German "Zombie" Movie (10.2.10)

Another morning to sleep in. Another morning with bread and cheese. I now but butter on every piece of bread I eat. I have started buying slices of meat to put on there with my cheese. I even put butter on those sandwiches. Butter, butter everywhere. I have really started to crave pancakes. I miss typical breakfast food! I want my sweets for breakfast again!

Today was filled with washing my clothes, doing homework, and bumming around. I did go see Thimo at his job. He works at a pet store on Saturdays for a few hours. The pet store only has rabbits and birds. My host mom really wanted me to go see him at work, so I did. It was awkward, me standing there watching him work for the remaining 45 minutes of his shift. I find it strange that he has a job at only 12 years old. Maybe there's different labor laws or maybe it's under the table? Not something I want to ask about.

That evening I went on a date with Thimo and his friend. It was so funny. His friend’s mom came and picked us up. It really felt like I was 12 again haha. She dropped us off at the movie theater. Thimo even bought my movie ticket and concessions for me. When you go to the movie theater in Germany, you pick where you want to sit when you buy your ticket. Also, they have an interesting popcorn. If you get the normal popcorn it is a sweet popcorn. It reminds me of kettle corn, but it has some kind of sweet coating on it. It was pretty good though! A nice change from the buttery popcorn. If you want salty popcorn, you have to ask for it.

We were seeing some kind of zombie movie Thimo told me. I immediately freaked out because I hate scary movies, but he reassured me that it’s rated for 6 year olds so I would be ok. The movie was in German of course. I couldn’t really ever understand the dialog, but I got the jest of what was going on by watching their actions. 

Here’s my synopsis of the movie: A doctor created a pterodactyl egg that hatched and out came the dinosaur. This same doctor mind controlled the animal. The pterodactyl was wreaking havoc throughout the city and scaring everyone. Meanwhile in another scene this author went to Egypt and stole a pharaoh’s tomb, with the pharaoh inside. She journeyed back to her home, where her sister was in a hospital bed in her room. I thought the sister was dead. She was ghost white and had a nail sticking out her forehead. It later showed that they were actually playing tennis together and her hair pin, which happened to be a metal rod with a point, came out of her hair and she fell backward on it impaling her. So she was actually paralyzed, not dead. 

The movie had two nudity scenes. I was quite surprised since it was rated for 6 year olds. They aren’t shy about showing off their bodies. Meanwhile the pterodactyl was shot; thus the doctor was shot too. However the author drug the doctor to her apartment where he tried to perform a ritual to heal her sister, but the doctor died midway through the ritual. Amid this chaos, the pharaoh came to life. The pharaoh then remarked about seeing the author naked and nice she looked. To make a long story short, the author, her paralyzed sister, and the pharaoh went to the Egyptian wing of the Louvre Museum. Here all the pharaohs came to life. The biggest tomb of all housed the doctor, who performed this procedure on the sister and pulled the stake out of her head. After a bit, she woke up and magically wasn’t paralyzed. Then to finish off the movie they put the author on the Titanic, to inevitably die. I thought it was quite a strange ending: one sister comes back to life, while the other one dies now. Strange!!

Bundeskanzleramt Pictures

Bundeskanzleramt

Statue inside

View out the front door....that is the Reichstag in the background.

Outside

Everything is brightly colored inside

Germany's 16 states

Arboretum

View of Bundeskanzleramt from the back, overlooks the Spree River

Gerhard Schroeder

My host family said the artist who makes this body art is very famous. They are VERY expensive though. This initiated a VERY awkward conversation with my host dad about the use and appeal of these chains. Apparently they make other pieces as well....

6 liters of Vodka!!!

Strange, tiny trucks?

Yet another Berlin Bear :)

Excursion Friday (October 1, 2010)

Today was the first Friday I was able to sleep in. It felt amazing! One of the only perks of your last name being at the end of the alphabet, I didn’t have to meet until 11:20 AM. We went to the Bundeskanzleramt, where Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, works along with other government figures. 

We had to go through security that resembled airport security to get in the building. We even had to have a passport to get in. The building is very neat! It was built around 1990, with the fall of the wall. They wanted an open feel to the building to symbolize that the government is open, and there are no secrets. They also wanted something modern and unlike any other buildings. That is exactly how the building is. It is very visually appealing. They even have an open air arboretum to increase the presence of fresh oxygen in the air. The building is very bright inside with tons of cool artwork (or at least what I like). Unfortunately Chancellor Angela Merkel had just stepped out. They said when the US President comes they have to close off the streets, airspace, and the river surrounding the Bundeskanzleramt. Our tour guide remarked how much of a problem that creates, especially with the numerous boat tours going by on the river in front. We saw their press conference room and their assembly room, where they meet with leaders from other countries or committees.  The room is designed to be in a circle. Chancellor Merkel has no specific seat, she takes any seat in the inner circle. It is designed to show that everyone is on the same level at the discussions/meetings.

After our tour, Trevor and I ate at a cute little restaurant near my house called “Okeh.” It was better than ok; it was quite delicious and not badly priced either. I got the daily special, which was a breaded chicken sandwich with French fries and slaw, with a grosses (big) Fanta of course. It was so nice to have a good ole American meal haha. I can’t get enough Fanta. It’s so good!! That and Haribo! I have been converted….those crappy American brands of gummy bears just won’t cut it anymore. I am quite the diva and now will only eat Haribo. 

