Warschauer Straße

I miss this. 

Click on the photo for the full panoramic view. It's my favorite of Berlin so far. 

I Just Wanna Be OK, Be OK

It's difficult to think that I've already been in Austin for almost two weeks. It feels like forever and so recent, all at the same time. I have been attempting to keep myself busy and it's easy to find things to do and friends to catch up with, but Germany is always somewhere in the back of my mind.

I miss German beer. German Bread. Pepino's salad dressing. Okay, everything that Pepino makes. My host family. Going into the city and just walking. Public transportation. World Cup public viewings. Legally buying alcohol. Speaking German. Hearing German. CBYXers. Hanging out by the river. Open public parks without curfew. Drinking in the park. An amazing view after a hike. My other host family. The Kaiserstuhl. Ice cream parlors. Freiburg. My host mom's cooking. My Bonn host dad's cooking. Beavis and Butthead with my host dad. Saying "eh?". Bahlingen. German TV. German summer. Berlin. Lemon ice cream. Independence. 

To top it all off, everything seems to have come all at once. I simply can't juggle a million problems; one is enough, thank you very much. 

And to think I thought I would be smarter after the fourth time... Being home would be exponentially better if you were here to enjoy it with me. I miss you terribly, but I can't play these games anymore. I'm going to "put you in the parking lot" until maybe one of these days, you realize what you want. Better hurry up and figure out what it is because one day, I won't be here. I am so exhausted.

Summer 78

I'm filling out applications to colleges where I can go while I'm working and applying to German universities. University of Texas at Dallas may be an option... I have to stick it out for a year. I'm going to make it in a year. My mom doesn't think I can do it. Reiß dich zusammen and let's do this.


Yann Tiersen is currently hogging my iTunes. What's really on my mind? Berlin summer days and nights, friends, skirts, a cold beer and a picnic in Victoria Park, cafes, the city, walks... and Berlin at night. Oh, what I wouldn't do to go back and see Berlin. I am so in love with that city. Hackescher Markt (upper right, click either picture to see it bigger) became a favorite haunt of mine last time I was in Berlin for about five days from June 6-12 (the first couple days were spent on a made-to-order kind of internship in the Bundestag and the group came on Wednesday afternoon). From the photo it's difficult to see why I like it, but you just have to go. The Hackescher Markt train station (bottom center) is my favorite out of all the stations. My next excursion as soon as I get to Berlin will be to the Hackesche Höfe Kino, an independent movie theater that reminded me of the Regal Arbor Cinema in Austin in terms of independent films, but with a much better atmosphere. The place looked so chic!

Then again, what's new? 

It's Berlin. 

Ihr seid "geupdated"...

I know, I've been MIA for the past couple months. Life got very busy very fast. An update on what I've been up to when I obviously haven't been blogging...

I went to Paris! And it was every bit as amazing as I had hoped and known it would be. We did everything possible in one weekend (actually more like we got there 8:00am Saturday and started the grueling eight hour bus ride back 3:00pm Sunday). Happily not so grueling with an Austria friend by your side, a baguette and chips "poulet rôti". Good times French gas stations. The Paris crash course was beautiful and exhausting at the same time. But definitely more me flipping out that this was me... in... Paris. My body was definitely showing signs of exhaustion -- my pictures all look like I had just gotten hit with a garbage truck. I met some Austrian people from ERASMUS, we had a good time and they even attempted to speak Hochdeutsch for my benefit. The Austrian dialect is insane, and I can't even begin to understand how they pronounce those sounds. All my pictures are on Facebook (so if you're not on Facebook and want to see pictures for one reason or another, just ask). The first day, we got to Paris early in the morning, attempted to get breakfast (but 99% of the cafes were still closed, so ended up getting coffee instead), got a bus tour from our bus driver, stepped out for 15 minutes for the Eiffel Tower, got repeatedly harassed by the Eiffel Tower street vendors (as well as when we went for the second and third time), got back in, more bus tour, got to the hostel and set out on our adventure an hour later. We owned Paris. We covered that city so well it didn't even know what to do with us anymore. So much intense walking, sightseeing, taking in Paris with all my senses. We got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle (with two drunk German girls next to us) from the balcony, had wonderful schoko banane crêpes (you guessed it, I translated and ordered the whole way through and loved it), rode the carousel like little kids, walked down by the Seine... it was a dream. The next day we planned to wake up relatively early and go to Père Lachaise. We woke up early, walked to the cemetery which ended up being basically just down the street from the hostel, searched for Edith Piaf and co. like our lives depended on it .... didn't find anyone. It was frustrating and we felt like idiots because we couldn't even find one single grave. Granted, we found Honoré de Balzac, but our luck stopped there. After deciding to give up, we used one of our last métro tickets and did some last minute sightseeing, like walking up to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, where we got a real workout and the view was breathtaking. That Sunday afternoon, we foraged Paris for someplace to eat and finally found a Chinese place open, where I also ordered for the both of us. A couple last minute stops at the bakery for a baguette for the way home that was the most delicious thing I have tasted in my entire life and at the small shop across the street for a couple blood oranges (thanks to Niki for the addiction), and we were back on the bus by 3:00 to go back to Freiburg. 

