There & Back Again

Greetings, kittykats.

My week has basically come to a close, with only Sunday remaining. However, today holds absolutely no potential for fun. Why? I may be murdered by the amount of homework I have. I’ve about 100 (or more..?) pages to read from Der Vorleser (The Reader), two articles on the Revolution of 1918/1919 in Bavaria, an essay, poem and grammar exercises to write. Oh, I also have to memorize important deats of the states of Germany, and the 20 or so government ministers. ….It’s gonna suck something awful But it is the price I pay for an excellent week and weekend. Ready for the recap?! HOLD ONTO YOUR PONIES!

School: is real. I’ve had over a month of presemester, and now the real work has begun D: My classes by the Lewis and Clark Institute are:
Sprachkurs: taught by my same professor as presemester. But now it’s more work D: and we’re delving into worse grammar themes, and it’s generally not fun anymore…Wednesday was especially painful up in hurr. But, in order to make my German tip-top, I’ve gotta slave through this beastie, right? Mrghfdff…

Literatur der Gegenwart: Modern German lit. Woo! We’re going to read about 8  books from contemporary German authors. The first one is Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink. (You might know this as The Reader :D) We had to read 80 pages for our first hwk assignment…..EIGHTY FREAKING PAGES. Yeah, Mama didn’t see that coming. And now I’ve got to read the rest of the book by tomorrow. Hahahah…crap. …
Landeskunde: German history and culture class, that will give us a wee bit of insight into why Germans think and do what they do. Unfortunately it also has oodles of homework, grumblegrumble. But the professor is new to us, and seems really cool :D I’m excited for the course, and am trying to be positive about all the challenges it brings D:

Kunst Geschichte: Art History!  This class will be taught only in museums. MUSEUMS! Every Thursday and Friday I got to stare at masterpieces for an hour. Sine I’ve already taken an art history class at LC, I feel really confident about this one. I actually know what he’s talking about! Also, I’m totes jazzed about seeing the same paintings I studied freshman year IN PERSON. JFNLAKSJDFSD. I about had a seizure when I saw a van der Weyden painting.

Then comes my one course by the Ludwig-Maxiimillians-Universität. Its called “Bayern in der Weimar Republik” aka Bavaria during the Weimar Republic. I literally know absolutely nothing about this time in Germany, and am thoroughly pleased to learn something about it. However, it is taught by a very German professor, who although nice and chatty, is intimidating solely because he is a real live German professor D: Luckily I’m not the only Ami in the class (American) and feel a little less lost. We took a little pre-quiz just to get our history juices flowing, and I even knew a couple answers, yeah! :B Hopefully he never calls on me…The class only has 11 or so people, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to dodge that bullet. But, if it does prove to be too difficult, I still have my 4 LC classes to fall back on, and can without penalty or threat of failing to graduate, drop this course. But I’mma try and stick it out! Woo woooo!

My Bavarian class only meets once a week (Hellz yes) but the institute classes meet twice a week :< Booo..But, they must be taken! Luckily, on Tuesday I only have one class (because Norwegian fell through L ) but that means I have the entire afternoon to do what I please. (Aka not homework.) This week turned into a balcony hookah & mead sesh with friends (German and otherwise). It was lovely, and quite possibly the last sunny day of the year. :< I will miss you, sunshine. But I do love the briskness that has befallen us. OH GOD ITS ALMOST NOVEMBER. Where have the months gone?! .. Anyway, Tuesday was a glimpse into my weekend, and said weekend truly began on Thursday. Because I only have one class on Fridays, and that class doesn’t begin until 2.30, I consider Thursday the new Friday :B The first party in Stusta was held on Thursday, and naturally my friends and I were in attendance. We drank beforehand, drank there, and brought the party. The “club” had a live band, and an area for dancing, yet no one was dancing…they were all just standing and listening to the band, leaving the handy dandy dance space empty. Naturally, we Americans jumped on this opportunity and began dancing.. We started the trend, and within time EVERYONE was joining our flailings. SO GOOD. I headbanged far too much and thrashed about lots. It was excellent. I went with Lauren, Abby, Simon, Kevin, Sarah, Madeline, Jared, Kelsey,  Hannah and perhaps a few others (sorry if ye were forgotten!) and we met up with Johanna, Konsti, Leo, Simon and a few more from their crews. The dancing continued until sometime past 1, when my LC pals headed home, but I stayed with the Germans. (as one does.) and we didn’t roll out until around oh..2.30 or 3.  

