Today in German class we had a spontaneous discussion of what has been happening to our language skills since arriving in Germany. It turns out I'm not the only one whose English is getting worse! As we all agreed, our English is getting worse, our German is getting no better, and for those of us who have learned another language, that's the one that keeps surfacing/the one we're thinking in.
Surprisingly (and comfortingly), our professor says that is normal. She said that will happen for about 1-2 months, and then German will kick in/we'll start getting better at it, and then we will leave.
Relatedly, we spoke about how here pre-school is ages 0-3, kindergarten begins at 3, and then elementary school. Students who are already bilingual by the age of three (because after age 3 it is *statistically* significantly more difficult to learn a language, and then every subsequent year it gets more and more difficult) then receive special linguistic counseling to make sure they keep the grammar separate, etc (in the US we call this ESL, but unfortunately there are not many bilingual children because there is no childhood language education, nor are there very many ESL teachers).
Moral of the story: life is much easier for everyone if we speak more than one language, so learn young. I can attest to this, because drunkards street Berlin, high school students, or waiters at Mexican restaurants (so they speak German, Spanish, and English) speak better English than I cans speak German, French OR Spanish. When you experience that all the time, it's really frustrating/embarrassing.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
The weekend
Lucy arrived on Saturday morning, and we started our adventures on Saturday afternoon! The weather was freezing, about 10 degrees with the wind chill, and when you're walking around outside all day that is truly frigid!!! But we learned our lesson on Saturday, and on Sunday we wore under armour leggings under our jeans!
Our first stop Saturday was the East Side Gallery. That's a 1.3km section of the east side of the Wall, and in the 1990s the German government had artists from around the world paint murals on it (because the east side of the wall was completely empty, as they weren't allowed to go up to the wall, unlike the West - that's how you can tell what side is which; the west always has graffiti/writing on it and the East is [was] empty). It was really cool to see all of the famous murals, but I look forward to going back in the spring, because we walked really fast since we were so cold!
After that frigid walk, we took a short ride around the city to see all of the main sights.
After all this cold exploring, we met up with Devon and Elizabeth and all had the most delicious and hygge (if you'll allow me to use some Danish) traditional German dinner! Yes, I have been in Germany for 3 weeks and had not had German food yet. That's what happens when you're a college student on a budget! Obviously I got my favorite dish - Käsespätzle!!
On Sunday, since there isn't much to do in Berlin, we explored in the cold some more and then went to the Prenzlauer Berg flee market. Flee markets are huge here, and sell all kinds of things from food to crafts to old crap that you don't need. Unfortunately this one was mostly old crap that we didn't need. But it was in Mauerpark, which is a park in the middle of the city that has the Wall running through it. That park will be really cool to see in the spring (I feel like I'm saying that about everything...)
Frozen, we decided to look for a place to get lunch. Obviously since we're in Germany, we decided to go to an Indian restaurant! It was inexpensive and delicious. Unfortunately since you have to pay for glasses of water, we had to ration our beverages while we ate this spicy food, and it was a true test to my taste buds - holy smokes!!!
After this delicious meal, I met up with Elizabeth and Devon and we went to church, and the service was really great. We are joining a young adults community group, and this Wednesday night is our first meeting (dinner party)! I'm so excited! It'll be awesome to connect with people our age from around the world. I didn't come to Germany to hang out with Americans all the time!
Our first stop Saturday was the East Side Gallery. That's a 1.3km section of the east side of the Wall, and in the 1990s the German government had artists from around the world paint murals on it (because the east side of the wall was completely empty, as they weren't allowed to go up to the wall, unlike the West - that's how you can tell what side is which; the west always has graffiti/writing on it and the East is [was] empty). It was really cool to see all of the famous murals, but I look forward to going back in the spring, because we walked really fast since we were so cold!
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| I am in Berlin |
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| this is on the bottom of the quebec license plate - it says "I remember" - very fitting |
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| Lucy and I found an Invisible Children sticker - it's one of our favorite organizations, and it's in front of my favorite mural! |
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| me and the Reichstag |
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| the brandenburger tor in the sunlight, and an obnoxious tourist who, despite my staring at him, insisted on ruining my photo. |
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| spätzle is pasta dumplings, and käsespätzle is those with cheese and caramelized onions in it. the most delicious and unhealthy dish ever. |
Frozen, we decided to look for a place to get lunch. Obviously since we're in Germany, we decided to go to an Indian restaurant! It was inexpensive and delicious. Unfortunately since you have to pay for glasses of water, we had to ration our beverages while we ate this spicy food, and it was a true test to my taste buds - holy smokes!!!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
You know what's great?
Valentine's Day doesn't exist here (well, anywhere outside of the States). Which is awesome, because it means that you can love people EVERY DAY without feeling the need to buy into consumerism in order to prove your love to people or prove to yourself that you are loved!
I will blog about my wonderful weekend in the morning, because it's getting late. I will leave you with some excellent food from thought from tonight:
Valentine's Day doesn't exist here (well, anywhere outside of the States). Which is awesome, because it means that you can love people EVERY DAY without feeling the need to buy into consumerism in order to prove your love to people or prove to yourself that you are loved!
I will blog about my wonderful weekend in the morning, because it's getting late. I will leave you with some excellent food from thought from tonight:
'Mediocrity is poison to us all. We set out to make the best we can for our lives, but often settle for mediocrity - a mediocre boyfriend or a mediocre job. Where you settle for mediocrity in your life is where you lack courage and conviction; you're therefore not allowing yourself to achieve the excellence you deserve.'
- Mark
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Things I could really go for right now
- Wegmans cheddar cheese
- York peppermint patties
- the whole stock of Wegmans peanut butter
- Marks Pizza
- Wholly guacamole
Friday, January 27, 2012
Today Devon and I got our flights for spring break, but unlike I said before, we are actually just going to spend a week in Barcelona (and hopefully take an overnight trip up to the South of France). It would have been a lot more expensive to add Portugal, as the prices went up a lot in the past few days, so we figured it'd be best to save our money for another adventure. Plus, it's not like Barcelona is lacking in things to do!
We then went to McDonalds because we were feeling adventurous and have been wanting to compare US McDonalds (not that either of us eat there often at all) with German ones. The only fries we saw on the menu were called "American French Fries", so we ordered those (for over $3 USD!!!). They looked like this:
I mean, don't get me wrong, they were good! But they were not anything like fries at McDonalds in the US, nor like any fries I've ever seen in Germany!! As we were eating them, we noticed others had what looked to be typical US McDonalds fries on their trays! I guess if you're not a dumb American you know that you'll just get normal fries when you ask for fries (pommes). Ugh! Sometimes I feel so dumb here. Also, instead of ketchup, the fries came with a sour creme and chives dip (sort of like heluvagood chip dip?).
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, as I'm sure you've heard. Sadly, I'm really embarrassed to say, I'd forgotten it was today. On my own campus I would've been more aware of it. I only figured it out by watching France24 tonight. From what I could understand, there were a lot of remembrance events in Poland, which is nice. I couldn't tell you anything about what Germany did though because thanks to my lack of German skills I can't understand the news here. It would've been nice to know how Germans are reflecting on the day and the history.
We then went to McDonalds because we were feeling adventurous and have been wanting to compare US McDonalds (not that either of us eat there often at all) with German ones. The only fries we saw on the menu were called "American French Fries", so we ordered those (for over $3 USD!!!). They looked like this:
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, as I'm sure you've heard. Sadly, I'm really embarrassed to say, I'd forgotten it was today. On my own campus I would've been more aware of it. I only figured it out by watching France24 tonight. From what I could understand, there were a lot of remembrance events in Poland, which is nice. I couldn't tell you anything about what Germany did though because thanks to my lack of German skills I can't understand the news here. It would've been nice to know how Germans are reflecting on the day and the history.
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore"
-Andre Gide
Thursday, and Friday morning
Yesterday in German class we, to practice our German, interviewed IES's intern auf Deutsch. He's a gymnasium (high school) student at the JFK school which is a German/American school, so he's completely fluent in English.... I can't tell you how much we envy him for being bilingual! Oh, the life advantages! Anyway, it was really interesting.
