reunion in Berlin! (finally)

Ok finally getting around to blogging about my trip to Berlin to see Courtney! Sorry about the delay, I had a final and random things to do (and I just wasn’t in the mood lol) and then my family and aunt came! So I was busy showing them around Strasbourg, but that’ll come in the next post (along with our adventure to Italy in the huge 9 seater van we rented).

Anyways, I got into Berlin around 8pm on Tuesday after a tram ride, train ride and plane ride starting around 12:30. I met up with Courtney after some confusion regarding terminals (I was in the mini terminal and she was in the big terminal) but we spotted each other and ran to each other in slow-mo and embraced. Just kidding. But we did find each other and hug and laugh about our mix-up. Then we took a bus to the metro to go to her apartment. Along the way we stopped for durums from a stand called Mustafa’s. Lately I’ve sworn off of durums, doners and gyros because I read online about the health concerns surrounding them, and they made me want to upchuck whenever I thought about it, but I was able to put that aside and scarf down the durum because it looked like real meat and it smelled amazing. Then we went home and chilled.

On Wednesday, we got up because Courtney had class and I was going to chill at the Stanford center and wait for her. So we went there and on the way got apple cakes and coffee (they have coffee to go! Wonderful country already) Oh and I learned the word for apple: apfel! So yeah, we got to the Stanford center, she went to class, I watched gossip girl and glee and the hills and the city and had another cup of coffee, so by the end of Courtney’s class I was jittery and hyper and ready to explore Berlin!

From the center we went to the center of Berlin and saw where the wall used be by the bricks in the ground (running through streets, squares, parks, everything) and some pieces of the wall covered in graffiti art. We were tourists, so we took pictures of everything (well, ok I took pictures of EVERYthing and Court took cool pics lol). Then we saw a random motorcade, but we have no idea what it was for or who was being protected or escorted. Then we walked to the holocaust memorial, which was really interesting. It’s kind of hard to describe or explain, but it was like a block’s worth size area filled with rectangular blocks of different heights. They were arranged in rows and you could walk in between rows or columns (I’m butchering this description – I apologize, see my pics and use your special imagination). Plus, the ground wasn’t even, there were small hills and valleys so at points, the blocks would be 5 feet taller than me, and it was really cool actually. Courtney told me that a lot of German memorials, unlike French ones, are more abstract and open to interpretation, which I think is pretty cool because you can attach your own meaning and significance to things and interpret them differently.

From there we continued on our walk and saw the Handenburg Gate, which is the really old gate going into Berlin (Berlin used to be part of Handenburg, unless I’m mistaken… feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) and the US Embassy was right by there too. Then close by was a big important Berlin building (I don’t actually remember what it was, but it was big and huge and cool looking and said something about the German people on top) and next door was the Prime Minister’s office (would not want to be her right now, seems like everyone in the EU is mad at everyone else). Then I was getting hungry so we decided to run through the bahnhof (train station) to check about going to the airport from there and then get lunch. The bahnhof was huge! It was like 5 floors and basically contained a mall. There were lots of stores and lots of food places, both fast food and real restaurants. We got my ticket and then got on the bahn and went to find a Middle Eastern restaurant where Courtney had eaten with a friend once. It was kind of hard to find again but we found it and got the sample plate thing for 8 euro. It was for 2 people and it’s a good thing we were both starving because it was absolutely HUGE. We got two plates of food, one with 3 types of salad, hummus, fried cheese, falafel and other veggies and the other with potato wedges, meat, and some other stuff and we got pitas and tea! I felt about 200 pounds when we finally left lol, but it was definitely worth the 4 euro each.

