I dont fully understand the meaning of the word 'lassen'. i dont think it translates very well to english. but the phrase means 'let me sleep'. i think lassen is similar to 'to let', but not exactly.
Its strange to think that i have 3 more weeks of class and then one more week with the fam. It seems like nothing. but at the same time, time is going by so slowly. idk. there is so much i still want to do. i dont think 3 months was enough. i mean, i know a lot about the city, but i dont really KNOW the city. i dont know the ins and outs and secret awesome places. i mean, in truth i barely go over to the west side at all. and i dont go that far north usually, so i really only know 3 small neighborhoods out of 12, and i dont even know them that well. but im working on getting to know the whole of berlin better.
this weekend was a long one. there was some random holiday on monday, so we didnt have class. it was called pfifertag or something like that. people tried to explain it but i really dont have any clue as to what it was about. anyways, on friday it was this kid Doug's 25th birthday. he was in my class, but his last day was on wednesday, so by friday he wasnt in my class i guess. anyways, a bunch of us went out to celebrate. he german girlfriend came all the way from ....i forget, some other german city, and his old roommate from when he first came to berlin. then there were 5 of us from class- Me, Ted from California, Dominic from Australia, Joon Soo and Sonik from South Korea (i felt kinda bad cause we pretty much only spoke english, and Sonik's english isnt all that great, but he seemed okay). it was a lot of fun. we met at this bar called 'White Trash' which is an american bar in Prenzlauerberg. it was fun. we stole someone's reservation for a few hours cause we didnt have our own, and drank beer and ate chips. Doug's girlfriend Anna was awesome. us being the only girls, we clicked right away. around ten or so, we ended up outside and a little bored, so we headed to the Carnival der Kultur that just happened to be happening all weekend. It was HUGE. there were whole streets blocked off, one for africa, one for europe, south america,...i didnt see an asia street, but there were american and asian restaurants and kiosks all over the place. there were thousands of kiosks and food stalls and thousands of people. we lost Dominic for an hour or so, but met up with Ted's girlfriend and her friend. we drank more beer and ate amazing food. i had sudanese falafel with peanutsausce. it was yum yum yummy. at around midnight, i was quite tired and had to get up early the next day, so i said goodnight.
saturday morning i woke up obscenely early, and dragged myself to the Hauptbahnhoff to meet up with the group to go on a trip to Schwerin. Sondi went to, and her boyfriend was visiting, so he was there as well. i forget his name, but he was very nice. there was also Floren, a french boy from my class, and a bunch of others i didnt know. I met a nice girl Maya who is an au pair from cambodia (i think), Maria from Spain, some guy with a complicated french name i cant pronounce or even attempt to spell from France, and a guy whose name i forgot too, but he's from Finland. He was nice as well. there were a few others too, but these are the ones i talked to most. the train ride was 2.5 hours, and as it was a long weekend, the train was packed. we all got separated and i was very lucky to find a seat for the whole trip. unfortunately, the teacher, Peter told half of us to get off at the wrong stop, but luckily we were able to walk the rest of the way and meet up with the others pretty quickly. we took a boat ride (Schwerin has 7 lakes) and saw buildings that were made out of mud in the 'Shelfstadt' its called Shelfstadt cause the houses are made by building sort of shelves for the walls and filling them in with mud. we went in a Church, and oh my god we went up about a million tiny stairs to the top of a very HIGH tower. for those of you who dont know, i am not a fan of heights. and im not such a big fan of stairs either. i always think im gonna trip and fall- which i have done several times and it really hurts, so i think the fear is justified. but this tower- the stairs were soooo tiny and soooo thin and they were spiral, so my right foot barely had anything to step on. i was gripping to the iron handle (not really a handly, just a spoke for the stairs or something and it was only on the right side, there wasnt enough room on the left) which was old and falling apart in my hand. by the time i reached the top my hand was black with junk from that handle. anyways, there were thousands of stairs, and then a few more. we passed the bell room and went higher to a room above the bells with a wood floor that you could see through the cracks. btw, by this point i was hyperventalating just a little bit and only walking on the areas with the wood and the beams underneath so i couldnt see below my fee. we were led through a tiny door to a little path around the tower with windows so we could look out. it was a beautiful sight (a bit clowdy, but what can you do) everywhere you looked there was a lake. i was beginning to feel better- this section was made of very secure feeling brick and there were bars on the windows, so the height wasnt too bad. but then we had to go down.
