Thursday, April 29, 2010

the life of a donut

the life of a donut is not that exciting. hence the lack of blogging. truth be told, not much happens. every week day i go to school, i learn some german, and then i leave after 3 hours. then it varries a little. i sometimes walk around the greater Unter den Linden area (its a major street that leads to Brandenburg Tor- very touristy, but it goes all the way to museum insel and the lustig garten) the lustig garden, or pleasure garden, is a green park place thing in front of a big church, and a museum, and stuff like that. tons of people flock there on beautiful days. so i go there a lot and lay out on the grass. sometimes i nap, sometimes i study. sometimes i do both at the same time, using the osmosis version of studying aka using an open book as a pillow and hoping the knowledge will sink into my skin.

this past weekend i was a bit sick, with a minor cold, but i felt like death itself for a good portion of 4 days. im pretty much better now, with only an occasional stuffy nose and sometimes a coughing attack of flehm. but no worries.

there is a new girl in my class. her name is sondie from france. she is very nice and doing the exact same thing that i am, but in france the gap year is 3 years into college. shes fresh off the boat, so this weekend we are thinking of going sightseeing. its good, cause i have been rather slacking on the sightseeing scene. although i am getting to know the neighborhood above mine. neukolln is not the most exciting neighborhood ever to live in, but right above it is kreuzberg, where all the young people live, and there are tons of cafes and bookshops and stuff. its nice.

so thats about it. school, life, cafes, possible new friends. alles gut. aber es ist das Leben.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sorry Hannah, all i got is: Bremen


i went to Bremen after class on Freitag. i didnt reserve a seat (it costs extra and im cheep) so i got stuck with the floor. yuck. but finally i got to Bremen, and followed the extremely easy directions to The Grand Hostel Bremen. it was 15 euros per nice and about 100x better than any i went to in Israel. of course, those were 15 shekels per night, which is probably like 8x less, so i guess it works out. for some reason, i got it in my head that i needed to get up at the crack of dawn on saturday to go to the cemetary and all that fun stuff. so i tried to have an early night. i had dinner at Casablanca (how could i pass that up?) i got a pizza which the waiter said was small but was like twice the size of me. it was HUGE and i sadly said goodbye to most of it. it was REALLY good. there were pictures from casablanca (the movie) all over the restaurant. it was nice. then i made my way back to the hostel and listened to My Sister's Keeper on my ipod (heartbreaking x 10) then some crazy guy from Dubai came and started talking to me about his life for HOURS he read my palm and said all sorts of weird things. finally i got to sleep and woke up at 7 the next morning. turns out i was about 3 blocks from the cemetery and i found it no problem. I didnt really think about the fact that it was Saturday. shabat. the cemetary was locked. so i went to the altstadt. i walked around Marketplatz, and the surrounding little streets. the shops were still closed but there on the side streets across from Marketplatz there was a pretty good farmer's market opening up. i got breakfast, and the best coffee i've had here yet i made my way along, past the beautiful old buildings (Bremen was not really hit too bad during WWII so there are some nicely preserved architecture. i made my way along to the river bank of the Weser and discovered a flee market of sorts. tons of people sell any junk they can find and people were actually LOOKING at stuff. like one man sold tons of old remotes. there was tons of ceramic and porclain stuffs, old kiddie toys, books, ugly clothes, shoes (some only had 1) all kinds of stuff. it was all junk but i couldnt seem to stop looking either, in search of a diamond in the rough. actually, i found it. for 50 cents, i got Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (Mother courage and her children) a play by Brecht, for those of you who dont know. Its in german, and im gonna try to read it. its not too long. then i walked and found St. Petri's Kirche (st. peter's church) and a pretty little garden in there too. i kept wandering around. they were auctioning off cars and stuff in the little farmer's market which was turning into a little shook of sorts. they played a bunch of music (all knock offs of american 60s and 70s bands. it was kinda weird to here vietnam songs in bremen, im not gonna lie). i decided for lack of a better idea, to head back towards the hostel where i had seen some shops and other stuff to look at, but the sun was shining and i passed a park that pulled me in. the path was lined with pansies and it led to the water and then along it. i found a little place with benches and asian art all around and a cherry tree or something that looks like a cherry tree. then i kept going and found a huge old school windmill that was turned into a restaurant. there was a huge pattern of pansies there, and grass which i passed out on for hours. i finally walked on until i ended up back at the Bahnhof (train station) and turned back to go to the hostel. i made it back there around 730 after getting only a tinsy winsy bit lost. i dropped off some stuff, and headed out again for food. i went to my first biergarten, which was a little intense for me i must say. there was a loud band playing classics that drunk people could sing along too. there was an accordion. the waiters wore liederhosen. it was loud and everyone was drunk, even the old grandmas who almost tripped on their way out. everyone was with a huge group and i was all alone, so it was a little intimidating. after that, i went to an irish pub and tried there, but i was pretty tired by this time. so i went back to the hostel and passed out. sunday (today) i went to the cemetary again. Zayde never told me it was a jewish cemetary. but it didnt surprise me that it was. no big deal. what was more of a big deal, was it was pretty much only russian. i could not for the life of me find Chaja Sara's grave. i was wandering around, even asked some old man who just shook his head. finally, a very nice old man came up to me and babbled in russian.

