Photos and last additions

Hello everyone,

First: more pictures! Here are my pictures from my last few days in Berlin:


by stinaberlin

Second: I have a new blog. I decided to make a new one now that I'm back from Berlin. I won't delete this one though, just in case you're dying to go back and read my salami story a few months from now. :)

The new blog address is: www.stinalo.blogspot.com. I'll also put a link to it on the right side of the page.

KIBA pictures!

My church in Berlin is having their first ever vacation Bible school this week, called KIBA, which stands for Kinder Bibelaktion (kids' Bible action/event?). It's kind of a play on words because Kiba is also the abbreviation for Kirsch-Bananensaft - cherry-banana juice. I wish I could be there!

http://constance.at.myvbs.com/photo-albums/

Berlin-sick

Sorry again for the long delay in posting. Of course my last weeks in Berlin were stressful and busy and I still don't think I've collected all my thoughts since then. A lot has happened.

The biggest thing, of course: My year in Berlin is over. I returned home to Tennessee on Thursday after a simply incredible year. It was extremely hard to say goodbye. I miss it so much. I miss everyone so much.

I didn't really understand what "reverse culture shock" is all about until I was over the Atlantic and really realizing that I just left behind everything I had lived and breathed for a whole year - and most importantly, such incredible relationships. I had a family there in Berlin, and I had to leave them, and I don't know exactly when I'll see them again. Having been home twice during my year abroad, I didn't really get the whole reverse culture shock thing because it didn't seem that weird to me when I came home for Christmas or my brother's graduation. But it's totally different when you come home and know that you're not going back (at least not for awhile). Home feels comfortable but it somehow doesn't feel *right*. At least for me.

And I'm somewhat confident that the reason for that is that I don't really belong in Brentwood. I really am a "stranger and a guest" in this place - God definitely wants me somewhere else. And I don't imagine Philadelphia being too much different.

Living in Berlin for a whole year was so incredible because I really knew that it was where God wanted me to be. I think it's the first place I've ever fallen in love with - usually I only fall in love with the people. And most of my love for Berlin is for the people I know there, but it was such a neat feeling to live in a place where I didn't think all the time, "I love these people, but I know I can't stay here." I miss feeling that way. It makes it very hard to come back, going from a place that felt right, where I felt like my life was moving forward, and returning to what feels like the "old life".

I also just miss those people like crazy - my church... it was just so amazing. To be part of a family... I miss everyone, I miss people's quirks, I miss the kids running around, I miss... everthing about them. And I'm simply humbled by the way that they loved me. These are things I will treasure in my heart forever.

Last Sunday was really beautiful. Timo, Manu, Ingrid and Gabi prayed for me, and they gave me a few gifts - a book they made, where each family has a page with pictures and notes, and a Berlin purse with Ampelmann gummies in it! - and Timo said the kindest words. And there was a special lunch afterward - we "grilled" sausages and had potato salad and other German specialties. Thursday morning the Heimlichs, Tobi, Gerard, Micha, and Austin came to the airport to see me off. I knew that a few of them were planning to come, but not all of them, and certainly not Timo and the kids! They had even said goodbye to me the night before as if it was the last goodbye, but there they were when I walked in! It was incredible. I miss them all so much.

Don't get me wrong, home is nice too. But I just absolutely loved my year in Berlin, and it's hard to come to grips with the fact that it's over, and I have to wait before I can return. I guess we'll see what God has in store next. I really do hope it'll be in Germany... preferably Berlin...

I'm incredibly thankful for it all.

long time no blog

Hello! Yeah, haven't blogged in awhile... things have been kinda crazy, both "technically" and emotionally. But life is good! Here are a few updates:

1. First things first: I never did post my pictures from Vienna, so...


by stinaberlin

2. Amani was here! She came and visited me in Berlin for about a week, then hopped around Germany and England visiting other friends and stopping back at my place periodically. It was super awesome having her here and reminded me how much I miss her! Let's all pray she gets a job in the Philly area... or the Nashville area too!

