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| Döner Kebab - sooo good! |
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| Molecule Men |
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| Boat Tour |
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Reason I'm Here....School
Yesterday, Monday, was the first day of school. I had an interview to determine which level of German to place me in. It was quite overwhelming to realize how long it's been since I've spoke German. I tested into the equivalent of German 102. I am very happy with this! Hopefully, at least it won't be too hard then!
I went home for my 7 hour break, until my class at 4:30-7PM. The class was European Business Cultures. It was a very interesting class. The professor was so great! I was pleasantly surprised! We learned a ton of cool trivia about Europe - including what country drinks the most Coke, who has the highest murder rate, etc. At the beginning of class we went around the room and introduced ourselves. I was so surprised that nearly everyone in my class had a minimum of 2 other languages they knew besides English. There was one guy who knew 4 or 5. Crazy! There are some very smart people in my class!
It really sucks getting home at 8PM. Pretty much just enough time for supper, Facebook (of course), and bed.
Today was my first day of German class. We have lecture for 3 hours, 4 times a week. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. My German teacher is so sweet!! Even when I mess up horribly, she smiles and is encouraging. By the end of the semester I will have completed the equivalent of 2 semesters of German. Then this afternoon I had European Legal Traditions. This class was not quite what I was expecting. I guess I was expecting more of a business application, but that's ok. The instructor is working on his PhD at Hannover College.
Today we had bread, cheese, and spread for supper. I am getting so tired of bread. So I went to the grocery and bought yogurt, cereal bars, milk, and cereal. This first thing my host mother said when she saw my cereal was, "Oh goodness, all sugar!" Apparently I got a terribly unhealthy cereal. But at least it's something different than bread for breakfast!
Oh and I managed to make my host mom shriek in terror. I have a terrible habit of popping my knuckles and really every joint, including my toes, wrist, back, hip, etc. She thought I broke something. Now every time I pop my knuckles she shrieks. I think this might finally be enough to make me break this habit. I know you'll be happy to hear this Dad :)
After supper today, Thimo, my 13 year old host brother, interrogated me. He asked me if I like Obama or McCain and many other political questions. I, of course, don't know much about politics, so then he proceeded to ask if I want to save the Earth - ie if I'm green. He almost collapsed when I said I drive everywhere at home. And he learned about homosexuals today - so he asked me if I was one too. Then he wanted to know about my ideal guy. What I would do if my boyfriend were a terrorist, etc. He then proceeded to measure my height. When I tried to show him what inches were, he asked if that's what we measure animal shit in - inches. I started crying I was laughing so hard!! Oh all the fun times I apparently missed not having a younger brother!
I have become addicted to this X Factor show. It's like American Idol. They sing mostly American pop songs. Although I understand little of the judges feedback, it's comical to see my family's reactions.
Alas, tomorrow is the best day of the week - only German from 9-12. I need to figure out the wash machine. I've been using my one towel for a week now and my clothes are running thin. And here I thought I packed a lot.
Bis Morgen!
Laura
I went home for my 7 hour break, until my class at 4:30-7PM. The class was European Business Cultures. It was a very interesting class. The professor was so great! I was pleasantly surprised! We learned a ton of cool trivia about Europe - including what country drinks the most Coke, who has the highest murder rate, etc. At the beginning of class we went around the room and introduced ourselves. I was so surprised that nearly everyone in my class had a minimum of 2 other languages they knew besides English. There was one guy who knew 4 or 5. Crazy! There are some very smart people in my class!
It really sucks getting home at 8PM. Pretty much just enough time for supper, Facebook (of course), and bed.
Today was my first day of German class. We have lecture for 3 hours, 4 times a week. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. My German teacher is so sweet!! Even when I mess up horribly, she smiles and is encouraging. By the end of the semester I will have completed the equivalent of 2 semesters of German. Then this afternoon I had European Legal Traditions. This class was not quite what I was expecting. I guess I was expecting more of a business application, but that's ok. The instructor is working on his PhD at Hannover College.