Two things worth noting came of this conversation: first, he highly recommended going to Croatia, which is somewhere I've wanted to go since I was in middle school flipping through the cruise catalogs and saw photos like this. This reminded me that I really need to try to get there. Second, we asked him what his view on American politics/Obama is. Since he goes to the JFK school, he and his peers have a pretty decent idea of whats going on (sadly, more than many Americans). He said that he and others his age feel that Obama is a good leader, and that many republicans in congress just vote down dem's ideas simply because they're from democrats, even if they're good ideas that will help society. The German professors in the room agreed. I found it interesting that the prevailing view among his peers is the same among mine, and my professors/academic circle at HWS. Obviously half of you rolled your eyes through that entire paragraph, but that's life.
I then proceeded to do 4 hours of reading before my 4pm class, for which I had the same reading as I'd had for one session of my class on Berlin in freshman year. Interesting!
I was so burned out when I got home, so I made a delicious dinner and then watched Mamma Mia auf Deutsch, sans-subtitles (well, 40 minutes of it until I fell asleep! hehe).
I'll just say that trying to speak German back to my host mom right when I wake up is probably the hardest thing I've tried to do here. I just cannot channel German within 15 minutes of waking up! Times like this... and many others.... I wonder why I didn't go to France. I'd be getting so good at French and I'd actually know what's going on around me instead of being totally oblivious. But it's all part of the learning process - I'm learning an awesome new language and can't wait to see the gains I can make by the time the semester ends.
On a happier note, Lucy comes in the morning so I'm off to IES to get a lot of homework done and then do some exploring in the afternoon (it's completely cloudy out.. so much for that sun).
Sorry for the lack of photos on the blog, I just haven't felt like taking photos lately because there's been nothing interesting to shoot on the day-to-day. #problem!
Two things worth noting came of this conversation: first, he highly recommended going to Croatia, which is somewhere I've wanted to go since I was in middle school flipping through the cruise catalogs and saw photos like this. This reminded me that I really need to try to get there. Second, we asked him what his view on American politics/Obama is. Since he goes to the JFK school, he and his peers have a pretty decent idea of whats going on (sadly, more than many Americans). He said that he and others his age feel that Obama is a good leader, and that many republicans in congress just vote down dem's ideas simply because they're from democrats, even if they're good ideas that will help society. The German professors in the room agreed. I found it interesting that the prevailing view among his peers is the same among mine, and my professors/academic circle at HWS. Obviously half of you rolled your eyes through that entire paragraph, but that's life.
I then proceeded to do 4 hours of reading before my 4pm class, for which I had the same reading as I'd had for one session of my class on Berlin in freshman year. Interesting!
I was so burned out when I got home, so I made a delicious dinner and then watched Mamma Mia auf Deutsch, sans-subtitles (well, 40 minutes of it until I fell asleep! hehe).
I'll just say that trying to speak German back to my host mom right when I wake up is probably the hardest thing I've tried to do here. I just cannot channel German within 15 minutes of waking up! Times like this... and many others.... I wonder why I didn't go to France. I'd be getting so good at French and I'd actually know what's going on around me instead of being totally oblivious. But it's all part of the learning process - I'm learning an awesome new language and can't wait to see the gains I can make by the time the semester ends.
On a happier note, Lucy comes in the morning so I'm off to IES to get a lot of homework done and then do some exploring in the afternoon (it's completely cloudy out.. so much for that sun).
Sorry for the lack of photos on the blog, I just haven't felt like taking photos lately because there's been nothing interesting to shoot on the day-to-day. #problem!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I hope you're all having a nice Wednesday stateside!
I couldn't stay focused in class today because I was distracted by this rare sight outside of the window - a blue sky! And, much to everyone's surprise (and perpetual discussion), we saw this is the forecast:
Now that is nothing short of a sign of the apocalypse for Northern Europe at this time of year! I exaggerate, but this really is a wonderful blessing that I plan to take full advantage of!
Anyway, for my afternoon class on pop culture (yes, hopefully I will come back home knowing a bit about that subject!) we made a visit to a photography exhibit by Gundula Schulze Eldowy. She's a German photographer who dedicated a lot of time towards shooting people and places that would no longer exist after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is such a great concept, because through her we are able to intimately experience life in the socialist East. She also captured many sites which, at that time (so between ~1960 and 1989) looked like 1945 in that they were still completely leveled from the intense bombing of Berlin at the end of the war (this city was almost completely demolished). It was interesting to see/learn that decades later, these buildings were still empty, shattered, wastes of space around the city. Photography wasn't allowed in the exhibit (but when have I ever followed that rule?), so here are some quotations from her that I snapped some shots of, which I thought embodied her work quite well.
I couldn't stay focused in class today because I was distracted by this rare sight outside of the window - a blue sky! And, much to everyone's surprise (and perpetual discussion), we saw this is the forecast:
Anyway, for my afternoon class on pop culture (yes, hopefully I will come back home knowing a bit about that subject!) we made a visit to a photography exhibit by Gundula Schulze Eldowy. She's a German photographer who dedicated a lot of time towards shooting people and places that would no longer exist after the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is such a great concept, because through her we are able to intimately experience life in the socialist East. She also captured many sites which, at that time (so between ~1960 and 1989) looked like 1945 in that they were still completely leveled from the intense bombing of Berlin at the end of the war (this city was almost completely demolished). It was interesting to see/learn that decades later, these buildings were still empty, shattered, wastes of space around the city. Photography wasn't allowed in the exhibit (but when have I ever followed that rule?), so here are some quotations from her that I snapped some shots of, which I thought embodied her work quite well.
"At that time Berlin was like an extinct city, it had the feeling of an archeological site"
"The rigid contrasts of this city simultaneously fascinated and repulsed me"
I could keep learning about the infinite contrasts between the two Berlins forever.
If any of you are interested, there's an excellent, historically accurate, and funny German film (yes, a funny German film does exist!) called Goodbye Lenin! which I highly suggest checking out if you want to learn a little over a good laugh. I had my parents watch it and they enjoyed it, too!
Tomorrow Devon, Elizabeth, and I will be booking our flights for spring break - I'm so excited! We will be going to Barcelona, Spain for the first half, and Lisbon, Portugal for the second half. I've dreamt of going to Barcelona since Señora Coleman's class in 10th grade when I did an art project on Antoni Gauduí, who did a ton of famous architectural work throughout the city, including the Sagrada Familia. Plus, who can argue with enjoying the sunshine and beaches of the Iberian Peninsula after spending a frigid week in Russia?!
I've been really missing Keuka lake lately. All I needed was a little C.S. Lewis to pick me up.
I've been really missing Keuka lake lately. All I needed was a little C.S. Lewis to pick me up.
"The virtue of courage is a prerequisite for the practice of all other virtues, otherwise one is virtuous only when virtue has no cost" - C.S. Lewis
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Classes
Today was the second day of classes, which went fairly well.
I've decided to drop my Gender Studies class, because I am the opposite of interested in it and simply cannot handle learning about feminism. Don't take it personally, it's just my own opinion. So for the sake of my mental sanity, I am switching into the unfamiliar territory of an art history course! It's quite interesting so far (...one class in).
The final course I'm in is called the Recycled and Fragmented City, and deals with how different cities/metropolitan areas are divided along gender and class lines, and overal gentrification within cities. It's more of a sociology course, and I'm really going to like it. It's also great because we'll learn about these topics in regards to Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg, and then will be able to actually see them exemplified in the latter two cities on our field studies, and here in Berlin on our field trips.
Other miscellaneous news to report that may or may not bore you:
Lucy will arrive in Berlin on Saturday morning, which I'm quite excited about! We have quite a weekend planned out because there is a lot happening here in the city, so I can't wait to tell you guys about that!
Lis is finally back in Denmark, so we've started to make some travel plans to visit each other, also very exciting!
The next 7ish days are (nock on wood) going to be at least partly sunny, which is nothing short of a miracle for Berlin in late January!! I'm hoping to go up to the TV Tower and get some great arial shots of the city.
Ich fühle mich gesund, heute! Keine Kopfschmerzen. Danke, meine gesund essen!
I've decided to drop my Gender Studies class, because I am the opposite of interested in it and simply cannot handle learning about feminism. Don't take it personally, it's just my own opinion. So for the sake of my mental sanity, I am switching into the unfamiliar territory of an art history course! It's quite interesting so far (...one class in).
The final course I'm in is called the Recycled and Fragmented City, and deals with how different cities/metropolitan areas are divided along gender and class lines, and overal gentrification within cities. It's more of a sociology course, and I'm really going to like it. It's also great because we'll learn about these topics in regards to Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg, and then will be able to actually see them exemplified in the latter two cities on our field studies, and here in Berlin on our field trips.
