Strangers for a minute, connections for a lifetime.

Another cheesy title, another normal day. 

As stated in a previous post, choosing a homestay wasn't even a debate, and now, after living in one for a month and a half, I feel that I am now able to offer some thoughts on the subject.

Yeah, it was awkward for the first few hours. However, with the three-year old running around, that quickly dissipated and now, I feel like a strange cross between a member of the family and a boarder. I eat breakfast, dinner and sometimes lunch with them, drink a lot of tea with my hostmom, play with my younger host-brother, have increasingly-less awkward conversations with my other host brother and host-father and sometimes accompany them to the park, cafes, market and more. And with that, let me give you a quick overview of everyone I live with.

L - My host mother. Dark curly hair, French-Italian, short, speaks French, English, German and Italian, actress and theater-producer for children, incredibly sweet, go-to swear word: 'oh, shit' with a musical French accent, describes things as 'beautiful' a lot, cute, laughs a lot, wonderful mother, has made me feel at home since day one, easy to talk to, patient

O - My host father. Tall, lanky. Brown short hair. British-German, speaks French, English and German, freelance video editor, very down to earth, friendly, methodical, goofy, great cook, sarcastic, amazing father

M - Older host-brother, seventeen, wavy brown hair to his shoulders, likes language, theater and history, speaks French, English and German, quiet initially, but theatrical, friendly but reserved, wonderful older brother, not around a lot, about to undergo his final exams before he finishes school, not sure what he's doing after

G - Younger host-brother, three, going on four, tiny, curly light brown hair, blue eyes, dramatic, loves cars, quite clumsy, falls down a lot, basically a grumpy old man in a child's body, future engineer, speaks French and German, likes to overact, silly, lots of energy

The family lives on a bustling street corner in Neukölln, a neighborhood that is a rich mix of cultures and ages, but mostly Turkish or Arabic. The building is a little run-down, but quaint, with a hole-in-the-wall döner shop below, a doctor's office on the second floor, and a small courtyard in the back. Their apartment is quirky, and homey, with three theater seats in the living room, and G's drawings, postcards and notes, taped all over the walls. It's cosy but I'm quite fond of it. My room is off the kitchen, and looks out onto the busy street.

Homemade dinners are wonderful, usually accompanied by a very energetic or very crabby three-year old, an overly-theatrical teenager, my cheerful host mom, and grounded host father. I laugh every day in this house at something from my terrible German to one of them being over-the-top dramatic in regards to something. Today, I came home after an evening adventure to find my host-parents curled up on the couch together enjoying a movie and the peace that comes with their youngest child staying at his grandparents. 

Although, I do miss the convenience of having a dryer, and a microwave, this is a wonderful family in a brilliant city and I love every minute of establishing connections that will last for a lifetime.

Cloisters, Castles and Class.

I don't really know how to begin this post other than to jump right into what's been happening in my life. If you're still keeping up with this, than you're clearly fascinated with my adventures, and are eagerly anticipating the next episode, so therefore I will not delay you the pleasure of reading it any longer (and if you think I'm being seriousl than you clearly do not know me well).

Monday morning was spent in class, where I took my first German exam. It went fairly well, as I got ninety percent on it. I'm content. Following that, I hung around the study center for a while working on my homework, and then headed off to explore around Alexanderplatz yet again. I'm not quite sure why I enjoy that area greatly, but there's always something to look at or someone to observe, so maybe that's why. This time I wandered along the Spree River, to the Marienkirche, ruins of the Franciscan Monastery and to a part of the old city wall.

The first site is one of the oldest churches in Berlin and contains a pulpit sculpted by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, one of Berlin's most influential architects. I spent about twenty minutes in the church, soaking up the architecture, and then moved on. The Monastery dates back to the mid-thirteenth century, and was destroyed in World War II, with only the shell of the outer walls left behind. Its gates were closed, but from what I understand, it is used as a venue for summer concerts and events at times. A fifteen-foot long section of the old city wall stood nearby. Afterwards, I called it a day and headed home.

