another week gone by

So i told myself I would write sooner, but once again another week has gone by without me writing.

Well, the night after Danny's birthday I just stayed in and watched Princess and the Frog, which was pretty good.

Saturday we went to a Beirgarten in Prenzlauerberg and it was pretty cool. The weather was gorgeous so it was a really nice day for a beirgarten. After a few hours we all left and got dinner. We went to this mediterranean place that had big portions for like 5 euro of schwarma and falafel. so good. it was also a shisha lounge (hookah tobacco) so we ordered one of those as well and all sat around talking and smoking. It was a nice time. Saturday night Danny, David, Jack, Ted and I went to friedrichshain to some more clubs. Primitiv was really cool. It was just a loungy like bar, and they had eighties music playing and an eighties john travolta jazzercising movie projected on one of the walls. Astro was also cool, they had a good mix of music and we got to enjoy the beatles and bob dylan whyle we were there. We ended the night at Lucia's in Kreuzberg. It was kinda dead when we got there, not too much going on, but the bartender was quite interesting. She had a very angry resting face, it was quite the scowl, and was only enhanced by her eyebrows which were thick, close set and had an angry arch. She reminded all of us of Frida Carlo, though Danny tried to convince us that she was a mix between Frida and Megan Fox. So that was definitely a success.

Sunday we went to Mauer Park for the Flea Market (Flohmarkt in german). The weather was gorgeous and they have this amplitheater type thing at the park where they do karaoke all day long. It was absolutely huge and jam packed with people. If you ever had a dream of performing infront of a stadium of people, here is your chance. Most of the people we saw were not that great, though this man Sketch was quite good, though I can't remember what he sang. We also got to enjoy a group of 14 year olds singing "girl i want to make you sweat, sweat til you can't sweat no more, and when you cry out, im gonna push it some more more more" a good song, but one that I really didn't need to hear a 14 year old sing. I now have the image of a young boy humping and slapping the air in front of a good few hundred people. however best performance of the day was a young kid who sang Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. he had quite the moves and then these two black guys came and joined him on stage as back up dancers. I have posted the video of this performance.

After enjoying karaoke for a while, we decided to venture into the flohmarkt. My friends and I had a competition to see who could find the best thing(s) in the flohmarkt for 3 euro or less. My friend jack bought at condom box that was in the shape of a bed with a little man chained on top and it said "CONDOMS" on the headboard. Very german. haha. My friend Ted bought a clockface made out of a round saw blade and with his additional 50 cents, a book about sexuality and communism, apparently the first documentation of sexuality behind the iron current. That sounds like a interesting time guaranteed for all. I bought a fish fossil of a Piranha from 1972. I left it at the Flohmarkt cuz i really didn't want to take it home with me.

During the week I went to class, but really only had 1 class this week, because one of my classes is every other week, so this was an off week and the other classes were cancelled because the professor was ill. I spent my time looking for a new apartment, and not doing any work. haha.

Thursday night was another night at our favorite bar Madame Claude. As it always seems to happen, we were having a good time and then suddenly it was 3 am, so we all went and got something to eat while we waited for the trains to start running at 4am. However our last 20 minutes or so in the club were spent making fun of this girl that was wearing a sailors cap. We were all thinking up nautical based pick up lines the best of which include "Can I go down on you like the Titanic?" "I'd like to dock my ship in your port!" and "I'd like to drop my anchor on that ship!" yes it was all good fun and then we called her over to our table and started talking to her. Ted spent the entire time dropping the previously mentioned lines on her, but to no avail. She either didn't hear him or was ignoring him. We did momentarily steal her hat and passed it around the group and everyone got a picture with it. good stuff good stuff. On the train home the Brits were all being super loud, and at first I was embarrassed because most of the time the loud drunks are the Americans I'm with, but then I realized, that ALL of them were British, and they were representing the queen and not America, so I was no longer embarrassed, haha.

Friday I saw two apartments, one in Neukoelln and one in Friedrichshain. The latter was really cool, an 8 person WG, and I really wanted it, so I made a point to talk to every roommate there. They were all super stoked to hear I was from Cali, cuz one guy studied at San Jose and they had also just had a roommate not just from CA, but get this, UC Davis. Yea definitely tried to play that up, and it must of helped, because 2 hours after I left, they called me and said I got the place. STOKED! So obviously I said yes and then went out with some friends to celebrate. I was pretty wiped but they were going to a club that promised Indie music, so I forced myself to stay awake. We went to this place called Magnet and it was Swedish night, ie lots of Brit pop from the 80s and 90s. FANTASTIC, definitely had a good night, but at 430 had to call it quits cuz i was just sooo exhausted. I actually fell asleep on the train ride home and woke up at each stop to see if it was mine. haha.

Saturday: the first of May is a big deal here in germany. I think its celebrated throughout the world as well as a worker's day. However, it has also become a protest day for political extremes, that include both anti-Nazi and neo-Nazi demonstrations. In Kreuzberg they have a huge block party during the day so my friends and I went to that for a couple hours. It was really cool, but you could tell just from the music (mostly rock, metal, and punk) as well as the atmosphere that there would definitely be riots later. We stayed until 6, but then decided to leave because last year thats when some of the riots started and they disrupted the Ubahn so we didn't want to get stuck there. After returning to schoeneberg we all went out to eat and had some delicious tibeten food. I had been craving curry so it definitely hit the spot. Next we went to this bar called Slumberland which has sand on the floor and maps on the tables, and a foozball table. I ordered a banana beer and Ted got a mango beer. They served them to us in "coconuts" which were essentially half spheres of wood. haha. both were good, but were definitely one drink only beers because they were so sweet, it was like drinking a cocktail. After sucking at foozball I decided to go home and get a full nights rest.

Sunday: MOVING DAY! today i moved to my new place. The trek on the ubahn across the city was a long on but I made it. My new place is in Friedrichshain, I live with 7 other people, 3 guys adn 4 girls. Everyone is really nice and welcoming. My room is the perfect size and has everything I need, bed, desk, chair, and closet. The living room is awesome. We have this huge couch, that is so deep its pretty much like sitting on a bed, plus a plasma screen tv with a sound system, a big table that everyone can eat at and a foozball table. I'm so excited to be living here, I think now I can finally relax and really begin to enjoy my time here in Berlin. WHAHOO!