Other miscellaneous news to report that may or may not bore you:
Lucy will arrive in Berlin on Saturday morning, which I'm quite excited about! We have quite a weekend planned out because there is a lot happening here in the city, so I can't wait to tell you guys about that!
Lis is finally back in Denmark, so we've started to make some travel plans to visit each other, also very exciting!
The next 7ish days are (nock on wood) going to be at least partly sunny, which is nothing short of a miracle for Berlin in late January!! I'm hoping to go up to the TV Tower and get some great arial shots of the city.
Ich fühle mich gesund, heute! Keine Kopfschmerzen. Danke, meine gesund essen!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Today was a great day: I found 2 stores that have a gluten free section (more than just pasta!), and I found raisins!!
It's the simple things in life that make my day bright. Like eating without pain!
I wish I could've come to Germany a few months ago so I could eat all of the delicious bread for every meal like the Germans do... it's a cruel world!
It's the simple things in life that make my day bright. Like eating without pain!
I wish I could've come to Germany a few months ago so I could eat all of the delicious bread for every meal like the Germans do... it's a cruel world!
1st day of school!
Today's the first day of classes, and I'll have The Question of Identity in Contemporary Europe, and then tonight I'll have a class called Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll... the syllabus said we'd listen to a lot of music and go to a futbol game. Between classes Devon and I are going to go to Fashion Week Berlin!
Well, time to finish my lunch & listening to France24 and go to class.
Tschüss!
Weekend
Saturday, after realizing it was noon and there were only 4 more hours of daylight to make use of, I did something I've always wanted to do: walk out the door and keep walking into the unknown, sans-map, until you end up somewhere! It turned out to be a great adventure.
I walked straight out the front door, eventually crossed the Spree, passed the Egyptian and other embassies, the Philharmonic's building, and the road ended at the Tiergarten (Berlin's Central Park). I walked along the park for a bit, and ended up near Potsdamer Platz! It's amazing how close the apartment is to everything! I then did some quality shopping in the mall in Potsdamer.
I then met up with Devon, Elizabeth and Michelle at Freidrichstraße where I witnessed my first German protest. That's because they don't protest as much as the French! They were, from what I deduced, protesting the closing of Tegel airport because now the planes will fly closer to the city. Anyway, I ate my first Currywurst.... it was DELICIOUS. I'm trying to get my vegetarian friend here to eat one with me, but he's not as adventurous as I am. This looks gross because they put about 9000 grams of German ketchup on it, but don't judge it! Also, it's one of the few gluten-free options you can get on the go in Berlin.
At night, we went to an IES gathering at our classmate Ben's house (his host parents told him that he should have us all over, which was so nice of them, as that means they invited 26 20-somethings to their flat!). It wasn't that fun. One of the hardest things to get used to here is the abundance of cigarette smokers/smoke, anywhere and everywhere. His host parents smoke inside, so many people were last night too, and it's just hard to get used to inhaling so much second hand smoke. After, I had my first "oh CRAP, the U-Bahn is closed!!!! How am I going to get home?!" experience. Some nice German girls explained to us how to get home, but we understood none of what they said because we didn't know that part of town, so we took cabs home. I need to learn to navigate the night map better (the train map totally changes at night, makes things more confusing).
Today did typical Sunday-in-Germany things like sleep in, stay inside most of the day, clean, and cook. I finally left the house to go to church with Devon which was great. Everyone there is just so friendly!! Today they live-streamed Brian Houston (he started Hillsong in Australia) who was speaking at the London service. Devon and I quite enjoyed it, and then went to Starbucks for some tea and to chat. I'm so glad we found eachother here, we're so similar and have many of the same goals for our time abroad, and just generally enjoy each other's company! Plus, it really confuses people when we introduce ourselves to them as Devan/Devon :) We both decided that we'd like to spend less time with IES people and start getting involved with the community at church, which we're really excited about. We did some planning for our exciting next weekend and spring break trip.
I then made for dinner a delicious gluten-free meal of g-f pasta and tofu with fresh sautéed veggies, topped off by a piece of cake my host mom gave me :) Another great weekend!
I walked straight out the front door, eventually crossed the Spree, passed the Egyptian and other embassies, the Philharmonic's building, and the road ended at the Tiergarten (Berlin's Central Park). I walked along the park for a bit, and ended up near Potsdamer Platz! It's amazing how close the apartment is to everything! I then did some quality shopping in the mall in Potsdamer.
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| Yep, I spent my hard earned money on the German versions of Mamma Mia and Madagascar 2 :) to my defense, they were only €5! |
At night, we went to an IES gathering at our classmate Ben's house (his host parents told him that he should have us all over, which was so nice of them, as that means they invited 26 20-somethings to their flat!). It wasn't that fun. One of the hardest things to get used to here is the abundance of cigarette smokers/smoke, anywhere and everywhere. His host parents smoke inside, so many people were last night too, and it's just hard to get used to inhaling so much second hand smoke. After, I had my first "oh CRAP, the U-Bahn is closed!!!! How am I going to get home?!" experience. Some nice German girls explained to us how to get home, but we understood none of what they said because we didn't know that part of town, so we took cabs home. I need to learn to navigate the night map better (the train map totally changes at night, makes things more confusing).
Today did typical Sunday-in-Germany things like sleep in, stay inside most of the day, clean, and cook. I finally left the house to go to church with Devon which was great. Everyone there is just so friendly!! Today they live-streamed Brian Houston (he started Hillsong in Australia) who was speaking at the London service. Devon and I quite enjoyed it, and then went to Starbucks for some tea and to chat. I'm so glad we found eachother here, we're so similar and have many of the same goals for our time abroad, and just generally enjoy each other's company! Plus, it really confuses people when we introduce ourselves to them as Devan/Devon :) We both decided that we'd like to spend less time with IES people and start getting involved with the community at church, which we're really excited about. We did some planning for our exciting next weekend and spring break trip.
I then made for dinner a delicious gluten-free meal of g-f pasta and tofu with fresh sautéed veggies, topped off by a piece of cake my host mom gave me :) Another great weekend!
Wittenberg, Germany
Friday our German language professors took us to Wittenberg for what turned out to be the most culturing day of my life. It was so full of history and so great that my friends and I couldn't stop talking about it for hours!
Brief and necessary history of Martin Luther: In the early 1500's, there in Wittenberg, he was part of the Catholic church's clergy. He got frustrated that the church only preached about a God who was full of wrath, and he felt that since God sent Jesus to die for our sins, he no longer has wrath for us; just grace and love. He was also frustrated that the Catholic church told parishioners that in order to be forgiven for their sins they had to buy slips of paper that said they were forgiven (aka, give their money to the church). Fast forward. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Schloßkirche (the church in Wittenberg) his 95 Theses, which stated his ideology and criticisms of the Catholic church. He was then excommunicated from the Catholic church, but thanks to the invention of the printing press, the Theses was spread all over. Luther then translated the Bible into German so that the poor could read it too (they didn't know Latin). Overall, an awesome guy.
The town of Wittenberg is 115 km south of Berlin, so we took a speedy and comfortable regional train there. I finally had the opportunity to see the beautiful German countryside!! But unfortunately I've been having some health issues and got a terrible migrane right before we got on the train, so I spent the entire ride with my eyes closed/head covered.
When we first arrived we went to Martin Luther's house which had been turned into an extremely well-done museum, definitely the best one I've ever seen. They'd even preserved his living room from the early 1500's!! It was incredible.
After, we went to lunch at the most traditional of German restaurants, and had a delicious meal. Drinks were paid for by our school, so I figured it was the best opportunity to try German beer. It was disgusting!! I took one sip and gave it to my friend. I'm glad I got that experience over with, so I can stop being harassed by everyone to try it.
Next, we went to the Schloßkirche (Castle Church), which is where all this history took place! We saw the door on which Luther posted his 95 Theses, and then went inside the church, which was so incredibly beautiful!!!
After this, we traveled by foot all the way to the other side of Germany (well that's what it felt like, but it was just the other side of Wittenberg) to see a public school/piece of art that the architect Hundertwasser redid in 1996. It was.... quite a piece of art! Definitely not my taste, but interesting to see. We were taken on a tour of it by two of its students, so they did the tour in German and English and I was pleasantly surprised with how much German I understood! #progress. The architect even donated an observatory (as in, for astronomy)- could you imagine your high school having an observatory?!