The next day was Touro Tuesday, my day spent at the program's partner college that is a twenty-minute train ride, a ten-minute train ride, a ten minute bus-ride and a ten minute walk away from where I live. The classes weren't particularly exciting, nor was most of the day. However, that evening was Stammtisch, a regularly gathering of the group at a local bar. I met up with one of my local friends and a program friend, and we went there together.

Two new programs have arrived in the past two weeks that are also based out of the study center, so one of the groups was there, doe-eyed and new to the city as one could instantly see by the fact that upon getting off the tram, they were unwilling to leave the station platform at all, as they didn't know where they were located or in what direction they had to travel. Ultimately, some of us in my program had to go fetch them from the stop, as we had been on the same tram with them and had attemped to let them figure it out on their own (hey, it's Berlin, sink or swim).

Anyway, I stray. Stammtisch was fairly relaxed, as my two friends and I had a few drinks and then decided to head to the ping-pong bar that two of us had previously visited in our first week of being in Berlin. The bar was as chill as ever, and soon the three of us were engaging in rounds of Around-the-World, beers (and cigarettes in one person's case) in hand. It was a really fun night, and was nice to get away from the large program group and go off on our own.

The next day, three of us met up, had breakfast together and then headed out of the city via the autobahn. And yes, Porches, Mercedes, BMWs, Audis and other fancy cars constantly zoomed by us in the left lane, despite the fact that we were going anywhere from 140 to 160 km/h - do the conversions, folks, that's 87-100 m/h. I've never experienced that type of speed before and it was awesome. Too bad I'm not allowed to drive while here.

Anyway, we first went to Kloster Lehnin, where we explored Lehnin Abbey, a Cistercian monastery that was built in 1180. The church itself is gorgeous, and is built in the style of Brick Gothic. It's a pretty quite town, which was refreshing after spending over a month and a half in cities such as Berlin, Prague and Copenhagen. Following that, we headed to Burg Rabenstein, a castle built around 1300. There we saw a massive falcon, climbed to the top of the castle's tower to see the amazing view of the countryside and had some food at the restaurant in the courtyard. It was a nice day, and spent in wonderful company. Thanks again to my local friend, Fiona, for taking my other friend and myself there.

Afterwards, we drove back to Berlin and I went to a make-up session for last week's architecture class at a restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg. There I had black lemonade (which was actually red), a light local beer and delicious chicken tikka masala with naan bread, all while discussing the merits of Art Nouveau in Prague and Barcelona. Following that, I went home and called it an early night.

Today's agenda consists of classes, German and architecture, with a three and half hour gap in the middle which brings me to the present. This morning I received two letters from friends, both of which contained something that made me laugh from a fraternity composite photo (Hi, Dan), to fraternity chapter bing to a cut out of a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (Hi, Calvin).

I've received over seven letters since I've been here, and have been incredibly frustrated as I haven't been able to reply due to a lack of stamps. However, on Monday I finally forced myself to wander into my local post office and communicate in terrible German that I needed international stamps. So, friends who are also pen-pals, I'm sorry that I suck at writing back and I promise you will have a reply within the next two weeks, as today I'm going to acquire envelopes.

In other good news, I've found a place to stay in Amsterdam with my friend for spring break, am close to booking my lodgings for Malta, and this Sunday I get to see an old classmate during the day, and my close friend arrives that evening to spend two nights with me. I'm quite excited. Tomorrow, I have an excursion with my architecture class to the Werkbundarchiv, and Saturday the program is visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.

Oh, also, I've been accepted to help with the reconstruction of Günther Schaefer's work Vaterland, on the East Side Gallery this coming Tuesday. So, I will be painting on the actual Berlin Wall, with one of the original artists of the Gallery. Go me.

That's all I have for now. Tschüss!