Leo and I had been horsing around inside, and after we’d gone out, we continued to push eachother around and such. Then it turned to chasing eachother around  the grass, trying to bring the other one down, etc. Then we started playing zombies, which of course means to add biting to tackling. ..I swear I’m a 7 yr old boy. :D It was quite fun, especially the bit where he dragged me around the grass by my ankles. Heehee. There are some quite hilarious photos from it, that I’ll try and get my paws on and send your way. ..I’m pretty sure he bit my foot at some point…Eventually we called a truce (the other three with us were spectators for this, then eventually lost interest and chatted amongst themselves.) After said truce, I asked if I could properly rugby tackle Leo, assuring him it was funsies. He agreed. He was tackled. It was funsies. We then giggled for a bit, and too tired to move, stayed laying on the ground in the mud. At 3 am.  The rest of our crew went home, but we stayed put, catching sight of a few shooting stars (SO COOL), playing with mud (I gave him a facial. He gave me war paint.), talking about Religion and God (naturally auf Deutsch. Sidenote: its so cool that I can talk about philosophical ideas and opinions, even with my basic, yet growing German vocabulary. I was really pleased with this) and then just lay there for a bit.  He said it was lovely. I agreed. But, as its rather cold here in München, I began shivering and not using complete sentences, so we opted to head home. He said he’d be a gentleman and walk me home, so I grabbed my shoes (didn’t wear them, muddy feets) and began to hobble home. My body was not pleased with me, so I managed a few very slow and muddy steps, before Leo decided to give me a piggyback ride home instead. :D (Once again, I am a child.) He dropped me off, we hugged, and I was asleep by 4.30.

Friday included class, cake eating after class, and then dinner making with Monica, Sarah, and Madeline. Madeline and I had to use everything in our fridge before it was cleaned, so we opted for a GIANT stir fry. It was giant. So many vegetables…Whilst we were cooking, Leo texted me asking what I was up to for the night, so I told him (my crew planned on meeting later before we went out to a party) and mentioned that there was copious amounts of food.  He replied: “Ich schau mal vorbei.” Now, I know what each of those words individually mean, but vorbeishauen  is a separable prefix verb that I had to look up later. I frantically asked my friends what it meant, none of us reaaally knew, so we assumed it meant he’ll see what he’s up to and maybs come by. (schauen means to see/view) I vaguely replied “Ahaha okay..” (real clever, self.) But then, within a few minutes, I’ve managed to miss a call from him. So I call, answer, we speak , he asks where I am, I tell him which house, he says okay and will be here soon. ..He came sooner than expected, and popped round the corner about two minutes later. Slightly confused, I asked him how he got here so quickly, to my chagrin he replied, “I was outside your house!” Hahahaha…Woops. Turns out “Ich schau mal vorbei” means I’m coming over. ….My bad. So he had the dinners with us, actually hung out with my pals, and then we all separated and met back later to drink and go to the party.  Well, by the time we left (after 10) and by he time we arrived at the location (even more after 10) it was totes full and our hopes of getting in were slim. So! We made a plan change and went to some clubs instead. The night was danced away and it was awesome. My body now pains me, but it was so worth it. At 3.30 we ate at a stand called Space Burger. Mmmm…Extraterrestrial meat patties are the best :D We got in around 5 am, and then I promptly went to bed.

