Life in Berlin

So I've finally settled in here, and gotten into somewhat of a routine. I still have so much time, hence why I'm able to inform all of you about my perception of Berlin and about my life here thus far :)

1) Learning a new language
For the first time in my life, I don't understand everything that everyone is saying. It's a constant question and answer game (ie wait what does that word mean or what are you actually trying to say) or sometimes I don't even ask, as long as I have the general meaning. I speak German with the international students a lot (maybe 2/3 of the time). It switches to English when we start to party or if we are having a deeper conversation. And I think that's ok. There is only a certain point that I can communicate everything I'm thinking or want to say. The weird part is that for the other international students, even speaking in English is helping them. I have some friends that say they came here to learn German and English. Whelp not me. Often times, I'm the dictionary. They'll look to me and ask which way it is supposed to be said. The hardest is when I hang out with two Germans together, and I'm the only international. They talk REALLY fast. And I don't butt in to say I don't understand, because then I ruin the flow of the conversation. So often times, I find myself sitting there and just listening. That's all I'm able to do. And for those of you that know me, I'm not used to it :) But I am learning. I am confident in saying that my German is better now than the first day I got here. I can have a conversation with any German person. My vocabulary is getting better. I am more confident, and people don't always answer back in English :) I still have hopes that by the time I leave, my German will be excellent. No where near fluent, but able to understand almost everything.

2) German universities
VERY different than American ones. Each course is only one day a week. I'm taking four courses. Two are two hours, and two are four hours. That totals 12 hours of class a week. When I'm at home, my labs alone would be that much time. So it's a new experience. Not to mention I'm taking classes called Music and Revolution in the 1900s and Cultural Orientation in Berlin. Nothing like chemistry :) But that's why I'm here! Also I have a presentation in every one of my classes. One has to be 40 minutes long. In German. In front of other Germans. Yep, I'm scared.

3) Living in an actual city
This is a great experience for me! Public transportation, clubs everywhere, shopping centers, homeless people... everything part of a big city that I'm living in. There are festivals, concerts, shopping centers. Anything and everything you can imagine, all within an arms grasp. Berlin is especially special because it also has a lot of parks. I never feel like I'm missing the green (although I do miss the blue ocean!)I don't think I would want to live in a big city my entire life, but for one year, I love it.

4) my day to day life
12 hours of univeristy, 2 hours of kickboxing, 1 hour of yoga, a lot of sleeping, and a lot of dancing!! Seriously though, my life is very free. I do what I want, when I want usually. I have very little class. I've been getting more and more hw (this week I have a big presentation on Friday and some tests that I have to do well on. I still feel pressure to do well on tests, considering the fact that medical schools will see my grades here. But it's difficult, a different language adds a whole new factor.

Here are some pictures around Berlin that I've taken. Should hold you over until next post :)

A beautiful fall shot done by my good friend Augustine:


Another fall shot. It's a new experience having real seasons. Especially considering that it is literally freezing at night.


Went exploring a bit outside the city center:


Classic Berlin graffiti inside an abandoned building. There are so many abandoned buildings here, especially in East Berlin. They are oftentimes turned into clubs, or just left. I think this was an old train station.


Festival of lights. Berlin lights up famous buildings in magical colors. Here is the Berliner Dom as well as the Fernsehenturm:

Where the Haggis am I (thanks for the title Sis!); my time in Scotland

Hiiiii everyone!!! Update!!!! My first week and almost my second week is over, and I have SO MUCH FREE TIME. Like this morning I didn't get out of bed until 2 pm because I was reading a book for 3 hours. I'm trying to decide if I should enjoy this free time or go find some more stuff to do (like I usually do). I've had suggestions like working for a soup kitchen and have been seriously considering the idea. But a blog post about school to come; first, Scotland!!!

I had a week off in between my language course and actual Uni so I headed to Scotland to see my beautiful and wonderful sister in the land of weird looking cows, Haggis, and the Loch Ness monster!!!

