Highlights of 2006

I'm starting this a little bit early--normally don't do it until Dec. 31, but of course in Germany it IS almost Dec. 31 already, so... whatever. :) I have done this every year for at least the last 5 years, but I've never had a blog that so many people read to use to share it. I like to go back through the year and list the highlights of the last year by month. I try to put down something for every month--some months are just better than other months, you know--because usually even if I don't realize it, God is doing something good in my life all year long.

January: This is always the hardest month for me to list something for. But I do remember being excited to go back to school (Penn) and feeling ready to just be myself for once.
February: February is one of my favorite months of the year--random, I know. Big highlight was the girls' lock-in we had for the girls in Campus Crusade.
March: Turning 20 was cool. Weird at first, but definitely cool. My spring break trip with Campus Crusade was awesome too. That was an incredible week. I also had some awesome recitals for Music 10 (the program at school that allowed me to take private voice lessons for free). I also found out in March that I'd been officially accepted to my study abroad program.
April: April got off to a great start with the Full Measure concert. I read a German book all the way through for the first time, which was exciting, and particularly enjoyed my German and music history classes. I got a random award from the German department. I also went home for Easter and had an awesome little visit.
May: My going-abroad-party was awesome. Fun to see all my friends backed into my little dorm room!
June: Starting working with the teens at church, and muscular dystrophy camp. Both were awesome.
July: Best family Wildwood trip ever! VBS!!!
August: "Game nights" with the teens, and then, of course... arriving in Berlin!
September: Getting involved in my church in Berlin, especially meeting the group that visited from Hessen.
October: Baptisms at my church, kite-flying in the park...
November: 2 Thanksgivings!!! And my trips to Munich and Lübeck.
December: Christmas markets galore! The Christmas season in Germany was awesome, but it's also been sooooooo nice to be home. :)

They took my salami!!!

Well, here I am, back in the USA. It's not really as strange as I thought it would be, it's more just strange to consider the distance. For some reason it's weird to be back here at home and picture my apartment, my church, my friends and everything in Berlin. It's sooooo far away, but it's real and it's a part of me now, and I'm a part of it. It was an interesting thought while I was in Berlin, but somehow it's even more interesting now.

The journey was long, but not bad at all. Got to the airport heinously early, so I slept on my bags for like two hours at the gate before I boarded! I slept a lot on the plane too, which was nice. I usually have a very hard time sleeping when I'm traveling (by car, train, plane, whatever) but I lucked out this time. The flight from Berlin to Newark though was funny because it was like a transition from German-speaking-land to English-speaking-land. On the flight I heard both languages and when I checked in with my bags and such, I had no idea what language to speak! They could speak both languages of course, it was just weird because I can speak both too and I wasn't sure which one the Continental Airlines employees in Berlin were more comfortable with. Very strange. Most of them just started speaking English as soon as they saw my American passport, but one the flight attendants on the plane always spoke to me in German. Crazy.

When I got to Newark, I had to go through customs. The big bummer of the day was that they took the nice salami I had bought for my dad. It was really silly. For one, it was made from pork, so it's not like it could've had Mad Cow Disease, and it's COOKED, so if it did have Mad Cow, it wouldn't anymore, and I also felt like saying, "I've eaten stuff like this for 4 months now and I haven't died!" but you know how those American customs people are. Coming into Germany from the States it's no problem, but man, in America, stuff from other countries is poisonous! They weren't even nice about it. They opened up my suitcase, took out the salami, closed up my suitcase and handed it back to me, saying (referring to the salami), "This gets burned." Way to reward me for telling the truth on my customs form! Next time I just won't tell them. :) At least they didn't take my cheese though, which is also for my dad. But the salami was a bummer.

Then I had to try to figure out if I'd cleared the waitlist for my flight from Newark to Atlanta, which I didn't, so I had to get on a train to Philly and then fly with Southwest to Nashville from Philly. It was cool to be in Philly, my college town, if only for a little while. The familiar train station, skyline, all that... pretty cool. From the train station I took a cab to the airport, where I checked in rather quickly and was ready to go.

Oh wait, back up, I forgot something important. When I got to Philly I was really really thirsty, so I bought a bottle of Aquafina water from a vending machine for $1.50, and I drank it, and when I was done, I THREW AWAY THE BOTTLE IN THE (ONE) TRASH CAN!!! No deposit, and no sorting trash into four color-coded bins!!!

On the flight to Philly, there was one again a language transition going on, this time from normal English to Tennessee "English". Three ladies sitting behind me had hilarious Southern accents. So I had some time to really get adjusted!

I made it to Nashville around 8pm (having woken up in Berlin at 5am, which was 10pm the day before in Nashville) and my parents and brother were there waiting. Big time "group hug"!!! When I got there, they were like, "So where do you want to go to dinner?" They didn't have to ask, they already knew the answer--I wanted MEXICAN food, so we went straight to Cozymel's!!! It was sooooooooooooooo good... salsa that doesn't taste like ketchup, yummy queso and chips, chicken enchiladas with beans and Mexican rice... delicious! When I got home, Mom and I wrapped some Christmas gifts, and then all of a sudden I was like, "Uhh, I'm running out of gas, rapidly..." so then it was bedtime. My bed felt soooooo good.

Yesterday I got to go back to my church, BCN, where there was an intense hugging session! The Clarks didn't realize I'd be home in time for the morning service, so they got a little Christmas surprise! The service was awesome, especially since the kids got up and sang a couple of the songs from their Christmas musical. Kimmy was also singing and playing again and sounded awesome. And my goofy pastor was full of his good ol' goofy sermon jokes.

After church, Mom and I met my brother at Qdoba for more Mexican, 'cause I just hadn't had my fill yet, and then we went to Cold Stone for ice cream! I will be working there a little bit while I'm home, so feel free to come by and visit and enjoy the holiday special flavors--Candy Cane and Dark Chocolate Peppermint (delicious!). Mom and I had our annual Christmas viewing of It's A Wonderful Life, then I wrapped some more Christmas presents. None of us were very hungry (we ate a lot at Qdoba!) so we just had some leftover homemade soup for dinner, then opened the traditional Christmas Eve gifts and then watched Elf. I fell asleep during it, I was exhausted! I got some great gifts though! Brother and I each actually opened two (my brother's good at convincing the parents!), and I got some great jewelry made by my cousin-in-law Heather and some comfy PJ/sweatpants from my mom.

Now, it's Christmas morning, but my silly little brother won't wake up so we can open presents! It's almost noon and he's STILL in bed! Silly brother...

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Friends in Berlin, I miss you tons; can't wait to reunite in January, although it will be cold and dark. (I'm loving the sunshine here!) Friends in B'hood--CALL ME so we can get together! Much love to all o' y'all!!! :)

One week left...

It is so weird to think that in one week, I will be back in the States. I'm definitely excited, but I have no idea what it will be like to be back in an English-speaking country for two weeks! So weird. But so cool.

Things I'm looking forward to:
Uhhh my FAMILY 'cause they rock
Going back to BCN!
My Christmas tree at home
Giving people Christmas presents from Germany
Binu!
Eating food that my mommy made :)
Mexican food
Ordering ice water in restaurants without getting weird looks, and getting free refills on sodas!
Cold Stone ice cream
Showing people pictures from my adventures (although they're already on this blog... but some people don't keep up:)
Hugs :)

Things I wish I could bring home from Germany:
The Christmas markets! I'm a big fan. Lebkuchen hearts, roasted nuts, all kinds of goodies that are bad for you, dozens of stands selling cute Christmas things, scarves, funny hats, etc., kids riding ferris wheels and such...
Special friends here... God's been good to me :)

Other than Christmas shopping and thoughts of heading home, there really hasn't been much going on here lately. Spent the day with Molly baking Christmas cookies... last night we watched Mean Girls, which was pretty funny. What was also funny: the German subtitles, which we turned on just for the heck of it. Some interesting translations!

I also finally finished my carpentry projects... almost... I built my desk, which was waiting half-built in my room for me to borrow a hammer from someone (finally did). I also hung up pictures and my new white board, which is cool and makes the room less boring. Only problem is this silly chair I bought... there are two pieces that just won't go together! Molly and I tried it together last night--we both sat on the darn thing at the same time, but our combined weight was not enough. Maybe it would be enough now that we've eaten so many Christmas cookies, but...

Oh yeah, I also saw that Christmas movie, The Nativity Story. It was pretty good. I saw it in German with Manu. We were the only two people in the theatre. Of course, we did see it at 11pm on a Wednesday night... yeah we're cool like that.

Actually, funny story--I ended up spending the night at the Heimlichs' that night because it was so late, and in the morning Robert went to kindergarten (which is preschool here), and Manu was still asleep, so it was just Emily and Timo, who was working in his office on the computer. I was already awake but still in bed, when all of a sudden the door opened very slowly and a little face peeked in... "Kee-nah...!" Soooooo funny! What a great way to wake up in the morning. :)

I think that's really all the news... definitely excited to head home. By the way, LAST CALL for anyone who wants anything from Germany! Seriously, anything except a car, let me know! I will have plenty of room in my suitcase!

Much love to everyone. Looking forward to seeing some of you very soon. :)

Cultural differences... or is it something deeper?