Dusk Conclusions

Yeah, this is the third post today, deal with it.

After finishing up some things on my to-do list (including an application to assist an East Side Gallery artist with the restoration of his mural on the Berlin Wall - eep), I met up with a friend at Alexanderplatz in the early evening and we walked down Unter den Linden as the sun was setting and the night blanketed the city. It was relaxed and lovely, wandering in and out of tourist shops, under the Brandenburg Gate, and through the Tiergarten.

Overall, we walked about five miles and even climbed on a Soviet tank at the Soviet Memorial in the park. It seems fairly simple and uneventful, but after a weekend with highs and lows, this evening was greatly needed. It reminded me that I am where I need to be and that things can be taken one day at a time. And with that cliche realization, I bid you good night, as I need to study for my German exam, listen to Death Cab for Cutie and Skype my wonderful partner-in-crime.

Czeching Out of Prague

Yeah, it's another cheesy blog title but we're going with it.

When I left you last, I was in the midst of recovering from my trip to Copenhagen, mainly by binging the recently released season of House of Cards (thirteen episodes, three days, college has taught me well). Tuesday was spent yet again at the partner college in two of the easiest courses of my life. After my school day was over I wanted to explore, and decided to get off the S-Bahn a stop early and walk across Tempelhof Park. 

I didn't realize the massive size of the park, which was stupid as I had been there before and knew that it was a former airfield. The walk across took me about forty-five minutes. My iPod died almost immediately as arrived so I lacked music, but it was refreshing. Standing in an incredibly large flat space, surrounded by a city, with the wind flowing through my hair and jacket, listening to the birds sing and not interacting with other people was incredibly therapeutic and greatly needed. Upon my arrival at home, I spent the rest of the day and the next packing for Prague and finishing up school work. 

On Thursday, I woke up at six-thirty and met up with the group at Berlin's main station where we boarded the six-hour train that would transport us to Prague. The train ride was uneventful, and marked with gorgeous scenery. Upon our arrival in the city, we took the metro straight to our hostel, Miss Sophie's (highly recommended) and recovered for bit before heading out on a tour of the city.

The tour was interesting, but failed to present a structured history of the city, nor did it really orient us to the area. Afterwards, we were given free time to wander before dinner, so some of us grabbed delicious pastries and shopped a little. I purchased a deep red scarf, something that I'd been wanting for a while, a beautiful art print, some postcards and a joke present. Dinner was delicious and accompanied by a good light Czech beer. Afterwards, the group headed back to the hostel and most of us crashed fairly early as it had been quite a long day.

The following morning, we awoke to fresh start, and after gorging ourselves on the most delicious hostel breakfast in the world, we headed out on another tour, this one about the Jewish Quarter of the city. We visited three very different synagogues, one quite plain, another quite decorative and the third a memorial to the Czech victims of the Holocaust. Afterwards was lunch and then free time.

After discovering a yellow submarine (a yellow submarine), we crossed the famous Charles Bridge and headed to the John Lennon Wall, which is a wall simply covered in graffiti devoted to, surprise, John Lennon. Every minute it seemed one of us found an awesome quote or piece of art. There was also a street performer who dragged the group in and led them in renditions of Hey Jude and other famous songs. Nearby was also a bridge that held hundreds of padlocks, similar to the one in Paris.

Following that, half the group headed back to the hostel and the rest of us continued on to the Letenské sady, a park that had a great view of the city. We all raced up the very steep path to the top to discover a square with skateboarders, a giant metronome, and many pairs of shoes flung over a cable. The city stretched out below us and even in the dreary day, it was beautiful. Then we headed back to the hostel via one of the city's older trams, and the extremely deep metro system.