Brief and necessary history of Martin Luther: In the early 1500's, there in Wittenberg, he was part of the Catholic church's clergy. He got frustrated that the church only preached about a God who was full of wrath, and he felt that since God sent Jesus to die for our sins, he no longer has wrath for us; just grace and love. He was also frustrated that the Catholic church told parishioners that in order to be forgiven for their sins they had to buy slips of paper that said they were forgiven (aka, give their money to the church). Fast forward. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Schloßkirche (the church in Wittenberg) his 95 Theses, which stated his ideology and criticisms of the Catholic church. He was then excommunicated from the Catholic church, but thanks to the invention of the printing press, the Theses was spread all over. Luther then translated the Bible into German so that the poor could read it too (they didn't know Latin). Overall, an awesome guy.
The town of Wittenberg is 115 km south of Berlin, so we took a speedy and comfortable regional train there. I finally had the opportunity to see the beautiful German countryside!! But unfortunately I've been having some health issues and got a terrible migrane right before we got on the train, so I spent the entire ride with my eyes closed/head covered.
When we first arrived we went to Martin Luther's house which had been turned into an extremely well-done museum, definitely the best one I've ever seen. They'd even preserved his living room from the early 1500's!! It was incredible.
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| Martin Luther's livng room. |
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| The first translation of Luther's Bible, written in High German in 1534. |
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| Delicous |
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| Inside the Schloßkirche |
The school was renovated in the '90s because they wanted to get rid of the classic (ugly and depressing) DDR (GDR) architecture, as this was part of Eastern Germany. The architect basically put a facade over the old DDR walls, inside and out. Now the school is a colorful glimpse of the present among endless depressing DDR-style apartment buildings. It was definitely shocking to see. I could never live in the former east, that's for sure!
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| Hundertwasser's 'masterpiece'. 800 students go here. |
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| Yeah, I know! |
After this we boarded the regional train to return to Berlin, and the sun had long since set, so I still couldn't see the countryside. I tried to read a German version of trash magazine all the way home. When I got back to my apartment I was making dinner when my host mom (who decided then that she'd mostly just speak to me in German, which is great and should be really helpful!) invited me and my flatmate to go to her Verein party! Verein is really untranslatable. It's essentially a club. They have them for everything - chess, any sport, theater, music, hiking, etc. You can really only be in one because they're a very big commitment; you have to pay dues, attend regularly, help plan events, etc. They're also for all ages. Instead of having school sports, children join local Verein for their specific interest. My host mom is in a dance-exercise verein.
I wolfed down my dinner, changed, and we went to the party. We chatted with her for a bit, and then started dancing! Everyone danced for a while, and then her verein's teacher led some dances - it was like Zumba, in how it's led, but it was obviously not latin dancing. It was so much fun, and such a great cultural experience. I'm so happy I went!
It was a long Friday (and thus a long post... my apologies), but I don't think I've ever had a day with more culture than that!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Deutsches Historisches Museum
So as I mentioned before, Thursday was spent at the DHM, which was the best museum I'd ever been to (until Friday, when it got knocked down to 2nd place!). We had a guided tour through the late 20th century exhibit, which consisted of the Nazi era/WWII and the Cold War. Since those are the two topics I've spent the most academic time learning about (interestingly, since I'm not even a history major), I clearly enjoyed the exhibit very much.
The way they presented the history was very conducive to quick but quality learning for those who are less familiar with that time frame. When we got to one part of our tour, our guide reminded us the book burnings that occurred in 1933 at the start of the Nazi regime's rule. (A quick history for you: they made it a national policy to burn all books by Jewish, gay, and communist authors, among others. These burnings took place publicly, to drum up support for this propaganda movement). He reminded us that this book burning took place right across the street, in the plaza between the National Opera and the Humboldt Law building. I walk by that plaza many times each week, and it blew my mind to think that that happened there. It's so incredibly interesting being in places where so much history has taken place.
Another part of the exhibit that I appreciated most was the amount of primary documents it contained. We saw things like the Treaty of Versailles (the treaty that ended WWI), German Marks (the currency that became worthless in the early 1930s), the Nuremberg Laws (those were written by the Nazi party to define who qualifies as Jewish), and Nazi uniforms. Again, having spent so much time studying these things, it was crazy to see them in person.
The Cold War history we went through pretty quickly, but it was interesting as well. We only covered one section of the 1st floor of this museum, so needless to say I will have to make several trips back so that I can see everything!
We ended the day by watching the movie Luther (auf Deutsch) at IES to have a little historical background on the next day's trip to Wittenberg. As a Christian, I felt a little ashamed to have not paid much attention to all the times I've learned about him in history class, but it's just because don't really find much interest in history outside of 1933-1989. Anyway, turns out he was a really awesome guy, as you will see in the next post!
The way they presented the history was very conducive to quick but quality learning for those who are less familiar with that time frame. When we got to one part of our tour, our guide reminded us the book burnings that occurred in 1933 at the start of the Nazi regime's rule. (A quick history for you: they made it a national policy to burn all books by Jewish, gay, and communist authors, among others. These burnings took place publicly, to drum up support for this propaganda movement). He reminded us that this book burning took place right across the street, in the plaza between the National Opera and the Humboldt Law building. I walk by that plaza many times each week, and it blew my mind to think that that happened there. It's so incredibly interesting being in places where so much history has taken place.
Another part of the exhibit that I appreciated most was the amount of primary documents it contained. We saw things like the Treaty of Versailles (the treaty that ended WWI), German Marks (the currency that became worthless in the early 1930s), the Nuremberg Laws (those were written by the Nazi party to define who qualifies as Jewish), and Nazi uniforms. Again, having spent so much time studying these things, it was crazy to see them in person.
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| The atrium inside of the DHM. It survived the WWII bombings, amazingly. |
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| THE Treaty of Versailles |
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| German Marks |
You can find some more photos on my Flickr page or facebook, as usual.
We ended the day by watching the movie Luther (auf Deutsch) at IES to have a little historical background on the next day's trip to Wittenberg. As a Christian, I felt a little ashamed to have not paid much attention to all the times I've learned about him in history class, but it's just because don't really find much interest in history outside of 1933-1989. Anyway, turns out he was a really awesome guy, as you will see in the next post!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Studying abroad is like a marathon.
You only have so many hours in the day, but you need to do the essentials (study, go to class, sleep, eat, and commute) but there are also other non-essential things that you have to do if you want to enjoy yourself and learn about the culture (explore somewhere unknown, go shopping, go sight seeing, go out for a drink at night to be social even though you want to sleep, make travel plans, see other places in Germany, see other places in Europe, spend time with your host mom, go to Sonntagsbrunch, go to church, do the Blocker project).
I think this semester will be one of me trying to succeed in 'my marathon' - by doing as many and as much of those as possible while still getting enough sleep to keep going for 5 months.
Challenge accepted!!!
You only have so many hours in the day, but you need to do the essentials (study, go to class, sleep, eat, and commute) but there are also other non-essential things that you have to do if you want to enjoy yourself and learn about the culture (explore somewhere unknown, go shopping, go sight seeing, go out for a drink at night to be social even though you want to sleep, make travel plans, see other places in Germany, see other places in Europe, spend time with your host mom, go to Sonntagsbrunch, go to church, do the Blocker project).
I think this semester will be one of me trying to succeed in 'my marathon' - by doing as many and as much of those as possible while still getting enough sleep to keep going for 5 months.
Challenge accepted!!!
Thursday/Friday
Thursday we went to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, and yesterday we went to the little town of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther lived and posted his 95 Theses. The town, its history, and its museums were absolutely amazing and we learned SO much. It was Definitely the most culturing day I've had in my life. Later that night when I returned home the culturing continued, as my host mom invited me to a party for her Verein (I'll explain later what that is) so we went dancing with her, which was so much fun.
I have a lot of exploring to do today and tomorrow and didn't come to Germany to sit on my computer and blog/edit photos all day, so I probably won't get to editing or posting on this blog until Sunday night or so.
Things on the agenda this weekend:
- Fashion Week Berlin
- Eating Currywurst
- Vintage shopping
- Sunday Flea Markets - tres populaire in Berlin
- And of course, going to Hillsong Church on Sunday evening :)
Have a great weekend!