Today we had bread, cheese, and spread for supper. I am getting so tired of bread. So I went to the grocery and bought yogurt, cereal bars, milk, and cereal. This first thing my host mother said when she saw my cereal was, "Oh goodness, all sugar!" Apparently I got a terribly unhealthy cereal. But at least it's something different than bread for breakfast!
Oh and I managed to make my host mom shriek in terror. I have a terrible habit of popping my knuckles and really every joint, including my toes, wrist, back, hip, etc. She thought I broke something. Now every time I pop my knuckles she shrieks. I think this might finally be enough to make me break this habit. I know you'll be happy to hear this Dad :)
After supper today, Thimo, my 13 year old host brother, interrogated me. He asked me if I like Obama or McCain and many other political questions. I, of course, don't know much about politics, so then he proceeded to ask if I want to save the Earth - ie if I'm green. He almost collapsed when I said I drive everywhere at home. And he learned about homosexuals today - so he asked me if I was one too. Then he wanted to know about my ideal guy. What I would do if my boyfriend were a terrorist, etc. He then proceeded to measure my height. When I tried to show him what inches were, he asked if that's what we measure animal shit in - inches. I started crying I was laughing so hard!! Oh all the fun times I apparently missed not having a younger brother!
I have become addicted to this X Factor show. It's like American Idol. They sing mostly American pop songs. Although I understand little of the judges feedback, it's comical to see my family's reactions.
Alas, tomorrow is the best day of the week - only German from 9-12. I need to figure out the wash machine. I've been using my one towel for a week now and my clothes are running thin. And here I thought I packed a lot.
Bis Morgen!
Laura
Monday, August 30, 2010
Random Thoughts
Because this really doesn't fit anywhere else:
- It is so strange to hear pop music over here! Everyone listens to it. As if it isn't overplayed in the US enough...haha!
- Dogs are so well trained here! They walk alongside their owner in the city! Along the busy streets! They stop at the crosswalks with them! Never straying! And they aren't on a lease! WHAT!! Craziness! This still surprises me!
- They need to clean up their dog poop! Apparently it's ok for the dog to poo on the sidewalk and not clean it up! I always have to watch the ground to make sure I don't step in any!
- They are super energy conserving! And super green! The first day my host mom told me what temperature they wash clothes on and how many spin cycles they use. And they don't have a dryer to conserve energy. Oh and recycling is huge here! Plastic bottles have a deposit and you have to bring them back to these machines to receive it back. It's a great idea I think.
- The water here is with gas, carbonated water. You have to ask for it without gas, still water. My host mom said, of course, you're like every other American and want still water. Yep, I do. So we buy me still water. Tap water apparently is a no no. The first night I got water out of the faucet, they stared at me like I was an alien.
- Their fridge is very small, but super packed full! Note: they don't wrap their leftovers in anything. They just set it in there. Oh and their freezer is super tiny too.
- I managed to appall my host parents the other morning. I was saying how our freezer is bigger. In fact, we have 2 deep freezes. They proceeded to ask why. So I explained that they are full of meat. Meat that we butchered ourselves. They were quite disgusted by this. And they said not to tell Thimo otherwise he might hate me. LOL! He has rabbits.
- Jen, this is for you. They said your dog is the kind of dog that old ladies have. :P HAA! So maybe you should leave him with Mom and Dad when you go to college.
- My host mom paints. She does amazing paintings! They remind me much of modern art! I will try to sneak some pictures of them. I secretly hope she gives me one. Haha!
Well now that I've gotten all that off my chest. Enjoy!!
Peace!
- It is so strange to hear pop music over here! Everyone listens to it. As if it isn't overplayed in the US enough...haha!
- Dogs are so well trained here! They walk alongside their owner in the city! Along the busy streets! They stop at the crosswalks with them! Never straying! And they aren't on a lease! WHAT!! Craziness! This still surprises me!
- They need to clean up their dog poop! Apparently it's ok for the dog to poo on the sidewalk and not clean it up! I always have to watch the ground to make sure I don't step in any!