3. Let's see, what else is new... this past weekend was really cool. A lady from my church named Ulrike invited us all over to her summer/weekend home in a teeny tiny town way out near the Polish border for an all-church retreat. It was super fun. The weather finally shaped up and got nice (it had been in the 50's and 60's for weeks! it was soooo weird!), and we spent our time enjoying the beautiful weather in Ulrike's beautiful garden, cooking out, playing with the kids, and chatting around a bonfire while making "stick-bread" - a sweet, almost biscuit-y dough you put on a stick and roast over the fire. (Marshmallows would've been easier, but I enjoyed stick-bread too. =) On Sunday we had an improvised worship service in the town's little tiny church, which was beautiful! I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them edited - my camera was being weird and made a lot of my pictures kinda pink, so I'm gonna do a little photo-shop editing first. It was very relaxing and tons of fun to spend the weekend with my favorite people in Berlin. =)

4. Yes, unfortunately it's term-paper season again, which has been a primary reason why I've been busy lately. I only have two this semester and I'm not so worried about writing them like I was last semester, I just hafta get on it! If you don't hear much from me for the next two weeks, you'll know why...

5. Big thing on my mind right now: I'm leaving Berlin in just two weeks! It seems so strange to think about. I'm excited to go home and spend time with my family and friends and eat Hershey's Kisses because I just recently realized that I hadn't had those in a year, but it's really weird to think about returning to my "old life" and leaving this wonderful city that I've really come to love, not to mention the amazing people that I've met. It's not going to be easy to say goodbye! Let's just pray I get to come back soon. I'm planning to apply for a Fulbright teaching assistanship in Germany for the year after I graduate, and I'm hoping they'll let me come teach in Berlin... if not I will have to get a part-time job to pay for all those train tickets to Berlin!

That's my update for now. =) Love to all!

random updates

Well, I'm going in reverse on the updating, but first things first - Amani is here! She got here on Tuesday morning and we've been having a great time together. She's in Germany (traveling a good bit) for 30 days, so she's not in a hurry to see every touristic thing right away, so we've been able to just chill and hang out together, and it's been awesome. I forgot how good it feels to chat with Amani (in person!). It's quite a treat.

Secondly, I visited another random city - Leipzig, which was the second largest city in East Germany (after East Berlin). It was a brief excursion for one of my classes, my "comparative history of East and West Germany" class, to see a new exhibit at the Center for Contemporary History on East and West German perspectives on each other. It was interesting. Afterward was lunch with the prof and class, then half the group went home and the other half stayed to visited the recently opened Panometer, a 150m circumference, 40m tall panorama of Rome ca. 300 A.D. Some other kids had heard about it and wanted to see it while we were already in Leipzig, so that's why we went. I went with that group and it was pretty interesting, though slightly awkward because I really felt like an outsider within the group (even with the prof, whose actually not a prof yet, just has his MA and is less than 10 years older than me). I think part of it is because those kids have a lot of classes together because they're the same major, but even still... I don't know, I guess I'm just "different" in some way. But it was okay. Mostly just interesting to observe the situation.

So that adds one more city to my list of European cities visited. Those are the main events that've happened in my life lately. Pastor's birthday was last Monday, so he had a big party on Saturday afternoon/evening after church, which was a blast. And little baby Heidi (almost 11mos!) can stand up now!!! It's so crazy!!! She's just a cute as ever though. =)

That's really all the "news" news.

Vienna!

Hello everyone! I just got back from an AMAZING trip to Vienna with my friend (not boyfriend, just friend!) Tobi. We had a blast. As soon as my pictures are uploaded, I'll edit this post and put in a link to the album, but for now, here's the play-by-play of what we did:

We had a very early morning flight on Thursday - took off at 6:15, but because of that it was cheap! - and landed about an hour later, it was a very short flight. We went right to our hostel (Wombat's, for those who've been to Vienna or Munich before), which was very easy to find, and checked in, but we couldnt get into our room yet because it was too early, so we just locked up our stuff in the luggage storage room, then headed out to find some breakfast. We walked along a big street that would be a shoppers paradise! Then, we ate breakfast at... McDonalds. I'm not kidding. My first meal in Vienna was at McDonalds. It was Tobi's idea. We were walking, and really hungry, and then there was a McDonalds there, and he was like "actually I could eat here" because you can get a hot breakfast for cheap. I laughed at first but then was like "okay whatever!" so we ate there and I have to say one thing - McDonalds in Vienna actually has GOOD coffee! It was like totally weird to be eating an Egg McMuffin with a nice tasting cappucino! Haha so anyways, then we kept on walking, and eventually wound up in the Museum Quarter, where I saw an amazing thing... a drinking fountain!!! They don't have those in Berlin anywhere!!! So I was excited. Then, we came out through this little tunnel/archway thing, and then all of sudden, there was the "old city" of Vienna, in all its splendor. It was quite a sight. We crossed the street and walked through Maria Theresia Platz, with its beautiful garden and big pretty buildings on both sides, then through the old city gate into the Hofburg. We just wandered through there more or less aimlessly for a couple hours probably. It was way cool. Then all of sudden we realized we were hungry again and it was 12:30, so we decided to cut through the Stadtpark (which is also gorgeous!) and then grab something to eat. We just had a light lunch at little cafe, then headed to the Schönbrunn Palace. We did the tour there, which was pretty cool and not too long, which was good cuz our feet were tired, then walked out into the INCREDIBLE gardens there, which are also, by the way, ginormous. We walked, got some ice cream, walked some more, stopped to admire the view, walked some more, bought a coke, sat on a bench, walked some more... you get the picture. It was like a landscaper's paradise. We slowly meandered our way out of the gardens through the back way sorta, because there was a greenhouse back there that we thought we might visit. When we got there, it was closed, so we decided it was time for dinner and then sleep. For dinner we headed back to the Hofburg area and ate at an Italianish place. Then we wandered some more, thinking we might stop for a coffee somewhere, then realized we were too tired for coffee and decided just to go back to the hostel. Oh yeah, in the course of our wanderings we saw some cool churches, like St. Stephans (the big ginormous famous one) and St. Michaels (I think?) and actually, Thursday was a big Catholic holiday (Corpus Christi? I have no idea what that is) and since Austria is super duper Catholic, there were all these processions in the street during the morning. There was a big outdoor procession and sort of worship service in front of St Stephans church that was huge. It was interesting to see. I think there were some pretty important clergymen there, they were all decked out in the fancy traditional robes and everything. There were two things about the procession that made us laugh though - one was that there were some men carrying these little canopy-things over some of the important priests, but the guys carrying the poles weren't dressed fancy like the priests. One guy was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that said "I <3 Jesus". The other funny thing was that when they sang, there was a guy singing the music over a loudspeaker, but he was a horrible singer! It made us giggle. That was an interesting experience.

On Friday we slept in late, then headed for the Belvedere, which was pretty awesome. It's a really beautiful palace which now functions basically as a big art museum, and they had some good stuff. Afterward we stopped for coffee, wandered a bit, then to decided to go ahead and have dinner. We found a great Italian place and had pizza, then went to the Haus der Musik ("House of Music"), which is this random, kinda funky museum having to do with sound and music. The first thing you go through is called the Sonosphere, which is slightly Space-Age in decor, and you learn all kinds of stuff about how sound is made and what makes different sounds sound different. They had some cool computers with headphones where you could observe all these different aspects of sound and do cool stuff. For example, for some of my readers: You know how in "Come Sweet Death" you hear all those notes that people aren't really singing? There was a cool demo on that. Another one that was really spiffy was the one that explained tone color (what makes a clarinet sound like a clarinet and a piano like a piano). You could gradually spin a "tone color wheel" and it would change the overtones gradually from one instrument to another. After that part, there were some exhibits about the main, big famous (German/Austrian) composers: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Strauss, Mahler... I think those were all the ones they did. They had things like original copies of scores and concert programs, replicas of the instruments they used (mostly pianos, but also some violins and an occasional flute or oboe), and general factual information. In this section, they also had a thing where you could virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. I didn't do it because we were pressed for time going through the museum and there was another lady there doing it (quite badly by the way, it was really funny!), but Tobi did. There's a conductor's wand that you use that shoots like lasers or something, something like that. And if you're really bad, the orchestra members like boo you or just get up an walk out (you see them on a TV screen). I thought the concept was quite amusing! The last part of it was kinda weird, it was called the Brain Opera and you could make all kinds of weird sounds and music and such by doing really simple things, like moving your arms. You could also "compose" a soundtrack of natural sound samples. All in all, the museum was kinda funky, but definitely entertaining. Very hands-on and unique. After that we were thirsty, so we found a restaurant and sat and chatted awhile, then headed back to the hostel.