I have a lot of exploring to do today and tomorrow and didn't come to Germany to sit on my computer and blog/edit photos all day, so I probably won't get to editing or posting on this blog until Sunday night or so.
Things on the agenda this weekend:
- Fashion Week Berlin
- Eating Currywurst
- Vintage shopping
- Sunday Flea Markets - tres populaire in Berlin
- And of course, going to Hillsong Church on Sunday evening :)
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday (Mittwoch)
Yesterday we got very lucky and were graced with some beautiful weather!! So for German class, our professor had us go on a little scavenger hunt of sorts around the city, which was really fun. We first rode the M100 (the city bus that hits many of the main landmarks/sites in Berlin), and then got off at Alexanderplatz and had to find many things, and then we ended up back at Humboldt. It was really nice to have to find our way on our own with just a map (just a paper map - kids without gps!), because it forced us to get to know where we're going better. As a result I feel like I know my way around much of the Mitte much better now. We took a detour into the Radison hotel near Alex(anderplatz), because we'd heard that it had an aquarium that went up to the ceiling. Sure enough, we found this! In the second photo you'll see a spiral staircase inside of the tank.. it's like a staircase/elevator that you can 'ride' up into the aquarium on.
Anyway, the tour was great and I finally got some quality photos of some main Berlin sites for my Blocker project! I know only 3 of you wanted to do that last time I recommended it, but I do believe it's worth a look...... (here's 1).
I'll post later about today (Friday) and our trip to the DHM (Deutsches Historisches Museum).
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| from the bottom |
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| from the elevator/top |
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| The Berliner Dom - a beautiful and massive church on Museum Island |
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Reichstag!!!
Today we went on a tour of the Reichstag, which was magnificent! I learned a great deal about the German parliament - and refreshed some of that textbook knowledge I'd forgotten! They have an incredibly interesting system of government, about which I could ramble on and on, but I'm sure not all of you are as interested in that as I am!! :)
For my Blocker project, I've already gone through and edited some photosI took at the Reichstag today. I wrote in extensive captions that describe the interesting details that our guide shared with us about the history and renovation of the building. Because that took so much time and I don't have time to re-post the same thing word-for-word here, I will have to ask that you take one extra click and view what I have already written (for the technologically dis-inclined, don't worry, this is simple!).
You may want proof that I'm actually doing these fun things here in Berlin, so here are a couple pictures of me (since I will not be putting photos of myself in my Blocker portfolio on Flickr).
For my Blocker project, I've already gone through and edited some photosI took at the Reichstag today. I wrote in extensive captions that describe the interesting details that our guide shared with us about the history and renovation of the building. Because that took so much time and I don't have time to re-post the same thing word-for-word here, I will have to ask that you take one extra click and view what I have already written (for the technologically dis-inclined, don't worry, this is simple!).
Simply click on this link right here. Next, click the photo that's first in line on the top row of those photos. Then just look at each photo and read each caption!!!
And if you're interested, you can check out all the other parts of my projects listed my Flickr page.
You may want proof that I'm actually doing these fun things here in Berlin, so here are a couple pictures of me (since I will not be putting photos of myself in my Blocker portfolio on Flickr).
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| Bundling up at the Brandenburger Tor - it's so cold here, that's why I look like a burnt marshmallow! |
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| In the Reichstag!!! Such a difference from all my days in the US Captiol building! |
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| On top of the Reichstag after going up the Kruppel! |
Monday, January 16, 2012
“Traveling is a
brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that
familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing
is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, the sky – all things
tending toward the eternal or what we imagine of it.”
Cesare Pavese
Montag
Today was the first day of intensive German language instruction, but unfortunately my professor wasn't there so we joined the 101 class - so it wasn't so intensive. When my professor arrives tomorrow, I'll go to my normal class, in which there will be four students, two of whom will be named Devan/Devon! That will be fun.
Anyway, for class today we went to a museum of the history of Berlin. It wasn't my favorite museum, but it was interesting to see. Underneath the museum and the shopping mall it was attached to was an undergound bunker/bomb shelter (I guess you never know what's underneath you, eh?!). So after the museum we went on a tour of that, which was extremely scary.
It was built in the 1970s and used during the Cold War. It had 3,600 very small fold-out cots organized into straight aisles. There were chamber doors when you walked in that had showers in them so that if you were already contaminated with nuclear business you could shower and put on new clothes that were already pre-stored in the bunker. The entire bunker only had 4 bathrooms. It was obviously air tight, and the processed air you'd breathe in would only have half the oxygen of normal air, and would be around 86 degrees F with 90% humidity. So people would just lay on their cots the entire day. In the case that a nuclear weapon had dropped, it was planned that they'd stay in there for 14 days, at which point they used to think it was safe to come out. The bunker was never used, but is still fit to be used in case of an emergency today.
Here's a picture I took just for you guys so you could see what it looked like - I brightened it up a lot so you could see what's in it; it was darker than this inside.
Oh, and also, here is a picture of the entrance to the Mensa that we usually go to for lunch each day! It's the one on the Humboldt Nord (north) campus, and is sehr lecker (very delicious)!
Tomorrow it's to the Reichstag or the Bundestag - not sure which one yet. I can't wait!!
One last thing: as many of you know, I have a great admiration for quotations. I usually find ones applicable to and inspiring for almost every situation I find myself in. So I'll often be adding some applicable ones to this blog. Just to give you a heads up. Goodnight!
Anyway, for class today we went to a museum of the history of Berlin. It wasn't my favorite museum, but it was interesting to see. Underneath the museum and the shopping mall it was attached to was an undergound bunker/bomb shelter (I guess you never know what's underneath you, eh?!). So after the museum we went on a tour of that, which was extremely scary.
It was built in the 1970s and used during the Cold War. It had 3,600 very small fold-out cots organized into straight aisles. There were chamber doors when you walked in that had showers in them so that if you were already contaminated with nuclear business you could shower and put on new clothes that were already pre-stored in the bunker. The entire bunker only had 4 bathrooms. It was obviously air tight, and the processed air you'd breathe in would only have half the oxygen of normal air, and would be around 86 degrees F with 90% humidity. So people would just lay on their cots the entire day. In the case that a nuclear weapon had dropped, it was planned that they'd stay in there for 14 days, at which point they used to think it was safe to come out. The bunker was never used, but is still fit to be used in case of an emergency today.
Here's a picture I took just for you guys so you could see what it looked like - I brightened it up a lot so you could see what's in it; it was darker than this inside.
Oh, and also, here is a picture of the entrance to the Mensa that we usually go to for lunch each day! It's the one on the Humboldt Nord (north) campus, and is sehr lecker (very delicious)!
Tomorrow it's to the Reichstag or the Bundestag - not sure which one yet. I can't wait!!
One last thing: as many of you know, I have a great admiration for quotations. I usually find ones applicable to and inspiring for almost every situation I find myself in. So I'll often be adding some applicable ones to this blog. Just to give you a heads up. Goodnight!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
I think Sunday will be my favorite day here
Sundays in Germany? One word: awesome.
As I mentioned before, everything is closed on Sundays. And that means everything! No grocery stores, or other sorts of shopping stores are open, and only very few Apotheke's remain open for those in need of some emergency medicine. Therefore, everyone relaxes. The Sunday activity for relaxing is going to brunch - or, Sonntagsbrunch.
This morning I met up with my two friends Elizabeth and Devon in Kreuzberg for Sonntagsbrunch. Kreuzberg is in the Southwest part of the city and is known for its minority population - mainly Turkish, as Germany has a long history of a large Turkish minority. As a result, this village has a plethora of great (and vegitarisch) food. We found a nice (and very crowded) little brunch place. We sat around at our table for about 10 minutes waiting for the server, like typical clueless newcomers. Apparently if you go to brunch, you just go help yourself! After our waiter figured out we spoke better English than Deutsch, he switched languages and explained this all to us.
The brunch spreads are incredible. If I listed everything it had, this post would be way too long. But it was an entire room full of food. The way brunch is served here is you play a flat rate (€9 there) and can eat all you'd like until 4pm, and it is typical to sit there for that long - no one will rush you. Apparently it is typical to have cocktails or beer with brunch (beer with brunch? Not in by budget or taste buds!).
