30. / 31. July 2006

If you were to look on lonelyplanet.com or frommers.com or whatnot for a list of things to do in Berlin, the chances are, I've done 90% of them. I counted it up once, and I've spent about a month and a half here, all told. So shopping, main sights, museums, whatnot, I've been there, done that. Needless to say, when someone asks me what I want to do in Berlin, I don't know what to say.

But I love museums. The good thing about a city this large is you can always find some museum or another. So after a luxerious breakfast we headed to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Múseum) which featured, not unsurprisingly, the history of Europe. I never quite figured out how one is supposed to view the exhibition, so the chronological aspects of the display were completely lost on me and I viewed the exhibition kamikazee-style like a 4-year-old with ADD. RomansNapoleonSecondWorldWarReformationCeltsRomanEmpirePostWWI. 'Twas fun. And I had a (real) Bretzel (pretzle) in the cafe.



And I went swimming. It's funny, Germans are so particular about dress. Here in Berlin, I've noticed a certain amount of flip flops, sneakers, and other such informal footwear, but you would never see someone walking casually down a street in running clothes, or (gasp!) grocery shopping in pajamas (guilty as charged). Shorts are generally not worn by women, shorter pants aren't even worn by some women. There are Standards. One does not leave one's house while sloppily dressed.

These Standards, curiously enough, do not apply to bathing. FKK (FreiKoerperKultur or nude beaches) are alive and well. At the Schlachtensee, the lake where we went swimming, there were more than a couple young women (and a few young men) drying off after skinny dipping. They have no compunctions whatsoever. Americans, to extrapolate, are sloppy and prude and inconsistant, not caring if someone looks a mess or wears tiny shorts yet can't handle nudity.

And otehrwise we saw Syriana in an open air cinema, which was great fun. I bought red polka dot high heels and insisted on wearing them, so that was fun :).

Public transportation: +
FKK: ;)
Mosquitos: --
Swimming: ++

30 July 2006: Berlin

I've been having a great time so far; yesterday we went shopping and hung out for the day, then Benno and I went swimming. We had so much fun we're going again today. I think Heide and I are going to either a photography exhibit or a German history exhibit, and this evening we are going to go see Syriana in an open air cinema. It's wonderful to be here and everyone is so nice to me, I really feel like I belong. It's sad that Karla's not here, but she's busy adventuring at the moment.

It looks like the Ireland trip won't work out, which is actually just fine with me; Rabea really would rather go riding with me than visit museums and such in Ireland, and Asita wants to go to Sweden for some part of that. I'll call them today and see what's happening. I'll be thrilled just to see them all again and it's all vacation for me anyways, so I'm not too broken up about it.

Wolfgang has his 50th Birthday this next week. The Fiehrings are planning a party with about 60 guests. The food is being delivered so we don't have (get) to cook, but the decorations need to be done. I'm looking forward to it, even though I won't know most of the people there.

My German is slowly getting back into shape--my written German is, apparently, usually excellent, usually flawless, excepting the occasional American turn of phrase literally translated. My spoke German isn't quite so good but getting better, and I only occasionally have to stop and sort out a tangled tongue.

I ufortunately still have no idea as to what time it is most of the time, due to a lack of clocks in the house and people getting up at/staying up till odd hours. The computer clock says it's 3:49, but my guess is it's somewhere just past 9 AM. But no one really knows...

Lakes in Berlin: ++
Pfefferlinge (mushrooms): +
Breakfast on the terrace: ++
Humidity + heat: --
Mosquitos: --

29 Julz 2006: Berlin

My flight was long and uneventful. I met a guy from Tulane at Heathrow, who was also off to Berlin. He invited me to go to Prague with him and some buddies. My arrival apparently accompanied the first rain Berlin has seen in weeks, making dinner on the terrace possible since the start of the heat wave some weeks ago, and I woke up to rain falling softly in the garden.

The entire family picked me up at the airport with a flower and a warm welcome. It’s like being picked up by family. We had a lovely dinner outside and sat and chatted. I gave them the coffee, peanut butter, beef jerkey, and other things I had brought. I have apparently violated customs by bringing in as much coffee as I did: approximately four times the legal limit. And the flight seriouslly vacuum-packed the beans, giving them a shriveled and distorted appearance. The gifts, however, were welcome.

I’d been here before, of course, so I halfway knew were stuff was, lightswitches, door handles, shower knobs (picture forthcoming). But it’s been awhile. And Sis isn’t here; she’s off on an Australian adventure which, last I heard, had her working 40 hours a week in a bar in Brisbane. More to come when I know it.



Rating:
Mineral water: +
Lack of fabric softener: -
Good bread: ++
(absence of) bug screens: -

The Wayfaring Frog...

... set out of a bog, the wide world for to see.
She packed in a sack what could carry on back,
And started out into the dawn.
'Twas an early morn, and not too forlorn,
though her path held no one but she.
Though she looked far ahead she missed her own bed,
like a childhood familiar song.
With a fluttering heart she got a good start,
Leaving the miles behind her--
the frog from the bog, with a sack on her back,
on the morn she was born, singing a song,
--off to new adventures.

So I'm off to Europe, for a year. I'll be visiting friends in Berlin, on the Baltic, and Branschweig, after which I have a 6-week internship in Mainz. And sometime in October I will start classes in Freiburg.

Wish me luck.