Yesterday I just hung out with my pals, tried to go to a flea market but it was already closing, then had dinner at the bar and watched Up. Now I’ve woken up and am sick L All sorts of coughy and wheezy. I CAN’T BE SICK FOR HALLOWEEN!! :< I’m going to be an Owl :D and it will be excellent. I just need to make my wingsies…

So there you have it, my life in a nutshell. There are a few deats I’ve left out (minor ones such as conversations and girly feelings) but you get the idea :P I don’t know where some aspects are going, so I’m not going down the road of Hope again. But I’m happy with my adventures here J (ahhaaha SO VAGUE SORRY.)

 I also haven’t taken any pictures. DOUBLE SORRY.

We meet again. Let me apologize in advance for any lack of intelligibility from here on out. You’ve been warned. I’ve had a very lovely, yet long day, and so the brain juices are not flowing. (Ew. Brain juice would be the worst beverage ever.) Moving on! Berlin has come and gone, as has the week following it, and now I’ve begun the new semester! …yep, whilst the rest of America has been avidly slaving away in Academia, I’ve only just begun. German Academia! But first things first (and second things second..?)

Pause: Between the Vorsemester (presemester) and Wintersemester (what’s just begun) I had a week off of school—-woo! And what did I do with that precious time of freedom? Well, for the first couple days I mainly lounged in bed far longer than I should have, and attempted to clean my room. It was mildly successful. Naturally I spent a few evenings at the Tribühne (one of a few bars in Stusta), went to a Biergarten that Sunday, and attempted to dye my hair purple before I left. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out quite as purple as I would have liked D: but its there and will soon be PURPLER :B I also went to Schloss Nyphenburg! Then I went off to see Uncle Chris and Aunt Peggy.

 

Before heading off to the biergarten—-aka possibly the last sunny day forever D:

Only a 10 minute walk from Stusta :)

Bier und wurst Zeit! Lauren und ich.

Schloss Nymphenburg! which is in München.

Mmm. I want one.

When I have an apartment after school, all my money will go toward making it look like THIS.

Mine.

Meagan, Sarah and I chillin’ in my castle.

Backside!

PURPLE TIME

Always a good look for me, non?

We had a jolly good time, we did. Palled around with the Onkel for most of day one. We went on base, I was signed in all official like (had to refrain form my normal terrorist activities) and we went to the Commissary for grocery goods, and do you know what my awesome uncle bought me?! : Salsa, taco shells, actually spicy spices, tomatillo sauce, SPONGEBOB MACARONI AND CHEESE and  Reese’s peanut butter cups. Do you know what we also did?! ATE TACO BELL ON BASE! YESSSS. It was delicious. I miss it already. Oh dear…Then we went and visited Aunt Peggy at her school, I got to see her classroom and met a few colleagues. Theeen we went back to Casa Heinrichs and settled in for a bit. I met the cat friends, which were heavenly. And for dinner we went to thieir local Italian haunt (..my family’s local haunt, not the cats. I wouldn’t trust Benjie’s recommendations) It was delicious, too much food, and ended with cherry liquor. Ah yes :D

Day two was spent in a cool town called Idar-Oberstein, which has lots to do with gemstones, cool polished rocks, and a church built into the mountainside. Apparently the reason for the church was a brotherly feud over a lady, and the losing brother solved the problem by pushing other brother off the mountain. Angry Germans. Brother fell and died, and so the repentant one built a church. ‘Cause that fixes everything. :D Little did I know that the Rheinland-Pflaz was a very cold place, and so my skirt and sandal combo was not cutting it. I walked into a shop to buy leggings, and the woman laughed at me for my poor garment choice. Ah yes… We ate lunch at a little typical German restaurant and it was delicioso. Then we trekked to Trier, which is just across the river from Luxemburg! Trier is an old Roman city, and still has a standing Basilica, the old gate called the Porta Nigra, and a coliseum thing. We wandered around, and it was even colder, so popped into more shops. But saw the first two old Roman attractions. :D it was a cute city, that reminded me of Regensburg. Then we headed back home for a lazy eve of tasty spaghetti, wine and photo machen! I called it a night pretty early, and went to bed with the kitten. It was lovely.

