29 June 2011

Unterricht this morning was okay. Spent the earlier part of the afternoon in bed, feeling exhausted and a little bit sick.

Went to the Havana Club, learned how to dance salsa- I'm not very good at it yet, but I figure practice wouldn't hurt.

Speaking of practice, I'm starting to bring out my viola, to relatively pleasant responses.

I'm learning things in class here- I'm not the best student, but I think that some progress is better than none.

June 27 - Currently @ GLS

Program so far seems reasonable- like Goethe, actually.

Morning is classes (wake up at 8 AM, breakfast until 9, then classes).

After lunch, we have afternoons off and/or doing the afternoon program.

Should be okay.

June 26

Farewell dinner today. Seems sad that everyone's going, but the folks that are in the states are people I'll see next year.

I'm still going to be in Berlin until the 20th of august, so I'll do my best to keep visiting the locals.

Going to GLS tomorrow, should be fine.

The after-party was informative. Alaska and Ervin and Adkins have elucidated more of the local social structure.

25 June 2011

Took time off today. Went to the park in the evening after shopping during the afternoon. I still haven't found any good-looking postcards. Perhaps later.

Exchange is over tomorrow-ish. Will be headed to GLS program after everyone else gets to the airport, I guess.

Pictures are currently being uploaded to Picasa- when the uploads are complete, a hotlink to the page/album(s) will be posted.

24 June 2011

I've decided to just scrap the possibility of the date-counting scheme. Maybe after I've finished logging all this.

Today was absolutely awesome. Went to Kletterwald disati [ Link ] and got to demonstrate my confidence while far above the ground as well as teach other people to be confident in themselves.

Ate lunch with the group, ended up hanging out on a beach, where I proceeded to dirty up my pair of old, denim-like Converse All-Stars, and followed up by getting them soaked with water. Altogether a terrible sequence of events that could have been avoided, if I had the foresight to bring sandals. Live and learn, I suppose.

I've gotten some decent pictures, but I'll start uploading them later. I'll definitely put the ones that I've taken (and if possible, the ones that others have taken) on picasa or this blog or somewhere that it is freely accessible and easy to work with.

23 June 2011 (retroactive)

written on the 24th

I ended up falling asleep before I could write this one up.

Went shopping, got myself a fantastic deal on some basic clothing- super-comfortable shirts for about 5 euro, as well as a pair of 10 euro jeans (normally 25), and a pair of shoes (5 euro, normally 15) to replace my current boat shoes which have bitten the dust.

Later, we went to a karaoke bar, and I sang some Elvis Presley (Jailhouse Rock, which is by far my best), as well as Journey (Don't Stop Believing, with Jack and John - a bit out-of-tune, because I'm the only one in the group who can fake pitch-matching).

If I can find an instrumental and practice it a bit, I might even upload it to soundcloud or something. Better yet, I could learn to play it on the piano and sing along- like Lady Gaga or Sara Bareilles, I guess.

on a side note:

To clarify for readers (current and/or after this blog is no longer updating regularly):

When I said I found the museums to be uninteresting, I was referring to the fact that I hadn't gotten anything new out of visiting these new displays or installations or monuments. I've been to several such places in Texas and New York, too- it seems to me that the gist of all of these holocaust memorials is that:

- The holocaust was a bad thing.

I do not mean to discount a tragedy- but I don't get as much of an impact as I would expect others to get when they first hear about the holocaust. It's become less of a poignant experience and more of a brow-beating event.

I just sound like a terrible person.

22 June 2011

Went and visited a few holocaust museums today. Altogether not particularly interesting, but the garden of exile and the actual garden at the Jewish Museum of Berlin were an aesthetically pleasant experience.

Took a nap in the afternoon, woke up to some rain. Played chess (and got beaten again), had dinner, and will go to bed shortly.

Day ? + 4

technically being posted on day ? + 5, but whatevs.

Woke up today, toured two palaces (sansouci and cecilienhof). Relatively boring, in my opinion- I would have preferred to visit castles or instead stroll around the palace gardens. Those were schoen.

Afterwards, stopped by the house to grab something to drink, and then went around town via metro to listen to free music. It was an excellent Fete de la Musique, which is an international music festival celebrating the making of music.

Otherwise an uneventful day. Tomorrow/today, we'll be visiting a holocaust museum, I think.

Day ? + 3: Actual

Today was pretty much awesome. Presentation went well, and it continued to be super-rainy.

Forgot my umbrella on the way to the concert, but it ended up being okay.

Got to hear Arctic Monkeys, the music was excellent. The opening band was likewise good.

Turns out that mosh pits aren't always terrible, but from what I gather, the pit was tame because Arctic Monkeys isn't really moshing music- whatever that means.

I do not regret going even one bit, but I wish this tinnitus would clear up by the time I wake up tomorrow.

Should be heading out to Pottsdam, if I recall correctly. Afterwards, we're headed to the local music festival, where alles ist kostenlos. Supposedly like SXSW, but multicultural and 100% free-of-charge.

Day ? + 2: (Retroactive)

Stayed indoors for most of the morning. Nothing specific went down today, it was just really rainy.

I had my umbrella, though, so it was mostly okay. Spent our time inside a starbucks, stopped at a vintage store.

Nothing else of note, really.

Didn't go swimming/hot-tubbing due to weather.

Day ? + 1:

slept in today.

woke up at about 14.00 local time, went to a party at about 21.00.

Party was a major let-down, nothing but bad rap music played over worse speakers.

Pilsner was nicht so gut and the champagne was even worse. ugh.

went via train around a bunch, ended up being really cold. Should've kept bringing my coat(s) with me.

Stayed at a Mc(Donalds)Cafe from about 1.00 to 4.00, I stayed awake to keep watch over the rest of the group who (mostly) passed out. Ended up getting kicked out by the shift-change manager.

Ended up staying awake until about 5.00, because we couldn't determine whether or not it was worth trying to go home or if we should go stay at a hostel for the morning. Whatevs.

Gonna go to sleep for awhile, then go to a swimming pool / hot tub. Should be pretty good.

day whatever, seventeenth of june

I goofed on logging, and everything's all borked.

Returned from Dresden today, gifted the host family's eldest son.

Gonna give the remaining gifts to the family over the course of the next week.

Spent this evening at a rooftop beach-bar (similar to Yaam, sans copious number of terribly conspicuous drug dealers).

Went to the mauerpark for a bit before returning home.

Day 8:

Dresden, part 2

went sightseeing today. visited the frauenkirche, which is beautiful on the outside, and dull on the inside. Architectural design is excellent, and the building probably carries sound excellently.

Tried an eiskaffee for the first time in awhile, discovered that I'm still not that fond of coffee.

Had doener pizza- somehow, spaghetti, cheese, and shaved lamb is a delicious combination of topping that is probably impossible to find in america.

Went on a scavenger hunt, getting into 90% awkward conversations with folks on the streets- turns out that Dresden is a pretty happening town, with ~500k inhabitants and its own local dialect and slang.

Turns out that Dresden has good live music, too- a drum circle of sorts (there was a guitar, too) was playing in the park and was doing so quite well.

Tomorrow promises more sightseeing and more hanging-out. I personally prefer the latter over the former, but whatevs.

Day 7:

Didn't log today, doing too much.

Going out to Dresden tomorrow. (retroactive typing)

Had a german burger, tasted okay.

Visited a coffee shop that gave me the idea I posted about on the main blog.

Day 6

Today started kinda boring, then became exciting.

Woke up late (about noon local time), met up with friends at someone's house.

Went to another doner shop, got more potentially ECEH-laced food. I'm still feeling fine.

Stopped by the sunday flea market, picked up what I am pretty sure is a knock-off zippo and an old-school camera (with no film).

Here's a picture of the current contents of my pockets:

from left to right, top to bottom: Gel pen, wallet, new lighter, folding knife, chapstick, old-ass candybar cellphone, and 2.50 in Euro.

We were hanging out in a park but were chased out by what I think were [ http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maikäfer ].

Relatively uneventful, insofar as days go. Got myself a red keffiyeh, too. The sunday market has loads of great bargains (including sehr preiswert fruit juices).