Several weeks later, I went to Arburg in the Black Forest to a plastics show with my host parents, and it was fun getting educated in the world of plastics. Unfortunately no one had a camera, but the tiniest plastic parts you never even think about are made in those factories. That same day was Alex's birthday party at his new (and normal) host family's house, where we had dinner and dessert. His host mom was adorable -- she made "real American cheesecake", and I have to say that she did a pretty good job. We went clubbing at Agar and apparently neither Jake, Alex or I were tired because we grabbed a couple beers and went for an early morning walk around his town in the Black Forest. This then led to a YouTube watching party with Shoes ("let's get some shoes") and other recently acclaimed videos. The next day, we hiked up to the church at the top of this hill in Alex's town. The Black Forest and the mountains were incredible, and we could see Freiburg nestled in a valley in the distance. Alex did get me stuck in the "swamps of Buchenbach", but I forgive him, haha. 

That afternoon we gave Jake, who lives close to Lahr,  a complete tour of Freiburg and got ice cream but decided against more hiking because of my poor flats. Needless to say, I came home with dirty feet, so my host mom got the explanation about how Alex thought it would be a good idea to go hiking. ;) 

A few weeks after that... Kelsey came with her Lidl ticket! That was fun, even though it was cold and rainy in Freiburg. Mason, Jake, Kelsey, Alex and I met in Freiburg just as Kelsey was finishing her Black Forest cake and coffee, and went to see Alex's host brother's band that was playing near the Schwaben Tor. We went wandering for a bit in Freiburg and gave Kelsey a short tour of the city. We got döners at the second best place in the city and eventually moved on for coffee and wine at Aspekt, a student café near the university. Kelsey and Jake still had to make it back to Lahr with the regional train, so they left in the late afternoon. 

I also started a full-time internship at the Carl-Schurz-Haus, where I was doing the kid's English academies during school breaks, but now I'm working with other interns and helping with the program by making posters and flyers in InDesign, answering the phone, hanging posters around the university and fighting with "Koni", our difficult printer. We have good times, but she can be so headstrong and often has "Papier laufstörungen". It's not my dream job, but it's a start and at least Megan and I keep each other company. My area rep also works there, so if I ever need a recommendation... I know who to ask. In addition to the internship, I'm doing some small things at the Goethe-Institut and tutoring a twelve year old boy once week for an hour in English, mostly in pronunciation.


That's basically everything major that has been going on. I'm applying to schools here as fast as I can. The most convenient would be Regent's College in London, since it turns out, like I mentioned in my last post, that a university I got accepted to in Fall 2008 happens to be connected with the American school at Regent's. If only my area representative would call me back.... stay tuned.

You'll Never Know What It's Been Like For Me

Know the worst part about leaving? I feel as if I've been living here my entire life. I can't say that it took a lot for me to adjust here. I really just eased into a new life that was created for me. I'm not done with Europe. Time is running through my fingers, and that goes for applying to schools here as well. American universities are too expensive. An international one would be nice, but I'll take almost anything I can get. Regent's College in London would probably be the most convenient, considering it's linked with Webster University, which was actually primarily a safety school my senior year of high school when I first applied.

I need this
Old train to breakdown
I wanna break on down
But I can't stop now. 


Sorry, folks, that was mandatory. Next post will be back to normal and an update on what I've been doing when I haven't been blogging. 

