Back to school

By popular demand I will shorten the length of my blogs.  Apparently my adventures are too tiresome and boring to read in a longer format so I will keep it simple.  Yesterday was our first day of class at the Carl Duisburg Centrum.  It's basically just a small school for international students looking to better their German and what do you know, that's me.  There are about 8 or 9 of us in the class and most are American students with a couple from Spain and Korea.  My teacher is hilarious because she actually has an American sense of humor which is surprising for a German.  The first day of class we learned about 5 different German swearwords and not the little baby ones like, "shit" and "damn".

Today went a lot better and quicker.  It's becoming a lot easier and I'm more comfortable with the people in the class.  The biggest thing when learning a language is to feel comfortable when using it and I struggle with that a lot of the time so hopefully I'm moving past that.  We just received a list today of activities sponsored by CDC (the language school I'm at) and they are going to the Reichstag tomorrow.  The Reichstag is the building where the German Parliament convenes, so I'm actually pretty excited to do that.  I haven't made any travel plans yet but I'm looking forward to doing something soon, so if you're in Europe and want to meet up let me know.

Kamminer Str.

I finally have a place I can sleep at night where I'm not worried about all my shit being stolen or a bed that's big enough for my whole body.  Yup, I'm finally moved in with my host Mutti; I haven't really told her I call her mom but that's what I'll call her.  I told you all about Frau Hoffman earlier and how she lives in Charlottenburg, a borough of Berlin.  Charlottenburg is one of the nice neighborhoods of Berlin and you can tell that just by walking down the street.  There isn't the normal graffiti everywhere that you'd normally see in Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain.  I was also told to address her as Ursala and not Frau Hoffman.  If you know anything about German you know there are two ways to address people, formally and informally.  It is not typical for someone of my age to be using first names with a woman of her age, but since she offered it's ok.  She complimented me on how my German is so I'm starting to think I'm making some improvements.  Ursala is very good at English but she still likes to speak to me in English sometimes, because like every German she wants to practice all the time. But I told her mostly German unless we really can't understand each other, then it's safe to use.  We went out tonight for some traditional German food, per my request and she took me to a bar over by Schloss Charlottenburg.  Oh yeah I forgot to mention she lives literally right around the corner from a famous German castle.  Most Germans don't like to eat German food she said and the more I thought about it the more that makes sense because we don't eat Hamburgers and French Fries every time we eat right?  I also spoke with her about what I should do for living for the two months that I will be doing my internship and she said if I can't find anything that I was more than welcome to stay with her.  I don't hate it.  This room is huge and it would be far cheaper for rent and less of a headache for me than looking for my own place.  We'll see I guess.  Heading to bed early tonight because I still haven't quite fully recovered from the techno/rave/club we went to last night and mentally exhausted from switching languages all day.  Hoping it'll get easier.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen aus Berlin

A beach in Berlin?

It's been a few days since I last did this and with some encouragement from a friend I'll keep posting.  Wednesday and Thursday nights have been some of the most fun nights I've had since arriving in Berlin.  If you haven't heard of couchsurfing.org I suggest you check it out.  I know, you may think it sounds kind of sketchy and to tell the truth sometimes it can be.  But I've heard from numerous people here in Europe about the great experiences they've had and the cool people they've met, so it gives me hope to try it sometime.  For our purposes, however, couch surfing served as a party finding tool because you can start a meeting point and people just come to hang out and meet other people from around the world.  The "party" took place at a little bar not too far down the street from my hostel in your per usual hipster bar called Mano Cafe.  The lights were dimmed real low, there were candles burning; all the right ingredients for a swingers party yeah?  After a few beers though I began to loosen up and not be so awkward as I usually am in an unfamiliar setting.  We actually met a lot of nice people and they literally came from all over the world.  It's amazing to see how many people are in Germany, not for work, but to learn the language and just take classes here.  There were two girls, one from Brazil and one from Taiwan who are here just taking German classes without knowing when they were going to return to their home countries, which I thought was awesome.  We also met three guys who had met through Couch Surfing but they were from Poland, Germany, and Australia.  I was told that Couch Surfing is another great way to find an apartment or living accommodation so I might check into this.  Don't worry I'll use extreme caution.  Then from what I remember we were told to go to this club that didn't have cover until midnight, so me and another American went down to a hole-in-wall I can't remember the  name of and hung out with some of the locals for a few hours.  You really do lose track of all time here, not only because I don't have a watch but mainly because you're so caught up in what you're doing you completely disregard it.