 

Idar-Oberstein

CHURCH ON A MOUNTAIN

Inside the Trier Basilica 

Outisde!

Typical Trier-ian street

UNICORN APOTHECARY!!!!!!

I was really thrilled

Porta Nigra!

Courtyard next to the Visitor’s Center and Porta Nigra

I made a friend!11

And another!! heehee

Inside the Trier Dom. So very Catholic.

Benjie the kitten

Aka the love of my life

Moe often thought the worst of Benjie.

Tante Peggy und ich!

Onkel Chris, Benjie und ich!

Day three was for travel, so I roused myself at a decent hour, ate leftovers with the uncle, then was chauffeured to the train station, just barely making my train. :D I sat next to a chatty and friendly Spanish fellow, who spoke Spanish, German, Russian, Italian and Arabic. …Yeah, I was impressed. I came back home and hung out with my friends at the bar again, you know, like I do :D I spent the rest of the weekend lounging around, cleaning it up, and working on last minute homework/preparing myself for the new semester!! I also went to a rugby game, YEAHUH! It was freezing, but fun. Saw the rugby lads again (wheeeee) and one did the European cheek kissing thing (YES OH YES PLEASE). Saturday was a good day. :)

Saturday, Marina,  a friend of mine and Alissa’s came to Munich with her boyfriend Matt, and we met up in Marienplatz. We went out to an Australian bar for some drinks, and only after ten minutes of being there, a British fellow started chatting me up. He was very friendly and such, but was beginning to monopolize my time, and i had guests to entertain! At one point he said, “Its a shame you’re with him..” and I said, “Who? Him? I’m not…He’s her boyfriend.” You know, just to clarify. So then he said, “Oh! Well in that case, what’s your name?” Hahaha so smooth…NOT. We chatted a bit more, but then I turned back to my friends and continued our evening of cider drinking :D But before this fellow left, he tapped my back, and when I turned around he gave me his business card for the next time I’m in the UK. AHAHAHAHA. Oh so funnies. Marina, Matt and I continued to have a pleasant time, but I was then pestered by an old German fellow who wanted to make small take, but I had none of it, and eventually he left. Then later a guy from somewhere in North East England wanted to talk to me, and frankly, I couldn’t understand his ridiculous accent. But he was nice? ..Anyway, he clearly wanted to make friends with myself, and my little crew, but was too awkward to function, and so spent most of the time on his iphone. When he left, he said it was lovely meeting me, and kissed my cheek. All right.

Then Sunday we met up downtown again for typical Bavarian foods before Matt went back to Switzerland. It was tasties :D We roamed about a bit, took him to the station, and he left. Marina then came back to stay with me for the night. We decompressed in my room for a bit, chatted with Alissa (who was a jealous thing on jealous tablets) and zen we went to the Tribühne again! Bahah, we met up with my friends, and had some good funsies. Also, Marina had me invite Leo so she could pass judgement on him :P We called it a night sometime before 1, headed back to the fort and had a snooze fest. I had class early the next day and so met up with Marina again afterward. We went out for Chinese food :D and coincidently met up with my friend Simon, who joined us. And then we had to part ways before my next class :< It was really fun having her stay! Now I think we don’t just have a mutual best friend, but are actually friends :D I’mma visit her in Austria during my break!

AND THEN SCHOOL STARTED.

Day three: Museums, Berliner Dom, BOAT TOUR

Day three was a rough one, let me tell you. My late night shenanigans were beginning to catch up with me. I was a sleepy panda as we headed to the Pergamon Museum. It’s a very cool museum and has lots of ancient Greek, Byzantine, Egyptian and Islamic art. All very cool, but not very thrilling to view. Here are some highlights: (..I’m getting flashbacks of my boredom as I climbed about a million sets of stairs in this place. Gurgle..)

Awesome giant temple steps.

Armless beauties.

From atop the giant steps!

Giant temple bits.