I had a really interesting conversation with Tobi today. I don't remember exactly how it started, but it was about conversation... haha yes, a conversation about conversation...

I've noticed that in conversations with other people, Tobi tends to ask much more direct questions /slash/ deeper questions. It is commonly known that in America, "How are you?" is not usually a real question, it's just a polite greeting (the proper response is, "Good, you?" or, if you're a college student, "I'm okay, a little tired, how are you?"). In Germany and many other countries, however, it's not just a greeting--it's a real question. Yes, people then ask this question a bit more selectively, but when they ask it, they are (generally) genuinely interested in the person's response, which can be as thorough or concise as one chooses.

Consequently, I've found that in Germany people come to "deeper" subject matters more quickly than they do back home in the States. Particularly with friends, people pretty much skip the small talk. There isn't really a pressure to share more about one's personal life than one really wishes to share, but there's an understanding that when someone asks how you are, they want to know how you really are. They're not just trying to pass the time by exchanging formalities.

I find that people here also then tend to be more open about the "heavier" subjects which are seldom discussed in America. Today a couple in the church had their niece with them, who is about our age and had a baby between 11th and 12th grade. The baby wasn't there, so we wouldn't have known if she hadn't told us, but just through normal conversation it came up and she said it rather openly and talked about some of the difficult decisions she has to make right now. I was struck not only by her openness, but also by Tobi's genuine interest, the way he asked questions not to probe, but because he cared somehow. He did the same thing when we went to dinner with my friend Suzy after she went with us to the church in Prenzlauer Berg. He asked her very freely, "What did you think of the service tonight?" and "Did you grow up with any kind of religion in your family?" without it being some hushed subject matter that one only brought up subtly or else simply avoided. And seeing his genuine interest, she opened up and shared a lot with us. It was as simple as that.

It made me ask myself, "Why do I always make it so complicated?" Why do I find such questions so awkward, and when I ask someone how they're doing, am I really interested in their response?

It also made me wonder how the question "How are you?" got to be just a polite thing to say in the U.S. What does it say about us that we've somehow hidden ourselves behind the small talk? Why are we so afraid of people's answers? Another thing I've found somewhat striking here is that my pastor here will frequently ask me on a Sunday afternoon what I thought of the service that morning. Tobi asks me that too. And neither of them just want to hear me say, "It was good." Even if it would bring criticism, they're interested. I think that is something to be valued.

How would my life--how would our lives--be different, if we weren't afraid to ask? If we wanted to ask? If we were so genuinely interested?

Marzipan, anyone?

Oh goodness. It's really strange to have sooooooooo much going on, then all of a sudden... nothing! Strange but very nice!! My biggest "concern" right now is Christmas-shopping. Bummer. (Hehe)

So... I had a ginormous presentation on Tuesday. Actually I'm exaggerating, it wasn't ginormous, but it was my first big "project" I've had to do for a class here. It went very well. Only one mildly embarrassing moment when I read a quote and then realized at the end of it that it was not the quote I wanted to read, and I couldn't find the one I wanted to read. Oops. But my classmates were nice and didn't like boo me or anything, haha. Prof said he liked my thesis, thought my presentation was good and that my German was also good (nice little bonus there). And it was a good start on the big paper I'll have to write for the end of the semester, so that was cool.

Once that was over, I got to make an Advent wreath at church! One thing I think is really cool in Germany is that arts and crafts are not just for kids (or really crafty talented moms). Arts and crafts are for everybody. Our church kicked off the Christmas season by making Advent wreaths together. Cool huh? Making a wreath is actually not that hard, just kinda prickly. =)

Then, on Wednesday, I got in a bus and headed about 3.5 hours north to Lübeck. My German teacher, Karolin, from Penn last semester, grew up there, and she is actually teaching in Cambridge now but brought a small group of students on a trip to visit her hometown, in particular the Christmas market. It was really nice. For one, it was totally a vacation because my presentation was over and I felt like I'd earned it, for another, it was so cool to see Karolin, she's really funny, and the kids from Cambridge were fun too. They speak German with British accents and it's really cute. And Lübeck was sooooo pretty. In the middle ages it was like one of the biggest harbor towns along the Baltic--much bigger than Hamburg--and what's remarkable is how many buildings and such and have been preserved in their original, very old, very German (and if you ask me, very pretty/cute) forms. I will upload my pictures soon and then edit this post with a link to them, so stay tuned.

Edit: here's the link for the photos. :)

by stinaberlin

The Christmas market was fun. I think the whole Christmas market tradition is really cool. Picture like a small-scale fair, plus lots of booths for buying Christmas-y stuff (lots of self-made crafty stuff), and TONS of German roasted nuts, Glühwein (mulled wine, accompanied by the alcohol-free kiddie version), licorice, little things calls Muzen which are basically little pockets of funnel cake dough that are fried and topped with powdered sugar, and of course sausage and pretzels and all that really German stuff. And yes, a few amusement rides for the kids. So cute! The place was literally packed with people sipping Glühwein from their souvenir mugs (you pay 3.50 € for a mug of Glühwein, then if you don't want to keep your mug you can bring it back and they give you 1.50€ back, or you can just keep it as a souvenir, like I did! Where can you get a mug for 1.50€?) and just being merry. What a great tradition. I can't wait to go to the Christmas markets here in Berlin--there's a couple of different ones. Fun fun.

Oh yeah, about the title of my post... so, Lübeck is like the Marzipan Capital of the World... or at least of Germany, or so I perceived it. Lübeck has this big famous marzipan shop called Niederegger, and they seriously sell marzipan in every variety imaginable. I can actually buy Niederegger marzipan in my grocery store here in Berlin here. I think marzipan is a pretty big deal here in Germany. So, my question is... do any of you guys like marzipan? 'Cuz I'd be totally happy to bring some back, particularly something funny made out of a marzipan (like a potato, haha!). Lemme know.

After I got back I didn't have to do much. Spent the day yesterday with the Heimlichs, pretty chill. Their little girl Emily, who is 2 zears old, calls me "Keena" now. Cute cute. And, Manu gave me like the coolest present ever--cilantro!!! And it's like in a pot, so it will like grow and such and I will have more and more cilantro. Now I can make salsa that doesn't taste like ketchup!!! Woohoo!!!

And now, I'm here at the church, just chilling until a prayer meeting tonight. It's weird not to have any particular project hanging over my head. Weird, but nice.

One more thing: I come home for Christmas in 3 weeks. Weird. I'm excited of course to see everyone, but I have no idea what it will be like to be back in the US. It will be interesting to see. Hopefully I'll get used to speaking English all the time and won't keep saying all the goofy things I tend to say in English here. I already get made fun of enough for my "Philly accent". My "Berlin accent" is likely to sound much more ridiculous.

For now, a lovely day/evening to everyone. Post comments!!! They make me smile!!!

Slacker

Hello everyone,

Man, I am such a blog slacker. Sorry for those who've been checking my blog and finding nothing new for however many weeks.

First things first--I have pictures from Munich!!!
by stinaberlin

We had an incredible trip. It was an excursion for the BCGS program. We stayed in a youth hostel right across the street from the central train station. The agenda included an opera (La Traviata--soprano was AMAZING!!! such a hard role!!!), a tour of the city with a focus on Hitler/WW2 history (very interesting), 3 different art museum visits (too many if you ask me, but they got progressively better and the last one was awesome!!!), and plenty of time for shopping and stroling along in such amazingly pretty areas as the English Gardens and the famous Marienplatz (where the big glockenspiel is!). To top it all off, we had ridiculously amazing weather... At night in the 50s maybe, during the day in the upper 60s. I only needed a real coat at night--the rest of the time a sweatshirt was plenty if not too much. (For you mathematicians who want to calculate more precisely, the papers said we had lows around 13 and highs around 18 Celsius.)

After getting back things were relatively low-key again, just trying to catch up on all that I missed. Oh yeah, when I got back, the "other roommate" had finally moved out, so I finally have my room now!! It's still a work in progress but I'll send pictures soon. The best part about it is that I have a double-size bed, which is quite a luxury for not being at home. =)

Last Sunday was really really really cool. The church celebrated it's 1st birthday, so we had everything all decorated like a birthday party with colorful balloons and streamers EVERYWHERE. The kids loved it!!! At one part of the service the kids brought in different "presents" that were reminders of different blessings from throughout the last year. A small choir from a nearby music school heard about our celebration and asked if they could come sing for us, and that was really cool. It was such a cool opportunity to share with them all that God has done in our church in the last year. Then, in addition to that, I officially became a member, along with a couple other people. That meant I got to share my testimony, which was an incredible experience. I think it was the most fluently I have ever spoken German before. I didn't have to think about the language, the words were just there and I was able to just speak freely. It was really awesome.

Afterward we had a ridiculous potluck feast... I of course ate way too much. Pastor's wife even made American birthday cake and we put candles on it let the kids blow them out. It was lots of fun. I spent the rest of the day at pastor's house, went to an evening service at another church with Tobi (there's a church in the area with tons of people our age, and it's a nice chance for us to go to a service where we can just sit back a bit and soak it all in, rather than having to run slides/play guitar/lead children's church/sing/etc), then afterward a prayer meeting back in Pankow. An incredible day, but at the end of it I was exhausted!

