Avalanching Abroad

Well, it's that time of year where things are starting to snowball, and when you're studying abroad, it's not so much of a snowball as it is an avalanche.

This semester is really picking up and I'm basically halfway through my time here, which is just mind-boggling. I have just over two months left here, which I know will fly by as lots of things are occurring in the next few weeks (more friends visiting, excursions, papers, spring break, parents visiting, trips, etc).

My close friend arrived in Berlin Sunday night, and after picking her up from the airport, I took her out for her first döner kebab, over which we caught up and talked until late (read: eleven) that night in my room. The next morning, I took her to Museum Island, and let her loose on the Pergamon Museum and the Berliner Dom, while I sprinted to make it to my German class on time. After that, I skipped my second class of the day to spend as much time as possible with her and after meeting up, we walked down Unter den Linden, with me showing her the sights and highlights of the area, such as Alexanderplatz, Bebelplatz, St. Hedwig's Cathedral, Gendarmenmarkt, Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and Potsdamer Platz. Afterwards, we headed to the East Side Gallery, walked along the wall and then sat and talked about life at a bench overlooking the Oberbaumbrücke.

Afterwards we headed home to relax for a few hours, and then went to my local friend's apartment for dinner with her and friend from my program. Dinner was delicious, accompanied by apple tea and followed up with the four of us and two of my local friend's friends, going out for a drink in a Kreuzberg Bar. We ordered a three-liter tap of beer, and hung out for a few hours there, covering topics such as weaving in antiquity to a history major drinking game that is currently being perfected.

The next morning, my close friend had to leave for her flight to Paris, so I, being the amazing friend that I am, arose at six am with her, and saw her to the train that would take her to the airport. It was, as always, too short of a time, but luckily I will see her again briefly during my spring break due to an overnight layover in Rome.

Tuesday morning was spent at the East Side Gallery, participating in the reconstruction of Günther Schaefer's Vaterland, the first piece of artwork on the wall after it fell. As stated in previous posts, this was the fiftieth repainting due to vandalism that damaged the piece. The event also took place on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first paint being put on the wall for the mural after the wall was opened.

There were quite a few photographers and cameras there, as well as the constant swarms of tourist groups that walked past. Lord knows how many photos of random strangers from around the world I'm now in. I also gave an interview to a cameraman for my program and the artist. Here is a link to a video, an article, and some photos of the event and I'm sure there will be more to come. It was a great opportunity to take part in the historic event and it's something that I will always remember.

Afterwards, those of us from my program grabbed lunch at a riverside restaurant, and then split up for the rest of the day. Three of us attempted to go to Alexanderplatz, only to travel one stop up the line and then be stalled. The police had closed down much of the S-Bahn tracks on the main east-west line running through the middle of the ring, from the Zoological Garden to Alexander, as a result of a half-naked man who was on the roof of the Freidrichstraße station.

We didn't know this at the time, so we crammed into a bus that followed the same route, and made it to Alexanderplatz. There I split up from the other two and headed to another station to catch a tram to my study center. At the stop, I waited at least twenty minutes until one rolled up. My local friend had let me know what was happening, and luckily, I had no time constraints. However, for the rest of the day and into the evening, this event messed up the city's public transportation system. Many people were stuck in the city center as there was no train movement for at least an hour.

I waited for the situation to calm down at my study center, where I picked up a long-awaited letter from my significant other, and my passport, fresh with my residence permit/visa (of which my photo doesn't look that great, but honestly what official bureaucratic photo does?). Then, I headed north to a mall on the ring, where I grabbed some long-needed envelopes and gelato and went home for a few hours. That evening I returned to my local friends apartment for another dinner with her and a friend, and then once again, the same group as the previous night (minus my close friend), went out to an Irish pub for a St. Patrick's Stammtisch. The pub was loud, crowded, incredibly hot and essentially hell for someone as introverted as I am. I stayed for about hour and then headed home to crawl into bed.

Today, I've simply spent at home, catching up on homework, emails and other important things. I have a make-up history class later, and have no idea what is going on after that. I realize that I promised a post about Sachenhausen Concentration Camp, which will occur at some point. Ciao.