Berlin: ... So sehen Sieger aus ...

ACHTUNG: this is very very long. just wanted to warn you. get a cup of coffee or something. 

First of all, I want to say HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWÜNSCH to my dear friend Darin, who just found out he gets to be a teaching assistant in Dresden next year! I'm so so so happy for him. So Darin, let me tell you a bit about the day I spent in your future home. So Dresden, which is about 2 hours south of Berlin, is 

absolutely beautiful. The bus ride was pleasant and our first stop was at the oriental-style Palace Pillnitz- right outside of Dresden. [see picture left- jordan, me and valerie] The chateau was really gorgeous- japanese influenced architecture right on the bank of the Elbe river. Saxony ruler August the Strong even imprisoned his mistress there for 49 years! 49! (she was too influential, so all agreed she had to be taken out of the picture). They had beautiful gardens- even a "tree garden" with trees from all over the world! (even conifers from the pac nw!) After leaving Pillnitz, and driving with our HUGE bus through the narrow streets of the villages around Dresden, we finally made it into the city.

After a tasty lunch in the Neustadt (or the new part of the city), we all took a tour of the 

Altstadt (old section). Our tour guide was really interesting and informative-

 I even spent some time talking with her about our favorite

 operas and painters. We started our tour at the Semperoper (the 

opera house: see left), which had a pretty rocky past. Dresden, as most of you know, was pretty much destroyed during the allied bombings on Feb 13 and 15 of 1945, so much of the city (including the opera house) had been reconstructed during the GDR time, who decided to rebuild in the old tradition. After reunification, some buildings were rebuilt in a modern style [see picture upper left]... our tour guide said it was an important debate that is still being discussed. One building that was not rebuilt during the GDR is the Frauenkirche. [see below] They left the ruins as a war memorial- the reconstruction wasn't actually finished until 2005! 

Only one small tower of the church had been left standing- the new church was built around it and some old stones were reused-and placed in exactly the same place thanks to modern technology! We also saw the Zwinger Palace- in one word: 

AMAZING!!! [see picture: left) Once a fortress, after August 

the Strong became King of Poland, he wanted to make something nice for himself- thus the Zwinger. He kept adding on this grand (and I mean GRAND) palace (in different architectural styles, mind you) till August's death and money ran out. It's definitely one of the most impressive things I've ever seen in Europe. Anyway, even though we were there for only one day, Dresden is absolutely amazing (also coffee-wise: as my picture below can attest- it's not Timmy's, Darin, but it'll do, eh?). 

The next day (sunday) Jordan and I went to the Flohmarkt (flea market) but only got to enjoy it for an hour before the skies opened up and we were practically drowned! We got trapped under an awning with about 10 others while lightening, thunder and torrential rains blasted around us. After, I went to the Berliner Ensemble to see a play called Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht. The Theater itself was beautiful and although the play was a bit hard to understand (due to the main character's thick Hitler-esque accent), it was great. 

Thursday we had an excursion for class to Anna Seghers'

 apartment in eastern Berlin. (the author of the book Transit

 we've just finished). She had a small, unremarkable apartment where she lived after her exile in Mexico city. Anna had over 10,000 books (in all languages) in her apartment- which of course made me quite excited. She was quite the Kafka fan too, so

I couldn't help taking a picture. We watched a film adaptation of the book Transit and there was an american actress speaking German in it- her accent was so bad and our professor joked that that's what we all sound like. :o) That night we all got together to watch Germany vs. Portugal at a beer garden on the Spree river- which also got rained out, but we made it back to Clover's apartment in time for the 2nd half. [picture upper right: me and clover at Kiki Blofeld, watching the game] Now, since Germany won (!!!) they'll be playing against Turkey tomorrow! (So sehen Sieger aus... sha la la la la) We're going to the Fan Mile at the Brandenburg Gate to watch- it'll be crazy! I bought a "Deutschland" t-shirt today, so I'm all ready.

Friday we left for the weekend to Weimar- a city about 3 1/2 hours sw of Berlin. I was so excited to go- Weimar was home to Goethe, Schiller, Bach, and so many more! Our youth hostel was fantastic (I shared a room with my friends Valerie and Kelly- see above). We went out with Charlotte and Dorothy, who work for the program, and ate at the feet of Goethe and Schiller. Now, for those of you who don't know Goethe and Schiller (*gasp*) you don't know what you're missing- seriously! 

They're only Germany's most famous authors, who both lived in Weimar (Goethe for more than 40 years, Schiller for only a few) but they exchanged many letters, ideas and opinions during their most of their lives (Schiller's was considerably shorter). The statue is impressive, in front of the National Theater. 

Both men are the same height (although Goethe was a full head taller) to show that the german people value them on the same level. Goethe (on the left) is looking straight ahead to symbolize his rationality- Schiller, in comparison, is looking in the distance- displaying his inclination for dreaming- also, his 3rd button on 

his vest was left undone- symbolizing his youth. We also toured their houses- Schiller's was less impressive, but had a workshop room where we could all practice writing with feathers [see pic]. :o) Goethe's house [see left] was amazing- it still had all the original furniture! He collected thousands of pieces of art- all displayed (well, replicas) in his house! Also, he was interested in the sciences and did a study on colors- which was reflected in his choice of wall paint colors- each room a different color! It was great! You could stand in one room and look through the doors of about 5 rooms at a time and see each color- blue, yellow, red, ect. It was fantastic. 