Also related: the clubs here play just as much terrible music as those in the states.

Day 5:

So I neglected to mention something about yesterday (it totally slipped my mind!):

We went to this huge festival-concert-thing, saw a band playing some Beatles and other rock ballads, and watched an absolutely beautiful fireworks show.

It's inspired me to draw something, but I'm not quite sure what it is yet.

Today was a bit crazy.

Started the day off by waking up a bit late. Ate breakfast with the family, went and picked up a friend from the train station. Proceeded to another friend's house (who answered the door after the doorbell had woken him up). Went shopping for a bit, had some more doner. Stopped by a vintage shop, got myself a corduroy blazer that fits excellently for only 20 euro!

Also got a pair of jeans from H&M, because my other pairs haven't dried yet.

It's been raining a lot recently, and the umbrella doesn't help much when I try to share and we attempt to fit 5 heads under one umbrella. I'll see if I can buy or borrow another one for tomorrow (although the forecast says we'll be fine).

Ended up getting home late because I had to walk a few people home that had a little too much to drink.

Worth noting: the cheaper a beverage is, the worse it will be (for the most part, anyway).

Bis spaeter.

Day 4:

Turns out that I made three presentations (the same subject, just to three different groups).

I'm learning my way around the metro system- it's actually quite straightforward and it can get you pretty much everywhere.

I have also learned that I should have brought better walking shoes. The pavement is often ever-so-slightly uneven, and this is somehow throwing off what my feet are used to.

Today was total geil- I sampled some doner kebab, which was absolutely delicious. Totally worth the possible ECEH exposure, in my opinion. I also mastered the trick behind opening a bottle with pretty much anything- it involves tapping on the bottle to build up pressure inside the bottle, and then a swift application of a lever pops the cap right off.

A cool party trick, most definitely.

I also learned that the locals have a different version of beer pong- it doesn't involve cups or ping-pong balls. Instead, they throw a plastic bottle at another plastic bottle (or another combination that won't shatter), and if they knock the bottle down, they race to drink as much of their beer as possible. The other team has to run to the knocked-over container, set it upright, and then return to their starting position, at which point the team who is currently drinking must stop. Turns alternate until all of one team is out of beer.

That explanation doesn't really do the game justice, and it's fun to watch how some people actually get better at throwing things when they're inebriated.

Man, I'm sleepy.

Interesting things are on tap for tomorrow.

Day 3:

Went to a museum today that was showcasing a workshop for deaf, blind, and/or jewish folks while Germany was under nazi rule.

Also went on a rather unexciting boat tour.

Later, some friends and I went to the Mauerpark (which is a park near a wall that has been really graffiti'd.

My feet still hurt, but not as much as before.

We also went on this strange group-bicycle thing that had us sitting in a circle while someone else steered- we got a discount, from what I understand, because we were pleasant Americans.

I have a presentation to make tomorrow- this should be interesting.

Day 2:

Crashed really hard last night. Woke up, got into actual bed, returned to sleep.

Spent a large amount of the day sightseeing.

Visited the Bundestag, got to see what the inside of the (publicly accessible) portion of the german parliament looked like.

Tomorrow (and for the rest of the week), I am going to pack lighter and remember to bring my umbrella; I was thoroughly soaked several times throughout the day.

Rain here is not like it is in Texas- it starts soft, gets terrible, and stays that way for more than five minutes.

Bleh.

All the walking today left me with a blister on my largest toe- it looks really gross (and I'll spare you any pictures), but I figure I'll baby it for a bit (and lance it if it becomes too bad) and hopefully get a callus or something to prevent this in the future.

Had a delicious arabic dish tonight. Potatoes, ground beef, stewed tomatoes.

Also, I finally got a german SIM card for my phone- not that I'll need to call many people, though.

Bis spaeter.

Simple first post:

On the ground as of 10.00a (ish) local Berlin time.

According to my computer's clock, it's about 4.00a in Austin, Texas (my hometown).

Accomodations are comfortable, locals are pleasant.

Will write more later.

Fighting against jet lag by powering through the day.