Alaaf!

click on the photos to enlarge them!

My Karneval experience was a blur of revisiting Bonn and my old host family, Kölsch, parades and spending time with people I hadn't seen since Berlin. Karneval really can't be explained, you just have to see it for yourself. All I can say is that it was absolutely the most insane weekend party I have ever been to, not to mention that this happens all over the country and beyond.
I arrived on Thursday night with Niki in tow, where (almost) my entire host family picked me up, and seeing them was hands down the best part of the trip. We went to visit my host mom in her pharmacy where she was working through the night since at least some of the pharmacies needed to be open for Karneval weekend. The next few days were comprised of Karneval music and parades, spending time with friends and family, meeting the two new AIB exchange students staying at my old host house, and party, party, party. The small parade in Beuel, my part of the city, was on Saturday afternoon, so we dressed up and went to go watch it, where candy and other random objects were hurled at the masses. "Alaaf" is the official greeting for Karneval in the Rheinland, and it was basically the key to getting candy thrown at you. We ended up with (literally) laundry baskets full of candy and other things I would have never thought of, such as a can of Axe deodorant. Saturday night, Niki, her new found "host sister" currently living in her old host house, the friend of the host sister and I went to Cologne to get our authentic Karneval experience. Good times. Sunday morning was slow, as no one was awake after Cologne, and the rest of Sunday was spent just lazing around. We all ended up meeting at the cafe next to the Happy Hour döner place, having coffee and getting döner and falafel afterwards, along with a few surprise guests who had come into Bonn that weekend, i.e. Mason and Düsseldorf people.

Monday was Rosenmontag, also known as the big day for Karneval, and Hecko and I met in Bonn to catch the train to Cologne, where we had fuuuun times with the ticket controller. After convincing her that we were American exchange students and that we spoke absolutely no German except for "ich", "Deutsch" and "kein", she let us go when the other controller passed us off as stupid American exchange students. Next time we'll keep in mind to remember the name that's on the card!  But hey, life is an adventure, right? ;) If Cologne was crazy on Saturday night, then it had nothing on Rosenmontag. Hecko and I met several Spanish people and of course I had no idea what they were saying, but it was still a good time and we got to see the parade with all of the ridiculous floats (Angela Merkel and more than anyone wants to see of her was on a float. Google image "Angela Merkel Karneval" if you want to get an idea). Entire boxes of chocolate and candy came flying at us, and it's always a conquest to see who can catch it all. It was fun, but after a while it admittedly got freezing cold and it was already wet, so I decided to catch a train home with some people who wanted to go back to Bonn for food and beer, since I had to leave at midnight anyway. I had dinner with my host family, packed up my things (along with a bajillion kilos of candy and a messenger bag that I'm assuming with the Brandenburger Tor on the front, gifted to me by my host dad) and went to meet Lindsay at the Hauptbahnhof to pick up Niki's phone charger. Grace's old host dad was playing with some of his band at a pub and we had planned to go there to see him. We stayed a bit and I had my last Kölsch for a while. We drove back to the Hauptbahnhof where we sat in the McCafé, part of McDonald's European attempt to make the previously trashy looking McDoof into a classy bistro, until my train came at 12:14. On the way back, I somehow got stuck sitting with a guy who was hallucinating and still had no idea where he was going to get off, but was thinking that Heidelberg would be a good place for him. I'm not usually one to judge, but it was 2:00 in the morning and that was the point where it got a bit creepy for a while...
I'm so glad I had the time to make that trip since we'd been planning it since July. My only complaint would be that I wish it could have been longer. :) 

"Berlin ist arm, aber sexy."

"Berlin is poor, but sexy." Someone (I think it was Kelsey) mentioned this quote while we were in Berlin but according to Kelsey, it is now just sexy. It's safe to say that I fell in love with Berlin during the six or so days we spent there, and I'm looking into possibly going to Humboldt University of Berlin starting this fall. Where I am in Germany at the moment provides so many opportunities because I speak French, and being that we're about 15 minutes away from the French border and 45 minutes away from the Swiss, it's easy to see the influences these two countries have on Freiburg and the surrounding area. Following this trend, when you go to Berlin/East Germany, one can see the huge influence Eastern Europe and Russia have had and thus I wasn't expecting to feel so connected to Berlin as I did. Berlin is really like no other city, with everything packed into one: big city life pairs itself with an incredible amount of history. It seems like everywhere you look in Berlin, there is a monument or a story that goes with it. Everyone in our group agrees that it was an amazing trip and we can't wait to go back.