- They are super energy conserving! And super green! The first day my host mom told me what temperature they wash clothes on and how many spin cycles they use. And they don't have a dryer to conserve energy. Oh and recycling is huge here! Plastic bottles have a deposit and you have to bring them back to these machines to receive it back. It's a great idea I think.
- The water here is with gas, carbonated water. You have to ask for it without gas, still water. My host mom said, of course, you're like every other American and want still water. Yep, I do. So we buy me still water. Tap water apparently is a no no. The first night I got water out of the faucet, they stared at me like I was an alien.
- Their fridge is very small, but super packed full! Note: they don't wrap their leftovers in anything. They just set it in there. Oh and their freezer is super tiny too.
- I managed to appall my host parents the other morning. I was saying how our freezer is bigger. In fact, we have 2 deep freezes. They proceeded to ask why. So I explained that they are full of meat. Meat that we butchered ourselves. They were quite disgusted by this. And they said not to tell Thimo otherwise he might hate me. LOL! He has rabbits.
- Jen, this is for you. They said your dog is the kind of dog that old ladies have. :P HAA! So maybe you should leave him with Mom and Dad when you go to college.
- My host mom paints. She does amazing paintings! They remind me much of modern art! I will try to sneak some pictures of them. I secretly hope she gives me one. Haha!
Well now that I've gotten all that off my chest. Enjoy!!
Peace!
Zu Fuss
And a short night it was. I was up Sunday morning at 7:30AM. We were meeting Dr. D at Brandenburger Tor. Fortunately I ran into Lisa at the S Bahn station, so I didn't have to go alone. Later at night and the weekends, not all the lines run and if they do, they run much farther apart. We got to the meeting place and no one from our class was there, no Dr. D either. Hmm, so we walked around. And finally another girl showed up, who told us it was at 9:30, not 9 as we thought. Epic Fail!! Darn, that would have been another half hour of sleep!
When everyone arrived, we got those super cool headsets so we could hear him on our tour. We saw a lot of neat things, including the US embassy. I took tons of pictures. I think I've taken close to 500 since I've been here, not even a week yet! The weather didn't cooperate with our tour again. It rained of course! This weather here is really starting to irk me!!! But I still enjoyed the tour. We finished around 1PM. We were exhausted from our late night still.
We found döner again. It was just as good this time. However, I can never finish one by myself! They are huge! After this, we all parted ways and went home. I couldn't help but take a nap. I was so exhausted. It was actually work to walk home from the train station. After I woke up, my host dad, brother, and I went to play billiards (pool). They said they had never played before. So when I said we had a pool table in the house, they said I'm a professional. Anyone who has ever played pool with me knows that is far from the case! I found out my host dad lied! He had these fancy behind the back moves! Incorrect! But nonetheless it was fun! Thimo and I were on a team. We ended up winning overall. Mostly because my host dad put the black ball in a couple of times haha.
My host family is so very nice and welcoming! I really enjoy living with them! I couldn't have asked for a better family!
When everyone arrived, we got those super cool headsets so we could hear him on our tour. We saw a lot of neat things, including the US embassy. I took tons of pictures. I think I've taken close to 500 since I've been here, not even a week yet! The weather didn't cooperate with our tour again. It rained of course! This weather here is really starting to irk me!!! But I still enjoyed the tour. We finished around 1PM. We were exhausted from our late night still.
We found döner again. It was just as good this time. However, I can never finish one by myself! They are huge! After this, we all parted ways and went home. I couldn't help but take a nap. I was so exhausted. It was actually work to walk home from the train station. After I woke up, my host dad, brother, and I went to play billiards (pool). They said they had never played before. So when I said we had a pool table in the house, they said I'm a professional. Anyone who has ever played pool with me knows that is far from the case! I found out my host dad lied! He had these fancy behind the back moves! Incorrect! But nonetheless it was fun! Thimo and I were on a team. We ended up winning overall. Mostly because my host dad put the black ball in a couple of times haha.
My host family is so very nice and welcoming! I really enjoy living with them! I couldn't have asked for a better family!