btw, this is the like the millionth time i have wished i spoke russian. i think its the next language i need to know. its quite a popular language in the world.

anyways, he (his name was antonov) took me into the little room that had the records and a map of the cemetary, and enlisted the help of another russian old man. together they deciphered what i had coppied down from zayde's email to me about the grave. we found chaja sarah in the records, and looked for where she would be on the map and then went to that spot. she was not there. finally, i found her. her grave was covered with mossy stuff and you could barely make out the inscription. antonov showed me how to clean the grave and we put 6 rocks on her headstone (for each of the points in the magen david) then with one of the rocks (they were white and chalky) we went over the inscriptions to make it easier to read.

after the friedhof (cemetary), i made my way down to the bahnhof and sad on the green infront of it and had some lunch before taking the trains back to berlin. this time i got a seat on both trains.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight....

so not much has happened here. sorta made one friend, but shes not the socialble type, her german and knowledge of berlin is not great, and shes been here for 4 months! how does that happen? she also hasnt made any friends yet, which worries me a little. i hope im not like that. i want friends here to go exploring with and whatnot.


so far, i have done most of my exploring alone. i went back to brandenburg gate, saw some really cool street performing, walked down unter den linden past homboldt university, to museuminsle. (museum island). it was a nice day, so i lay on the green like the rest of berlin. there were hundreds of people there, tons of kids running through the fountains and stuff. it was nice.

i've been kinda struggling in my class, but im not sure if its just cause its too hard for me, of if im just getting adjusted. we're starting a new level of german tomorrow: level a2. i hope i can do it. we'll see. i have been doing this online program called livemocha. basically you can learn a language for free. its not the best, but it helps. it teaches you a few words and a few things (depending on the lesson) i started at the beginning, so i learned stuff like 'Er ist ein Mann' (he is a man) and then you review it, like the computer will say something and you have to click on the corresponding picture, or it will say something in english and you have to translate and pick the words on the screen to put it into a sentence. then there is a writing section, where it asks you to write about stuff you learned in that lesson, and you submit it and native speakers of that language correct it. there is also a speaking section where you read a little blurb they wrote and record it on the computer and submit it and people correct you on your pronunciation and stuff. of course, to do this i have to correct other people's english which is kinda annoying sometimes, but its okay i guess.

friday's class we went to the Deutsch Geschichte Museum (German History Museum) for an hour or so. I spent most of the time in the XX exhibition. it is a photo exhibition from the 20th century. it was interesting. after that, our teacher Sabine took us to this chocolate cafe. the school paid for drinks and we had to buy our own food. it was sooo good but sooooo rich. they were tiny and i couldnt finish them.