I took a plane from Berlin to Edinburgh and then a bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Edinburgh, for the 10 minutes I was there, was beautiful! Castles on hills, hills, castles on hills.... but seriously it was cool. But alas, I had to leave to see Whitney in Glasgow. Hoping for the same time of magical atmosphere, I hopped on a bus and before I knew it, set foot into Glasgow's bus station. Whitney soon found me to my wonderful delight!

We headed straight for Chipotle like Mexican food (which we all know is not proper Mexican food). Despite the lack of lard in the beans and the cilantro in the rice, it was nice to have a tortilla filled with pieces of meet in my mouth. Then Whitney suggested we "hire a car" to get us to her place because it involved walking up a hill. Ummm ok. Why not. It was cheap, only 5 pounds.

So let me mention here the lack of public transportation in Glasgow to me is comical coming from Berlin: I have a tram that drops me 5 minutes from my house, and yet Whitney has to walk a half hour everyday to get to school. And the subway is the cutest subway I have ever seen. There is one subway. It makes a ring around the city. That's it. Well at least it has the cute factor!

Whitney is basically reliving her freshmen year. It's very different from what I'm doing. I live in an apartment with Germans, trying to learn a language, therefore making classes somewhat of a new experience. My university is not a campus, but sprawled throughout the middle of Berlin, literally a 5 minute walk from the capitol building.

For Whitney, her classes seem to be cake. Her campus is in a city but is for the most part a campus. She had a week called Fresher's week, for all of the new students. Also the party culture there is very different from Berlin. They drink A LOT. And the dress up in little short dresses and don't wear jackets when they go out. In Berlin, everyone just wears big jackets and coat checks it.

But anywayssss, got there and went shopping for food and drinks. Came back with pizza and apple cider (not Bulmer's sadly :( Whitney and her friends drink something called Brother's). We ate, got dressed for a night out that apparently happens every week with her flat. I opted for a pair of black jeans and a nice top. Whitney said I would be slightly underdressed but not big deal. Got to the club and everyone was in short dresses... without jackets!! And here I was with my big peacoat. But alas, it was a fun night!



The next day we woke up and Whitney showed me around Glasgow. Glasgow is kinda dreary honestly. It rains there a lot. But her school is beautiful. I couldn't help but sing the theme song to Harry Potter over and over in my head. The cool part about Scotland is all of the museums are free so we headed into one in her University. A lot of medical stuff in it, including this fetus. Then headed to another museum where I found a puzzle to work on. Whitney was skeptical but I finished all of it! So ha sis :) That half hour of waiting was worth it.








The last thing to see in Glasgow was the cathedral. I can't remember why it was so special, but it was beautiful!



Oh yeah and there's something about putting cones on statues in Glasgow. Whenever the cone disappears, it always reappears at some point....



The next day we headed to the Highlands. Whitney booked a last minute bus tour all the way up the most Northern city and then back down. After 360 miles of travel and a 12 hour tour, I felt like I got to know a bit of the beautiful Scotland landscape. I had no idea how many lakes there were, apparently formed from ice bergs. Highlights include: Loch Ness (we took a boat ride on the actual lake where Nessie lives! I was hoping for a sighting, but alas, she didn't make an appearance), Glen Coe, these three big mountains whose names I can't remember, but really all very, very beautiful.










That night we headed to a Caleigh, a classic Scottish dance. It's a mix between country and something else, meaning I had absolutely not idea what I was doing. I paired up with a guy in a kilt, thinking it would be a good idea; he could show me the ropes. Mistake. He hated that I was his partner because I couldn't do anything right. Won't make that mistake again. Great night, made it home in time for Whitney to take her first midterm!



The next day we headed back to Edinburgh for a day. We met some people in our hostel (Whitney's first hostel experience! I hope she liked it) and headed out for some expensive drinks with them. (Another note: Scotland is expensive. Everything costs way too much money!!!) But we made some new friends and even managed to dance a bit.