That evening, in varying levels of dressiness, the group attended a ballet performance, split into three pieces. I greatly enjoyed the experience, as the theater was gorgeous, the dancing was wonderful and it was an excuse to dress up. I channeled my inner Claire Underwood, with red lips to match my new scarf, and a simple black dress. Following the performance, some of us headed to a late dinner, and then a friend and I had a night-cap back at the hostel before crashing. The rest of the group stayed out till early morning in varying levels of intoxication.

Our last day in the city was unstructured, and consisted entirely of free time until our train left that afternoon. Myself and a friend wandered up to the city's most famous site, the Prague Castle, and explored within its walls, including the Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral. We also saw the gorgeous morning sun over the city and its numerous spires. Afterwards, we headed to the Klementinum, which was home to the Mirror Chapel, Baroque Library and the Astronomical Tower. It was a nice lesser-known attraction, and I would give my left foot to explore the beautiful library even more. However, I left with said foot attached, and we ended up back at the hostel about an hour before we were due to meet up, where we relaxed and enjoyed our final Czech beers.

The train ride home was simple, with some of the group remaining behind to explore the city for another day, and the rest falling asleep due to their late night out. I read, listened to some music, carried on interesting conversations with my compartment-mates and fought the desire to nap. We arrived back in Berlin at around 21:20, where we split up and headed home to our apartments and homestays.

I arrived home to an empty apartment, as my host-family is away until late this afternoon. After calling it an early night, I awoke this morning, and have simply been catching up with homework,, laundry, unpacking, and other small chores. Tomorrow, it's back to grind, with a German midterm, but thankfully, no history class following it. The rest of the week contains normal classes, an adventure to the Werkbund Archive for my architecture class, an excursion to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and a visit from two classmates from my school, one of which is my extremely close friend and travel partner.

This weekend, overall, was a mixed bag. I enjoyed the city. The history is interesting, it has a lot to offer, but it's hard to navigate and get your initial bearings. Additionally, the adventure was marred by personal issues, homesickness, and being burned out from traveling less than week before. However, I am hopeful that the coming days will better. Farewell for now.

Berlin: An Insiders Guide

Friends and family, this one's for you.

1. Don't walk in the bike lanes. They're usually differently patterned from the normal sidewalk, sometimes red. You will get yelled at.
2. Visit the Berliner Dom - gorgeous views of the city, a beautiful building. Or at the very least, get to the top of one of the taller buildings to get an overall view of Berlin (i.e. the TV tower, PanoramaPunkt, HighFlyer, French Cathedral, etc).
3. There is not really a way to eat German food all the time. Food in Berlin is incredible diverse. Be open to new food from all cultures. 
4. That weird B looking symbol? (ß) It's called an eszett, and is the symbol for sharp s sound. 
5. If you're coming in from Berlin Schonefeld Airport, buy a ticket for all three zones of transport. The airport is just within Zone C, and apparently, they like to check tickets on that train.
6. Eat döner kebab. And currywurst if you feel like it. But eat döner first. And drink some beer.
7. Validate your transit ticket - you can't just walk on the train, you need to get a stamp on it in one of the yellow or red boxes. If you see everyone else pulling out their tickets, get yours out too, as plain clothes inspectors enforce the system, not turnstiles. If your ticket isn't validated its a 40€ fine. Keep your ticket with you at all times on public transport. 
8. Words to know: Danke/Dankeschon, Bitte, Ja, Nein, Entschuldigung, Ich möchte bitte (Kaffee, Tee, etc), Sprechen Sie Englisch?, etc. 
9. Do as the Berliners do. Go with the flow. This city is relaxed and nonjudgemental. 
10. Wander into churches that you see. They're old, beautiful and usually free.
11. Be a little self-depreciating about your American self. Try to blend in, don't be loud. 
12. A lot of exhibits covering the Cold War and World War II eras are free, including the Topography of Terror, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Berlin Wall Memorial, East Side Gallery, and many others. Take advantage of this, as it's educational and eye-opening.
13. Wander around Alexanderplatz, the base of the TV tower, and Unter den Linden. 
14. Use the public transport as much as you can - trams, S-Bahn, U-Bahn and buses. The BVG app is a godsend, with the system map and timetables at a moment's notice. Also, fair warning, the trains at night can be a little weird, particularly during the weekend.  
15. Don't be afraid to wander a little too. You can always find a public transport stop to take you back to where you need go.
16. Follow the Berlin Wall for a bit. Two cobblestone lines run around the city marking where it stood, as the majority of the structure has been destroyed.
17. Keep your eyes and ears open on public transport. You'll never know what'll happen. Beware of pickpockets, and scammers. A common scam is to have someone approach you, ask you to sign a petition, and then ask for money. Don't fall for it. 
18. The public transport stops all have maps of the city and can help you get your bearings in case you get lost. 
19. Rules about dogs are pretty lax and it's common to see them on the public transport, in a coffee shop, or off a leash on the street. In regards to petting them, unless you have the express permission of the owner, don't.
20. Highly recommended sights: Museum Island, Berliner Dom, Alexanderplatz, East Side Gallery, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin Wall Memorial at Bernauerstraße, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, and Tempelhof Park.
21. Good apps for traveling in Berlin: Triposo, BVG/Fahrinfo, CityMaps2Go, WordLens.
22. Bus 100 - Starting at Alexanderplatz, offers a good route of the main portion of the city,  as it travels down Unter Den Linden, past the Berliner Dom, Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, and other famous sites in the city. 