I know what I want in my house…

LION WALL MOSAICS!

..with some horses.

Idk what this is. But it was down right terrifying. DO YOU SEE ITS SOULLESS EYES?!

Stone lion cat thing friend

Pure evil.

 

Speaks for itself :P

Awesome mosque wall numero uno

Numero dos!!

..I began to lose interest.

So I hid in this room

Then found me some big rugs.

Then cam freetime! In which I bought some necessities from a drug store (make-up, socks, shampoo and water) and was given a free tea drink on a street corner, woo!, then went and had lunch in the Lustgarten with Andreina and Laura. The sun decided to come out and we had a lovely view of the Berliner Dom. (a really giant church.) After eating, we went inside and took a look around. It was beautiful, but it didn’t have the same church feeling as the ones back in Munich did. For one, you had to pay to enter, and not just the guilt-trip donation box kind. Tours were going on inside of it, and none too quietly, and it wasn’t cold. Churches feel more mystic when cool. So, I was displeased and unimpressed, so while the other two climbed to the top, I walked around the Dom and checked out the other museums in the area from outside. Then I went and sat in the sun for a while and readied myself for our BOAT TOUR.

Berliner Dom! and sun! and the Fernseher Tor lurking in the background, all USSR and shit.

..Guess who bought new sunglasses?!

..I wasn’t ready!

‘Nother museum!

Inside the Dom

Huge

And gold

With an amazing organ

The exit

And then I roamed around outside :D

Side o’ th’ Dom

Sad statue

Sweet, no?

Alte National Gallery

Mermaid horse things!

On da boat

Monica und ich 

…The boat tour came and went. I was in attendance physically, but unfortunately not mentally. Sleepy Kat snoozed here and there, woke up periodically to take pictures of things she wasn’t really sure what they were, then went back to snooze land. Schwoops! ..Yet somehow I still had energy for shopping. Heeheehee :D and Thai food. Mmmm…That night we went back to Tacheles, to experience it at night. It was way cooler this time around! Lights were everywhere, music was playing, and we got to see the galleries and whatsits inside.

From the top floor lookin’ down.

Graffiti everywhere!

Outside

Just hanging out on a windowledge 

Giant metal head out front

Day Four: Jüdisches Museum and the Wall

 

Not gonna lie, day four was a tough one. Like I said in my handy dandy intro, Berlin sent me through the ringer with emotions. I had a grand old time at the clubs and bars, but then reality would come back in places like the Jewish Museum or the Wall Museum. Germany has a lot of history, a lot of recent history. I think the recentness of it all is what makes it hard to take in, sometimes.

 

One half of the museum.

The other.

The Jewish museum doesn’t focus only on the Holocaust (thank god. I’d be a puddle of sadness if it did) but takes you through the entirety of Jewish history. However, its three biggest installations are centered on the Holocaust. The first we saw was called the Holocaust Tower. You leave a black door and enter a dark room, with only one slit in the ceiling to let in natural light. The walls are cement and shoot up meters above your head. The only sound comes from the street up above, faint, but noticeable. The room is cold and every step echoes. I’ve never felt more alone or hopeless than when I was in the tower, and I think that’s how one’s supposed to feel. I couldn’t stay there too long, and was glad to be back in the hallway.

The next stop was the Garden of Exiles, more pleasant, but still depressing. This monument was for those who successfully fled Germany and were able to start anew somewhere else. However, when you stepped outside, there were trees and fresh air and light, but giant columns of cement shot up into the air, and the cobblestone ground was uneven. I weaved through the rows, towers of cement on either side, as I walked on an uneven hill. Getting out of Europe for a Jew was only the first step, they then had to combat being a stranger in a new land, with nothing familiar and nothng to welcome them. :<

Garden of Exiles

They were tall D: 

After these two exhibits, we focused on the history portion of the museum, which was easier on my nerves. But then we came to one more memorial, called Fallen Leaves, which takes place in one of many “voids” in the museum. The ground is covered with 10,000 metal faces, representing victims of war. You can walk on the faces, and go farther back into the exhibit into a dark, almost cave like end. They make a horrible noise. I couldn’t bring myself to walk on them, and instead just stared from against the wall. It was intense.

