Auf Wiedersehen Berlin

I'm all packed up and ready to get on with my last week in Europe. I've had some troubles today with my train tickets, but hopefully everything will work out. Today was kind of sad with saying good-bye to everyone and all. Even though I've made some pretty good friends here, most likely I'll never see these people again. Sad thought. But you never know. I finally got around to taking a picture of Jutta and Juergen. They've been so nice and helpful. I'm going to miss them, too. In the morning I'm off to Munich. I don't know if I'll have much internet access this coming week, so I might just have to update you all when I get home. I'm so tired. I need to sleep. Bis spaeter.

The Final Countdown...

(Church in Hamburg)

...like the song. Get it?

It's 6:30am and I'm wide awake. Not really sure why, but I am. Today is the last day I really have anything to do. I have my Abschlusspreufueng (final test) and a short creative group project to present in German and that pretty wraps up the program. Friday I have class in the morning but nothing to do to prepare for it and a closing ceremony type thing for FUBiS in the afternoon. Trying to figure out what we students are going to do together with our last two nights. It's kinda sad. As of yesterday Kevin and I finally have accomdations in all of our destinations. I'm still waiting for my Eurail pass to arrive. It's making me nervous. I guess I'll go for a run since I'm up. I am sooooo out of shape right now. I'm looking forward to getting home and getting back at it. I've enjoyed being here but it's the little things about home that I miss. Zum Beispiel (for example), I miss pre-packaged food such as cheese sticks and the like, side dishes other than potatoes, driving my car, going to the grocery store at midnight or later, spicy food, being able to smile at people without them thinking you're crazy, etc. Anyways, I'll be home soon enough. Take care.

The Last Weekend

My last weekend in Berlin has passed by and I feel it was a good one. I hung out with friends all weekend and made some good memories. Friday night we attempted to go to a club called Watergate but were derailed by delicious doeners and the large group of other students there. Instead we ended up going to the bar in the basement of the dorms. Saturday we went souviner shopping and picked up some good items before dining at a good Chinese restaurant. That night we once again attempted to make it to Watergate, but left too late to make the journey worth it and went to a closer bar instead. Sunday we went to the beach at Wannsee had enjoyed the nice weather and the waterslide. Tonight, Juergen made the most delicious dinner yet. All in all, a very good weekend. It's crazy to think that in only a couple of days I will probably never see these people again, both the Schenkels or the other students. I'll have lived with the Schenkels for a month and a half and then one day I won't see them anymore. For the students, I can still keep in-touch with them through Facebook and various miracles of modern technology, but as time goes on and we no longer share common experiences those relationships will likely fad, which is sad because I've met some people here that I really enjoy. (I've also met some people here that I won't mind never seeing again, but let's focus on the good ones, the majority.) It's strange to think about. Almost like graduating high school all over again. Everyone is going different directions. This last week will be busy with school and final excursions into the city, so our departure will probably sneak up on us. Then, on to the next and final stage of Eur0-Summer 2009, my trip with Kevin. I think, hope, that everything is pretty well set up, but we'll see. It will be a fun week, but I'm sure I will be ready to come home when it's all over. Slightly over months after it all started...

Exactly a week left in Berlin...

I know I've said this before, but I still can't believe it. Time is flying. Week 5 was a good one. In my EU class we visited the embassy of Moldova (in between Ukraine and Romania), which was actually really interesting. Why would a country like Moldova be interesting, you say? And the answer is, because it has so many problems/issues it is dealing with and/or needs to deal with. It's a former Soviet Republic that is one hundred percent dependent on Russia for energy and is caught inbetween the perceived "spheres of influence" of both Russia and the EU. Both pulling different directions and both demanding Moldova pick a side. Looks like the EU is winning right now. Also, it's the poorest country in Europe with it's major export being wine. There were huge protests after the recent elections were declared corrupt by outside observers, which lead to the deaths of several students and a cornucopia of other human rights violations. And did I mention there is a breakaway region in the east called Transnistria that still has a faction of the Red Army there that controls the territory? This area is a major entry point for smuggled goods. All in all, interesting place and not somewhere I'm dying to visit. Friday in class, we visited the Bundestag (kind of like the House of Representatives) and met with a lady from the Committee on European Affairs in the actual room they meet in. Really cool room, really interesting work she does. The committee doesn't produce much legislation, but is responsible for disseminating information about what's going on in Brussels in regards to the EU. So, therefore, what the other committees know and their preceptions of realities in terms of European affairs is largely dictated by this committee. Indirectly powerful. In German class for our excursion on Wednesday, we walked around Kreuzberg, a poorer district of Berlin, and met with a local political activist, I guess is what you'd call him, from the Green Party. Our discussion was entirely in German and I'm quite pleased with my level of comprehension. Yeah, me! I ate some delicious schawarma for lunch at a Lebanese place. What else... In preperation for the final stage of my European travels, I booked hostels for Paris and Brussels last night and figured out which trains I need to take. Kevin is responsible for the rest of the hostels. Hopefully he does it. Greece seems so long ago. I did spend quite a bit of time yesterday trying to decide what I was going to order and Los Dos Potrios when I got home. The Steak Los Dos Potrios sounded pretty good, but so does the Chile Relleno Plate. I just can't decide! Anyways, I'm off to walk around the city and do some souvenir shopping. I have haven't bought anything yet, so I feel I need to go find a t-shirt with some German on it. Have a great weekend everyone! Schoenes Wochenende!