next weekend im planning on going to Bremen. i found a train, and a hostel. i just need to contact them and all that fun stuff.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

maybe its not my weekend, but its gonna be my year

yesterday was monday. or should i say gestern var montag. i must say it is easier to go back and forth between english and german when typing on a computer than it is going between english and hebrew. but i do miss learning hebrew.

so back to gestern (yesterday). i decided it would be best if i found out where my school is so im not wandering around like an idiot and being late for my first day. i wanted to get an early start, but it was raining and cold so i decided to watch history boys first. then i headed out to conquer the u-bahn und s-bahn system. i was a little affraid, but it turned out to be not so difficult. the most confusing part is there is not blockade where you have to swipe or show your ticket. you just get on (i hope). i asked the woman who i bought my monthly pass from (72 euros!) and she said just get on. but her english was not very good, so i hope im not wrong. on the u-bahn (i'm live by the U7 train) two guys came around and asked to see our cards. one woman couldnt find hers, and they wrote stuff down. i dont know what. but that was the only time i've had to show my card. i just get on and off the trains. (WEIRD THING #1)

i found Die Neue Schule; its really easy to get there from my appartment. after that, i decided to go find the Holocaust Memorial. woot for me i took the u-bahn and the s-bahn and figured out how to get to Potzdamer Platz. then i made my way and stumbled upon the holocaust memorial. it really is just in the middle of it all. there is a dunkin donuts right across the street and a bunch of stores. it was weird it being just a normal part of the street. i must say, it was kinda underwhelming. then i went under into their museum of sorts. i didnt rent a headset that explained a bunch of stuff, but i read all of it. some stuff was written in hebrew and i was very proud of myself for figuring out what it said. other than that, it wasnt very...idk. it didnt hold my interest the way museums or holocaust memorials usually do. it was just sorta like 'this is what happened. next.' very straight forward and without a lot of feeling. there were large rooms with very little in them and small rooms that were overcrowded.

after emerging from the underground holocaust museum, i made my way past the US embassy (with rainbow stars on the wall :)) and wound up at the Brandenburger Tor (gate) and Pariser Platz. it was BIG and that is an understatement. there were tons of people and most of them tourists. I decided it was time to leave as it was starting to rain a little, and made my way back past the bicycles with horse heads (WEIRD THING #2) and back home where i finally met Babsy (the woman I'm staying with). i dont think she speaks english very well. she didnt say much and i was very friendly. i havent seen her since then, but lars (her husband) is very nice. he always says hi to me, and asks what i did, and how my day was.

today i got up at 730 (ugh) and made my way to school. i got to the office and tried to pay my fee on my debit card which, of course, didnt work. but dont worry, daddy fixed everything. so i will pay tomorrow. anyways. my first class was...interesting. i got there mad early, so i just sorta sat there. the teacher is really nice. 1/2 the class is korean and in some orchestra here. idk exactly, they dont really speak english. its hard to understand their german cause they have a korean accent. there are 3 other americans, one is older and very good her name is kat and i havent really talked to her yet so i dont really know her story. another one, maddy graduated college and came here 6 months ago. the third went to college in framingham, Ma. she didnt like it so she came here and lives with her parents who moved here 3 years ago. only me and some other guy are new in the class. its weird. at least at yagur we all started at the same time and in the same place. we had a quiz about germany, and no one did very well but i didnt really matter cause its not a graded class or anything so its pretty lax. we did work out of our books which was fun cause i didnt have a book. we were in groups so i shared with my group partners who were both, of course, korean. we had to make sentences which were half made in the book, and make it work so the answer was in a little box on top of the book. this meant we had to know who/what those things were. for instance,
was ist ein fuhgliner Osterreich? (what is an Austrian airline?) and the answer would be Austian Airlines. which was in a box. but there were things and people i'd never heard of, and i could read the korean's handwriting, so i was pretty lost. but i wrote a few down, and i tried to talk to the koreans. i really did.
we learned other stuff i already knew, so i felt pretty good about that. my teacher told me not to buy a book cause we are starting a new one next week, it would be a waste of time. she photocopied some sheets out of the book for me.