mom- do you remember when we went to that family camp with alan and barbara and hayat instead of to barton cove for the weekend? i climbed up the tall climbing structure really fairly quickly (and if i may say so myself) a little impressively :) but then freaked out and couldnt get down? down is the even harder part. yuck.
going down from the tower, i was shaking and on the verge of tears. it took me about an hour to stop shaking. i was sweating too, which was not fun and making me cold as it was windy and getting ready to rain. but i survived.
after that fearful episode, we had lunch at a very nice place. i had the one vegetarian option- gnocci. which was actually very good. there were more vegetables than gnocci, and the tomato sauce was yummy. i chatted with sondi, her boyfriend, and the Finland guy over lunch. it was a mixture of english, german, and spanish (did i mention that sondi's boyfriend is mexican and working in spain now? he speaks english but no german). crazily enough, the finnish guy spoke all 3 languages. i was proud of myself that i could understand the general meaning of the spanish part of the conversation. :) during lunch it started to rain. we finished and waited under an overpass for a bit (the rain wasnt sooo bad). some guys came up to us and said they were selling tiny bottles of booze to raise money for one of their weddings. a few of us bought the 1 euro bottles of something.
when the rain died down a bit, we walked to the Schloß- the Palace. it was breathtaking. it had gold accents and a very impressive statue of some old guy nikolat, the last slavic ruler of schwerin or something before the germans came. we went through the museum of rooms inside. the rooms were gorgeous. the architecture and decorating and everything, i mean wow. the gardens were a sight as well. there were lilacs in groves and a huge ass massive tree, a really big weaping willow as well, right on the edge of the lake. there was a terrace, and the center was open and below was a patio with a fountain and tons of other flowers. there was a bridge across a small stream filled with ducks and two swans. it was totally a cliche palace and i loved it. we saw the bride and her friends (from the guy before selling drinks) and she was also selling drinks. some of us bought some more. then we walked to the other gardens of the palace. there was another huge statue of some guys, and the pathway was covered with overhanging vines. after that, we headed home. i slept on the train for a while, and later sondi and her boyfriend joined me in my 4pack of seats, and we played cards the rest of the way home.
sunday i slept late, and then headed out for lunch at the carnival der Kultur. it was sooo big. they were setting up for a parade near my street to last about 5 subway stops. so as i walked to the Ubahn (a few stops away cause i wanted to check everything out) i saw tons of stalls setting up. it was fun. i ended up walking almost the entire way to the carnival, and had lunch and walked up and down the streets looking at the stalls. i didnt buy anything, but it was fun to look. I spent several hours there, and then headed home for some homework and studying.
monday i tried really hard to be productive. i went out for a short walk, but as it was a holiday, nothing was open and no one was around. then i had an idea- i went up to Unter den Linden, the most touristy place in Berlin. i knew that such a small holiday couldnt keep this place closed. the tourists wouldnt understand and they would loose a lot of business. i was right. there was a little party goin on, and it was busy as ever. i went in and out of stores, picking up some trinkets and gifts for friends. i found the coolest book- its called jugendsprache 2010. that means slang. it has german slang translated into english, spanish, french, and italien. i know how to say 'my old man' in all those languages! (oh they also have british!)
today was class, and we learned about the word lassen. kinda confusing, but whatever. i think i could use it in a sentence. so i guess i get it enough. anyways, i should probably eat some dinner and do my homework now.
tschüs (bye)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Meine Wochenende
My weekend:
On saturday there was a school field trip to leipzig. It wasnt mandatory, but it was only 15 euros for the train ticket, and we went to two museums, and had a tour so it was a pretty good deal. I went with my friend Sondi, and convinced our classmate Ted to go as well. The train ride was 3 hours long each way. we sat in a foursome with another guy Matin. we played card games and I spy in german, and also the 'who am i' game- where everyone writes the name of someone famous on a piece of paper and gives it to someone else. everyone sees everyone else's name, but you dont know who you are and you ask yes or no questions to figure out who you are, like i was Einstein, but i didnt know so i would ask 'am i a man?' and they would say yes. then i would ask 'am i alive?' and they would say no. stuff like that- so we played that a few times, then went on a tour of leipzig's altstadt (old town) which is only 1km x 1km.
the first museum we went to was a modern art museum which i could have spent all day in, but sadly we only had an hour. it was a little painful at times to go so quickly through the rooms, but what can you do? we had coffee at one of the oldest coffee houses in Europe, saw statues of Goethe (he was a student here) and Bach (he was a cantor at one of the churches). there are tons of little passageways, and a famous ratskeller (a pub) where someone (i forget who) got in a fight with his students and a magic guy turned him into a bird and he flew away before they got into trouble.
the second museum was mostly about the ddr years. it was really cool it had film clips and voice clips, pictures, ads, newspapers, books, a set up of what a east side appartment would look like, all sorts of stuff. it was really cool.
then we made our way home, another 3 hours on the train playing games- it was a great time. but i was wiped by the time i got home and passed out.