After that we went to the East Side Gallery, which is a display of the Berlin wall that’s been covered over with paintings and graffiti (but decorative, not gang related). It’s also in actual spot as the Berlin wall was, they didn’t move it, just painted it and made it into an art display. We took probably 100 pictures there (ok, maybe not but a lot) and I really enjoyed just meandering around the paintings and Courtney would explain some of the poems or phrases on them- lots of things of or relating to freedom, strength, perseverance, etc. some of them were really interesting, some were moving, some were creepy, some were uplifting, there was something of everything. There were some pieces of the wall that were left blank (not sure if it was on purpose or not) but people had taken sharpies or other markers and left their mark on the wall too. Some people left really cool statements (as opposed to something like Mary Smith was here! 2/9/09 or something like that), like one in my pictures I can’t remember exactly what it said but it was along the lines of live life: party hard, laugh often, love freely, don’t give up, conquer life. It was better than that though ☺

Then I was crashing because I didn’t sleep well that night and I needed a nap lol so we headed home and picked up some dinner things on the way (spinach, goat cheese, pears and apples – we wanted something light for dinner after our gigantic lunch). Then I napped and Court did her homework, we ate dinner and got ready to go out. We met up with Courtney’s friend Bianca and went to a cub (I don’t know what the name of it was though). And it was really fun! There were two dance floors, one with more techno/europop and the other with American hip-hop and rap. We would dance for a little bit on one, get bored of it or decide we wanted to escape a guy or something and the go to the other one. We ended up dancing until 430 am, when the bahn starts running again (otherwise we’d have to take a cab home) and in the process, I met a guy from Boulder, CO and Courtney met a few pro basketball players. No big deal haha.

Then we went home and crashed! Court went to class and I just kept sleeping till around 1pm, when I finally got up, showered, had nutella for bfast etc. Then Court got home and we went to Alexanderplatz with the intentions of finishing our cultural tour. We were both still pretty tired from the night before, though, so we got to Alexanderplatz and walked around and it was really cool around there, then we went to the mall to get some food and obviously, getting food turned into going shopping haha. We both got a few things (including coffee from Starbucks, I’ve never appreciated a frappacino to go so much). After that we went home and munched on various things (carrots, apples, cheese, nutella, etc) for dinner since we were full from lunch again. We watched some recent episodes of the Hills and then promptly crashed.

On Thursday, we got up and I went with Courtney to the center again while she had class. We got apple cake and coffee again and I made quick work of her pretzels lol. After her class we again attempted to finish the tour (this time with more success). We got to Alexanderplatz and then went walking and got some food and coffee at Dunkin Donuts (so euro, I know haha, but it was sooo good, my first bagel in 5 months) and walked to a fountain to eat and chat. We saw the communist TV tower and a pretty church, walked through the tourist area, got called beautiful and sexy by creepy men selling souvenirs (wonder if I could’ve gotten a discount…) and walked to the book burning square. Oh and a guy tried to court me with a leaf (I mean, come on, I’m worth at least a flower lol). We took pics by the communist statues and the river and the book burning square and the churches and the chocolate store. The story of the churches was pretty cool – there’s a Protestant and a Catholic church in the same square (also by an opera house) facing each other and the Protestants built the Catholic church and vice versa (apparently as a show of peaceful coexistence). The chocolate store was amazing also – they had like 4 counters full of truffles! I got two little ones: one with almond crème and one that was Irish coffee and they were both soooo good! I honestly don’t remember what we did that night for dinner, but we didn’t go out.

Friday was my last day in Berlin and we just kind of chilled for most of it, ran some errands and did a little more shopping before going home and getting ready to go out again. We met up with Courtney’s friends who were going to a concert (Bootie in Berlin- it would’ve been awesome to go because I love the type of music they do – it’s all mashups and remixes- but I had an 8 am flight the next day and the concert didn’t start till 12 and my friends in Stras and I had plans for our “last night” in Strasbourg because people we leaving and we wanted one last night of going out together so we decided to meet them for drinks before but not go to the concert). So we were in East Berlin and the feel was so cool because it was so different from West Berlin. Honestly, if I knew German better (read: at all) I think I’d like Germany better than France. Not that I didn’t fall in love with aspects of the French culture, people and place, but Germany is both familiar and foreign I think. It’s much more like the US in the attitude about working and the people look more American to me (probably because Germans were one of the main groups of immigrants in the US and the French weren’t).


anyways, Saturday I left and was back in France and then soon I'll have to blog about my family coming to Strasbourg and our trip to Italia! bises!

surreal

This whole experience has been so surreal. At various times throughout my semester abroad, I've found myself looking around and thinking to myself, "Who am I? This is not real life. This is not real." But it was, and it is, and it's almost all the past tense, was. That is freaking me out right now.

Last night I had a great night out with my friends. Some of us went to dinner to an Alsatian restaurant my friend Anna loves (she set up the dinner as a last-night-dinner-going-away type thing) and then we went out together afterwards. The dinner was amazing and so much fun and the food was amazing (the french just have a way with their ducks... I haven't had a bad duck in France lol) but the setting was bittersweet. Most of us were in the midst of exams, but some were done, some were leaving and some had already left. Anyways, after dinner, we ended up meeting at Rafiot, a boat club. It was alright, but it was so packed it was hard to move and was more like being in a mosh pit than a dance club. So we didn't stay very long. I left with Anna to walk her home and hang out for a little bit while she packed the rest of her things to leave this morning (she left at 8 this morning). We talked about our experiences and how we've changed and how we're both excited but also nervous to go home. Because we've changed. Our friends have changed. Our families have probably changed. Things won't be exactly the same when we get home, but we're not sure how they'll be different. But even more than that, last night it hit me that I've made friends here, friends that don't go to BC, friends that I may never see again. And while Anna goes to school at Princeton, which isn't far from Boston and totally do-able by car or train, she and I may never be in the same city again. We want to visit each other at school and it would be so fun to see each other's lives in the US, but last night was when it started sinking in that I'm leaving this place and when I come back, my experience will be completely different. I won't be a student (probably) and most of the people I've met here probably won't be here (with exceptions of course). All these conflicting thoughts also make it harder to study, which is a major problem because I have my last and most terrifying exam on Saturday.

Oh well. As they say, "you don't remember the tests you took, but you do remember the nights you didn't study." And I only have a few of those nights left... I guess I'm also a little curious to see if others notice that I've changed. Because I know I have, but I'm not sure if those inward changes will manifest themselves outwardly. I think I kind of hope so. Because I like how I've changed, I think I've grown in a good way. I've learned to take chances, have confidence, read a map, get myself home at 3 am, interact with people I don't understand, downplay my "american-ness," like beer, pick a good wine, survive in foreign countries, eat mushrooms and onions and try to eat ground meat (didn't take).

In conclusion, I am definitely making it back to Strasbourg and Europe, I've left too many place unexplored and there's too many things on my European to-do list that are still undone. Some might have to wait till I make my millions, but they will happen one day and I feel so grateful that I was able to have this experience. It wasn't real life, it was a storybook life, with all the ups and downs in a story (but a little lack of climax... unless you count my adventures as many mini climaxes) and all the necessary characters and settings: castles, princesses, best friends, great food, memories to last a lifetime (maybe longer) and all those philosophical things like growth, self-realization, etc. I guess there was a lack of a white knight slaying a dragon and rescuing me, but hey, who needs boys, right? I'll save myself and ride off into the sunset on my own white horse (or easyjet airplane) ;)

bises, love to all~

ps. I will eventually post Berlin update, I have it written down, I just haven't been in the mood lately.

update

back in strasbourg after visiting Courtney in Berlin!

Coming attractions:
1. update on Berlin
2. pics from Berlin

Things that have to happen first:
1. nap
2. laundry
3. handwash laundry

Other things going on:
1. LAST final next sat
2. Family comes next sat!
3. Joanie comes next Sunday!
4. leaving for Switzerland and Italy next Monday
5. returning to the US in 22 days!!

alright, will post more after i sleep and get some coffee or something...

Bitte, Danke, das ist gut: learning German!

Well, its been awhile, sorry about that, I had an exam on Wednesday and I've had a headache basically since then. But now its getting better :) so, I figured I should take advantage of my procrastination and do something useful: BLOG! haha so I went to Heidelberg with my friend Anna from Princeton on Saturday and it was awesome! We started the day nice and early (at 6:30 - UGH) so we could catch a cab at 7:20 to get to Kehl (just over the border in Germany) for our 8:04 train ride to Offenburg, where we switch, take a train to Karlsruhe, switch again and then go to Heidelberg. It wasn't bad tho, the connections were easy, all the trains were on time so it wasn't hard or stressful.

So, yeah, we got to Heidelberg and went to the tourism office for free maps and help. They told us to take the tram to Bismarkplatz and then walk along Hauptstraße, which is the main walking street in Heidelberg with lots of shops and restaurants and cafés and stuff like that. It was really cute. We meandered around there and then stopped for a cup of coffee and a pastry at a café. We ran into the Ritter house, the oldest house in Budapest and the heiliggeistkirche, the church (= kirche) while wandering. Then we headed to the castle (schloss in German), up a really steep path to a castle that's partially in ruins and partially still put together. It was really cool and had great views of Heidelberg. The gardens were also really cool because you could wander around and poke around the ruins.

After that we went to the student prison and the Heidelberg university museum. The student prison was really funny because it was like 5 rooms and it was used from the 1700s until 1914 because the students were outside legal jurisdiction, so there was a university prison keeper person who distributed justice to students for crimes like pig chasing, drunken debauchery and causing ruckus in the streets. It was also a right of passage for the students to get put in prison, if they didn't get arrested at least once at school, they were known as losers lol. The other cool part was that the whole inside of the prison was graffiti-ed, with lots of self-portraits from the students and the dates they were there, and of course various other drawings. The museum of the Heidelberg university was in the same building so we went through that, but it was less interesting (especially since it was all in German and I speak approximated 12 words of German), so we just sped through it.

From there we went on a search for weinerschnitzel and eventually found it at a place where Anna could get jagerschnitzel. So we both got our schnitzels and spaetzle - I love spaetzle lol its a type of egg noodle, but it doesn't really look like a noodle... it looks kind of like... well, this: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfZRHfIp2dl1kEhWr4zQ8ajWE34rG-Lk3OfKae2kM085qed_13x64plyMff9zg44WWudukrkiyWo_98Xy6mmKdZN849WQGp7K1t9qyASKbFBKAr38ytW-Pt7DsUqICf49RTJPN7Qxrkiz/s400/spaetzle.jpg lunch was delicious, I'm a fan of weinerschnitzel lol. We finished our lunch and then from there we decided to go explore philosopher's way, which is a path on the other side of the river that's supposed to have great views.

So we paid, left the restaurant and headed towards the bridge. We crossed the bridge and then had to climb this really windy path up to the philosopher's path. It did have really nice views though! And then we decided to look for these ruins I read about in my book. We found the first of them, after hiking (legit hiking while I was in converse and jeans and Anna was in leggings and boots without traction lol) for like 2 hours. We found the ruins of an 11th century benedictine monastery. The watchtower was still in really good shape, I'm not sure if it had been redone or not, but we could get in it and climb to the top! so we took lots of pics there :) and the monastery was cool too, but it was definitely "ruins" all the walls had caved in and there was only one doorway left, but you could still tell what was what, we could see the alter, so we could make out the church. There were other rooms that I'm assuming were where the monks lived and cooked and studied. It was really cool. We wanted to keep going and find the 9th century basilica and the thing the Nazis built, but it was getting later and we didn't want to get stuck on the mountain at night. So, we decided to just head down and get celebratory beers.

We got down, and found a café where we got our beers and they were good, although I expected Germany to have good beer :) but it did really impress me on the gastronomy front. Anyways, it started getting chilly and we were getting a little short on time, so we went to go find a place for dinner. Anna wanted to get a certain dessert, I forget what its called, but its like a pancake cut up with powdered sugar, cinnamon and applesauce. We found a place that had it, so she got that and a salad for dinner and I got goulash and a salad. It was exactly what I wanted too, lately I've been craving soup and salad combos (probably because they don't do that here haha and I miss both soup and salad, so when they come together its heaven!)

So yeah, we had dinner, and then decided to walk back to Bismarkplatz to get the tram to go to the train station for our 9:45 train. We had a few connections again, Heidelberg --> Mannheim --> Offenburg --> Strasbourg. We ended up getting to Stras around 12 and took a cab home. Oh home sweet home after a day of exploring :) But a GREAT day of exploring! Heidelberg: check! :D

Now, off to see Courtney in Berlin for a few days! Maybe I'll learn a few more German words!