Then this past week was relatively normal, just with the added stress of trying to catch up from the week before and trying to prepare for a presentation I have to do on Tuesday. I'm nervous, but fortunately my prof is really nice and gave me some good tips. My presentation is about the influence of Western television on East Germany. About 80% of East Germans could receive West German TV, and it was never really expressly forbidden to watch it in East Germany, probably because it would've been really difficult to enforce. The effect of it though is pretty interesting...

Of course, Thursday was Thanksgiving, but no holiday for me. =( Germans didn't have pilgrims and Indians, unfortunately. =) But, the director of BCGS invited us all over for an incredible Thanksgiving dinner! Then, on top of that, pastor's wife thought it would be fun to have a Thanksgiving dinner at the church, so yesterday (Friday) I had a second Thanksgiving!!! Both were very nice. Who would've thought that in Germany I'd get to have two Thanksgivings?

Here's a really exciting piece of news too: My brother got into his first-choice college!!! He's going to Columbia College in Chicago to study composition and eventually film-scoring. He found out on Tuesday and left me a message on my cell phone. I am so excited!!! Of course, it's really strange to think about my little baby brother being all grown up... but he's awesome. =) Mom's birthday was Wednesday too so we got to chat, which was great. I wish my family could just get on an airplane right now and come visit me!

What else...? I can't think of anything in particular. Life is pretty good. School is frustrating sometimes--hard to motivate myself since it's hard to keep the long-term goals in mind when I'm bogged down in short-term stuff--and I definitely think the university system here has been my biggest culture shock. But it's getting better.

Oh yeah! Totally random, but people ask me all the time if I dream in German now or in English. The answer is both--not both separately, but both together. In fact I frequently dream that I'm somewhere and I can't figure out what language I'm supposed to be speaking--I always try to speak German to Amerians and English to Germans and I keep getting confused. But the other night, for the first time, I dreamt that someone who can't speak German at all spoke to me in German! (It was my high school choir director, for those who are curious.) First she was speaking English, then all of a sudden switched to German, and when I woke up I was slightly weirded out. Since then it hasn't happened again but if I meet any of you non-German-speakers in my dreams speaking German, I'll be sure to tell you. =)

Okay, enough silliness. Back to work. Much love to all!!!

At least they have good cough drops

'Stina is sick. =( Yeah, kind of a bummer. Fortunatey, it happened at an O.K. time--I'm not missing anything too important. I just missed one day of work (yesterday). I'm pretty sure I will be well enough to lead worship at church again tomorrow, and I definitely think I will be well enough to go on the Munich trip with BCGS on Tuesday.

What do I have? Sore throat, headache, that sort of thing. Yesterday I was actually afraid it might be laryngitis because the pain was really deep in my throat, but today it's much better, so it's probably just some random virus. I did go to the doctor yesterday. That was interesting. He didn't really do any of the normal stuff doctors do every time you go to the doctor--weigh you, measure you, check your blood pressure, listen to your heart/lungs, take your temperature, look in your ears. When I came in, he just said, "What can I do for you?" I told him what was wrong, and he looked at my throat and felt my lymph nodes, and then he wrote me a prescription. I don't know exactly what he prescribed me, actually. One thing is a sort of pain-killer/fever reducer which he said will also help with the inflammation. He also prescribed to me some stuff to gurgle, which is amazing--it makes my throat feel so good!!! And did I mention that both drugs together only cost me 8 Euros? Crazy.

They also have some really great cough drops here. I have some really yummy ones that are raspberry flavored and just sort of keep your throat moist, and then some other great ones with Menthol that do the whole tingy thing while actually tasting good at the same time. =) In addition to that, I have had the most incredible variety of fruit juices to choose from--I found some peach-banana nectar that seriously has magical powers. Yummy and it feels sooooooo good on my throat.

So, really, that's all the news from here. Not much else is new. I'm feeling a lot better today but I'm stuck inside, which is kind of a bummer. I'm kinda bored. Fortunately it's a nasty day so at least I don't feel like I'm missing out by not being able to go outside. Tomorrow is my last Sunday leading worship--I believe I will be well enough to do it--and pastor and his family are coming home this weekend, which is good. I'm excited to have them back. There's some fun stuff coming up in the next few weeks.

Random observation--without Thanksgiving, I think Halloween signals to Germans that it's Christmas time, because there's already an unbelievable amount of Christmas stuff around. Christmas decorations, Christmas displays in stores, Lebkuchen everywhere... Hey, I can't complain! I'm up for Christmas starting early!

Something else random--I finally was able to find cheddar cheese and skim milk. Two things I thought didn't exist in Germany. Very exciting. Now I just need to find a decent salsa--the stuff I bought tastes like ketchup. (Yuck.)

Okay, sorry for the boring post. I'm bored... Send me emails! Post a comment! Tell me an exciting story about your life! Much love to all. =)

November Snow... ?!?!?!?!?!

Say what? Yep, that's right... Berlin freakin' SNOWED on me!!! I was on my way to a small group in Pankow last night, and all of a sudden I looked up, and there was WHITE STUFF falling from the sky. I thought maybe I'd gone crazy, but then later during the small group it snowed a little more. Nothing that really stuck, but still... it was November 1st!!! The day after Halloween!!! What!?!??!!?!??!

Anyways, some other crazy happenings:

After small group Tobi and I stopped by the Heimlichs to pick up my Turkish book which I left there over the weekend, and on the way, we saw TWO Trabis!!! (For those who don't know, a Trabi is the kind of car everyone drove in East Germany back in those days. They're really quite funny little cars.) I didn't know anyone actually owned a Trabi anymore, but then in one night I saw two!!! Tobi thought I was just weird, but I had to stop and check them out. As if they were in a museum or something. (I'm allowed to be a tourist once in awhile.)

Tuesday night was choir practice. I missed practice last week, so maybe I missed something, but something very strange happened. Practice ended an hour early, and within 5 minutes it was transformed into a party. Beer, wine, food out the wazoo... yeah, I was totally baffled. Germans.

Yesterday in my history class, I actually heard someone use the phrase, "It's all sausage to me." Translation: It's all the same to me. Same=sausage. Doesn't get any more German than that.

...and updated again!

Halloween pics are now up too. You can see my cool costume. :)


by stinaberlin

Photos updated

Hello friends,
just thought I'd let you know I updated my photo album on Webshots of my apartment. It now shows my kitchen and more pics of my room, plus I added captions. :)

http://community.webshots.com/user/stinaberlin?vhost=community

Attack of the Pink Fuzz

Yes, I did pick that title just because I thought it would be a funny title. But I didn't just make it up out of nowhere. I really am being attacked by pink fuzz. Magenta, to be precise.

What is the source of this fuzz? Well, I'm not exactly sure, but there are several suspects. At the top of the list is the magenta chenille blanket I bought at Ikea. Chenille is somewhat infamous for spreading fuzz. I also have a magenta sweatshirt-jacket that could be contributing to the problem, as well as some pinkish purple towels. For the record, I washed all of these, but yet the fuzz remains. The room I'm living in right now has a hardwood floor (and is tiny, remember), and when I set my bag down on the floor and then pick it up, there's pink fuzz all over it. Once I move out (in a week, I hope!) I will vacuum it, but right now it's just too tight in there with my stuff.

Anyways... let's discuss some real news. Namely, the weekend. I had to finish a paper for the language practicum, so that came first. But I also went to a little "housewarming" party at my friend Matt's apartment--the whole BCGS clan has discussed having housewarming parties in all of our new apartments, and Matt was the first to make it happen. At the party we played German Taboo (spelled Tabu) which was hilarious, but of course we had to pass on like half of the cards either because of language or cultural differences that left us totally stumped. The "keine Ahnung" ("no clue") stack got pretty big! It was still fun though. This weekend is a Halloween party at Molly and Andrew's, and I already what I'm going as... but I want it to be a surprise. You'll have to wait for the pictures.

Sunday was pretty awesome, as usual. Great service, then spent the day at the Heimlichs (pastor's house) so I could use the internet with the convenience of wonderful company. :) I worked on my Full Measure arrangement ("Someday" by Nichole Nordeman) and also put some finishing touches on my paper. Tobi came over after awhile and graciously helped me with some grammatical corrections. We also had a hilarious conversation about Berliner dialect and Bavarian dialect. After that Tobi and I went back to the church for a prayer meeting, after which we ate dinner at the super yummy Chinese restaurant underneath our church (we're on the second floor). After that we worked on planning the music for the service for this coming Sunday because the Heimlichs are out of town. By the time we were done with that it was so late I had to ride the "Night-Bus" home. What other people do that late on a Sunday night, I really don't know!

It was no problem though because I don't have class on Mondays. :) So I slept in, printed my paper and turned it in, ran some other errands, and then ended up eating dinner at the nice Italian restaurant nextdoor to my apartment. Jeannie and her mom know the people that work there really well, and actually right now they are doing us a big favor--we only have one key between the two of us for the front door to the apartment, so whoever leaves the apartment last drops off the key there so that whoever comes home first can pick it up there. The people there are super friendly and I actually ended up chatting for awhile with them on Monday, after which they offered me a cup of coffee "on the house". After finishing my coffee I realized how late it was, so I just ate dinner there too. They have really good minestrone soup. :)

After that was music practice at church. It went okay. It's just hard because I just really don't have nearly enough piano or guitar experience to lead worship, but there's no one else to do it! Another women plays about as much guitar and piano as I do, so it works out between the two of us but it's a little shaky. I just don't want to distract people from worshiping. Please pray for me if you think of it!

Not too much else "special" to report on... visited another history class today that I really liked--problem is, I don't need another history class, I need a literature class! But I also visited a lit class today that is a possibility. I went to the Bibel Kreis yesterday too. There was actually a guy there who couldn't speak much German, so the girl from Vanderbilt was translating the whole time. She did an amazing job, but there was one hilarious moment when she got almost all the way through a sentence and then suddenly said, "Wait, what was my verb?" Classic.

That's all for now I believe... post comments! They make me smile. :)

So, I made it through the first week of classes. It doesn't really feel like I went through a normal first week of class because I'm still in the process of visiting classes and trying to decide which ones to take--it's a much harder decision than at Penn. Nonetheless it was a pretty tiring week, especially since I also had to write a 5-page paper this week as my last assignment for the language practicum. I thought I'd have plenty of free time to take my time with it, but my free time likes to pull a disappearing act on me. But I really can't complain--I guess I should've just expected for things to be crazier than normal, you know, being in a foreign country and all...heh...

Here's what I've experienced so far:

A boring, hard to understand, and "Whoa, I know absolutely nothing about German literature" lecture (not going to take this one!)
A really fun history seminar called Television and History--cool prof, met some nice people, only bad thing about it is it's at 8 am!!! In Berlin, in the WINTER!!!!! It is a long, cold, dark trek to class Tuesday mornings... but I think I still want to take the class.
Great Turkish class. It's actually Turkish 2, and I already took Turkish 1 and 2 at Penn, but I forgot a lot and it's a little bit different taking it in German, so I definitely think this is the right level for me right now. I'd rather go back and repeat a few things so that I really learn it well than try to just dive in over my head. Teacher and classmates are really nice, and I actually really like learning Turkish in German, at least so far. I'm actually probably more excited about Turkish right now than anything else!
The course offered through BCGS, which is about the relationship between Germany and the Middle East. I think it'll be interesting and we already know the prof really well, and he's fun.
I also went to a seminar on Kleist (a German author) but I didn't really get too much of a feel for the class because all the prof did was introduce himself, discuss a few logistical things, and said, "Okay, see ya next week!" So I still don't know about that one. Nice thing is, a girl from BCGS who knows a lot more about German lit than I do is taking the course.

In addition to that, I auditioned (and got into) a big choir for students from the FU and the technical university, and that was pretty cool. Very similar to the Choral Society at Penn, which I actually dropped out of after the first few weeks. The thing that's tough about it is that I love singing and I miss choir a lot, but it's just not the same when there's not a whole lot of meaning behind it. With music I always have to ask myself why I'm doing it, and if it's just for the sake of performance, it's not really worth it to me. So, these thoughts are definitely coming up again about this choir here, but I do feel a little more inclined to stick with it this time because it is a cultural experience as well. And I just don't know how much I will have to take voice lessons, especially this semester, and in a choir I can at least keep my voice in shape. We'll see.

Speaking of not having much time this semester, I do have some exciting news--I got than internship! The people I will work with are really nice, and I'm excited about the opportunity. I'll have three main jobs--writing short articles in English for American students preparing to study at the FU, translating articles for a monthly newsletter/magazine that they want to be able to offer in German and in English, and researching various topics that would be relevant for exchange students at the FU. What's nice about it is that it'll only be 5-10 hours a week, flexible scheduling, and it's only for 6 weeks--after 6 weeks I can keep working there if everything is going well, but if it's too much, I'm not obligated. I think that's pretty cool. And, it pays 10€ an hour... with no taxes!!!

Probably my last piece of news is that I am going to become a member of my church here. My pastor asked me about it, and I couldn't really think of a reason not to, so I'm going to do it. I'm really super excited about being part of a church family here--it still amazes me constantly.

Well, I'm hungry, so I think I'll be signing off for now... oh yeah, I have uploaded pictures!!! I have pictures of my apartment (unfortunately right now they're just of my little tiny room where I'm living until November), pictures from Stettin/Sczcecin, and from kite-flying. Here are the links:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/554842136YKXoiY (Just realized this one is incomplete... the photo of my kitchen is missing, and also the photos that show how my bed comes out of the wall...)
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/554846580nbmFeY
http://travel.webshots.com/album/554992735bzyTYO

Much love to everyone!!!

Abendmahl, Kite-flying, Hoopla!, Cosi fan tutte, Heimweh, Paid internship?!?!, Bibel Kreis

Yikes, much to update on... I think I will organize it into chapters. :)

Abendmahl.
I had Communion for the first time here on Sunday. It was pretty cool. Communioon for me is always a reminder of two major things: first of all, Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins, and second of all, that we are all one body in Christ. Sharing in Communion at a church in Germany was just awesome... it reminded me how cool it is that Jesus paid the price for the sins of all men all over the world, and all over the world we have brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kite-flying.
After church on Sunday, a really nice family invited me over for the afternoon to eat lunch with them, fly kites in the park, and then have Abendbrot as well. It was so much fun!!! I don't think I've ever realy flown a kite in the US, but it was so much fun and it was the perfect day for it. It was really windy, and we went to this park that has this big open hillside. I seriously think everyone in Berlin was there flying kites that day! I'd never seen so many. Also, the kids in the family (age 7 and 9) were super sweet. I had tons of fun. I am so thankful for all these nice families here!

Hoopla!
This is my new favorite German word. Gmail says it whenever something goes wrong, like if you try to send an email but youÄve lost your connection or something. But I never heard a real person say it until Sunday in the park. Whenever the kite would come crashing down to the ground, they'd say, "Hoopla!"

Cosi fan tutte.
On Monday night, we went to the opera! It was totally awesome. We saw Cosi fan tutte (Mozart) at the Komische Oper (Comic Opera? Comedic Opera? Don't know what it is in English) and it was hilarious. They did a German translation and then through in some modern twists. We had a great time. The soprano was also totally amazing and made me realy want to get back to voice lessons!

Heimweh.
The German word for Hmesickness. I had a little bit of it this week, but I think it really had more to do with the fact that I was super tired. What's really interesting though is that I actually had a couple dreams this week in which for some reason I went home early, and in my dreams I was totally bummed not to be in Germany anymore and speaking German. I guess it was a reminder to be thankful for my opportunities here. I really love Berlin, I mainly just wish that everyone I love back home was here too! Such is life... :)

Paid internship?!?!
One little thing that helped cheer me up this week: My teacher for the language practicum told me this week that a woman from Distributed Campus--a web service for international students at the FU--is looking to hire a student to conduct interviews with international students and write and translate texts relevant to international students at the FU. He told me he recommended me to her and gave me her contact information so I could write to her. I did of course, and I sent her my German resume!, and she wrote me back saying she thought I sounded like a great candidate and she wanted to schedule a time next week to meet with me. How cool is that? I never expected anything like that and I was flattered that my teacher thought of me for the position.

Bibel Kreis.
Today I went to a Bible study (or Bibel Kreis, literally "Bible circle") at the FU. It's a smal group of students but it was a great time of worship and Bible study. I really enjoyed spending time with some German Christians my age, and I also met an American grad student from Vanderbilt who happens to know my German tutor from high school! We enjoyed the time and are going to try to coordinate our schedules so we can find a good time for Bible study during the semester.

Other stuff.
Classes start next week, and I'm kinda nervous. I really don't know what I want to take. Fortunatey I have awhile to "shop around" before I have to officially decide, but it's still kinda stressful and scary. However, the language practicum is over, and though I enjoyed it, it feels good to have completed it. Things are about to start picking up here. Real classes for one thing, but also extracurricular stuff... I plan to audition for a choir next week, and I might also look into taking voice lessons. We'll see how everything goes. Pictures are still on the way--I need to find an internet cafe where I can use my laptop and have faster internet. I miss you all and I hope to hear from everyone soon--don't forget that you don't have to have a Blgger account to post a comment here on my blog. Much love to everyone!!

Day of German One-ness, Poland, and a German lesson from a 3-year-old

I.E., my week. :) It's been a rather exciting week, so there's much to update on...

Monday was my last day with my host family. Oddly enough, they weren't home for dinner, so I got to go out with some friends to celebrate the Day of German Unity ("Tag der deutschen Einheit"--"Einheit" actually means one-ness) in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The actual holiday was Tuesday, but Germans know how to party, so they made it a four-day weekend event. :) It was actually WAY cool. Especially to be celebrating that in Berlin. In front of the Brandenburg Gate there were all these tents set up for beer, sweets, souvenirs, etc., and there was also a big stage for a band and even a ferris wheel! We had a lot of fun an dI bught a cool t-shirt with the Berlin "Ampelmann" (stoplight-man) on it. That's the little green guy above my picture on the right. The "walk" and "don't walk" lights in East Berlin were different from those in West Berlin, and it just so happens that the East German ones were super cute. Instead of a lame little stick-figure, he's a plump little guy who looks rather jolly, wearing his little hat and crossing the street. His red counterpart is also cute - the shirt has the green guy on the front and the red on the back. Anyways, sorry for the tangent, but today the East-Berlin Ampelmann is just a symbol for Berlin as a whole - there are even some East-Berlin stoplights now in west Berlin! - and a rather trendy one at that. I think it's cute. :) I should also mention there was a whole tent devoted to Haribo candies. They had everything! Oh yeah, and you know those German roasted nuts you can buy sometimes at the mall? They actually are German! They had them at the celebration and they were soooooo good.