Housing Decision

Shared apartment or homestay?

When filling out the forms for this whole strange thing I'm doing, called 'study abroad,' and believe me, there were many, this was a question that came up straight away. For me, it wasn't even a question, however, as I had known since day one that I wanted the latter.

The shared apartments offered more independence, living with people in my program, spacious accommodations and well-furnished rooms. In a homestay, I live with a local family, with two meals provided a day and my own room. However, that wasn't what I wanted when I choose it. Living with a host family provided me with a chance to make connections with people across the world, to improve my language skills, to learn about this new culture through immersion, to gain an insiders' advice on living in my new city, and so many other things.

So far, I've achieved all of that and more, in my five weeks with my wonderful hostfamily. I met them on my second day in Berlin, after a long full day of orientation information. Before I left, I received some basic information about them, the family structure, parents' jobs, children's ages, normal day schedule, etc, in a letter that my hostmother had written to through the program. They, in turn, had received an even less informative form about me, regarding my home life, my family structure, my experience abroad, and my interests. Other than that, we knew nothing about each other upon my move-in.

Sure, it was awkward at first. Moving in with complete strangers in a completely new country, yeah, it was strange. However, after the first day passed, I settled into the rhythm of the house and from there, we've started to get to know each other day by day. They have never been anything but welcoming and open, and I adore it here.

When I compare my experience to the rest of the peers in my program (most of whom are in an apartment), I feel like I'm truly experiencing being abroad and cultural immersion. Everyday at dinner, I learn new German words, or information on the city or culture. As their English improves, so does my German, although at a slower pace. On weekends, we have simple outings, to local parks, markets, theater performances, etc. It's the smaller things, but I adore them.

Choosing a homestay is one decision that I will never regret and highly recommend to others.

Coping with Copenhagen

Hell yeah, it's a cheesy title. Greetings and salutations, friends, family, loved ones, and complete strangers. I've returned from my travels, safe and sound and this is going to be a fairly long post as I record all of my Danish adventures.

When I left you last, I was in frantic preparation for my trip, while also attempting to deal with classes and theater performances. My last class on Thursday was architecture, in which three of the eight students were present, resulting in a small field trip to the Märkisches Museum, and surrounding area, to look at the architectural style of historicism, as well as models of the city of Berlin, and the home of the Berlin bear (yes, a real bear). Afterwards, I met up with my host father and we attended three theater performances, one of which my host mother starred in. Please ask me about my experiences with German theater sometime over a beer, as they are quite 'memorable' performances.