This morning we woke up a bit earlier, checked out, stored our luggage again, then headed off to the Sisi Museum in the Hofburg. This was a cool museum because it's kinda three museums in one: first you see the imperial silver collection, then you see a museum on the life of the last Austrian empress, Elisabeth ("Sisi"), then you visit the imperial rooms (where the emperor and empress actually lived). It was a good mix, and no single part was too long, so you didn't get bored from seeing too much of the same thing. After that we were very hungry, so we started walking, and what's right in front of us, but a Starbucks. And Tobi was like, "Actually, I could go for just something at Starbucks" (it was one that has sandwiches and stuff too) and I was like sure, taking note that it was the German among us who suggested it, not the American! Anyways, you would not believe how expensive everything at that Starbucks was!!! The cheap drinks, like a tall cappucino, were 4 Euros at least!!! It was quite ridiculous. We decided to just deal with it because we were hungry and thirsty, but then we had sort of a stroke of luck. Both of us were out of cash, and their credit card machine was broken, so we had to go to an ATM and get cash, and for the inconvenience, they didn't charge us for our drinks, only for our sandwiches. So we basically got a half-off deal, which meant it cost what it would normally cost at an American Starbucks. :) Afterward we hit up the Albertina, an art museum currently featuring an exhibt on the artists of the "Brücke" (literally means "bridge"), a group of German artists who sort of joined forces around 1906 to start experimenting with new, modern techniques that "broke the rules". It was a neat exhibt. The museum also has a few smaller works by really famous older artists like Dürer and Rubens, and downstairs is a really nifty photography exhibit. It was cool, but after that we were totally museum-ed out. And in need of coffee. After some more coffee (NOT from Starbucks!), we made our way slowly back to the hostel to pick up our stuff, stopping briefly to see St Stephans one more time on the way. We went ahead and went to the airport from there, figuring we'd just get there early and find some dinner there, which is exactly what we did. And then we flew back to Berlin, and now I'm back here at my apartment! And that was my super cool Vienna adventure.

So, like I said... photos coming soon. We had a blast. :)

He goodjuated!!!

If you don't get that, don't ask. :)

(Updated June 2)

I had an amazing weekend at home in Brentwood celebrating my little brother's graduation!


First things first, here are all my pictures:

by stinaberlin

The short update:

Had some complications getting home, but everything worked out just fine and I was incredibly thankful. I landed in Nashville at 6:30pm and was greeted by my family, and lots of hugging ensued. :) Afterwards we had dinner at Chili's, then I crashed.

Saturday was Jim's graduation party, so we spent the morning prepping for that. We made the house look nice and pretty, including the garden, where Mom and I did a little planting. :) The party was a blast. Lots of friends, neighbors, teachers, etc. came and we all had fun. I had a great time talking and hangin' out with "the usuals" like Ms. Medlin (forensics coach) and the Clakrs, as well as people I didn't know beforehand, like my bro's girlfriend Brittany. We also catered from Qdoba, and there are still leftovers at my house that my family is still eating! After the party I went over to Amber McLeod's to spend a few hours chatting and catching up with a very special friend. It was soooo good to hug her!