And the Adventure Begins:
Saturday morning I woke up and there was sunshine!!!!! I had to take advantage of this, so I went outside and proceeded to be that tourist that takes pictures of everything and anything (for you of course). I went to Kufurstendamm, the tourist street. They have these awesome crossing lights. Their "crossing people" are called Ampfelmann. They are very cute! I'm quite hoping they will invade the US haha. I will post a picture of this a bit later.
We (Lisa, Anna, and I) planned on going to the zoo. It looked cloudy by this time, but not too bad. We took the U-Bahn to the stop and walked up the stairs to find it is pouring rain....again! Ugh! So we adjusted our plans to take the train to a random stop and walk around exploring. We ended up at Galleria, a huge store! It has anything and everything you can think of. Kind of like a mall in itself. I bought a watch. Yes, finally, a watch! And surprisingly it didn't stop in the first few hours this time haha! I had a bit of trouble telling the lady which one I wanted. I kept saying the black one, and she thought I said the Swiss watch. Oh well, I ended up with my watch in the end. Anna bought a watch also and Lisa a scarf.
After this begun our trek for döner kabab. You are probably wondering what this is. The first time I ate it, I had no clue what it was - only that it was amazingly good and cheap. (See first day here) We searched and searched for it. Finally we found some! It was well worth the wait! It is shaved lamb meat. That's the simplest explanation - Google it for a better one :)
After all this walking around, I was so tired. I took a nap at Lisa's house before our next adventure. We were museum bound. Twice a year they have a long night of the museums. From 6PM until 2AM the museums are open. You buy a 10€ ticket for admission to all of them. A great deal! It was a struggle getting to our meeting spot, but we made it. We went in the Berliner Dom, a Lutheran church, DDR Museen, and Pergamon Museen. It was a long night, but very much fun!
We stumbled upon the end of this ritual by the museum. They had a 7 foot tall fake pig, and people in devil hats dance around the pig while drums beat. It looked very interesting! This spectacle drew tons of people, so it was hard to see what was going on. And then they opened the gates and everyone rushed in to participate. I'm not quite sure what it symbolized, but it seemed like a bunch of fun!
I got to bed around 3AM. Sunday was going to be a long day!
We (Lisa, Anna, and I) planned on going to the zoo. It looked cloudy by this time, but not too bad. We took the U-Bahn to the stop and walked up the stairs to find it is pouring rain....again! Ugh! So we adjusted our plans to take the train to a random stop and walk around exploring. We ended up at Galleria, a huge store! It has anything and everything you can think of. Kind of like a mall in itself. I bought a watch. Yes, finally, a watch! And surprisingly it didn't stop in the first few hours this time haha! I had a bit of trouble telling the lady which one I wanted. I kept saying the black one, and she thought I said the Swiss watch. Oh well, I ended up with my watch in the end. Anna bought a watch also and Lisa a scarf.
After this begun our trek for döner kabab. You are probably wondering what this is. The first time I ate it, I had no clue what it was - only that it was amazingly good and cheap. (See first day here) We searched and searched for it. Finally we found some! It was well worth the wait! It is shaved lamb meat. That's the simplest explanation - Google it for a better one :)
After all this walking around, I was so tired. I took a nap at Lisa's house before our next adventure. We were museum bound. Twice a year they have a long night of the museums. From 6PM until 2AM the museums are open. You buy a 10€ ticket for admission to all of them. A great deal! It was a struggle getting to our meeting spot, but we made it. We went in the Berliner Dom, a Lutheran church, DDR Museen, and Pergamon Museen. It was a long night, but very much fun!
We stumbled upon the end of this ritual by the museum. They had a 7 foot tall fake pig, and people in devil hats dance around the pig while drums beat. It looked very interesting! This spectacle drew tons of people, so it was hard to see what was going on. And then they opened the gates and everyone rushed in to participate. I'm not quite sure what it symbolized, but it seemed like a bunch of fun!
I got to bed around 3AM. Sunday was going to be a long day!
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