 

Falling Leaves

The stairs led to nowhere after that door. Literally to a wall. A symbol for Jewish history? I think so :/

But this reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof!

As did this. So I was less sad :D

Another destinationless staircase, this time in the kids’ section.

Anti-Semitic propaganda.

We had just enough freetime to eat lunch before we met up again, this time to visit the Wall. We got to see it from atop a tower, see just what it was like between the two walls, and just how absurd such a thing was. It was hard to believe that a city could just be sliced in two, creating two vastly different worlds. Made me sad, again. 

Bernauer Straße, facing East Berlin.

Day five:  Kat learns about the DDR

Our first stop of the day was a visit to Checkpoint Charlie, and the Berlin Wall museum. It was a really cool museum, that had old photos on every wall, old cars used to smuggle refugees across the border, stories of survival and of failure.. The saddest room was about a mother from East Germany who, while hiking in the mountains, lost her 4 yr old son. She sent letter after letter to East German police and government officials, and learned nothing. And then, after the reunification, she was given permission to see the case file, and found that almost all the dates had been changed, names and entries erased…Something was covered up, and I found it terrifying. The museum just made me so sad to reflect on a time in Germany when people were so arbitrarily divided. Outside the Deutsches Museum it said “Wir sind ein Volk” and it helped ease the angst I felt for the past. It meant “We are one people.” Anyway the Mauer Museum was excellent and I was really glad I decided to go. My mind was basically an empty void when it came to history past 1965. Schwoops! Photographs weren’t allowed, so I’ll give you the website instead :D

http://www.mauer-museum.com/

Then we had lunch. Kelsey, Sarah and I ate Unter den Linden and it was lovely. We then met at the Deutscher Bundestag, which is the Parliament building! We had a meeting with a representative for the SPD and he was from Munich. He told us about German parliamentary system, what he does, and then we were allowed to ask him questions. He was very nice and obliging, but a wee bit boring. Though that didn’t stop me from having an “Alter Politker Mann” crush ;D  The best part of our day in the government buildings came when we were led by a man in a red windbreaker up to the roof! We had the absolute best views of all of Berlin. It was beautiful and modern and oh so Deutsch. I was so happy :D

View! It was vair sunny..

Too much sun!

Kevin and the parliamentary dome thing.

I loved seeing the flag wave in the wind.

Shadows.

Sooo good!

Just call me Fraulein…

:>

Crazy inside point mirror thing..

Afterward, Sarah, Lauren, Laura and eventually Andreina, and I went out shopping. :B This time I bought hella swag, woo woo! When we came back we ate döner from Gemuse Kebap, my new favorite restaurant in all of Germany. Mmm..I miss it…Then we came back to the hostel, hung out with the Danes, then Abby, Madeline, Simon, Monica and I went on a late night park adventure. It was excellent. We climbed a fatty hill and reached a tower celebrating the first peaceful protest of the division of Berlin. Then I went back and had another döner at 1 30 am! AW YEAH 3rd one in five days :BBB Then I went to bed, happy.

 

MUSTAFA’S!

The train ride home was uneventful. I snoozed lots. Now I’m home J I miss Berlin. It was beautiful in an edgy and giant kind of way…

Gruß Gott!

Hello friends and fam! Hope the new month of Oktober is treating you swellsies! I have just returned from a great big adventure otherwise known as the city of Berlin :D I don’t think I’ve ever gone from feelings of wonder, hopelessness or euphoria as quickly as I did in Berlin. It’s a city with a much more recent history than Munich, the kind of history you don’t just see in Middle Age architecture, but rather in remnants of the Berlin Wall, museums chronicling the last 20 years, and empty Jewish graveyards. …But Berlin also had the best Döner in Germany and the best graffiti I’ve ever seen. :D Its got spunk. And I dug it. We were only there for five days, but it was enough to leave me wanting more. Its safe to say I’ll be returning in the (hopefully) near future.