After brunch we walked around for a while and then traveled back to the Mitte (city center) for church. This church is quite small and pretty new, and is actually the latest installment of Hillsong churches in Europe, which is SO exciting!!!! Today they were in a different location than usual, which was actually a really nice bar. Everyone there was INCREDIBLY friendly. It was so nice being in a place where people actually wanted to interact with you and know you. The service was a little different but good, and we met a girl after who we will meet up with later. It would be really nice to meet some Berlin residents and this looks like it will be an excellent way to do so. Most of them are Aussies, as Hillsong is an Australian church, which is really cool. Elizabeth, Devon and I decided we liked it a lot and are looking forward to going back next week, when they will be live-streaming the Hillsong London service!
Overall it was an enjoyable and happy day! There was even sunshine to accompany it!
This week has a lot in store, as it is the beginning of our intensive German week. A look at what's in store for this week:
Have a great Montag!
As I mentioned before, everything is closed on Sundays. And that means everything! No grocery stores, or other sorts of shopping stores are open, and only very few Apotheke's remain open for those in need of some emergency medicine. Therefore, everyone relaxes. The Sunday activity for relaxing is going to brunch - or, Sonntagsbrunch.
This morning I met up with my two friends Elizabeth and Devon in Kreuzberg for Sonntagsbrunch. Kreuzberg is in the Southwest part of the city and is known for its minority population - mainly Turkish, as Germany has a long history of a large Turkish minority. As a result, this village has a plethora of great (and vegitarisch) food. We found a nice (and very crowded) little brunch place. We sat around at our table for about 10 minutes waiting for the server, like typical clueless newcomers. Apparently if you go to brunch, you just go help yourself! After our waiter figured out we spoke better English than Deutsch, he switched languages and explained this all to us.
The brunch spreads are incredible. If I listed everything it had, this post would be way too long. But it was an entire room full of food. The way brunch is served here is you play a flat rate (€9 there) and can eat all you'd like until 4pm, and it is typical to sit there for that long - no one will rush you. Apparently it is typical to have cocktails or beer with brunch (beer with brunch? Not in by budget or taste buds!).
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| Helping 1: egg, yogurt with granola and cereal, nice and veggies sautéed in a creamy sauce, pesto pasta, and a crepe with nutella and jam. |
After brunch we walked around for a while and then traveled back to the Mitte (city center) for church. This church is quite small and pretty new, and is actually the latest installment of Hillsong churches in Europe, which is SO exciting!!!! Today they were in a different location than usual, which was actually a really nice bar. Everyone there was INCREDIBLY friendly. It was so nice being in a place where people actually wanted to interact with you and know you. The service was a little different but good, and we met a girl after who we will meet up with later. It would be really nice to meet some Berlin residents and this looks like it will be an excellent way to do so. Most of them are Aussies, as Hillsong is an Australian church, which is really cool. Elizabeth, Devon and I decided we liked it a lot and are looking forward to going back next week, when they will be live-streaming the Hillsong London service!
Overall it was an enjoyable and happy day! There was even sunshine to accompany it!
This week has a lot in store, as it is the beginning of our intensive German week. A look at what's in store for this week:
Montag: an exhibition of some sort
Dienstag: tour of the german parliament (Bundestag)
Mittwoch: the schedule literally says "explore the city" for class
Donnerstag: German History Museum (DHM) - I've heard it's amazing!
Freitag: field trip to Wittenberg - google image it!!
Have a great Montag!
Yesterday we went to Potsdam which was really lovely. The city is adorable, mostly made of cobblestone streets, with gorgeous architecture. There are actually 15 palaces/gardens in the city of Potsdam, and we just visited one (one of the most famous ones), called Sans Souci.
This was the summer palace for Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia in the 1700s. He grew annoyed at having to run his family as well as the country, and he wanted a sprawling estate where he could only be surrounded by his dogs, hold parties, philosophize, and listen to [classical] music. The palace was built in 2 years (!!), and had a separate guest house that is nearly as big as the palace itself. Amazingly, the wood (and marble) floors in the palace and guest palace are all still the original floors from when it was built, and they are in great condition. As you will see in the photos (see below post), the windows were huge and they would be opened up during the evening parties, to gaze at the sprawling gardens and watch fireworks over the city.
Fredrick the Great was like the James Franco type - he slept very little, was very organized and disciplined, and ran the country very efficiently.
After touring Sans Souci, we went into the city center of Potsdam and walked around/ate lunch for a bit, and of course took many photos of the architecture. It is a very nice little town, and my host mother told me tonight that it is where many wealthy people reside (such as film or fashion stars who work in Berlin but want a more suburban estate). As such, the prices in the town are quite steep.
Lastly, one thing I thought that was really interesting about the tour of Sans Souci was what our tour guide said about how these palaces' histories fit into modern (20th century) history. Potsdam itself was heavily bombed towards the end of World War II, so much of the city was destroyed (like Berlin). However the bombing was not a one time raid, but in smaller installments, which (by luck, he insisted) meant that these 15 palaces/estates survived the raids.
A somewhat separate comment that our guide made was equally as interesting to me, as a student of history. He mentioned Potsdam's situation during the Cold War when the Wall was up. He said that his father was on the train going to work, as he did daily, when he was taken away and was unable to return to his family (he didn't say if this was for months, or years, but either way). I then realized that it was the first time that I'd actually heard someone, in person, describe how they were effected by this period in time, which I've spent so much time learning about in school. It is a great reminder of how few years ago many of these historical "issues" (as they'd say here) happened.
Here's a snapshot from the Sans Souci tour. To see the rest of the photos, please see/read the below post.
This was the summer palace for Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia in the 1700s. He grew annoyed at having to run his family as well as the country, and he wanted a sprawling estate where he could only be surrounded by his dogs, hold parties, philosophize, and listen to [classical] music. The palace was built in 2 years (!!), and had a separate guest house that is nearly as big as the palace itself. Amazingly, the wood (and marble) floors in the palace and guest palace are all still the original floors from when it was built, and they are in great condition. As you will see in the photos (see below post), the windows were huge and they would be opened up during the evening parties, to gaze at the sprawling gardens and watch fireworks over the city.
Fredrick the Great was like the James Franco type - he slept very little, was very organized and disciplined, and ran the country very efficiently.
After touring Sans Souci, we went into the city center of Potsdam and walked around/ate lunch for a bit, and of course took many photos of the architecture. It is a very nice little town, and my host mother told me tonight that it is where many wealthy people reside (such as film or fashion stars who work in Berlin but want a more suburban estate). As such, the prices in the town are quite steep.
Lastly, one thing I thought that was really interesting about the tour of Sans Souci was what our tour guide said about how these palaces' histories fit into modern (20th century) history. Potsdam itself was heavily bombed towards the end of World War II, so much of the city was destroyed (like Berlin). However the bombing was not a one time raid, but in smaller installments, which (by luck, he insisted) meant that these 15 palaces/estates survived the raids.
A somewhat separate comment that our guide made was equally as interesting to me, as a student of history. He mentioned Potsdam's situation during the Cold War when the Wall was up. He said that his father was on the train going to work, as he did daily, when he was taken away and was unable to return to his family (he didn't say if this was for months, or years, but either way). I then realized that it was the first time that I'd actually heard someone, in person, describe how they were effected by this period in time, which I've spent so much time learning about in school. It is a great reminder of how few years ago many of these historical "issues" (as they'd say here) happened.
Here's a snapshot from the Sans Souci tour. To see the rest of the photos, please see/read the below post.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Photo Website!!!
Hi everyone!
I'm too tired to post about my day in Potsdam now, but I have gotten my Flickr account for the Blocker project all set up and updated, so I wanted to give you the link to that so you can check it out!
1. Click this link
2. Please look to the right of that screen and click on the "set" (like a photo album) that you want to view. Then, select the largest picture, and you will be able to arrow through the photo album (by clicking the right arrow on your keyboard) in the correct order.
3. Please be sure to read the captions; they provide a lot of good information about what is in the photos.
One last thing: In my rush to leave the apartment this morning I forgot to take my battery for the SLR off of the charger, so I got to carry the SLR around all day and take photos with the point and shoot :( Therefore these photos aren't as good as they could've been, but I hope you'll enjoy them nonetheless!
Guten nacht!
I'm too tired to post about my day in Potsdam now, but I have gotten my Flickr account for the Blocker project all set up and updated, so I wanted to give you the link to that so you can check it out!
1. Click this link
2. Please look to the right of that screen and click on the "set" (like a photo album) that you want to view. Then, select the largest picture, and you will be able to arrow through the photo album (by clicking the right arrow on your keyboard) in the correct order.
