February- Birthday and Valentines

As I posted in a previous post, February was... bad. February 3rd was Kylie's accident and I was in a black hole for about a week. Of course, this black hole week was also the week I had a 45 minute presentation in German in a German course, and a test for a class, both of with determined my entire grade. So not only was I in a black hole of depression, I was also in a black hole of seeing no point in studying when my best friend was fighting for her life. However, I managed without making a complete fool of myself... something looking back, I can't believe I managed that.

The day after the accident my dad told me to leave my apartment (it was a struggle... I could hardly go anywhere without crying) to go watch an opera I had bought tickets for. It was the "Komische Oper" or in English, the weird opera. And let me tell you, it was weird. Besides the fact that my brain was in another world, half of the opera was some naked man running around stage like a wild animal. Seriously weird. Part of our group left halfway through because they couldn't handle it. The Sunday after was the Superbowl. I watched at an American bar in Berlin. It had a feeling of home; everyone was speaking English and being American. The even were serving American beer! Considering the game was being played here at around midnight, I only made it to half time. But it was nice to get out of my apartment.

On my birthday, my apartment planned to have a going away party for Martin (he was heading off to Poland for an internship) joint with my birthday party. Thank goodness for good news about Ky, I was able to celebrate properly. To make it even better, Jeff (yes my brother!!) showed up. As I wrote earlier, hugging him that moment was what I needed. It felt so right; those moments that remind you how much your family really means to you! All of my wonderful friends here showed up and gave me plenty of chocolate and laughter, making it a birthday of good memories. The next day I was off to visit Phil and celebrate our birthdays together in Wolfsburg!

Wolfsburg is a small town about an hour from Berlin. It is completely built around the VW Factory. Phil said 9 out of 10 people in the city work for some part of the factory. And the factory itself is like its own city! It's got almost anything you could ask for. They also have an Autostadt. It is like the Disneyland of cars; there are showcase halls to show off all of the different brands of cars that they make including Porsch, Lamburgini, Audi, and of course the classic VW.

The first day I was there we didn't step foot into the factory. Instead, we got ready for our America themed birthday party that Phil had organized. He invited his good friends to his flat; surprisingly, most were girls! Oh Phil ;) They were all dressed up too with blue hair, face paint, the works! We drank sect, talked, ate, and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Very nice people.



The next day we went to a bigger city an hour from Wolfsburg called Hannover. It had been pretty cold lately, so a big lake had completely frozen over. This hadn't happened the last 3 years! I was lucky enough to enjoy it. We rented ice skates and skated 3 kilometers to one end of the lake and 3 kilometers back. By the end of it, I had gotten my work out.

The whole idea of the frozen lake was so cool! People were playing ice hockey, sliding on their stomachs, walking; a very new but exciting experience.





The next day, Phil worked half of the day and then we went to the Autostadt. I don't know much about cars, but Phil knows load especially about the VW cars. They were all so shiny and pretty, can't wait to have my own :) This was also the spot where people pick up their cars. They order them, and then fly to the VW factory and drive them home. There is a whole system set up for it. Everything was new for me. I had no idea there was something like that for cars. There was even a car elevator, a place to test your car on different types of pavements, a car on a wall, and a currywurst specific to VW. Each showcase hall also had a different theme. One was a light show another you could swing on a swing. Very cool :)

A really really nice car, but I'm not sure what type:


The actual Fabrik (factory):


My next car??


Me in front of the VW sign:




It was so wonderful seeing Phil and where he lives and where he works. It was a wonderful weekend, so thanks Phil!

The following Tuesday was Valentines Day! Continuing my tradition of not having a Valentine, we made dinner at Ethan's house. Joe, however, being the nice man that he is, got Liz, Caroline, and I flowers :) It was so thoughtful, and I've continued to buy myself flowers just because they look so nice in my room!!! (Oh yeah. I changed rooms! My new room is small and not decorated at all meaning I took complete freedom in putting up all of my decorations; it feels much more me than pink and Audrey Hepburn ;)

Joe in front of my newly decorated wall:


Flowers from Joe!:


In February, a really big film festival also occurred called the Berlinale. Stars were said to be walking the streets of Berlin; this includes Christian Bale and Robert Patterson! I didn't see any stars, but I did go see a swedish film (with english subtitles). I think it was called "The Crown Jewels" but I could be very wrong. It was an excellent film about life, love, happiness, and that sort of thing. Of course, it wasn't a happy ending and had some very weird twists on it. I enjoyed it though!

Me with the Berlinale bear:


The rest of February was finishing up school and papers and saying goodbye to good friends that were going back home after a semester abroad. It was sad to see them go, they really made Berlin such a wonderful city for me.

Our last night altogether in Berlin: