Thursday, January 22, 2009
Captian's Log #8 Stardate 6741
So, I believe I said my next entry would refer to movies in Germany. Since that was many months ago, I'll save it for after my next excursion to the Theater. . .or when I don't have anything else to write about.
To do a quick rundown of the past couple of months:
Hanging out with my wonderful American buddies, drinking lots of tea at cafes, and reading near constantly for classes.
For Winterbreak, Noah came and visited from the 22 of December until the 6th of January, which in retrospect was quite a long time, especially with both of our money situations (ie, no travelling). But, I am super glad he came, and it was really, really nice to have a good friend here for the Holidays. For Christmas we lunched with people still in Freiburg on my program, went on a lovely walk around the Lakepark (it was warm enough to!), and then skyped Ms. Valerie.
For Silvester (or New Years), we hopped down a floor to party in Brianna's WG, and then pilled onto the Straßenbahn (street car) to head out to the Schloßberg (Castle Mountain- Its more of a really big hill . . .). The Straßenbahn was packed, and every time it stopped I was in danger of falling into a guy's lap. He was cool about it though, so it was okay. We exit and start walking towards, then up, the hill, and all around us are drunk Germans lighting off fireworks. Fireworks are only sold for about four days before New Years, and you don't need a liscence. They're just on the end of sticks and you're suppose to point them upwards. In our climb we lost around half the people, and in the end it was six of up at the highest point in the area. At midnight everyone lite even more fireworks and they were super cool in the dense fog that night. One of my favorite moments in Germany so far, I think, was standing on that table at Midnight with all the fireworks.
I also went hiking in the Schwarzwald for the first time during that break, and headed up to the Schauinsland with a cable car. It was beautiful up there, and since it was a clear day you could see the Alps!
Brianna was an absolute doll, and invited Noah and I to join her on a whirlwind adventure to Köln (Cologne). We went via Schönes Wochenende, which is a super cheap pass for up to 5 people for regional trains only, which meant the trip took about 7.5 hours and about 5 or 6 train switching. Köln was beautiful though, especially its Dom (which is the biggest gothic catherdal in Germany!).
After break I headed immediately into a series of presentations: one of the 9th, one on the 17th, and one on the 20th. They all went. . . okay, and all I have to do now are my final papers (three 10 pagers, due March 2nd, and one 5 pager, due February 11th).
And then the 16th until the 19th was my class exkusion to Berlin! The train ride took 6 hours, but it was direct so we didn't have to transfer (which was good because we settled in pretty quick). Most of the time up was spent working on my Presentation with my two other group mates, and sleeping.
Where I went in Berin: Bertold Brecht's House, The graveyard next door, the Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, Brandenburger Tor, The Bundestag (their government building), a City Tour (Hitler's Bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Christa Wolf's House, etc), The Stasi Musuem, the Jewish Musuem, and The East Side Gallery (a section of the wall with its graffiti in tact). I also went to a British Short Film Festival, whose audience was the usual pretencious looking film students who try hard to look super edgy. The films were fun, though, and I had a really good time. We also went as a group to see the play Wir Negativen (Us negative) by Kurt Tucholsky. It was written during the Weimar Republik (the time betweent the world wars in Germany), and was intended to be performed at a Cabaret. This meant some of pieces were songs, and I've always enjoyed musical theater; therefore, it was a good time.
I loooved Berlin, and I really want to go back when I don't have to be up around 8PM every morning, the Sun doesn't set at 5PM, and my feet don't freeze because the heat from them melting the ice just enough so that the cold water soaks up into my boots (which might mean I need new boots. . .). And while its not ideal to visit a city on a schedule with 35 other people, and it was very much a throw-back to high school trips (the rooms were gender-seperate), it was still fun.
Also, I discovered that teachers are people too. The second night we were all in the hostel bar, and our two teachers came down and had a drink with us, and our History teacher proves to be the man. I've never hung out with a teacher on such a social level before, and while it was a little odd at first, it was a lot of fun.
An amusing story about Berlin, and i'll wrap it up:
At the Stasi Museum, the tour went on for a long time, and it was one of those "Switch a room, listen for 20 minutes, switch a room , listen for 30 minutes" type of tours, and while some parts were interesting (such as the room with the collection of spy cameras, and a few of her personal stories), over all it was just waaaaay to much talking with all of us tired, plus it was in German. So, by the end of the tour there was only around 10 of us. The rest had been "using the bathroom" or looking at the exhibits by themselves. Most had tried to leave, only to discover they'd been locked in. Perfectly appropriate, I think, to be locked in the Stasi Musuem. As a result, two of the kids ended up jumping out a second story bathroom window to freedom. Our theater teacher, who had also been playing hooky, found this to be one of the funniest things she'd seen.
I wish I had ditched as well.