Tuesday we didn't have class because of the holiday, so most of us used the day to move into our new apartments. That went really well. My roommate, Jeannie, is so nice!!! Her parents live only 5 minutes away, so her mom was actually there too to write up the rent contract and stuff. She was super nice too. She treated us to lunch at the little Italian/pizza place just down the street from us. They know all the people that work there practically like family and they were all super nice and interested in where I came from and all that. It was really fun.

My apartment is also pretty cool. Right now I am actually not living in my room. The guy who has been living there found out he had to stay an extra month right after Jeannie said I could have the room, so for October I pay only half rent and I'm living in the spare third room, which is too tiny to live in for a year but no big deal for a month. During the year we'll use it for eating meals and for extra closet space, but right now it's my room. My bed comes out of the wall. It's so cool. It's kind of annoying that I have to put my bed away before I can access the clothes in my closet (photos coming soon!), but it's also a good thing for me because it means that once I get up and get dressed, I can't lay back down in my bed and fall asleep again! (Mom, you should've thought of that years ago!!) Jeannie also brought me an extra TV they had at their house, so I have my own TV for the first time ever. Only problem is, TV is way more tempting here because I can convince myself it's "homework". :) Other than moving in I didn't really do much. I thought we might go back to Brandenburg Gate but everyone else was also busy moving in and getting settled. Late that night I heard people setting off fireworks. I think that's so cool.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Then on Friday, we of course had an "excursion," this time to Poland! We went to Stettin, which is the German spelling for Sczcecin, pronounced something like "shchehcheen". Yes, that's correct... a "sh" and a "ch" put together. The weather was terrible but we still had a good time. The city is really pretty and has a cool history - it's really close to the German border and located on the Ostsee (the Baltic Sea?). In olden days it was part of the German state of Pommerania, then of course later it was conquered by Hitler and then ruled by Communism under the control of the USSR. History has made it's mark on Stettin - we saw super-old churches and a palace (one church was built in the 12th century!) but also tons of buildings that serve as evidence of WWII and Communism... buidings that were used for Communist headquarters, buildings that just barely survived WWII and haven't been renovated... pretty amazing. After a tour of the city and a boat ride around the harbor (which were unfortunately cold and rainy), we ate at an awesome Russian restaurant. Then we had about an hour and a half of free time, so we went to the mall because stuff in Poland is cheap. :) Fortunately one of the girls in BCGS is Polish, so she was our translator for the day and got us around where we needed to go. We were all very thankful for her! Don't worry, photos from the trip are on the way.

Today I went over to the church to practice the music for tomorrow morning, and that was fun. I've gotten to learn a bunch of cool German worship songs. :) Afterward Manu invited me over for lunch, and I actually ended up spending the whole afternoon there. Lunch was nice, and I also got to play with their little ones, particularly Robert, their 3-year-old. We put together puzzles, which was cool because this one puzzle was of Noah's ark with all the animals, and Robert got to teach me the names of all the animals I didn't know. So I had a German lesson from a 3-year-old. :) Manu and I also had some great conversations, which was really nice. Then Tobi dropped by and offered to take me with him to Ikea, since both of us had stuff we needed to buy there. That was a fun trip. Ikea is nuts.

And now, here I am, back at my apartment. Doing laundry... yippee. :) Special shout-out to Alan, it's his birthday today!!! Much love to everyone... I've got some postcards I want to send, hopefully one of these days I'll quit being lazy and actually send them. :)

My awesome-est day in Berlin thus far

Yesterday was so awesome!

We had our normal worship service in Pankow in the morning, and it was really nice. I got to sing and "play" a tiny bit of piano, which is always fun, but the sermon also really spoke to me. The kids did this really cool thing in the service with us. We went through the Scriptures of the first 7 days when God created the earth, and the kids got to set up different things that He made - the sun, moon, stars, animals, etc. For the animals they all brought in some of their favorite stuffed animals, it was so sweet. The sermon then was about why God created us - not because He was lonely, not because He was bored, but because it brought Him joy, and everything He created could honor Him. The point that really hit home for me: All the other things God created glorify and honor Him just by their existence. The beauty and complexity of the heavens and the earth and everything in them reveal the glory of the Lord just in their existence. But we humans are different. We honor God when we come to Him to fulfill our deepest longings--when we recognize that He alone can do that and we put our trust in Him. It's like a child who comes to his father when he needs something to drink--he recognizes that Dad can provide that, and he can't just do it himself. It's so amazing when you think of it... we glorify God by coming to Him with open hands. Wow.

This weekend I had my first little pangs of homesickness--nothing really bad, just that strange feeling you get when you've spent more time alone than you usually do, and you're not in contact with many people, and you don't have anything special to do. That feeling when you just sigh and wonder what the people you love are doing, and then of course you start to wish you were there too. It's a very natural thing. I went to church yesterday with that feeling, but during the service it somehow started to melt away when I realized that only God can fulfill that longing in me. That sounds really strange--that only God can fulfill your longing for something or someone else. But it's true. And it's really quite comforting, since people and things can't be in all places at all times, but God can!

So, that was my awesome morning. After church was a nice lunch--someone always cooks lunch at the church and then we all eat together, it's really cool. Afterward I stayed there for the afternoon and studied a little for a test I had today, since I didn't want to ride the subway all the way back to Schöneberg, just to turn around an hour or so later and ride all the way back to Pankow. And I had to do that because...

There was a special evening service for the baptism of two men in our church. It was so amazing! Both of these men came to the Lord through the big evangelism event that the church had back in July--some of you have heard me talk about it before. It was so exciting to hear their testimonies and witness their baptism, and it was also exciting for our pastor because it was his first time to baptize people. The service was really cool too. I sang a few songs with a couple other guys, but there was also an Angolian choir that sang in the service. They were awesome! They also sang at the thing back in July and wanted to come back for the baptism. It was exciting.

After the service, some of us went to the Philharmonic and then to dinner afterwards, to celebrate. :) The Berlin Philharmonic is awesome! They performed Brahams' German Requiem, which is pretty cool. My ticket was also only 10€, which is just cool. Cheap but awesome music is always great! Afterward we ate at a little Italian place, where I ordered a glass of ice water!!! It was so excitin!!! I was sort of complaining to my friend in the restaurant about how I can never get ice water, and he was like, "Yeah you can, just ask for it!" That made me feel a little silly. But I did, expecting the waitor to give me a funny look (like most waitors do when I order tap water), but he was super friendly and said, "Of course!" AND, he brought me a big glass--not one of those lame tiny ones they usually give you that's barely bigger than a shot glass. If I'd had my camera with me, I would've taken a picture of it. It was quite exciting.

By then I was exhausted, went home, and crashed. Tomorrow is a holiday, so I hope to do lots of fun things in the next 24 hours. I'll report on anything exciting. :)

Much love,
Christina

Double-posting! See following post!

Okay so I saved my last post as a draft and I thought I had published it too, but it turns out I hadn't, so I just published it today. However, I also really wanted to write about my day, so I am double-posting. But definitely read the last post! It's my list of Americanisms and Germanisms. Incomplete of course, but it's what I could pull out of my brain as of yet.

So, my day today. First of all, an appalling experience. So, Friday is excursion day during the BCGS language practicum (i.e. we don't have class and instead go on field trips). Suzy and I got there really early this morning, so we decided to find some breakfast. We saw a Starbucks. Some of the people in our group are anti-Starbucks, but Suzy and I aren't, so we thought we'd check it out. So we go over there, but it doesn't open until 8 and it's about quarter till, so we go to a little bakery type place next door and we pick out stuff there to eat, planning to then go back to Starbucks to get beverages. However, when Starbucks finally opened, we went in, looked at the menu, and were appalled. The prices were outrageous!!! I didn't sit down and do the math, but I think most drinks there were about twice as expensive as they are at Starbucks in the U.S. I was shocked. Europeans make good coffee. I would think the competition would keep prices down. But not so. So we went back to the bakery and got cappuccinos there instead. :)

Anyways, the more important part of the day. Our trip today was to the Reichstag, which is more or less like the Capitol. It's where the German equivalent of the Senate - the Bundestag - meets. It was way cool. The first we did was sit in on an actual session for 1 hour. Way cool. It was so cool to watch the German government system in action! It's very different from the US in many ways, but also similar. Discussions got heated, people got a little rowdy with each other - good times. What was also really cool is that we saw Angela Merkel - the Chancellor. It was really just a stroke of luck that she happened to pop in on the Bundestag when we were there, and of course she didn't speak or anything, but it was cool to say we saw her and were in the same room as her!