after school i went and found an atm, then went to get some food. last time i went i was soo tired that i could barely function. i was still tired today, but it was much better. i actually got food. of course, i discovered a very important thing after i paid for all my food: they dont give you bags (WEIRD THING #3). i had my school bag, which had a bunch of stuff in it. i had to empty out my notebooks and stuff and fill it with cheese and tomatoes and eggs and milk, and carry my books and all this other stuff. I went back to the apartment to unload and talk to dad so he could fix my tuition problem (which of course he did) and passed out for several hours. then i went back out into the streets of Neukolln and wandered around for a bit, had coffee and read at an outside cafe until i got too cold, and headed home.

now i'd best do my hausafgaben.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

21 guns lay down your ams, give up the fight

i still havent met barbara aka babsy. i had some jet lag sleeping issues last night, but not too bad. i passed out around 4ish and woke up at 2am, read until around 430 then went back to sleep until 1030. so not so bad and i think im pretty good now. i didnt manage to get out until about 1, and i decided to go exploring a little bit. i cant believe i didnt think to bring my camera, but i was thinking i would find a nice place and read for a while and come back.

here is where american country girl meets the BIG german city. i walked until i found a bench in the center of a cobblestone neighborhood it was sooo cute and family friendly. it was really nice. i read for a bit then decided to walk up the block and go home. haha. i left the bench at 2:45 wound up at a really cool park called treptow i think, which is a memorial for russian soldiers in ww2. there were these two men and a beutiful weimeraner taking pictures. one man hoisted the poor pup onto a HUGE statue and the other took a picture. the dog was kinda scared, but it was really cute and they got him down and continued on. there was a massive statue of this german soldier stepping on a crushed swastica, laying down his sword, and comforting a child in his arms. the trees stopped around his ankles he was that big. after that, i walked around until i found a sighn that said neukolln (the district where i now live) was 'that' way. i had walked all the way out of neukolln! so i trudged 'that' way and finally made it to my street. then i got to my appartment, and tried to open the door. it took me like 20 minutes to figure out that stupid lock, but i finally did. i got back around 530 so i walked for almost 3 hours! and an hour or so before i started reading. im exhausted now.

babsy and lars left me a huge chocolate bunny for easter. i havent seen them all day but it was very sweet of them.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

the stars lean down to kiss you, and i lie awake and miss you. pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

i made it here alive. i am at the moment in my new bed (which is fantasticly large and comfy asside from the huge pillows that are about 100 times too soft, but ill get used to them) it is almost 2am and im awake. so much for trying to beat jet lag. i didnt sleep like at all on the first flight, it was kinda bumpy and freaked me out. but i did distract myself with 2 great movies that were on my list to see: the blind side and the princess and the frog :)

i didnt have many issues with traveling asside from the part where i left my ipod im momma's car and went through security then had to borrow strange people's phones to call her and have her come back to give it to me and go through security again. sorry emah! but it was necessary to have an ipod while travelling. my second flight was only like 2 hours and i passed out like nobody's business. when i got out, i found a taxi and went to barbara and lars's appartment. they were expecting me tomorrow. oh well. the internet costs 20 euros per month but its wireless and i have it, so thats good. i havent met barbara yet.


lars made me go out (to get food cause everything will be closed tomorrow and monday due to easter) and to not fall asleep due to jet lag. so i went out to the grocery store and everything was like meat, bread, or weird german food. i bought some cheese (dont know which kind) some kiwis and some apples and some diet coke. they didnt give me a bag so i went to put it in my fridge at home and couldnt unlock the door. fml so i went and found a small park and read my book until i was about to pass out then went back and tried again. no luck. so i went and got some coffee and read at a cafe in the mall where it was a little warmer, until i fell asleep again, and went back to the appartment and tried again. no luck. i sat on the steps until lars came back about 5 minutes later thank goodness and used my key to let me in. i just suck with keys. i blame mom and dad.

so so much for the getting over jet lag. i couldnt help it and i passed out at like 330. and now its 2 and im awake. darn. oh well.