Yesterday started a little slow for me mainly because of the excruciating headache I woke up with.  After lounging around and designating a good 3 hours to napping, I began to feel better but hadn't eaten anything.  If you know anything about me when I get hungry, I'm not the funnest person to be around.  Christina invited me to go out to dinner with her and her boss and her boss' son so we met up with them in the part of Kreuzberg called Graefe-Kiez.  I had a really good meal of stew with beef vegetables and a side of what looked like couscous and all in all was very good.  We spoke German the entire time (because that's the idea obviously) and I can definitely tell the improvement, even though I still have a long ways to go.  It gets kind of discouraging because you're trying so hard to understand but when you don't the usual scapegoat is to just smile and nod.  I just need to keep after it.  But Sylvia (the boss) and David (the son) took us around Kreuzberg and a bit of Mitte to this sand bar in what was East Berlin.  I know I'd seen this somewhere in a travel site or brochure but it was 100x's better in person..  We grabbed a beer and enjoyed the weather, which has been great ever since I got here.  Note: if you didn't already know it is an unwritten law in Germany that when you "Prost" (cheers) someone you have to look them straight in the eyes and never cross over to cheers someone.  It really is a big deal.

I'm a little sad I'm leaving the hostel for misfit European travelers but I'm excited to move in with my host mom, as I like to call her.  Today we have our program orientation which includes a boat tour of Berlin.  I suppose we have to get the touristy stuff out of the way sometime.  No telling what's in store for tonight but I think with a bunch of college kids concentrated in one small area we'll figure something out, haha.

Bis dann!

"So you can really walk down the street with beer?"

Believe it or not a lot has happened since I last posted.  Maybe it seems like that because everything I've been doing right now I'd consider exciting.  It's Europe, everything here is exciting.  Today I ventured out on my own again because the girl here from MSU is at work until around 2 or 3 and I don't plan on hanging out in the hostel of misfits all day.  I started out just walking without any destination in mind and I figured that would be the best way to discover the city.  Lo and behold after a good 15 minutes of walking I walk onto Oberbaum Bridge which if you don't know what it is you should probably Google it.  Oberbaum Bridge connects Kreuzburg to the borough of Friedrichshain which is located in East Berlin, hence they form the borough Friedrichshain-Kreuzburg.  It took me right to the long strip of the Berlin wall that is still standing where I was able to take some amazing pictures.  The artwork on the wall is absolutely astounding.  It really is something you have to witness for yourself to appreciate how cool it is.  This was definitely the most touristy thing I've done here since I've been in Berlin but we were trying to wait until the other kids from MSU kids got here before we did too much sightseeing.  It's crazy thinking that only a few months ago I was googling pictures of Berlin and now I'm actually seeing them in person.

Last night we met up for some Currywurst with Christina's friend Laura.  Laura is a German student who lives in Freiberg but studies here in Berlin at Freie Uni (FU) which is coincidentally the sister school of the university I'll be working at, Humboldt (HU).  Laura was great because she took us around the city, showed us all the popular streets in Kreuzburg and spoke German with us the entire time.  Exactly the type of people I need to be hanging out with to improve my German.  She corrected us when we made mistakes, which was seemingly embarrassing, but that's the only way to learn.  I thought it was the craziest thing that Germans walk around with beer but apparently that is the norm; something we only experience on tailgate Saturdays in East Lansing.  Laura speaks English, German, and French, but she is still working on her French quite a bit so she understands how it feels to be overwhelmed when learning a new language.  Germans start learning English (and I found out so do the Danes) around age 11 and it is mandatory.  Should explain why they all know/pick up on English so well because it's instilled at such a young age.  I think the American educational system could learn a thing or two here.