A lot more has happened since November, and in Berlin, but to keep this short I'll end it here, and try to do a more weekly or bi-weekly update schedule.
To do a quick rundown of the past couple of months:
Hanging out with my wonderful American buddies, drinking lots of tea at cafes, and reading near constantly for classes.
For Winterbreak, Noah came and visited from the 22 of December until the 6th of January, which in retrospect was quite a long time, especially with both of our money situations (ie, no travelling). But, I am super glad he came, and it was really, really nice to have a good friend here for the Holidays. For Christmas we lunched with people still in Freiburg on my program, went on a lovely walk around the Lakepark (it was warm enough to!), and then skyped Ms. Valerie.
For Silvester (or New Years), we hopped down a floor to party in Brianna's WG, and then pilled onto the Straßenbahn (street car) to head out to the Schloßberg (Castle Mountain- Its more of a really big hill . . .). The Straßenbahn was packed, and every time it stopped I was in danger of falling into a guy's lap. He was cool about it though, so it was okay. We exit and start walking towards, then up, the hill, and all around us are drunk Germans lighting off fireworks. Fireworks are only sold for about four days before New Years, and you don't need a liscence. They're just on the end of sticks and you're suppose to point them upwards. In our climb we lost around half the people, and in the end it was six of up at the highest point in the area. At midnight everyone lite even more fireworks and they were super cool in the dense fog that night. One of my favorite moments in Germany so far, I think, was standing on that table at Midnight with all the fireworks.
I also went hiking in the Schwarzwald for the first time during that break, and headed up to the Schauinsland with a cable car. It was beautiful up there, and since it was a clear day you could see the Alps!
Brianna was an absolute doll, and invited Noah and I to join her on a whirlwind adventure to Köln (Cologne). We went via Schönes Wochenende, which is a super cheap pass for up to 5 people for regional trains only, which meant the trip took about 7.5 hours and about 5 or 6 train switching. Köln was beautiful though, especially its Dom (which is the biggest gothic catherdal in Germany!).
After break I headed immediately into a series of presentations: one of the 9th, one on the 17th, and one on the 20th. They all went. . . okay, and all I have to do now are my final papers (three 10 pagers, due March 2nd, and one 5 pager, due February 11th).
And then the 16th until the 19th was my class exkusion to Berlin! The train ride took 6 hours, but it was direct so we didn't have to transfer (which was good because we settled in pretty quick). Most of the time up was spent working on my Presentation with my two other group mates, and sleeping.
Where I went in Berin: Bertold Brecht's House, The graveyard next door, the Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe, Brandenburger Tor, The Bundestag (their government building), a City Tour (Hitler's Bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Christa Wolf's House, etc), The Stasi Musuem, the Jewish Musuem, and The East Side Gallery (a section of the wall with its graffiti in tact). I also went to a British Short Film Festival, whose audience was the usual pretencious looking film students who try hard to look super edgy. The films were fun, though, and I had a really good time. We also went as a group to see the play Wir Negativen (Us negative) by Kurt Tucholsky. It was written during the Weimar Republik (the time betweent the world wars in Germany), and was intended to be performed at a Cabaret. This meant some of pieces were songs, and I've always enjoyed musical theater; therefore, it was a good time.
I loooved Berlin, and I really want to go back when I don't have to be up around 8PM every morning, the Sun doesn't set at 5PM, and my feet don't freeze because the heat from them melting the ice just enough so that the cold water soaks up into my boots (which might mean I need new boots. . .). And while its not ideal to visit a city on a schedule with 35 other people, and it was very much a throw-back to high school trips (the rooms were gender-seperate), it was still fun.
Also, I discovered that teachers are people too. The second night we were all in the hostel bar, and our two teachers came down and had a drink with us, and our History teacher proves to be the man. I've never hung out with a teacher on such a social level before, and while it was a little odd at first, it was a lot of fun.
An amusing story about Berlin, and i'll wrap it up:
At the Stasi Museum, the tour went on for a long time, and it was one of those "Switch a room, listen for 20 minutes, switch a room , listen for 30 minutes" type of tours, and while some parts were interesting (such as the room with the collection of spy cameras, and a few of her personal stories), over all it was just waaaaay to much talking with all of us tired, plus it was in German. So, by the end of the tour there was only around 10 of us. The rest had been "using the bathroom" or looking at the exhibits by themselves. Most had tried to leave, only to discover they'd been locked in. Perfectly appropriate, I think, to be locked in the Stasi Musuem. As a result, two of the kids ended up jumping out a second story bathroom window to freedom. Our theater teacher, who had also been playing hooky, found this to be one of the funniest things she'd seen.
I wish I had ditched as well.
A lot more has happened since November, and in Berlin, but to keep this short I'll end it here, and try to do a more weekly or bi-weekly update schedule.
9:49 AM
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