Gutentag! <3

PS. Calendar check: leaving today for Berlin, getting back Saturday. A week of "studying," my las econ final and my family comes (!!!) next sat (5/29), Joanie comes the next day (5/30), a week and a half of traveling in Switzerland and Italy, then HOME on 6/13. CANNOT BELIEVE IT. It's gone so fast and its almost over! And I'm SO excited to see my family and SO excited to get home, but I

Ma Famille!

This is my french family - sorry it took me 5 months to get a pic (I'm awkward asking for pictures, and they asked for a pic with me so it was really easy) Anyways, from left to right: Jean-Michel, Raphaël, Marie-Claude, Nicolas, me!

ps. Heidelberg pics and update coming... hopefully soon... and then BERLIN WITH COURTNEY!!! :)

Printemps

Pics from Strasbourg in the springtime are up on both facebook and photobucket :) enjoy!

Also, I'm going to Heidelberg tomorrow! Update to follow (obvi)

*bises~

lists.

I love lists.

Reasons I love lists:
- everything can have its own list
- it helps keep me organized
- I love checking things off my lists (yep, got those groceries, finished that hw, went for a run, etc.)
- there is something so calming about making lists
- I love compartmentalizing everything (probably has to do with the organization thing)
- its one of my "things" - I'm known for my OCD lists (thanks, Mom, got it from you), and so its a fixture in my life (and since I'm a creature of habit, I like fixtures in my life)

[reasons I love] Strasbourg in the spring:
- all the flowers bloomed at the same time, so the city was a riot of color all at once
- now the flowers are falling, but they haven't all fallen yet, so there's green mixed with the colors
- I don't have to wear my down parka anymore
- I even went out in a dress without a coat!
- I'm so close to the end here and I'm realizing and appreciating the things I'm going to miss
+ the pace, as inconvenient as it is that things close from 12-2 every day, its kind of nice that people take time off of work to eat, talk, come home, relax, etc.
+ fresh french bread. 'nuff said.
+ wine being cheaper than water
+ my host family
+ the clubs and how guys actually dance here (although dancing like a french person is difficult and not that fun)
+ the cheese
+ riding my bike
+ speaking French everywhere (almost)
+ TRAVELING
+ drinking age: 18

- Then again, there are things that I really won't miss:
+ people looking at me and knowing that I'm American
+ the stereotypes associated with American girls
+ the inefficiency with everything

- And then there are the things that I just can't get here that I am so excited for when I get home:
+ baby carrots
+ japanese rice
+ spicy salsa
+ my car
+ gyms
+ the mountains
+ the radio
+ TV in English
+ everyone speaking my language
+ my blackberry
+ Walmart
+ seeing my family and friends!
+ whole grain bread
+ Herbal Essences

- And then, there are the things I've learned or how I've changed:
+ I can more objectively view each culture (I think)
+ I can appreciate aspects of each culture and I think I'm getting at comparing them without saying one is better than the other, they're just different
+ my French has gotten a lot better
+ I'm much more confident in foreign places
+ I don't mind doing my own thing
+ I can also adapt to go with the flow of what others want (I hope)
+ I'm more aware of a lot of things (like cultural differences, people around me and how they act towards me, etc)
+ With every new place I live in, aka Boston and France, I realize that I could live there (France would take a lot more getting used to), but home to me is Colorado. I could come to love a lot of places, but the place I feel most myself and most at home always seems to be Colorado, and it took leaving to realize that. Not that I regret leaving for school or for France at all, I'm glad I did, because I think I've learned a lot about myself the past few months, and tons over the past three years. That's a whole other list that I do not need nor want to get into.

Groceries I need to buy:
- apples
- crackers
- dark chocolate
- carrots

just looked at my calendar. My family comes in 4 weeks from yesterday, I leave for the US in 6 weeks from today, I'll be a senior in 4 months, and it's May. When did April end? Where has the past 4 months gone?

ps. pics from springtime here will go up soon :)