I just got word about my host family for the time I'll be attending the CDC language course.  Ms. Ursala Hoffman has been so lucky as to receive me as her host "child" and she resides in the borough of Charlottenburg.  Ms. Hoffman is a personal coach who enjoys reading and travelling.  At least I know I have a place to stay now.  I hope she knows what she's getting herself into.

It's actually amazing  how evident the English language is in the everyday life of Germans.  E.g. Kenny Chesney's Greatest Hits Album is playing right now in the lobby of my hostel.  Who knew Germans liked country music?

A ride on the 'African Queen'

I'm not very good at these blogging things but since I need to keep one for these bullsh** Madison papers I figured I might as well get used to it.  I guess I can start with my flight from Chicago to London.  My Dad and Aunt were nice enough to drive me out to O'Hare so I wouldn't have to leave the country on my own.  And truth be told I'm glad they were there 1) It's always nice to have your family see you off before you make an extended trip like this and 2) I've never navigated an airport by myself.  Think I've got the hang of it now.

When booking my flight to Berlin I was trying to be as frugal as possible, while at the same time booking with a quality airline.  Virgin Atlantic was the lucky winner primarily because they offered one of the cheapest flights and the layover was in London, and who doesn't want to go to London?  I guess I should explain my inspiration for the title of this post came from the Airbus 340 that transported us to London.  I have to admit that despite the lack of legroom on board the African Queen the accommodations were exceptional (Should have paid the extra $80 for the legroom, dad :) .  They offered a wide range of music, movies, and television along with dinner and breakfast.  Would definitely recommend Virgin Atlantic though for anyone looking to travel to Europe.

The flight to London went quicker than expected, however, the layover in London was torturous.  Don't ask me how but I spent from 08:00 to 17:40 in Heathrow wandering the shops, people watching, and even sleeping for a while.  The people in London are extremely nice and every time somebody spoke to me I couldn't help but laugh at their accents.  Next visit to Europe I am definitely making it a point to stop and stay in London for a few days.  Cheers.

Our flight from London to Berlin was delayed about 15 minutes and I couldn't help but sense the tensions from the Germans sitting around me (because we all know how Germans feel about things being on time).  Once everything was in order, we boarded the plane relatively quick and not 5 minutes after I sat down I was sleeping.  I woke up to the hostesses distributing egg sandwiches with what I believe was hallondaise?  Not long after the pilot informed us that we were just outside of Berlin and would be there in 20 minutes.  Just short of wanting to stick my head out the window, I had my face pressed to the glass and I giant smile on my face.  I think the woman next to me could sense my excitement and we exchanged a few words in English and German about Berlin, where she came from, you know the usual airplane talk.  As soon as I made it through customs and found my luggage the reality slowly started to sink in...I had never felt more alone than I did at Berlin Tegel.  I didn't waste any time though because it was already 21:30 in Berlin and was starting to get dark.

Taxi drivers in Berlin are insane.  I think my cab driver turned what would normally have been a 25 minute drive into a 10 sprint to the hostel I was staying at, but regardless I made it.  So far I've met 3 Australians, 2 Americans, 2 Danes, and I'm pretty sure there are 2 Italians staying with my in my room but I don't think they speak English.  Speaking of Italians, the room that I am staying in is painted with Italian things all over the walls, I'll have to take pictures and show you.

I ventured out into the city a bit this morning, had my first Bratwurst mit Kartoffelsalat (Brat with Potato Salad) and it was amazing.  I can get used to eating this German food.  I haven't had a chance to grab a beer yet but I'm sure that will be the next thing I get.  Miss everyone back in the States and I'll try and keep this thing updated as much as I can.

Bis dann!