Also I ran into Ursula, who's doing her PhD at UBC in Vancouver, at the market there in Weimar (ooo where Valerie and I bought rings that make us feel like Captain Planet). Anyway, Ursula dragged me back to the house she was sharing with my professor, Gaby Pailer, and Karen, another PhD

student. They're in Weimar translating the letters and poems of 

Charlotte Schiller (the wife of "the man himself"). It was so random to run into them! In the afternoon we toured the city some more, and, as you can see, I got quite friendly with a red cow. At night, we went and listened to a jazz quartet outdoors during the Fete de la 

Musique- and randomly saw a dance troupe perform in the street! All in all it was a beautiful city- it was amazing to sit under a tree that Goethe – THE Goethe – once sat under!! I also saw The Gingko Biloba tree [see upper left ] that inspired one of his poems (the link is to the poem). The tree is still standing there and the distinctive leaves resemble a heart, which inspired his love poem. Thusly Weimar has Gingko Biloba fever- there's even a Gingko Biloba museum! 

On Sunday (after a lovely fire alarm at the hostel) we left Weimar for the former concentration camp, Buchenwald, which is about 8km outside of town. I don't have any pictures because I thought that taking pictures was disrespectful (you can see the wikipedia page for pictures- click the link)- and it made me quite upset when people were snapping pics so lightheartedly of the crematorium, the train tracks, or the hospital-esque barrack where prisoners thought they were being examined by a doctor, only to be shot in the back of the neck. It was hard to see, but since most of it was demolished by the communists, there weren't too many buildings. One creepy thing still left was the bear enclosure, belonging to a sort of tiny zoo that the SS men had built for their children. The chilling thing was that it was right up against the barbed wire fence of the camp and a stone's throw away from the crematorium... which means that taking your child there to play they would also undoubtedly see the prisoners (and that the prisioners would see the animals and playing children) and smell the smoke from the ovens. Not to mention how they treated the animals of the zoo- humanely, in contrast to how they treated inmates (one of which, Amy- you might be interested to know, was Elie Wiesel). Our tour guide was very informative- but also very young. It was interesting to see how disconnected she seemed to it all. I was disappointed I didn't get a chance to talk to her after. All in all it was a sad, chilling experience, but I'm really glad I went. 

After Buchenwald we went to cheery Erfurt, a medieval town in Thuringia. Erfurt was beautiful! It was hot as snot outside so I was happy to find a river flowing through the city that we could put 

our feet in- there was even a bridge with shops built along the sides! [see left]. One of our "chaperone's" sister, who lives in Erfurt, came to meet us and showed us where to get great ice cream- 10 different types of spaghetti ice cream! It was heaven. We also hiked up the citadel [see below] and lounged under a giant tree. A very relaxing afternoon- but lemme tell you - a scorching sunburn is definitely not a fantastic souvenir. 

Sorry that post was so long! I'll try and update more often so they'll be shorter. Tomorrow is the Germany-Turkey game (cross your fingers I don't get mauled in the crowd!) and then on Monday my friend Jürgen is coming to visit! I haven't seen him since I lived in Trier (about 3 years ago!) and so it'll be great to have some time with him. Anyway, as always, LG aus Berlin!

Berlin: Arm aber Sexy.

Whew this week just flew by!  Class is going really well- we were each given presentation topics, and I get to prepare a list of questions to ask during our tour of a local publishing house, the Aufbau Verlag! I'm so excited! They've published some really great authors, like Anna Seghers, whose book Transit we're reading for class. We've also been analyzing some poems, 

which I find really exciting. Ok, enough about the schoolwork! Tuesday I met up with a friend from home, Christian, who was on his way to his new teaching job in Switzerland. We had a tasty dinner in Prinzlauer Berg before getting a drink and calling it a night. On Wednesday I met up with some girls from my program for a boat ride up the Spree river. Since the weather has been in the 90s every day (seriously! oh... Darin, that's about 30s for you... heehee) the boat ride was nice, although we didn't see anything new to me, although I did get to see it all from a different perspective. We floated by Museum Island, the ARD Broadcasting Studios (to be toured on the 15th) and the Reichstag Building again. It was a fun day... I got a sunburn to prove it :o) 

Thursday was another long day of classes, after which Valerie (my friend "also" from canada!) and I started our new Thursday tradition... going to Museum Island! The museums there 

are free every thursday from 6-10 and during the summer there's also free concerts on the steps of the Cathedral. We're tackling 

one museum per thursday... this weeks: Old National Gallery. There we saw my favorite romanticist Caspar David Friedrich and Valerie's favorite frenchie Monet. After trudging around 3 floors of mazes, nooks and crannies, we went over to the Cathedral and saw that the Bundespolizei Berlin Orchester (Berlin's police orchestra) was playing on the steps! They even played Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". Needless to say, it rocked my socks off. 