Weimar and America's Birthday

Katherine (UNC Chapel Hill) and I at the park

Audrey (U Penn), Parker (UNC Chapel Hill), and Bruce (Vanderbilt) showing their American pride in Weimar
---

This past weekend I was in Weimar. It is a much much smaller town than either Berlin or Hamburg, so it was interesting to compare and contrast. Weimar isn't a small town either, though, I think it has around 65,000 inhabitants. It is known as being a cultural hotspot, historically, in Germany. It was the residence of such esteemed figures as Goethe and Schiller and the birthplace of the Bauhaus architectural style. It's also known for it's several large and beautiful parks and its many cafes and concert performances. Saturday we spent the day visiting all of these cultural sites and still had some time in the afternoon to relax in the park. We had a lot of fun goofing around. That night we went to the one true bar/club in Weimar and were practically the only people there. Supposedly the night before it was pretty full, but for whatever reason no one was there that night. Never the less, we had a really good time. On Sunday, we stopped by Buchenwald on our way back to Berlin. Buchenwald was a concentration during WWII and some, but not many, on the buildings remain today as a memorial. Like I said, it was a concentration camp, not an extermination camp like Auschwitz-Birkenau, so it didn't have gas chambers, but it did have ovens for the thousands that were worked or beaten to death. It was a very powerful place, even with only a few buildings standings, and I'm sure even much more so if more buildings had remained. I'm glad I went, but I don't think I need to go back or visit anyothers any time soon. All in all, I had a great weekend. The pictures above are of some of my friends in FUBiS. I've had several requests for these. Both of them were taken this weekend in Weimar. Enjoy!

As the week draws to a close...

Looking up at the Fernsehturm near Alexanderplatz

Brandenburger Tor

The roof of the Sony Center

Looking across the Holocaust memorial

Nothing really interesting happened today at school. We talked a bit about life in the former DDR, listened to some presentations, watched a clip from a famous movie both here and in the US called Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), and listened to some popular modern music by a guy named Peter Fox. The most interesting thing that happened today was that at lunch I tried Schnitzel im Brot (basically a doener but with schnitzel instead of doener meat, whatever that may be). Not bad, but I think I'll stick with the real deal. Tomorrow I have a presentation to give in my EU class, then it's off to Weimar for the weekend. I have to remember to pack tonight... Posted above are just a random selection of pictures from my time here. I wish I could take better pictures. Ones that actually gave a better sense of the object. Oh well. Bis Montag! (Until Monday!)

Mittwoch, Woche 4

Big Soviet Guy

Sony Center (in my opinion "Little America" would be a better name)

Looking down the memorial towards the Big Soviet Guy

(Wednesay, Week 6) This is another prime example of not appreciating what you have until it's gone. Berlin reached 29 degrees Celsius today (84 degrees Fahrenheit) with a ridiculous amount of humidity (the southern kids didn't think it was humid, but us western folk sure did). It was so hot and muggy. All I wanted to do today was sit at the bottom of a pool. I miss the cold. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so hopefully that will help to cool everything down. Yuck. Enough whining. Last night I went and saw the new Transformers movie at the Sony Center (in English). I actually really liked it. I fit the demographic they were targeting. A couple interesting things about movies in Germany: 1) You have assigned seating. No first come, first serve nonesense here. 2) If you want to sit in the middle of the theater you have to pay an extra euro. 3) If the movie is over two hours yoou have to pay an extra euro. 4) If the movie is over two hours there is an intermission in the middle, where they truly stop the movie in the middle of a scene, the screen goes black except for the word "pause," and the curtains close. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention, they actually have curtains that open and close like a real theater. Interesting... In other news, today was excursion day in German class. We started the by going on a long tour of a old East German prison. It used to house some of the most famous political prisoners back in the DDR days. You could definitely tell by the archicture of the surrounding area that you were firmly in the former East. Lots of big square apartment buildings. I'll stick with west Berlin. It was interesting to see the prison and read the signs. We had a tour guide but it was all in German and he spoke way too fast and usually much too quietly for me to understand any full sentences. So after awhile I stopped trying. Real nice guy, though. For whatever reason, I thought the "tiger cages" were really interesting. These were were certain prisoners were allowed to go 'outside' for exercise. They were built out of four concrete walls with a concrete flor and were maybe 20x20 feet with a chain-link fence over the top. The guards were able to walk around the top and look down at the prisoners. Being in there really did feel like being a tiger and know I understand why they are always pacing back and forth at the zone. I was only in there maybe seven minutes and I already had the urge to. The reason the prisoners were so happy to visit the tiger cages was that sometimes in the cracks between the walls and floor some little weed might start to grow and this was there only opportunity to see something green. There only opportunity to see the sky as well. After the tour we stopped by a mall to grab a quick lunch and I was able to satisfy my doener craving. I don't know if I've told you about doeners yet, but if I haven't, I will, because they're amazing. After that we went ant visited a huge Soviet Memorial for all the soldiers in the Red Army that died in WWII. Very big, very straight lines, very Soviet. After the monument, we all split up to go home, but some of us went over to an area called Rathaus Steglitz to get some ice cream. I guess it was actually gelato. It was nice to have something cold on such a sticky, muggy day. Then, I went home. Did a bit of homework, ate some dinner, and talked to Juergen about mountains in Colorado. He was very impressed that I had climbed a mountain over 4,200 meters. The highest point in Germany, the Zugspitze, doesn't even reach 3,000 meters. It took a while for us to convert feet to meters and get this all straightened out. Now I'm writing this instead of doing homework. The week is flying by. This weekend I'll be in Weimar for the whole weekend. We leave Friday afternoon, so hopefully no incidents like last time and I'll have some clean clothes to take with me. More soon!