3. Please be sure to read the captions; they provide a lot of good information about what is in the photos.
One last thing: In my rush to leave the apartment this morning I forgot to take my battery for the SLR off of the charger, so I got to carry the SLR around all day and take photos with the point and shoot :( Therefore these photos aren't as good as they could've been, but I hope you'll enjoy them nonetheless!
Guten nacht!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Cultural differences: edition 1
Many of the cultural differences that are part of what some consider to be "culture shock" are things that I already do habitually in my every day life and wish the rest of Americans would do too - or things I want to do but cannot because I'm in America. Examples:
I think the fact that a lot of my values align with German ones has helped me not have as much culture shock as other students are having. I know I've only been here for a short time and their is still culture shock to come, but the immediate and main things that we've been briefed on and have experienced are all easy for me to adjust to, which is great. When we go to Russia, I don't think that this same theme of little-culture-shock will be the case there!! ;)
- Compost to throw out less: here, like many US cities are starting to do, you have to pay per bag of garbage you throw out. This encourages high rates of recycling and composting. Less ugly landfills. Less pollution (less transporting to landfills). Everybody wins. Except the lazy person who doesn't want to throw it in the other bin.
- Using less water: brushing your teeth and washing the dishes with the water on high is wasteful - half the time you're not even using the water. Here, showers are shorter, and they (we?) use less water to do the above activities. Again, why not?
- Using less heat: if we have warm clothes, why not wear them instead of walking around in tshirts in our 75 degree houses in the winter? Heating is really expensive in Berlin, so people are inclined to keep rooms at about 60 degrees, and when you're not in your room, you shut the heat off.
- Using less electricity: if you're not in the room you don't need the lights on, no? Electricity is also very expensive in Berlin, so they're keen on not only turning things off but unplugging them when you don't use them. It takes an extra.. 3 seconds?
- Public transportation: love it. Incredibly efficient. If not, using bikes is obviously second popular. And yes, they will run you over if you're in their lane!
- Shoes off in the house! A great rule.
- Duvet cover: Back when I used typical american bedding before college, I'd always wake up tangled up and the sheet, blankets, and comforter would all be a mess. These things are the best - all in one and super warm.
But, of course, there are the norms that are a little harder to get used to, but they're so small that it's very easy for me to adjust to:
- Frische Luft (fresh air): Every morning it is essential (essential!) that you turn your heat off and open the window wide for 10 minutes. During every season, even if it is 16 degrees outside. You leave your room during this time and allow the room to air out, as it prevents mold from going (mold is common sans Frische Luft because the buildings are so old and not ventilated).
- Humongous pillows: I'm talking twice the size as normal pillows. Alex is in this photo (below) for reference. They're also flat as a pancake so I bought myself a small throw pillow to use for sleeping.
- Ibuprofen: I visited the Apotheke today (sort of like a drug store but one on steroids) smallest size it comes in is 400mg. Holy smokes!
- I just went onto YouTube to listen to some of my favorite Hillsong and Passion songs, and they aren't available in Germany. Probably the saddest thing I'll encounter in culture shock. Feel free to buy me the CD on iTunes :)
- Edit: Water with gas (sparkling water): it's the main drink here. When you ask for water, that's what you get. It's actually difficult to find water without gas, so we've all been drinking less water in general. That's probably the cultural difference that keeps re-surprising you time after time.
I think the fact that a lot of my values align with German ones has helped me not have as much culture shock as other students are having. I know I've only been here for a short time and their is still culture shock to come, but the immediate and main things that we've been briefed on and have experienced are all easy for me to adjust to, which is great. When we go to Russia, I don't think that this same theme of little-culture-shock will be the case there!! ;)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Orientation Week Continued
Hallo!
To give you a little background, this week has been orientation week. We have had introductory programs at IES every day, which has been really helpful.
Yesterday, we went to the Mensa for the first time. The Mensa is the equivalent of a cafeteria at a university - but an extensive and gourmet one. It has many different choices for meals, sides, salads, fruits, deserts, anything you could think of (even beer - it's not unusual for German students or professors to have one with lunch). The food, unlike a cafeteria (and very much unlike Saga!), is delicious. Each university has several Mensas on its campus, and they are open to students and staff. The prices are subsidized by the government, so, for example, my lunch today (plate of potatoes, chick pea soup, salad, and banana) cost €2,90 (that's $3.70), and yesterday's Käsespätzle (yes, Lis!) was around the same. For such delicious food, it's a better deal than making lunch every day (especially since I've yet to find the glutenfrei grocery section). IES has partnered with Humboldt Universität (one of the largest and best universities in Germany) and we therefore have Humboldt IDs that allow us to use their Mensas every day. I look forward to regularly for lunch!
The student assistants (late 20's staffers who are extremely helpful and great) at IES gave us a tour of the area around IES/Humboldt which was wonderful. One of them is a Ph.D. student there, so he knew the a great deal about history of the Universität (founded in 1810) and was a great guide! Below are a couple photos I snapped of the Humboldt Law School between rain drops (and no, I didn't spell Universität wrong - before umlauts existed they placed an extra "e" after the vowel to change the same - hence Goethe).
[NOTE: You can always click on the photos on this blog to enlarge them]
I will admit that there have been some frustrating moments here, but they mostly concern my unfamiliarity with the public transit system. The system is comprised of S-Bahn trains, U-Bahn trains, Trams, and busses. If that's not confusing enough already, the system is quite extensive and intersects in many areas, and a great deal of the city itself is currently under construction, which interrupts some train schedules. So the past two days, my flatmate and I have found ourselves walking through some parts of town that we're not familiar with (this city is incredibly safe, it's just a little unnerving) to find another Bahnhof (train station). But that's okay, it's part of the adjustment and learning process! Not every transit system is going to be as simple as the MTA or WMATA!
Today we took a very lengthy and extensive bus tour ride through the city. It was very interesting and I learned a lot, but it was pouring rain and got dark at 2:30pm today, so it was impossible to take photos and difficult to see. I did snap some shots and write some notes to remind myself of the many places I'll need to return to over the next few months!
In other news, I just found out the weather for Saturday calls for sun (highly unusual), and we are taking a trip to Potsdam, so hopefully I'll come back with many photos!
To give you a little background, this week has been orientation week. We have had introductory programs at IES every day, which has been really helpful.
Yesterday, we went to the Mensa for the first time. The Mensa is the equivalent of a cafeteria at a university - but an extensive and gourmet one. It has many different choices for meals, sides, salads, fruits, deserts, anything you could think of (even beer - it's not unusual for German students or professors to have one with lunch). The food, unlike a cafeteria (and very much unlike Saga!), is delicious. Each university has several Mensas on its campus, and they are open to students and staff. The prices are subsidized by the government, so, for example, my lunch today (plate of potatoes, chick pea soup, salad, and banana) cost €2,90 (that's $3.70), and yesterday's Käsespätzle (yes, Lis!) was around the same. For such delicious food, it's a better deal than making lunch every day (especially since I've yet to find the glutenfrei grocery section). IES has partnered with Humboldt Universität (one of the largest and best universities in Germany) and we therefore have Humboldt IDs that allow us to use their Mensas every day. I look forward to regularly for lunch!
The student assistants (late 20's staffers who are extremely helpful and great) at IES gave us a tour of the area around IES/Humboldt which was wonderful. One of them is a Ph.D. student there, so he knew the a great deal about history of the Universität (founded in 1810) and was a great guide! Below are a couple photos I snapped of the Humboldt Law School between rain drops (and no, I didn't spell Universität wrong - before umlauts existed they placed an extra "e" after the vowel to change the same - hence Goethe).
[NOTE: You can always click on the photos on this blog to enlarge them]
 |
 |
| I apologize for the quality of this photo, but I wanted to give you an idea of what the Law school building looked like. I'll surely take more when the weather improves. |
I will admit that there have been some frustrating moments here, but they mostly concern my unfamiliarity with the public transit system. The system is comprised of S-Bahn trains, U-Bahn trains, Trams, and busses. If that's not confusing enough already, the system is quite extensive and intersects in many areas, and a great deal of the city itself is currently under construction, which interrupts some train schedules. So the past two days, my flatmate and I have found ourselves walking through some parts of town that we're not familiar with (this city is incredibly safe, it's just a little unnerving) to find another Bahnhof (train station). But that's okay, it's part of the adjustment and learning process! Not every transit system is going to be as simple as the MTA or WMATA!
 |
| One perk of getting lost is sometimes it provides for very unique photo opportunities! This is the Deutsche Bank building in Potsdamer Platz. |
Today we took a very lengthy and extensive bus tour ride through the city. It was very interesting and I learned a lot, but it was pouring rain and got dark at 2:30pm today, so it was impossible to take photos and difficult to see. I did snap some shots and write some notes to remind myself of the many places I'll need to return to over the next few months!