Sunday:
happy mothers day! and my 19th birthday! i went for a walk around Neukolln had some lunch, talked to the family who were at Dianne and Peter's house for a bit. then i went out for a nice birthday dinner with my friend Sondi. we walked around and then i went home and talked to my best friend Julia over skype. overall a pretty good day.
Monday:
today was a rainy sleepy day. My teacher is on vacation in france so we have a sub for the whole week. she is not such a bad teacher, but i really like my other teacher better. so does everyone else i think. this new teacher talkes a bit in english which is kinda weird for us because about 80% of the class is korean....so why english? it doesnt make sense. she should speak in german. and we spent about 20 minutes writing these dialogues with partners, but we never ended up presenting them...so we dont really know if we were correct, or if we could understand what other groups were doing...so it was kinda weird. but idk. it could be worse.
On saturday there was a school field trip to leipzig. It wasnt mandatory, but it was only 15 euros for the train ticket, and we went to two museums, and had a tour so it was a pretty good deal. I went with my friend Sondi, and convinced our classmate Ted to go as well. The train ride was 3 hours long each way. we sat in a foursome with another guy Matin. we played card games and I spy in german, and also the 'who am i' game- where everyone writes the name of someone famous on a piece of paper and gives it to someone else. everyone sees everyone else's name, but you dont know who you are and you ask yes or no questions to figure out who you are, like i was Einstein, but i didnt know so i would ask 'am i a man?' and they would say yes. then i would ask 'am i alive?' and they would say no. stuff like that- so we played that a few times, then went on a tour of leipzig's altstadt (old town) which is only 1km x 1km.
the first museum we went to was a modern art museum which i could have spent all day in, but sadly we only had an hour. it was a little painful at times to go so quickly through the rooms, but what can you do? we had coffee at one of the oldest coffee houses in Europe, saw statues of Goethe (he was a student here) and Bach (he was a cantor at one of the churches). there are tons of little passageways, and a famous ratskeller (a pub) where someone (i forget who) got in a fight with his students and a magic guy turned him into a bird and he flew away before they got into trouble.
the second museum was mostly about the ddr years. it was really cool it had film clips and voice clips, pictures, ads, newspapers, books, a set up of what a east side appartment would look like, all sorts of stuff. it was really cool.
then we made our way home, another 3 hours on the train playing games- it was a great time. but i was wiped by the time i got home and passed out.
Sunday:
happy mothers day! and my 19th birthday! i went for a walk around Neukolln had some lunch, talked to the family who were at Dianne and Peter's house for a bit. then i went out for a nice birthday dinner with my friend Sondi. we walked around and then i went home and talked to my best friend Julia over skype. overall a pretty good day.
Monday:
today was a rainy sleepy day. My teacher is on vacation in france so we have a sub for the whole week. she is not such a bad teacher, but i really like my other teacher better. so does everyone else i think. this new teacher talkes a bit in english which is kinda weird for us because about 80% of the class is korean....so why english? it doesnt make sense. she should speak in german. and we spent about 20 minutes writing these dialogues with partners, but we never ended up presenting them...so we dont really know if we were correct, or if we could understand what other groups were doing...so it was kinda weird. but idk. it could be worse.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wir sind Helden
well i remembered that there is this band a girl in my class loved called Wir sind Helden (We are Heros). and i got their cd, and they are quite good. so now i can listen to german music and further improve my understanding of the language.