Day 1: Trains and Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz

Guess what I read on the train to Berlin? GO ON GUESS! …Did you guess correctly?!

 

Ahh! I was so stoked to have this bad boy on loan from a friend. I managed about 20 pages in. 20 pages…auf DEUTSCH! AHHH! I actually understood it! ..more or less. There was some definite, if not complete, understanding going on! And not just because I’ve read it before in English… That was my big unforeseen accomplishment of the day. The train ride was about 5 hours, a few of which I snoozed, the rest I spent listening to tunes, tuning out the background noise, or translating Harry Potter. I lead a very exciting life, non?

We arrived at the hostel sometime in the afternoon. It was called Hotel Transit and had a cool hof in the front and back (courtyards) and was a million stories high and old, but on the inside it was cool and industrial themed. I liked it. I roomed with Lauren, Laura, Andreina, Katti, and Kelsey. We had the biggest room, and immediately set to making a mess out of things :D

The hallway!

Our door!

My beddy bye.

View from ze window.

Polar bear street art near by :B

But for all you naysayers, guess who only packed a backpack and plastic shopping bag? ME. I’m growing, slowly and surely. We only had an hour to get settled, take a break and feed ourselves before a quick city tour. A few of us went to Curry 36 which is supposedly the best currywurst in Berlin. We ate some, and it was delicious. I’ve gotta tell you, when you want really good and cheap edibles, go to Berlin.

The tour lasted only about 2 hours, but was a bit roundabout and I wasn’t mentally checked in. Schwoops. But our reward for schlepping along was giant pizzas :D Well worth it, in my opinion.

When Berlin was divided into East and West, East Berlin had its own lil’ walking signs, or Ampelmann. After reunification, the former East Berlin opted to keep the signs as they were, as it was something unique, and remembered fondly. 

I liked green best :B

Unter den Linden: the street leading up to the Brandenburger Tor

And here it is!

The university, complete with used book sale!

We stumbled upon the anti-mafia Italian jam sesh. It was awesome, and involved wacky street dancing. Purple coat lady really got down.

Denkmal—Memorial, for the books of Jewish, liberal, or anti-Nazi authors during Hitler’s regime.

Ahaha nerds.

Memorial for victims of war.

My first glimpse of the Berliner Dom

I enjoyed this bridge.

A cool street/art fair we stumbled through.

Museen Insel—Museum Island

AND THEN CAME DINNER!

Ceiling. We were under the S-bahn, so everytime a train passed overhead, you could hear and feel it.

Proof I have friends. Abby, Katti and Simon.

Perhaps better proof? Madeline and Mallory

Lauren and Kelsey having a romantic eve.

Berliner Weiße! Weißbier and raspberry syrup. Mmmm.

…Then came the pizzas.

My mind was blown.

And yet I still had room for Tiramisu…Wanna know why?! GRATIS, BABY, YEAH!

Kevin’s impeccable artistic skillz. 

That night, we decided to go out and get our drink on. WOO WOO. We all got dolled up and happy, ready to brave the chilly night air and potential trek. (we only kind of knew where we were going ahahaha…) We didn’t find the first club we meant to hit up (boooo) but we found a second one, that was quite fun! It had three separate dance rooms, a plethora of bars, and lots of folk. I split my time between the Classic Rock dance floor (oh yes) and the Techno room. (I thrashed around a lot. It was nice.) and only made a brief appearence in the hip-hop room. (..I may have sang along to a few songs, maybe.) But you know what was no really so cool? Remember that sidenote on a previous entry about my night turning sour? Well, it was boy-induced, and said boy (Leo, cough cough) showed up at our night out. One of the girls in the program invited him, and she was quite clueless to my current lack of interest in seeing him, so it was ALL KINDS OF AWKWARD. But, I put on my big boy pants, didn’t say much to him, was a glacier queen, then upon seeing how truly awkward he was at the edge of our group, took pity on he and his friend and coerced them into dancing. (Platonically, of course.) Then when the end of the night came around, I informed him that tonight was hella awks and we ought to chat back in Munich. He agreed…Then I told him bluntly that I was in no way excited to see him that night :D And he seemed a bit hurt/surprised by the news, awkwardly apologized, and even more awkwardly patted my shoulder. I think he knew that had he attempted to hug me I may have beat his face. :> So, we’ll see what comes of our impending chat. …This was a long side-note, I apologize D: But his presence unfortunately altered my evenin’.