In other news, I just found out the weather for Saturday calls for sun (highly unusual), and we are taking a trip to Potsdam, so hopefully I'll come back with many photos!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Day 1 (or is it Day 0?)
After enough students had arrived at IES, some of the student assistants took us out to Alexanderplatz (the central square of the center of the city - where the TV Tower is, etc) to get photos taken for our residency permits and visas, and to buy Handys (das Handy is a cell phone in German. It's named that because they thought they were using the American term for it, according to my German professor :)) The purchasing of the Handys went well and, because of a sale, all 30-something of us have the exact same phone (that won't be confusing at all, right?)
We took our first S-Bahn and U-Bahn (the metro system) rides. It's really interesting riding the trains here, because you aren't ticketed to get in. Picture a station in New York or DC, just without any machines to swipe in. They have Polezei officers on the Bahns to randomly control (check and make sure you have a ticket), and if you don't, you get charged €60. The whole train system is wonderful and so clean, unlike many others I've used these past few years. (Additionally, each metro stop - instead of smelling like grime, smells like amazing freshly baked pastries and bread - mmmm).
We went back to IES for a while to meet some new students who'd arrived, and chatted until our host parents came. Ursuline is the name of my host mom - she is a wonderful and well-traveled lady with a gorgeous apartment in the Mitte (city center). It's so homey here and my bedroom is wonderful and large. There is also another IES student living in the apartment. Apparently our bedrooms have a view of Angela Merkel's office! But as it gets dark at 4pm and it's now almost 4am, I've yet to see the view in daylight.
I know it's quite uncharacteristic - and I'm pressuring myself because of the Blocker project - but I haven't taken any photos yet, so I've inserted a couple google images to make this post more exciting. I've frankly just been too tired to take any yet. For those of you who don't know, the Blocker project is the large photo project I will be working on over the next 5 months. I will be creating a series of photo essays based on different aspects of German/Berlin culture, reflections on points in history, or different themes in society. This is for the Blocker Fellowship, through which a handful of us were blessed with the opportunity of receiving through a generous HWS alumni to allow us to study in Germany! I presume there will be many references to the project to come, as it will make up a great deal of my experiences here, so there is a little background on that. One of the photo essays will also be a daily photo journal - or a 365 (366 this year), which I have already started and will be on my flickr soon.
I'm off to try to sleep for a couple more hours. Thanks for reading! I'll try to be more interesting in my posts, I promise!
We took our first S-Bahn and U-Bahn (the metro system) rides. It's really interesting riding the trains here, because you aren't ticketed to get in. Picture a station in New York or DC, just without any machines to swipe in. They have Polezei officers on the Bahns to randomly control (check and make sure you have a ticket), and if you don't, you get charged €60. The whole train system is wonderful and so clean, unlike many others I've used these past few years. (Additionally, each metro stop - instead of smelling like grime, smells like amazing freshly baked pastries and bread - mmmm).
We went back to IES for a while to meet some new students who'd arrived, and chatted until our host parents came. Ursuline is the name of my host mom - she is a wonderful and well-traveled lady with a gorgeous apartment in the Mitte (city center). It's so homey here and my bedroom is wonderful and large. There is also another IES student living in the apartment. Apparently our bedrooms have a view of Angela Merkel's office! But as it gets dark at 4pm and it's now almost 4am, I've yet to see the view in daylight.
I know it's quite uncharacteristic - and I'm pressuring myself because of the Blocker project - but I haven't taken any photos yet, so I've inserted a couple google images to make this post more exciting. I've frankly just been too tired to take any yet. For those of you who don't know, the Blocker project is the large photo project I will be working on over the next 5 months. I will be creating a series of photo essays based on different aspects of German/Berlin culture, reflections on points in history, or different themes in society. This is for the Blocker Fellowship, through which a handful of us were blessed with the opportunity of receiving through a generous HWS alumni to allow us to study in Germany! I presume there will be many references to the project to come, as it will make up a great deal of my experiences here, so there is a little background on that. One of the photo essays will also be a daily photo journal - or a 365 (366 this year), which I have already started and will be on my flickr soon.
I'm off to try to sleep for a couple more hours. Thanks for reading! I'll try to be more interesting in my posts, I promise!
My Journey to Germany
Well, my trip to Berlin went flawlessly! AirBerlin (if you ever fly to Germany) was wonderful so here's a plug for them. We got dinner after we got on the plane - I didn't even need to remind them I needed a gluten free meal, woo! - and wine came with dinner (to help us sleep?). The flight attendants would speak German to you until you gave them a blank stare and then they'd switch to English, but luckily since I know my food/ordering I was able to speak German them the whole time. A little nerve-wracking but a good way to adjust quickly!
After dinner we got a little package with a toothbrush, toothpaste, warm socks and an eye mask so I made good use of that and tried to sleep. That didn't work out too well, so my seat partner and I spent a few hours talking instead. Turns out, she is a native Berliner who was interning in NYC for the semester, so she took great delight in telling me about everything I must see and do in Europe and Germany, things to look out for, and was generally a delightful conversation partner to prepare me for my arrival! She was so helpful she even went through customs with me, waited for me at baggage claim so we could struggle our way out of the airport together, and then gave me her information so that she and her boyfriend can meet up with me if I want. This was the perfect greeting to Germany, and one that I never would've expected after learning about German culture in class.
When I walked outside of the airport it was 7:30am and pitch black outside - that's one thing that'll take time adjusting to; the sun rises at around 8am and sets at 4pm. I took a taxi to school because of the amount of luggage I had (uncharacteristically unadventurous of me), and it was a swift Mercedes ride to school! The cab driver - of course - only spoke German and thought I did too, so that was fun.
I got to IES (my school) at 8am - 2 hours early. There was a random (I use that word appropriately here, as he is not from IES and I still don't know where he came from) man standing outside of the building, who then asked me something in German, to which I replied auf Deutsch ".....IES? I don't speak much German, I'm sorry". He registered this and then proceded to tell me, in German of course, "Well you are speaking really well. Come with me." Confused, I followed his hand motions and German phrases into an elevator and I ended up (thankfully, I suppose) on the IES floor. I was (of course) the first student there, but they started trickling in after a short time (I use that phrase loosely because I still don't know what time it is. It's 3:20am here now, actually, but jet lag is the best).
After dinner we got a little package with a toothbrush, toothpaste, warm socks and an eye mask so I made good use of that and tried to sleep. That didn't work out too well, so my seat partner and I spent a few hours talking instead. Turns out, she is a native Berliner who was interning in NYC for the semester, so she took great delight in telling me about everything I must see and do in Europe and Germany, things to look out for, and was generally a delightful conversation partner to prepare me for my arrival! She was so helpful she even went through customs with me, waited for me at baggage claim so we could struggle our way out of the airport together, and then gave me her information so that she and her boyfriend can meet up with me if I want. This was the perfect greeting to Germany, and one that I never would've expected after learning about German culture in class.
When I walked outside of the airport it was 7:30am and pitch black outside - that's one thing that'll take time adjusting to; the sun rises at around 8am and sets at 4pm. I took a taxi to school because of the amount of luggage I had (uncharacteristically unadventurous of me), and it was a swift Mercedes ride to school! The cab driver - of course - only spoke German and thought I did too, so that was fun.
I got to IES (my school) at 8am - 2 hours early. There was a random (I use that word appropriately here, as he is not from IES and I still don't know where he came from) man standing outside of the building, who then asked me something in German, to which I replied auf Deutsch ".....IES? I don't speak much German, I'm sorry". He registered this and then proceded to tell me, in German of course, "Well you are speaking really well. Come with me." Confused, I followed his hand motions and German phrases into an elevator and I ended up (thankfully, I suppose) on the IES floor. I was (of course) the first student there, but they started trickling in after a short time (I use that phrase loosely because I still don't know what time it is. It's 3:20am here now, actually, but jet lag is the best).
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