Part two was our own private question-and-answer session with some important guy. I couldn't really tell you his title, he has more than one and I don't really know what they mean, but basically, he knew his stuff, and we got to ask him anything we wanted. That was pretty cool. We mostly asked him about the stuff we heard them discussing in the Bundestag, since we all wanted to make sure we knew what we had seen and heard. The topic we heard discussed was Elterngeld - literally "parent-money" - which would allow a parent to receive around 70% of his/her income for the first 14 months after having a child, while they take time off from work to be with the child. It was proposed by the CDU (could be compared perhaps to the Republican Party) and also supported by the SPD (could be compared to the Democratic Party). The Germans, however, do not have a 2-party system. There are 5 major parties that are represented in the government - the two I already mentioned, plus the FDP (similar to Libertarian Party), PDS (the Socialist party), and the Green party. CDU and SPD are the biggest ones though. However, since no single party has a majority, they have to form coalitions in order to elect someone Chancellor. It is very rare for the CDU and SPD to form a coalition - I don't think it's happened since the 70's - but about a year ago, they did indeed form a "Grosse Koalition" ("Big Coalition") which made Angela Merkel the new chancellor. So currently, the two big parties which are usually competing with one another quite a lot are working together much more than they normally would. So we heard representatives of the CDU and the SPD speak for Elterngeld and the FDP and PDS speak against it. (We had to leave before we got to hear what the Green party thinks about it.) It was strange to hear "libertarians" and socialists expressing similar opinions about something. But interesting, nevertheless!!

Part 3 was the tourist-y part; we got to go up on the roof and walk up the big spiral walkway inside the glass dome on top of the Reichstag. I'll include a photo. Unfortunately I forgot my camera - the view from up there is amazing. The history of the building itself is really cool - it is very closely tied with Germany's history. The building in its current form is only about 8 years old.

Okay, I don't know why I can't upload a picture here, so here's a link to a picture of the Reichstag: http://www.aip.de/image_archive/images/reichstag.jpg

Well folks, it's late. More updates shall come soon. I move into my new apartment on Tuesday! Exciting... I miss you all though. Much love!

You might be German if...

Okay, I'm sure there will be additions to this list, but I just couldn't wait any longer to share some of the little Germanisms (or at least Berlinisms) that I've noticed, and also the Americanisms that stand in contrast to them. All of these things come from my own personal experience and observation. Enjoy!

You might be German (or at least a Berliner) if:
-You can't drink water unless it's carbonated.
-You pay more for your beverage than for your food.
-By American standards, you are perpetually dehydrated.
-You put butter on your sandwich.
-Salad doesn't have to have lettuce to be a salad.
-Ketchup packets cost 15 cents.
-You see by far more ads for Coca-Cola than for anything else... except maybe political candidates.
-The "walk" and "don't walk" characters on stoplights are trendy.
-You drive a Smart-Car.
-You're a guy who wears man-capris or has a "feaux-hawk"
-You're a woman and you're either 6 feet tall or know at least 3 women who are.
-You wear your wedding ring on your right hand.
-"How are you?" is not just a polite thing to say - it is a question which demands a detailed, truthful answer. When an American asks you this, you just say, "Thanks."
-If the stoplight says "don't walk" but there are no cars in sight, you still wait for the light to change. You could lose your driver's license if you didn't.
-Almost everything is closed after 8pm.
-You have to pay for a plastic bag to put your groceries in.
-You sort your trash into at least three categories.
-You only turn the water on in the shower when you need to rinse.
-At the movies, you have a choice between sweet popcorn and salty popcorn.
-You always wear trendy sneaker-type shoes but you never wear athletic tennis shoes unless you're jogging.
-You tend to dress warmer than the weather--scarves in September, for example.
-You don't wear flip-flops in September, regardless of the temperature.
-You sunbathe naked in the forest. (Yes, I've seen this! unfortunately...)

You might be an American in Germany if:
-You think water should be free.
-You put ice in your beverages.
-You are perpetually dehydrated, or else broke from paying for beverages.
-You've only eaten döner once.
-You would be wearing flip-flops for at least another month, but you don't want to stick out as an American.
-Germans are amazed that you can speak German, though it's nothing to them that they can all speak English.
-When you do speak or write in English, you try to put all the verbs at the end.
-You're fascinated by the variety of Haribo candies.
-You wear athletic tennis shoes regularly. Maybe they identify you as an American, but comfort is worth it.
-You enjoy not having to ask them not to put mayonaise on your sandwich.
-You're wondering where all the SUV's are.
-You ask the cashier at the cafeteria for a recipe instead of a receipt because you got the German words confused. (Yep, I did that.)
-You've been asked, "Is it true that in the US, you have to pay for college? How in the world do you afford such a thing?"
-You were warned not to get arrested for stealing ketchup packets.
-You're missing Mexican food, barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese right now.
-Peanut butter is a staple. You'll find it somewhere.
-You say things like, "Danglish rockt meine Welt."
-You're still thirsty.

Some "rough translations" (as in, what German things play the same role as certain American things):
peanut butter = Nutella
white bread = "schwarzbrot" (literally black bread, very rye-tasting and grainy)
sausage of all kinds = cold cuts of any kind (especially turkey)
peanuts (in candy) = hazelnuts
cookies 'n' creme ice cream = stracciatella (creamy with little chocolate specks)
butter = mayonaise (on a sandwich)
a Philly cheese steak (a staple/guilty indulgence) = döner
Mexican food and Chinese food (Indian too in the north) = Turkish food, Asian food and Indian food (most common international foods)
soft rolls = hard rolls
peanut butter as a flavor = hazelnut
Cheetos = peanut "flips"... same shape as cheetos but a little smaller, and yes, they're peanut-flavored... sounds weird, but they're dangerously addicting
lettuce and/or pickles on a sandwich = cucumber slices on a sandwich

Pictures!!!

Finally, I have photos for all to view... I've put together two albums on Webshots, so I think the easiest thing to do is to just give you links to those albums. They are:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/554312726SyJlSq ("The Honeymoon Phase")
http://travel.webshots.com/album/554313024NyOEWY (Alexander Platz, Prenzlauer Berg, Cecelienhof)

Enjoy! More photos to come soon; I need to get new batteries for my camera. :)

Ich bin not homeless!!!

Hello everyone!

First of all, some very exciting news: I have an apartment!!! The one I mentioned in my last post turned out to be great - I visited it today and met my new roommate, Jeannie (short for Janina), and she was super friendly and we had a great time chatting and getting to know each other. The apartment is in Charlottenburg, a nice part of Berlin and not too far from the university and from the big places in town like Kurfürstendamm (ritzy shopping), Potsdamer Platz (umm, everything), and the subway, which will take you anywhere. My room is a little on the small side but that's really okay with me - I'd say it's about the size of my room at Penn freshman year. We have a nice bathroom and kitchen and a small spare room with a little table, good for socializing or entertaining guests perhaps. Internet, phone, TV, everything included... might I also mention it's cheaper than anywhere I could live at Penn. But most of all, I'm excited that I found someone fun and friendly and my age to live with!!! God is so faithful!!! I move in on October 3. :)

Other news: the movie I saw last night was incredible. It's done so well here that it is sure to make it over to the U.S., and you should all see it. It's called "Das Leben der Anderen", roughly translated "The Life of the Others". It takes place in East Germany in 1984 and follows two main characters: a writer who is being spied on by the East German police (the Stasi), and the man who is primarily responsible for the spying. It shows very poignantly how the lives of ordinary citizens were so deeply impacted by the Stasi and all that they did, and it also gives a rather insightful look into the life of a member of the Stasi - a perspective often forgotten. I highly recommend it.

Along with that, last night was a lot of fun. First of all, it was exciting to see a movie here in Berlin for the first time, of course all in German - we were proud of ourselves. :) Plus, afterwards we went out to eat and that was a lot of fun too. I really really love the people in our study abroad program. We formed such a tight bond so quickly and it's so cool. It's really fun to be with people who love German and who love Berlin as much as I do. :)

Now, unfortunately I will not be uploading my photos tonight because I have to do that from my laptop at an internet cafe, and my internet cafe here is closed. But fear not, photos will come tomorrow. I'm also working on a list of Berlinisms and Americanisms I've observed thus far through my experiences. Be excited. :)

Love and miss you all!

Hello from your favorite Blog-Slacker

Hello everone!

So sorry you haven't heard much from me lately. The internet at my host family's house has been acting up, so I haven't been able to use it as much for entertainment purposes as I would normally like to. But here is a long-awaited update...

The last two/three weeks I have been primarily preoccupied with my language practicum, my apartment search, church activities, and hanging out with my host family. So...

#1. The Language Practicum.
It's going rather well. Had quite a character of an instructor for the first half (that is, up to today - we change instructors next week). She was nice and... a character. All that really means is that I found her personality entertaining. I also first heard from her the Berlin dialect, which basically means that the word "gut" (which means "good") is pronounced "yoot." Totally awesome. At first the practicum was a little frustrating because it didn't seem to be quite as stuctured as we'd hoped, but as things went along the goals of the course became clearer and I feel like I am learning a lot. Every day I think my German gets a little better, and it's really quite exciting.

