Initial Struggles

I’d like to compare my time here in Berlin to this simple sidewalk stain.  The first time I went grocery shopping, Haley and I faced many obstacles.  We hadn’t purchased reusable bags quite yet so we brought large paper and plastic bags to overflow with food.  Considering the amount of stuff we purchased, we had to take several breaks along the way home- it was all just too heavy.  At one point my wine fell out of a bag (yes, it is legal for me to drink here).  The bottle shattered as it hit the ground and the wine puddled everywhere. Haley then set her stuff down to help pick up the glass. As she lifted her paper shopping bag up again, all of her contents ripped through the bottom, including her olive oil.  There were eminences of this wine and oil spot for about two months.  As I became settled in Berlin, this stain began to disappear, much like my initial struggles in this new city across the world from home. 

Prague

I went to Prague directly after Nuremberg- it was included on my school trip.  I am incredibly glad that I was able to go with school so that I didn't have to worry about any planning. 

We went to see the Hradcany castle, which is said to be the biggest in the world.  There were so many different dimensions that I'm sure I missed parts of it. It was definitely gorgeous and cool to see. 

 

(The castle)

One of the craziest things I experienced in Prague that nobody warned me about were the metro system escalators!! I tried to take a picture of it, but I don't think it is possible to get a good one that could effectively capture the depth and speed of it.  I am not one who is easily scared, but I was definitely nervous riding it the first few times.

I found a video online that seems to do a better job at capturing this ridiculous experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJNvNy4bj0g 

.... TO BE CONTINUED...

 

 

The Downers

Berlin has been amazing! I couldn't have picked a better place to spend an entire semester!

Since I have been sharing all of the positive experiences since coming to Europe, I thought I should share some of the bumps I have encountered along the way.


Bed Bugs:

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."  You've heard this all your life, as a way to wish someone to sleep well.  I hope I can experience the severity of this misfortune for you.  Bed bugs are terrible- really, don't let them bite!

The little red bumps didn't appear until about 6 days into my school planned Nuremberg/Prague trip.  It apparently takes 3 days up until 3 weeks for people to show symptoms- if they ever do at all.  A friend of mine that I was rooming with started showing symptoms the third day of our trip.  None of us could figure out why she had red bumps and quickly excused it as a rash.  Then a few days later the rest of us rooming together began having these red bumps.  For me, the bumps entirely covered my arms and legs (no spots covered by clothing).  The itch was terrible!! I did not want these bugs in my apartment. As soon as I got home, I ditched all of my belongings on my balcony and jumped into the shower.  My stuff remained on the balcony for a couple of weeks until I could acquire the laundry coins necessary to clean/kill the bugs.  Several pieces of clothing were shrunk by the hot temperature necessary to kill the bugs and some changed colors, but overall I had the best possible outcome considering the circumstances.

Below is a picture of my elbow, several days into the healing process. (All of the red bumps are bites!)

Nuremberg

We took a school organized trip to Nuremberg and Prague for a week.  We pretty much went to Nuremberg in order to learn more about the Nuremberg trials after WWII.

Although most of the history in Nuremberg is quite depressing, we still managed to have fun! :)

 "Hier" = here

Mini Nuremberg Oktoberfest. Our trip overlapped with two out of the three weekends of the Munich Oktoberfest, so we decided to make the most of this one.

Candid photo a friend took during a city tour

Vienna!

I took a weekend trip to Vienna with my friend Haley, where we met up with some of her friends from all over the world.  They were from France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland Israel, and Austria (of course).  I thought it was pretty fascinating because everyone was able to communicate to one another by speaking English since everyone had learned it in school.  Haley and I were the only ones with English as our first language. 


The group! :)
The Austrians took us around the "tourist route" so that we could see all of the famous buildings. 



I thought it was really funny how Austrian cops wore berets, so I saw a group of (cute) cops and asked if I could take a picture with them! ...I also made them take their hats out of their pockets and wear them for me :D


The day of departure I wanted to see even more of Vienna, so I woke up early and met up with Sascha who took me to see Schönbrunn Palace!

The Gloriette is featured in the background  


You could see the entire city of Vienna at the top of the hill near the Gloriette!


After learning German in Germany, it was an awesome experience to practice it in another country with an entirely different accent. 

Jewish Berlin- Tour

 Jewish Berlin- Tour

I was unable to take the Jewish Legacies in Central Europe class offered at my Berlin university because I was moved up a level in German.  I'm still interested in learning more about the subject so I decided to crash a class tour!

The first place we stopped on the walking tour- a memorial commemorating the German non-Jewish women who successfully protested their husbands' arrest (in this plaza), leading to the release of hundreds of men.  I had never heard this story before.  Many Berlin Jews married to non-Jews were saved because their spouses refused to divorce them.  The Nazis were afraid of losing some followers, so they did not break up families by removing husbands, wives, and children of mixed marriages from the area. 

Anna Frank museum, although she never lived in Germany

This was the home of the first female rabbi. Unfortunately, she was killed by the Nazis during World War II. It took 40 years before there was a second female rabbi.  This is an indication of the stunted growth of the Jewish community after the Holocaust.

Plaques in the ground indicate Jews who died in the Holocaust.  If you know to look for it, you can find them in the pavement all over Berlin.

This synagogue was built in 1866 and still considered the "new synagogue" of Berlin.  It was almost burned down time and time again.  It survived because it was used by the Nazis as a barn and storage site during WWII.

Night Life

Many of you have requested to see more photos related to Berlin's Nightlife.  I figured that I should just do an extra post in order to share! :)

This was from one of my first nights in Berlin.  I was at a bar (Molotow Cocktail) with some friends from program.  As many of you know, people in Europe tend to stay out much later than we do in the states.  We were at this bar during happy hour and it was already 1am! We ended up passing it again on our way home at around 5am, and there were lines of people out the door. 
The manager requested to take a photo of us for her to use on the bar's website!

We have been going out and trying new bars and clubs during the weekends.  All of my classes are full of Americans, so going out has been a great way to meet locals our age.  It seems as though all Berliners ages 20-25 are all out at the same time enjoying themselves as well.

Apparently Ping Pong is incredibly popular here in Berlin- they even have several bars dedicated to the sport!  I played a several games of Around the World and even made it to the Semifinals! :) Above is an action shot.

Berlin is famous for all of its graffiti; in my opinion it looks even better as a backdrop.


One of the nights we stumbled into a more "gothic/emo" underground club.  The main clothing dress-code was lots of leather and lots of black.  As this isn't our typical scene, we were about to leave until something cool happened- a bunch of fire dancers came onto the stage! I have attached a video for reference :)