The next morning we woke up early (for me, early is before 10 nowadays) and headed out for breakfast with one of our new friends. I had haggis for the first and last time! It was.... ok. Would definitely not order it again. We then headed out for a day in Edinburgh. We saw so much including the outside of the castle, hike around Arthur's seat, and a few museums in between. I loved Edinburgh, and would definitely visit again.







The trip was a success. It was great to spend a few days with my sis in her stomping ground for the next few months.

And lastly a departing video from hour hike:

Kreuzberg and Olivier's Visit

Update: Just finished visiting Whitney in Scotland for 5 days, and tomorrow I start classes with the Uni (in German, so literally freaking out). Before that, I finished my language course, my friend Olivier from France visited me for about a week, and I took a tour with my class around Kreuzberg. Here's the story and pictures:

The tour around Kreuzberg was quite an interesting look into one of Berlin's most alternative neighborhoods. My teacher lives there and was able to give a look into the architecture as well as the history of the neighborhood. Kreuzberg, although in West Berlin, was on the border of East Berlin. Therefore housing was cheaper than the rest of Berlin, and a lot of immigrants moved there. Students also moved there because the housing was so cheap.

In the 1970's, the government wanted to modernize the buildings with unique architecture. As a result, in comparison to the rest of Berlin, there is a unique mixture of very old buildings next to modernized buildings from the 1980s. A factory complex is still standing that I found fascinating as well. Kreuzberg is quite the interesting place and I definitely need to explore it a bit more before I leave.

Picture of a "modernized builiding":


The front of a factory complex (this isn't modern, but an older building from the early 1900s). People lived here and worked in the factories behind the building:



The factories (Fabrik auf Deutsch):


A church on the edge of Kreuzberg. This church was located in East Berlin. As a result, another more modern church was created in West Berlin. As a result, there are two churches with the same name super close to each other:



Olivier, as I mentioned above, also came to visit. It was nice having a familiar face from Ireland and we also explored the city together a bit. I got to see some things I hadn't seen yet, which was great!!!

Things I got to see: the memorial for the Jewish people killed in WWII. It is so unique, and the more I see it, the more I like it and appreciate it. Here's a picture of it underneath the sunset (Note: this picture doesn't do it justice.)



We also headed to a memorial for the Berlin wall. It is a short tram ride away from my apartment. Bernauer StraBe was known as a spot where the East Germans could escape to West Germany because an apartment complex in East Germany was literally part of a wall. As a result, residents living in technically East Germany had their front doors open up into West Berlin. At first, they didn't feel a need to escape and thought the wall was temporary. After a month or so, they began to realize it was not temporary and made plans to move into West Berlin. However, the DDR also realized this and first boarded up the front doors. Then people began to jump from the windows into West Berlin. The DDR then bricked up the windows and forced the residents to move. Tunnels were made from East into West as well. This memorial explained it all (if I did a shotty job, sorry!!) and was very impressive.

From the West, looking into East Berlin. This is what it would've looked like:


Part of the wall with the sticks representing the wall as well:



Oh yeah. And I had my first experience with Berlin from a nice day to torrential downpour!! Literally 5 minutes later from the previous picture:



The Blue Man Group was also playing while he was here and I was able to get free tickets thanks to my class! It was a great visual and musical show, with laughter mixed throughout. A picture of me and Annalouse with the Blue Man (yes, he's a person!!!):



We also walked around the city a bit. The weather is getting colder as you can see me all bundled up in my jacket and scarf!!!



The last thing we did that I hadn't done yet was going up the Fernsehen Turm. It gives an amazing view of the city.



Of course, we also went out dancing one night. What would Berlin be without that :)



It was really great to see him and I can't wait to go visit him in France...



next post: Scotland with Whitney!!!

Oktoberfest 2011

This time in Germany I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to travel to Munich to go to Oktoberfest. Phil, my good friend here, organized everything for us. The ride to Munich, the ride back all within the same day! It proved to be a very long day, but definitely something to see before I left Germany. Oktoberfest is the biggest folk festival in the world, and as most of you know, a festival filled with beer, pretzels, and a good time!!!