#2. The Apartment Search.
Up until a couple days ago my only comment on this subject would've been, "Ahhh!!!" The apartment search is definitely a frustrating process, particularly because for some reason it is really hard to find people to live with who are close to my age. A lot of people here go to college later in life, and a much smaller percentage of the population actually goes to college, and somewhere in the middle all the 20-year-olds vanish and then don't reappear again until they're 26 or older, still studying something random and living in WGs (a WG is basically an apartment in which individual rooms are rented out) with a cat or two. Yeah... that basically summarizes my problems: no one my age, no one who particularly struck me as a fun and exciting person to live with, and no one who didn't have a darn cat! (I'm allergic, in case you didn't know.) I have visited 6 different apartments to date (and emailed or called at least 20) and I only liked one of them, and I didn't get it, they picked someone else. But, no worries... I am going to visit one tomorrow, and I've been in touch with the girl for several days and she's 20 years old and sounds really friendly, and she's given me the impression that if we meet each other and like each other, I can have the room. So, cross your fingers for me! Time is ticking away, and the majority of us still don't have apartments.

#3. Church Activites.
Ummmm AWESOME. I love the people at this church! I also had the incredible blessing of getting to spend time last week with a group of seminary students from Hessen (another state in Germany) who were at our church for two weeks doing sort of a practicum with our pastor slash mission project. They put on a series of evening talks/discussions with worship music, which were intended for believers and nonbelievers alike, and they invited me to sing with the worship band. I had so much fun! They were the nicest and most hilarious people (mostly guys) and I absolutely had a blast. They made me feel so at home here and we just had such a good time. All of their talks were awesome too and God has been so faithful to answer my prayers to be able to understand sermons. I was so blessed. I'm a little sad that they're gone now, but through the events I also got to know more people at the church better, and that's been awesome. Super awesome.

#4. Host family.
My host-dad is really cool. He seems to absolutely love taking me around to random places in Berlin and having all kinds of thoughtful conversations, often about politics but also other stuff too. My host-mom and host-sister are nice too, but I especially enjoy the dad. And I've had some pretty cool meals here. Last night we had tacos for dinner and I thought, "Tacos in Germany? Yeah right!" but they were actually amazing! I also had some great pumpkin soup, this really tasty casserole type dish with green beans, pears and bacon (sounds weird but it was awesome!) and some other stuff too... they get such good fruit and vegetables here. Yum.

Okay, I have to go now because a group of us are going to see a movie. More updating soon! And PICTURES too!!! Love to all!!!

I can good Danglish speak

Did anyone notice that last sentence of my last post - "Just for now, while everything so new and fresh is..."? Sound a little like Yoda? Welcome to the phenomenon of Danglish. Actually, I might be stretching the meaning of this term - I first learned it as the sort of mixed German and English that Americans learning German often speak with each other when there aren't any Germans or other Americans around. It's basically the language of German-learners. I'd like to also use it to refer to the messed up way that thoughts come into my mind right now, since I hear and speak German all day long but am definitely far from fluent. So when I think, I think in this wierd mixture of German and English, and when I type, apparently I sometimes combine the languages in odd ways. There are also a lot of German expressions that I really want to use in English but they don't really exist. So if I say something that seems weird to you, you can bet it's probably an awkward translation fo something in German. (For example, in German we say "also" all the time, which means something like "that is to say" or "therefore" and other things too...)

Also! (OK!) back to the update...

Day 4: We slept really late... like, till a little bit after noon. When we woke up, Suzy had two new roommates. One was sleeping; the other, Molly, was hungry for some lunch, so the four of us went to the "Berliner" cafe (where I ate on Thursday). After that we wandered around a ritzier part of town where there were lots of expensive windows to look in (Burberry, Gucci, etc.), then headed back to the hostel for naps before everything started at 7. We met Carmen Müller, the director of BCGS, and a professor from Princeton who is here with the program. Basically all we did was introduce ourselves, then we went to dinner together at a local Italian/pizza restaurant. Why pizza, I have no idea!!! We should've had Wienerschnitzel with Spätzle and Sauerkraut or something, at least in my opinion. But of course, no one really asked me.

The other kids in the program are very nice. We all are sort of at varying levels in German - some have taken it only for a few semesters, others since 7th grade. Of course, how long we've taken German doesn't really have that much to do with how good we speak it - one girl has only studied German for a year and she basically kicks all of our butts! She's sooooo nice though. Everyone is. And actually, I thought it would be really weird to speak German with each other, but we're pretty much required to and so everyone does it, and it's actually not so weird. It does get a little annoying after awhile to hear so much not-so-perfect German. I don't mean that in a bad way - my German is also not perfect, so I contribute to the problem! - but what I mean is that I'm used to hearing more correct German (that is, from a teacher/professor) then I hear incorrect German (the other comments in class from us students). But of course here, I hear German everywhere, not just in German class like in the US. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Right now it kind makes my brain hurt, since I am always hearing not so good German or really good but really fast German - I feel like I'm always either annoyed or confused (or at least having to concentrate really hard!).

Okay, back to the recap! After dinner, about 2/3 of us went to a sort of bar/biergarten sort of thing (since, of course, all the people who just got there also wanted to try German beer). It was okay. And it hasn't actually been awkward (at least so far!) not to drink here. It is a little funny though because here, when you order a beer you usually get a pretty big one (normally 1/2 liter, basically a pint) but when you order water, you get 0.2 liter (less than an 8-oz. cup) and they only rarely will give you tap water - it's usually from a bottle, usually carbonated, and you have to pay for it (and thus you can't just get as much as you want). It looks pretty funny when we all raise our glasses, and theirs are all ginormous and mine is super tiny. I always finish first too. But that's really OK with me.

From there, of course, to bed.

Day 5: We all (unfortunately) had to get up early, get our stuff out of the room and put it in a special luggage room, eat breakfast, and then the orientation began. It was really not so much fun. I mean, I shouldn't complain, it wasn't bad, but it was not so easy on a Sunday morning so get up that early to sit there and listen to Dr. Müller speak German really fast about all the things we had to do, especially while I would've much rather gone to church in Pankow! We had lunch in the hostel, then more "orientation" - this time it was all about stuff we needed to know about staying with a host family, which was much better. After that, we went upstairs for "Kaffee und Kuchen" (coffee and cake), where our host families came to meet and greet us and take us home with them.

My family is very nice. It's a couple - Eddie and Ingke - with two kids, one of which is in Peru for a year with something like our Peace Corps, the other is Hannah, 17 years old. They live in a very nice part of Berlin, not far from Wilmersdorf, called Schöneberg. Eddie seems to really enjoy pointing out cool stuff to me. We took a little walk through town and he showed me how some of the apartments are really old - built in the early 1900's - but others are called "Nachkriegswohnungen" ("after-the-war apartments") because they were destroyed by bombs during the war and had to be rebuilt in the 50's. Also, the town used to be a town where a lot of Jewish people lived, so as a memorial to the Jews they these little signs everywhere that have pictures on one side that are symbolic of something and on the other side some sort of text from sometime between 1933 and 1945 (a quote from a law prohibiting Jews from this or that, part of a message saying that one had to report at a certain time and place, a quote from a letter written by a Jew to a friend when they had to leave, etc.). There are at least 100 of them throughout the town. I think it's really a wonderful memorial. (Eddie thinks so too.) Eddie also pointed out to me the place where JFK gave his (in)famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech!

A friend of Ingke's invited us over for dinner, so that's where we went after the walk. It was pretty cool. Ingke's friend is Turkish, which was really cool for me. (Ingke told me later that her friend's father came to Germany as a guest worker. She moved here when she was 10. It's so cool to study something and then actually see - in this case meet! - it!) It was a total of seven people - me and my hostparents (Hannah stayed at home because she was really tired and had to go to school today), Ingke's friend and her husband, and another couple. They cooked an amazing 4 course meal!!! I felt so spoiled!!! It was fun. It was a very lively bunch. I didn't understand all of the conversation, but that was okay with me because I was really tired. After that we went home and it was time for bed.

Speaking of "home," I guess I should describe where I'm living! My host family has a beautiful apartment - one of the super old ones, which are normally much nicer - and my room here is bigger than my room at home! The apartment isn't huge, but the rooms are pretty big. I'm staying in their son's room, Hannah has a room about the same size (with her own little porch!), they have a big room that is sort of a living room but with a computer, piano, etc., a kitchen with a nice big table, a bathroom with a shower, and then the master bedroom, which has it's own bathroom with a bath tub (but no shower). It's actually kinda interesting how some things - the fridge, washing machine, oven, bathroom, etc - are a lot smaller than in the US, but the rooms are bigger! My room and Hannah's also onl have twin beds, so there's really a ton of space. Hannah has a couch in her room too. Oh yeah, I almost forgot - there are books everywhere in this place. My room, the hallway, the master bedroom, and the living room all have tons of shelves which are completely full of books. For the next month, I really don't need to go to the library!

I also forgot to mention that on the way to the friend's apartment for dinner, Eddie chose a route that took us right through the middle of the city and pointed out sooooooooooooooooooo much stuff to me. I felt like a kid in a candy store! In less than 10 minutes I saw the Brandenburg Gate, bricks in the street that indicate where the Berlin wall was, Alexanderplatz, tons of important government buildings, two of the opera houses here in Berlin, the famous radio tower that you always see in pictures of Berlin... I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff too. It was so exciting!

