed so its not as bright in the morning, using a sheet and some tacks.
April 8: Second day of FU orientation. Pretty boring for the talk part, but I met more new people. 3 girls from holland, Marjolien, Esther, and Sestia. All were really nice, I really like Esther, she reminds me of a California girl. haha. So last night I coordinated for everyone to meet and go out. We went to Madame Claude's because it seemed like a cool place and they had 2 for 1 drinks and ping pong last night. We had quite a few people show up, and we were all able to speak in German with each other for most of the night. It was a really great night. Lots and lots of fun.
April 9: So today I am finally writing this blog. Tonight I plan on going to a screening of independent films so that should be interesting I will let you know how it goes.
And for more of your viewing pleasure:
April 12:
So starting from where we left off...
Friday night I went with Caroline, Danny, David and Jack to Friedrichshain to see a screening of 2009 european independent film winners. I think they were student films but I'm not entirely sure. So I wasn't really sure what to expect about the films or where we were viewing them. Well we get there and its in a bar with a projection screen, so very laid back. We saw four films:
1) a cartoon film involving a veternarian with a broken heart who had to kill a pig, milk a cow, deliver puppies and save a fish, and somehow they all came together to mend his broken heart, it was kinda weird.
2) From Istanbul, it was a story of little boys who would all pool their money together so that one of them could go to the movies and then come back and describe the film to everyone else. On the 3rd day one of the dad's comes and takes them all to the movies. However one of the boys has a little sister who always sits on a bench at the playground and listens in on their tales of what they saw and is not invited along on the group outting, but is still happy to hear her brother tell her about it as they walk home.
3)A film based in Sweden about 3 illegal immigrant workers: a gypsy, a chechnyan and a russian, and their lives together doing manual labor for low pay and without work visas.
4) was a film called "I AM GAY" and was about a greek young man at the breakfast table with his parents and brother and it is his thought process of how to tell them he is gay and the imagined scenarios of what would happen.
I liked the last film best. Afterward we met up with some of Caroline's friends and went out for drinks, it was a fun night.
Saturday April 10: Today was our Boat Tour of the city. It was really fun, but by the end I was sick of being on a boat. It was cool to see the city from a different point of veiw. They have a lot of places along the river that have Beir Gartens and lounge chairs that will be great once it gets a bit warmer out. It was interesting to see how modern certain parts of Berlin are. You could be walking through an ok area and then 10 minutes later your in the middle of these skycrapers made nearly completely out of glass.
After the boat tour we went to dinner and got some traditional German food. I had schnetzel and it was delicious. Also had the best beer I think i've ever had: Erdinger hell Hefeweizen (hell is the german word for light). It was absolutely delicious.
That night I went in search of the Real Madrid vs Barcelona game with 3 friends, but we ended up walking the city because we couldn't find a pub playing it.
Sunday April 11: Finally got myself to run today. Ran for 25 minutes and did an ab workout. Woo GO ME! haha
After my run I decided to have a day of culture instead of a day moping on the couch, so I went to the Deutsches Historishes Museum. I spent most of my time in a temporary exhibit in which they had photos from their archives on display. It was the 20th century in Germany through photos. It was actually quite interesting. I found one picture of a little girl in a polish ghetto, that kinda looked like me when I was little, it was weird, but made it a bit more personal. After an hour and a half there, I pretty much just browsed through the permanent collection, but it did seem interesting, I don't think I gave it the justice it deserved, perhaps one day I shall go back. But anywho, the permanent collection is a 2000 year history of Germany and the Germanic people.
One interesting thing I found in both the temporary and permanent collections were pictures of Adolf Hitler. In some of them he was posing in traditional German clothing: a button up shirt, with suspenders attached to long shorts and then some laced shoes with socks up to his knees. I know it was the fashion of the time, but something about how his knees were exposed made him look like he was in his underwear and far less intimidating.
Today I had my first day of classes. So for foriegn students you don't really have to follow the german model and you can take a sampling of classes from multiple areas (kinda like in the states) and you have much more freedom than the German students. So with that in mind our advisors said to go to as many courses that interest you in the first week and then pick from those. So today I went to 3 classes. One was a critique of American culture that focused on theory and how certain theories such as manifest destiny and the self made man came about and how are they exclusionary as well as how do excluded groups use them to make them inclusive. I'd like to take this course, but it was a bit over crowded so I probably will opt out. Then I went to a german literature class on Labyrinth, but took on look at the page long list of german texts and decided it would be far to difficult and left. My final course of the night was an erasmus course (meaning it is based for international students, the term erasmus refers to a program in which EU students can attend universities in other EU countries). It was about the culture and politics of the Weimar Republic and sounds very interesting.
I suppose that is all for now, I will write more later on.