Andreina and Kelsey getting their drank on. Or something. I don’t know. Maybe?

Andreina and I :D she has more pictures of me looking attractive. I went upstairs in this and my coat, and I got catcalls from the entire group. Including my 70 year old history professor. She said I was “ganz sezy” aka THOROUGHLY SEXY. Yessss. …I was glad I looked uncharacteristically good when Leo showed up :P: Har har har. HEE.

Day 2: More Berlin tours! YEAH WOO 

We went on a bright and early tour of the city. Everything was quiet and calm, the sun was out, and it was all so pretty. Berlin is scruffier than Munich, but everything is pristine at 9 am. We saw a lot of cool and well-preserved buildings, some dealing with the DDR and others related to WW2. We had a lot of Jewish stops, the most moving being an old Jewish graveyard, destroyed at the Nazi’s command, but now a memorial and park, with only grave of Moses Mendelsohn. (Look him up, he’s cool!) Then came free time! Which I used to buy me some tea (I was ready to pass out, having gone to bed at half past three. whooppps…) then hit up a flea market! It was quite cool, with lots of antiques and such. And fur coats. Lots of fur. I was tempted to buy some old aviator goggles and incorporate them into a costume…but they were 25 Euros and I just couldn’t do it in good conscience :/ maybe next time! Then later that night we had plans to see a play, or a musical, rather, called Linie 1. It was centered on the trials and tribulations of Berlin in ‘86. With song and dance. …I wasn’t a fan (you know how picky I am) but it was fun. However, 3 hrs of subway musical and I am done. DONE. 

Tacheles. Now housing art galleries, hand-made wares market, bars and dancing. Check it out, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthaus_Tacheles I loved it here, we went back the next day at night.

I desperately want this.

Mmm, artsy.

Gute Frage

<3 Berlin street art

The Synagogue, thankfully not destroyed during WW2. The center for Berlin Jewish culture and learning. It was beautiful.

Mexican food?! I MISS YOU.

Graveyard

Jewish visitors place rocks upon the grave, a reference from the Old Testament. 

Simon, leaving his stone. Being here made me want to break down into tears, especially after hearing that Nazi soldiers tore up the graves and played soccer with the skulls. ..Yep.

Memorial for Holocaust victims.

Scattered around the city are these stones, an artist’s work, to remind people of those lost in WW2, to not forget, even when you’re simply walking down the street.

Graffiti!

:)

I found my soulmate.

S-bahn stop, on the way to the flea market.

I try so hard to be European.

Flohmarkt!

Excellent trinkets.

We then went back to Brandenburger Tor, and checked out the Reunification celebration. 20 years! :)

Concerts planned for later

I wanted a balloon.

Instead I took pictures.

Don’t let the outfit fool you. It was not cold.

Later that night we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaraunt, and on the way back, I found this:
 

Stumbling back to the hostel (due to a food coma and poor sleeping habits, NOT alcoholic escapades) I met some Danes at the door. Yep, you heard me. Danes. From Denmark. AKA VIKINGS! I chatted with one named Alex, who was really cool and funny. They were going to a strip club, and although I was extended an invite, I sadly declined. …and went to bed. :) I think. I may have stayed up late. Its possible. Infact, I think I went upstairs, joined some friends and my history professor, chatted, drank and watched her snort snuff tabacco. Ahhahaha. Yess! It was the best night ever.

Brace yourself for part two!