After “lunch,” Malia, Anna, Lisa, Chris, Keith, & I met to plan our trip to Italy. For our fall break, we decided to spend the week in Italy. Planning took forever. We spend 4 hours on it and still didn’t have all the tickets booked. We decided to each book things the next day. The plan was to fly into Milan because it is super cheap to fly there from Berlin. Only 35 euros, but checked baggage is where they really stick it to you. We planned to spend 1 day in Milan, 1 day in Venice, and then 6 days in Rome, and then sadly flying back to Berlin. 

When we finished that night, it was nearly 10 already. When I got home, I had my “salad” waiting for me on the table. I have yet to see salad dressing here. They don’t even know it exists as far as I’m concerned. The salad was quite interesting. It had lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, onions, olives, and tons of cheese, feta cheese I believe. All this was drowning in a vinegar sauce. It was a nice change, but I found myself missing my bread haha.

I watched Julie & Julia with my host family. They weren’t too entertained by the movie. Andre left after 20 minutes and went to bed. Thimo fell asleep. So it was me and Corry watching the movie. She wasn’t too thrilled about the movie either. I had previously seen it, so it wasn’t completely lost since the whole thing was in German. Sleep came so easily that night.

Pfaueninsel Pictures

I found a Mexican place in the mall near school, so I went there 2 days in a row for food. It wasn't anything to brag about. In fact, they could use some real Mexicans in there to show them how it's done.

Mexican Day 1: Nachos

Mexican Day 2: Burrito

On the way to Pfaueninsel

A Rolls Royce!! Note: the steering wheel was on the passenger side :)

The shuttle to the other side.

Lustschloss

Huge immovable chess pieces. Of course, being a man, he had to try to lift them.

I got so excited to see a tree changing colors that I had to take a picture!

Yes, everyone poops! All the cows had horns.

Church

Miniature Horses

I really wanted to ride one!

Strange mirror contraption

This was weird....a temple type thing with trashcans of these gorgeous flowers.

These flowers....I don't know what they are called.

They were heavy!

Rather strange....they had all these concrete acorns under a tree.

 

What we came for :)

Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) (9.30.10)

It has become a routine that after German class on Thursdays Trevor & I find some new sight in Berlin. Well actually he tells me what he's doing and I invite myself along haha. Today was Peacock Island. It was occupied by King Fredrick Wilhelm II. True to its name, there are peacocks on the island.

To get there we had to take the S Bahn to the end of the line and then take a bus. Instead of waiting for the bus that goes all the way to Pfaueinsel, we got on the earlier bus and thus had to walk about 2500 m to get to the island. This is equivalent to about 1.5 miles. At least the walk was pretty! The entire path was through the forest. When we finally got to the end, we had to take a shuttle boat to the island. No kidding the shuttle boat went about 100 feet across the river. It was rather ridiculous how little distance there was.

King Fredrick Wilhelm II had many castles on the island. One was called the Lustschloss, summer palace. However, I like to think of it as love castle :P We stumbled upon another castle for his erotica. That is absolutely true...there was a sign. There were several little buildings on the island as well.

We stumbled upon cows too. It's rather strange because I don't think anyone lives on the island. And they were unlike any cows I've ever seen. We spent a few hours on the island. It is rather large and has several paths. There was a little hut that tons and tons of antlers in it. According to Trevor, they were pheasant antlers. I just took his word for it. It was kind of creepy...all those in there. We also found some miniature horses and sheep. They were all fenced in of course.

We were heading towards the exit, and we still hadn't seen any peacocks. I don't know why I was so sad about this. It's not like I've never seen one before. But then suddenly we saw them. It was like Christmas! We were in awe! They were so gorgeous. I guess it was after mating season, so they were a little scruffy and their tail feathers were mostly gone. But nonetheless they were still so pretty - brilliant shades of blue! We watched them and chased them for a while.

We left the island and began the walk back. Another 1.5 miles. I got my exercise today. That's for sure!! On the way home we stopped for ice cream. It has become a goal to find the best ice cream in Berlin. And believe me I have tried a lot of them. My host family thinks I am strange for eating ice cream so often. And especially when it's cold outside. They say it's just like Americans to want ice cream in the winter. Here most ice cream shops close in the fall. Last week we found a really amazing ice cream place, but when we went this week it was closed already. My host family had told me about a shop a little lady runs up the street from our house. So Trevor & I thought we try that this week. OMG!! It was the best ice cream you've ever tasted! No joke! I gained calories just from inhaling the smells in that shop! I wanted to say I wanted whatever was baking, but I didn't know how to say all that in comprehensible German. So I went with vanilla. I will definitely be frequenting that place!! YUM!!

Pictures!

Ampfelmann Gummies!!!

My new love: HARIBO!! Haribo macht Laura Froh!!

A section of the original Berlin Wall. Outside Potsdamer Platz they have a little memorial with explanations.

They have these plaques and bricks that run along where the wall used to be.

Just couldn't resist :)

The more wheels the better?

German Mail Carrier

Checkpoint Charlie

Front view of the electric car. (See photo below)

On the back of a truck

Deutsche Dom

Berliner Dom

Electric car from above photo. I have never seen an electric car before nor a place to plug it in right along the street.

Berliner Dom

I always strip off my clothes after a long bike ride. This was right in front of the Berliner Dom. From a distance I thought he was naked.

Inside the Berliner Dom

Fernsehturm

View from the top of the Berliner Dom

Aww, how sweet

Archeological dig site

Stairs to the top

In basement of the Berliner Dom

The Ampfelmann of the World!!