Day 6: Today was Day 6, although I should actually that was yesterday since it's now already Day 7. Not too much to say about today - I spent most of the day at the university doing more orientation-ish stuff and taking care of logistical things. The campus is absolutely beautiful, but not in the same way that I would say a lot of American universities are beautiful... that is, in America, at least half the time, universities are pretty because the buildings are pretty. The Free University of Berlin (or as we call it, the Freie Uni or simply the FU, pronounced "eff-ooh", not the way that an American might find offensive!) was founded in 1948 and thus most buildings were built in the 50's or 60's, and you can tell. (That is, they're not exactly pretty!) But the campus is so green - there are so many trees, and it's all so thick... like, the buildings are still close together, so all the green stuff is rather dense, instead of being spread out over huge frequently-mowed lawns like in the US. It's also relatively far from the center of Berlin, so there aren't any tall buildings or anything - it's sort of its own pretty little town.

One of the guys in the program turned 21 today, so most of us went out for Kaffee und Kuchen after we were done with all our orientation stuff. After that I went home, and I had dinner with Ingke. We ate these wonderful roasted potatoes that came from their own garden at their house out in the countryside, some kind of ginormous mushrooms that are supposed to be quite a delicacy which they also picked themselves (she cooked them with some sort of seasoning or something), sliced cucumber, and baked apples (almost like fresh apple sauce, but with huge apple chunks!). We had good conversation over dinner. Eddie wasn't there because he had to go back out for something - I don't know what - and Hannah was at gymnastics. Ingke said Hannah has done gymnastics for 10-12 years and now she actually teaches gymnastics for little kids! I spent the rest of the evening on the internet, mostly searching through ads for apartments.

As soon as possible, I will post pictures, since they're probably more exciting than my rambling. :) Now I really need to go to bed though because tomorrow I have take a test to see which level I will be in for the language practicum!

I miss you all!

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Hello everyone!

To those of you who have been waiting for me to post something, my apologies - up until now I had to pay to use the internet, so I tried to minimize my time online. (Blogger is not a good place to be when you want to minimize your online time!) So, if you haven't already heard, I made it here to Berlin. I was delayed a bit and of course very tired, but I'm pretty much acclimated now, at least physically! Mentally, everything is a bit crazy. There's just so much to take in! But I shouldn't get ahead of myself here. Let me first give an update on what one of my new friends here calls "the honeymoon phase" - that is, my first few days in Berlin. You could also call it "the unabashed tourist phase."

Day 1 (some mixture of Tuesday and Wednesday): I arrived in Berlin sometime in the early afternoon - I really don't remember exactly when. My flight out of Nashville was delayed due to weather, so I missed my original flight to Berlin and instead was put on a flight to Frankfurt and then another flight to Berlin. Miraculously, my luggage made it too. I was greeted at the airport very warmly by Manu (short for Manuela. Manu and her husband Timo are pastors of a new church in a part of former East Berlin called Pankow. I found their church website at the end of last year and have been in contact with them throughout the summer. They were soooo nice to offer to greet me at the airport - it was especially nice after my longer-than-planned-which-still-would've-been-long journey. She was there with her brand new baby girl (whose name is Heidi!! so cute!!) holding a sign that said, "Welcome Christina Lordemann." Everyone here spells my name with 2 n's. :) Manu was sooo friendly, and she drove me to the youth hostel where I was staying, made sure I got checked in okay, gave me a few subway maps and showed me how to get to the church. After she left, I called my mom at home (the signal was amazingly clear!) and then took a nap... a 6 hour nap that is. I woke up around 10, got online for a little while, then went back to bed at midnight and slept until almost 9:30. I didn't sleep especially well, but I slept long, and that was probably what I needed most! So, Day 1 was Sleep Day.

Day 2: Breakfast at the hostel was from 7 to 9, so I missed it of course, having woken up closer to 9:30. I took my time getting ready - I had a lot of fun with the shower, which was very confusing! Not all of the showers here are like this, but the shower in my bathroom had extremely high water pressure, but you turned it on sort of like you turn on a faucet in a public bathroom - you push a knob, and then after about 30 seconds it shuts off. Also, the tempurature is controlled by knobs that are on the wall outside the shower. So it took me a little while! But I finally got it to the right temperature, and actually I think the whole 30-second thing is pretty smart because it wastes a lot less water. You only turn it on when you need to rinse. You also shower faster that way. It's really quite efficient.

After that interesting experience I went out in search of food and drink, since I hadn't had a real meal since I was on the airplane. (Fear not - I did eat this amazing pretzel that I bought in the airport that had cheese and ham on it - wunderbar!) Fortunately there was a little cafe just down the street, so I went there. While I was there I heard the song "Hotel California," which I thought was funny. They also had these great ads on the window for Berliners. A Berliner is something like a jelly-filled doughnut. Of course whenever anyone hears the word Berliner, everyone likes about JFK's infamous speech, when he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner" (which would be something like saying, "I am a jelly doughnut"). Pictures coming soon.

From there I decided to wander a bit. Everything was really new exciting. Berlin is an absolutely beautiful city. Especially where the hostel was - a part of town called Wilmersdorf - there are TONS of trees, and the buildings are mostly much lighter in color (and often also prettier!) than they are in other cities. I can't really compare it to any American cities that I've been to. It's really pretty.

When I checked into the hostel the day before, they told me that another girl from the program (BCGS - Berlin Consortium for German Studies) was already there, so just before lunch time I decided to find her. Her name is Suzy - she's really nice. We decided to get lunch and found this great cafe where they had really good tomato soup and really good ice cream too! Ice cream here is amazing - it's more like gelato, so it's not quite as creamy but richer in flavor and thus you eat less (and it's cheaper too!). After that I took another nap (a shorter one this time!) and then headed out to Pankow to go to a sort of small group meeting at the church.

It was a really nice evening. It was a small group - just me, Timo, and three others, plus one of them's son who is 6 years old. We had "Abendbrot" together (literally "evening bread," that is, a light dinner, more like lunch - cold cuts, bread, etc.) and of course much conversation, sang some songs together, which was totally awesome, since some of them were German translations of English songs ("Herr Dein Name Sei Erhöht" = "Lord I Lift Your Name On High," much better in German than in English, and also "Shout to the Lord" in German), had a time of prayer and then Bible study/discussion. Toward the end (that is, the Bible study part) it got harder to understand, and it was cool to pray in German but I wasn't ready to pray out loud in German - the thoughts didn't come naturally in German and it was distracting to translate myself. But it was a really nice evening and it was amazing to see God at work in these people's lives. Everyone who came is new to the church and just started coming after their big evangelism event they had about a month ago. It was so awesome. And everyone was sooooo friendly! I wanted so badly to go to church there this morning but I had stupid orientation stuff at the same time as church started. (How dumb is that? On a Sunday!)

Day 3: On Friday Suzy and I got up early and were the first ones at breakfast. At breakfast we met a girl from Barcelona named Olga - whom Suzy had actually already met - who is here for a year to study architecture at the technical university. We planned to meet up later in the day with her and one of her friends who is also from Spain. After breakfast Suzy and I wanted to go shopping and/or try to the find the university, but it was raining and neither of us had umbrellas, so we took naps instead. :) When I woke up, I had a new roommate - Jamen - but she was ready for a nap, so Suzy and I made our way slowly out to Kreuzberg, where we were meeting Olga and her friend, Eva. Kreuzberg (another part of Berlin) is really cool - and really Turkish! We had an awesome Turkish lunch for way cheap. Çok güzel! From there we split up again and Suzy and I headed for Kurfürstendamm to do some shopping.

Sure enough, we found exactly what we were looking for - an H&M! This part of town was sort of like 5th Avenue. Just like in NY, there was an H&M on every corner - we saw three all on one street, less than a block apart from each other! We also saw our first Starbucks in Germany. :) After buying jackets at H & M (since it's already cooler here than it was back home) we visited the Kaiser Wilhelms Gedächtnis Kirche (memorial church). It was built just before the turn of the 20th century, but almost completely destroyed during WW2. Only the main tower is still standing, but there's a new building next to it where they have services and such. After that we thought we should go back to the hostel and see if Jamen wanted to go to dinner.

Sure enough, that was the case! Jamen and Suzy were wanting to try their first German beer, so we asked the guy at the front desk if there were any good bars around and we got about a 30-minute answer! We picked one of them because he said they had live music, so we went there and it was actually pretty nice. They had a cafe upstairs and bar downstairs. We ate dinner upstairs and then decided just to walk around for a bit instead of going downstairs since it was really smoky there. We found a great little ice cream stand! After that we were, of course, ready for bed.

Since I have written an absurd amount tonight and I doubt no one really wants to read a novel right now (at least not one written by me!) I will stop for now and continue with Day 4 tomorrow. On Day 4 (yesterday) the program started, so I've basically covered the honeymoon phase. Fear not - I will not be giving you a play-by-play every single day! No one wants to read that! Just for now, while everything so fresh and new is...

Time for sleep. I love and miss you all!!!