Friday Nikolas came to visit! I met him at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and the first thing we did, of course, was go in search of Döner. **which will remain the best in Berlin until 

proven otherwise** Anyway, Friday night (after some tasty Radler -with Sprite- near Käthe Kollwitz square... Fete bei Käthe!) we went to the Freiluftkino where we saw Martin Scorsese's film Shine a Light about the Rolling Stones. Mick Jager was doing this crazy pelvis dance the whole time... Man, he can really move for a 65 year old! Although I forgot a sweater and froze, I thought the film was great :o) 

Saturday we spent the day at Wannsee, [see right] where we met my friend Shawn and his boyfriend Andreas... unfortunately they were already there and sitting in the famous german FKK area. (FKK -Freiekörperkultur... aka Free Body Culture- and yes, I have a link!) The water was warm and Valerie and I spent the whole afternoon wading while Nik read the Economist. That night we ate at a great resteraunt on Potsdamer Platz called (I think...) Vapianos. [Above left: Me and Nik enjoying coffee.] It was serve-yourself and mighty mighty tasty- we had some pizza with god-knows-what-on it. (but it's now my favorite, so I'd better find out... I think maybe thin cut beef, tuna paste, baby lettuce... anyway, it's was amazing.)

Sunday we made a quick stop to Badeschiff to meet up with Shawn and Andreas [see pic below]

and then went off on a grueling search for Spaghettieis. (Wikipedia has an article for everything!) We never did find any... which makes me sad. (There isn't going to be any Spaghettieis in NYC, Nik!) Anyway, later we settled in to watch the Europameisterschaft soccer game: Germany vs. Poland (2:0... which is awesome, since both goals were made by a polish player! Go Germany!) [pic above right: Kelly, Valerie, Nik and I out for a drink Saturday night] Monday morning I was off to school while Nik got to sleep in before catching the train for a nice long -and boring, so I hear- train ride back home. 

This next week will be quite busy as well: I have a short paper due for class and we're all going to Dresden on Saturday... I can't wait!! I've added some pictures of my room [see right], as well as the plaque for the Berlin Wall [see picture below] that I walk over every day to get to the train (I live in the "east"). Anyway, I'd better get started on my reading for class. Liebe Grüße aus Berlin!!!

ps... I've been quite obsessed with Adam Green lately (especially "Bungee"), and -randomly- I was reading one of the NEON magazines my roommate keeps in the bathroom (don't ask me why) and found out that Adam Green's great-grandmother was Felice Bauer... who was engaged to Franz Kafka! 

Berlin: The city where east meets west and where I meet Bratwurst

I've officially been in Berlin now for 5 days! The city is HUGE but I'm now a semi-expert on the train system. I'm moved into my new apartment in Pankow (a northern district) with my roommates Stefany and Anke. Although my place is a good hour away from school, I still love it :o)  Plus I only have class 2x a week, so it's not a big deal. The apartment is really nice (pictures to come!) but also pretty empty since it was just renovated. I'm getting internet from some generous person who failed to put a password lock on their signal :o) 

Berlin has had amazing weather so far! Everyday has been in the 70s (high 20s for you guys- you know who you are!) and yesterday it was even pushing 80! Which is awesome since nowhere I go has air conditioning! 

My first night I stayed with Clover in her apartment on the border between Mitte & Kreuzberg. It was awesome, but after being awake for 2 days straight, I was exhausted! Friday morning I went to "work" with her at the Bundestag, the German Parliament. She's doing an internship with a Congressman there, who was nice enough to get me a guest pass and take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Reichstag, the Parliament building! Parliament was in session and even Chancellor Merkel was "around" (although we didn't get to see her). I even got invited to lunch

 with Clover's co-workers! But the best part of the day was when Clover got the afternoon off: apparently unheard-of! So we went and explored the city- We saw the Holocaust Memorial (the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) and visited a Turkish Market. Later we met up with Nate and his girlfriend Manu for some drinks and delicious (can't stress that enough!) Döner. :o) I love Döner Kebap! 

Saturday, after lunch with my roommate, Clover and I visited the Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum, which had an amazing exhibit on Jewgeni Chaldej, a WWII jewish soviet photographer. His pictures were accompanied by his original commentary- a frightening point of view since he not only photographed atrocities of the war but also most of the post-war war crime trials, such as the Nuremberg Trials. Saturday night we went for indian food, sat outside eating and drinking for hours, and I tired my first Berliner Weisse! 

Sunday I had orientation for my program: FUBiS (Freie Universität Berlin internationale Sommerschule). I met some really great people and we went out for a drink after all the organizational things were over. Monday was our first day of class (for Exile Literature: basically the german-speaking authors forced to leave during the Third Reich), and after getting to know each other a bit (12 students all together) we got to analyze a Brecht poem and after lunch we discussed Erkia and Klaus Mann. It was pretty fun and I'm hoping that it will be challenging. I have a lot of reading to do, which I settled in to start last night after a quick dinner with Clover. Today I'm going meet up with a theater group I plan to join- we'll see how it goes! Tschüs!