"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?