This weekend was erste mai- the first of may, which i think is the european version of labor day? anyways its a big holiday where everyone takes off work. i met up with my french friend from my class in front of the Brandenburg Tor, and there was a HUGE festival. the whole street was shut down. there were food stalls, and booths for this organization or that one. there was a stage with very loud bands playing, but i did hear 'blowin in the wind' so it was okay. we walked around the Tiergarten for a while and just hung out, discussing the dificulties of learning languages and how much grammar sucks- especially in french. she told me about these websites where you can meet up with 'tandem partners'. tandem partners are people who speak the language you want to learn, and they want to learn the language you speak. i went on some of the websites and met a lot of people who want to meet up and have coffee and practice their english and help me with my german. :) im really excited. not only will i have a chance to practice my german, i will also get to know more people who live here.
after i met up with my friend (oh her name is Sondie btw), i went to Aunt Deborah and Uncle Harrold's appartment in Kreuzberg. it was great to see them, and i got a real home cooked meal, which was great cause im kinda eating all my food groups seperately these days- cereal, fruit, and tomatoes plain, strangely enough. its actually quite good. anyways, after dinner, we went to a play at the berlin english theater. it was Sam Shepard's Burried Child. It was kinda a freaky play about this really disfunctional family. it reminded us a little bit of August: Osage County, but i think everything got resolved at the end of that play. here it was sorta just- everyone is crazy and the cycle doesnt end. it was very stange- gave me a lot to think about.
other than that, i have almost grasped the concept of the konjunktiv II case in class, but can not for the life of me figure out when an adjective needs to be in nominativ or akkusativ or whatever we are trying to do. when it is den or der, when it is eines blaues Tshirt or when it is das blaue Tshirt. i just dont get it. someone should tell LES to focus more on grammar in school. we might know how to speak well (actually most people use good instead of well, so i guess not soo great) but we dont understand the rules behind it, and it makes it hard to learn other languages if we dont even know our own. well thats my little rant on languages in the education system.
next weekend is my birthday, yay 19. i am contemplating going to Leipzig with the school, there is a trip on saturday. its a few hours away and a full day excursion, and i have to pay 15 euros, and it is all in german which i am not sure if my understanding level is quite that good, but at the same time, it would be good to do group activities, and my friend Sondie is going, and i could meet other kids at the school, and its good to go exploring...so i dont know.
i miss everyone!
This weekend was erste mai- the first of may, which i think is the european version of labor day? anyways its a big holiday where everyone takes off work. i met up with my french friend from my class in front of the Brandenburg Tor, and there was a HUGE festival. the whole street was shut down. there were food stalls, and booths for this organization or that one. there was a stage with very loud bands playing, but i did hear 'blowin in the wind' so it was okay. we walked around the Tiergarten for a while and just hung out, discussing the dificulties of learning languages and how much grammar sucks- especially in french. she told me about these websites where you can meet up with 'tandem partners'. tandem partners are people who speak the language you want to learn, and they want to learn the language you speak. i went on some of the websites and met a lot of people who want to meet up and have coffee and practice their english and help me with my german. :) im really excited. not only will i have a chance to practice my german, i will also get to know more people who live here.
after i met up with my friend (oh her name is Sondie btw), i went to Aunt Deborah and Uncle Harrold's appartment in Kreuzberg. it was great to see them, and i got a real home cooked meal, which was great cause im kinda eating all my food groups seperately these days- cereal, fruit, and tomatoes plain, strangely enough. its actually quite good. anyways, after dinner, we went to a play at the berlin english theater. it was Sam Shepard's Burried Child. It was kinda a freaky play about this really disfunctional family. it reminded us a little bit of August: Osage County, but i think everything got resolved at the end of that play. here it was sorta just- everyone is crazy and the cycle doesnt end. it was very stange- gave me a lot to think about.
other than that, i have almost grasped the concept of the konjunktiv II case in class, but can not for the life of me figure out when an adjective needs to be in nominativ or akkusativ or whatever we are trying to do. when it is den or der, when it is eines blaues Tshirt or when it is das blaue Tshirt. i just dont get it. someone should tell LES to focus more on grammar in school. we might know how to speak well (actually most people use good instead of well, so i guess not soo great) but we dont understand the rules behind it, and it makes it hard to learn other languages if we dont even know our own. well thats my little rant on languages in the education system.
next weekend is my birthday, yay 19. i am contemplating going to Leipzig with the school, there is a trip on saturday. its a few hours away and a full day excursion, and i have to pay 15 euros, and it is all in german which i am not sure if my understanding level is quite that good, but at the same time, it would be good to do group activities, and my friend Sondie is going, and i could meet other kids at the school, and its good to go exploring...so i dont know.
i miss everyone!
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