Friday began in a slow grind of arising at three-thirty in the morning to catch my flight at seven to Copenhagen. Things picked up as one of my companions overslept and arrived to the airport barely on time. Other than that the flight was smooth and easy, and we arrived at around eight, where we promptly boarded a very nice commuter train that whisked us into the city. After checking into our hotel and enjoying a delicious breakfast at a local cafe, two of us decided to wander the city while the third took a nap.

In our wanderings we saw: the town hall, the old stock exchange, the Christiansborg Palace, and the Black Diamond, home of the Royal Danish library. We went into the latter, since I am a library nut, and it was gorgeous. Half of the building is quite modern and recently built, and the second half is an older building, with gorgeous arches, old wooden bookshelves and reading rooms. The two are connected over a roadway by a walkway, and the entire place is heaven for someone like me. I could've spent hours in there. Sadly, we did not, and we headed back to the hotel, where we grabbed our snoozing companion and went on a canal boat tour of the city, which was cold, but enjoyable. That evening, we browsed in some shops, consumed delicious Chinese food (and a lovely local beer that was on tap) and I watched the other two get their feet and legs nibbled on by fish, eating the dead skin. Afterwards, we all crashed in the hotel around seven, and fell asleep at nine due to having been up for nearly eighteen hours straight.

The next morning, two of us wandered to the Church of Our Savior and climbed to the top of it see a stunning morning view of Copenhagen. The church itself has a spiral staircase around the outside of its spire, and it's free to the public. Afterwards, we explored the streets and canals a little more, in the early morning sun, and enjoyed the lovely weather. Then, we joined up with the other person and visited the citadel and famous Little Mermaid statue, honoring Denmark's native son, Hans Christian Anderson. Personally, I found the statue underwhelming, but I wandered along the beach and found gorgeous pieces of sea glass to take home. Following that, we met up with two others from our program for dinner and some beer, and then called it a night.

While Friday and Saturday were excellent in terms of weather, Sunday was fairly typical in what one would expect from a Scandinavian state, cold, windy, rainy and snowy. That morning I wandered around on my own. I visited the Church of Our Lady, or Copenhagen Cathedral, where I sat in on a service for about a half an hour, soaking up the beautiful music and architecture around me. Then I walked past the Great Synagogue, where recent events had taken place. The street was blocked on both ends by police cars, with two police men with large guns standing outside the structure. The building itself was ten feet deep in flowers, and other memorial items, including a couple Je Suis Charlie sign. I don't really know how to describe what it was like to visit the sight, it was an odd feeling, coupled with a sense of a national community in a time of uncertainty.

Afterwards, I visited the Round Tower, and then met up with my friends at Rosenberg Palace and Gardens. We wandered to the Marble Church, and saw the changing of the guard at Amalienborge Palace. Then, the group split up, with some going to the Carlsberg Brewery, others to tour inside the Christiansborg Palace, and myself to visit the top of the tower at the palace as well as the chapel. Both of which were interesting, but cold, causing me to return to the hotel where I relaxed for a couple of hours, studying for my history midterm until it was time to depart for the airport.

Our journey home was marked with massive airport security lines (due to an SAS strike), a smooth quick flight, and a simple train ride. I arrived back in Neukölln at eleven thirty, unpacked and went to sleep. Today, I attended two classes, took a midterm, and now I'm relaxing at home, after a long but good weekend full of adventures.

Copenhagen in a nutshell:
The Good: History, not a lot of Americans, everyone was really nice, old buildings, picturesque canals, the churches, the beer, wonderful receptionists at the hotel,
The Bad: Expensive (6E for one hot chocolate - no), weather on the last day, long line at the airport, communal bathrooms at the hotel

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to binge the new season of House of Cards.

P.S. One of my closest friends and Rome travel partner is visiting me in less than two weeks. Words cannot describe how happy and excited I am.