My first realization that I was going to Oktoberfest was the Ubahn to the festival. Imagine a subway packed with people all wearing lederhosen or dirndels (classic German garb). Getting off the subway at the Ubahn stop was also something else. The entire boarding platform was packed with people.



It was unreal. The atmosphere was unparalleled to anywhere I've ever been before. It looked to me like the LA county fair except with German food, German clothes, and A LOT more beer. The most unbelievable thing was the beer tents. Literally at noon packed with people singing, drinking, and having a merry time.



Phil and I walked around most of the Wiesenplatz (festival area). Unable to find anywhere to sit in the tents, we continued our search to the beer gardens. Finally we were able to find a spot to sit in the back corner of the Lowenbrau Biergarten. We met a nice German couple and I was forced to practice my German a bit more. We ate half a chicken and a HUGE chicken while of course drinking a maB of beer. A maB is a liter; it's a lot. I had to use 2 hands to bring it up to my mouth. After talking with the couple and the family next to us, they left and some Italians joined us. The Italians didn't speak much English at all, so Phil and I sat there and drank one more maB of beer. By this time, as you can imagine, I was feeling the 2 liters of beer, so we decided to get up and go explore the rest of Oktoberfest.

It was great fun! Taking pictures, observing the people, the atmosphere was so jolly. Everyone was pleased to be there and it showed. The weather was amazing, hotter than Santa Barbara.





We took tons of pictures and then around 6 decided to head back for another maB. Soo much beer! This time we met up with some younger Germans (the older crowd and families were beginning to head home). Another great time and such a lively atmosphere. A great memory, and once in a lifetime experience!!!!

Nightlife facts (and others)

1) Don't ask the guy at the Doener stop for cheap drinks. (Oh yeah!!! Doeners are the best Turkish/fast food ever, and they are sooo popular in Berlin. I've had two this week already.) If you're a girl, he automatically assumes you want a Smirnoff ice. WRONG. I wanted a beer. But 4 Smirnoffs ices for 10 euros.... eh why not?



2) International parties happen every weekend. They are loads of fun with accents all over the world. And dancing always follows (until at the earliest, 6 am). Last night I danced so much that my arms were soar the next morning. What?????





3) Random things happen in Berlin a lot. Random demonstrations, random people trying to entertain you, random marathons on rollerblades. Yeah I saw a rollerblade marathon after I got a sandwich at a local cafe.




4) Parks in Berlin are AMAZING. It's easy to escape the busy streets and sit watching the sunset fall over some random small lake in the middle of the city.



5)Lighting things on fire must be a thing... cocktails, shots of something in people's mouths <-- didn't do that, but some crazy Italian/French/Russian people I met did!! Twice!!




6) People think going home at 2 am is not going out. Where I come from, if you make it to 2 am you went out.

My friends, looking at me through the subway, off to the club:



7) My class at the Sprachzentrum for HU is AWESOME. They come from all over the world, make dinner together, cool beers off in the sink (totally not going to work), and then sing at the top of their lungs!!! Followed by some awesome dancing.




8) I wish I had scaffolding outside my house. My friend Elizabeth has scaffolding outside her house because they are doing construction. This makes for an awesome time sitting, watching the sunset, and dangling my feet 100s of feet above the ground. I feel like these guys in that famous New York picture:
http://www.microsiervos.com/images/Lunch-atop-a-Skyscraper.jpg








9) Frisbee next to the Berliner Dome where the old DDR Government building used to be would only happen in a city like Berlin. I don't have a picture, but next time I'm there I'll take a picture of my epic frisbee playing spot. Seriously unreal.



So this blog was a little bit different because I haven't been keeping it up to date. But honestly I've been doing a lot of German speaking (and also English :( ), German class every morning, and then hanging out with people at night with some homework in between. I've met people from all over the world and have been making plans to travel to see them already when some of them leave after six months here. I look forward to the weekends because I can sleep past 7 am. This last week I had a test and presentation, so a few days I stayed in and watched a movie in my huge room.

This next week I want to have some people to my place for dinner and play some frisbee/soccer!!! Time to work off all of this beer drinking...