We did so many things so it's hard to sum it up in one entry, but I'll try.

Alex, Jake, Grace and I arrived by train in the Berlin Ostbahnhof at 1:30pm and Huggs, Ryan Kelly and some other people were there waiting for us. The atmosphere when we got to the hostel was amazing -- everyone was so excited to see the rest of the group again, and Huggs and I ran and screamed for Chris, my favorite gypsy. Soon after we got there, we had our introductory seminar with Ronnie our historian/tour guide, Hartwig, Cole, Jason from the States, and a few of the area reps who had come. We then had dinner all together downstairs in the hostel kitchen and got to catch up. I think it was the first night (Sunday night) that some of us went to Checkpoint Charlie and then we went out with some people and walked the Berlin Wall across the street from the Ost Bahnhof. It was so surreal to be walking where East German territory used to be, and and amazing way to spend my first night in Berlin.

In the following days we had a schedule: breakfast was from 8:00 to 8:45ish, the Powerpoint presentations with Ronnie (over German history) started at 9:00 in the seminar room, went for a couple hours and then we would have about fifteen minutes to go back to our rooms and get our things ready for an excursion. The funniest thing was the lunch packets... after breakfast, we would all make sandwiches for ourselves and get a plastic bag filled with food for the coming day (fruit, granola bar, etc). The catch to this was that some really strange items of food were also included, such as hard boiled eggs or a fourth of a cucumber. Obviously this started jokes like "I am looking for the egg in my sac!", and a Borat accent was mandatory with that, which Chris and I took care of. The Powerpoints taught us a lot, like when and where exactly anti-Judaism/Semitism started, how the Nazi regime was run, and the history of the wall. Ronnie was our personal Jewish Brit who is famous for creating monuments in Berlin (http://rgolz.de) and he gave us a lot of background history to have us understand why exactly everything happened how it did. Our excursions included a tour of the former Stasi prison (where Bree got these amazing prison keys from our tour guide), a visit to the Jewish Memorial and Museum, a short walk around the Olympics Stadium where the Nazis held the Olympic Games, a visit to Checkpoint Charlie where we went on our own so we could see things at our own pace, a bus tour where we got to see many important sites to give us an overview of Berlin, a tour of the Reichstag and the dome and several others. We got to the dome just as the sun was setting, making it an amazing view of Berlin. That week we also had our short interviews which were basically designed to check up on each of us and see how we were doing. Hartwig gave me some great leads for me to research on staying here and going to university.

It sounds like a packed week (which it was), but it wasn't all work and no play. We managed to get out and do quite a bit on our own, and once we got a hang of the many transportation systems available, it was easy to get around. My little Freiburg mind was overwhelmed by the number of systems of transportaton: regional train, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus... the list just went on and on. Our other activities included cooking in our floor's living room/kitchen, six pack beer swap, shaving T-Mac's beard and cutting his hair, making a snowman in front of the Olympics Stadium (the video will be up as soon as Mr. President uploads it), clubbing, going to KaDeWe, walking around the city, getting food from the Italian Schnell Imbiss next door, looking for a "fucking cat" for Christoph's (Chris' area rep) mom, getting Döner and I also got to see Olivia two nights in a row! All of that made for the best several days I've had in a while. The first night (Wednesday) I hung out with Olivia, we basically just stayed at the hostel, had a bit of Kelsey's orgasmic pasta sauce and spaghetti and got some pizza from the people next door. The next night (Thursday), we got out and went to walk the wall for a bit and then took the U-Bahn to Ku'udam, a famous shopping district and also a very pretty street. After walking around, we went on the search for "Kaffee und Kuchen" and after coming to the disappointing realization that for some reason nothing was open in that part of Berlin, we came upon a Kamps Bäckerei and Nathalie and Olivia Krrrropf finally had their Kaffee und Kuchen together.

That's basically our trip in a very minuscule nutshell. We left on Friday at around 2:30 in the afternoon and arrived back in Freiburg at around 9:00 that night.