Sunday morning I went to church with Mom, which of course was great. My pastor is doing a series on "Front Porch Living" and they actually built a porch on the stage in the sanctuary. It's kinda crazy, but cool. (Haha sounds like my pastor!) Afterward we picked up the boys and headed off to the big graduation ceremony, which was great. Only mishap was that my bro's name got read wrong! Poor Mrs. Huddleston felt so bad. There's a kid in his name whose last name is Loudermilk, and she knew them both, and whaddya know, when Jim walked across the stage she said, "James Marshall Loudermilk. Uhm, James Marshall LORDEMAN!" It was funny, he was amused. Apparently some kid brought a rat and let it out on the floor during the calling of names. Silly kids. :) After the ceremony we had an early dinner at Maggiano's, and Brittany came along. :) Later in the evening, Mom and I drove around delivering graduation gifts to some girls who were on the forensics team with me. We got them these really funny boxes for laundry detergent at Butler's (in Berlin! I am going to miss that store!) and filled them with everything you need for doing laundry - Bounce sheets, Tide detergent, a bleach pen, a pen that's kinda like a Shout wipe but it's a pen, etc.

Monday morning I had breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Mom, Dad, Alan and Kimmy. I needed some yummy country-cookin'! We had fun. Afterward, Mom and I did a little shoe-shopping and stopped at Kroger to get barbecue sauce and Mountain Dew for the Heimlichs, then headed to Chili's to meet the Maguires for lunch. They are growing up so fast, especially Mack! We had a blast, and Mom and I were totally stuffed after that. :) From there we picked up a few more things from Walmart that I wanted to take back, and then it was time to go home, pack, and head to the airport. My flight was delayed, so the four of us had a little more hang-out time in the airport before I left. I made it back to Berlin safely around 3:30pm Berlin time on Tuesday.

It was a great, action-packed weekend and it was totally worth the flying time. Hopefully worth the money for my parents too. :) I'd totally do it again, especially if there's skipping class and absurd amounts of Mexican food involved. Hehehe...

Here's something random I wrote on the plane from Nashville to Chicago, if anyone cares to read any of my "deep" thoughts when I was feeling contemplative and sleepy. :) http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b252/clorde/flighttochicago.jpg

That was my update on my trip! Hard to believe I will be moving back home in two months from today... Time really flies!

Hamburg, Spargel Saison, 1,0 for Frau Lordeman, Vanessa

This post is rather delayed, so I've made chapters.

Hamburg
Last week (May 9-11) I went to Hamburg on an excursion with my study abroad program. It was pretty cool. Hamburg is a really pretty city with a lot of history, and the weather was better than we'd expected (though it did rain quite a bit at the end). Some highlights:

-City tour with a tour guide who had blue eyesbrows. No joke. Like bluer than blue. And eye makeup to match. (See pictures.) But the tour was really interesting. Hamburg's Rathaus is really pretty and there are boats (and ships and such) everywhere since it's a big harbour city.
-Saw a play called Nora. I'd never heard of it before. It was okay. Actors were good, story was kinda random.
-Tour of NDR studios. NDR stands for Norddeutsche Rundfunk - North German Radio/TV. German public television includes 2 networks, ARD (the first one created) and ZDF, (added a little while later) for all of Germany, plus 9 regional networks. The various programs on ARD are distributed across the various regional networks; for example, one regional network is responsible for reporting, one for news, etc. NDR is responsible for the production of the famous original German news show "Tagesschau" and talk/discussion show "Tagesthemen". We got to go "behind the scenes" and see where the shows are filmed, all the control rooms, the make-up room, etc. I've been on a similar tour of, I believe, CNN, but it was cool to learn about the differences between German and American news programs. Afterward, they had a private conference room reserved for us in their cafeteria, which was very nice. We were basically treated as VIP guests, and technically that kind of tour is only allowed for visitors from within the NDR region! They made a special exception for us because we're not really Berliners either... (Berlin is in the RBB region - Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg)
-Visiting a WWII bunker in Altona, a part of Hamburg which used to be its own city. Hamburg was a particularly big target for air attacks in the war because it's a huge important city that is relatively easy to find at night. Planes coming from England could just follow the Elbe, whose mouth is large and noticable, from the North Sea straight into Hamburg. Berlin, in contrast, is harder to find because its farther inland and doesn't have any big rivers leading straight into it from the ocean. Although Berlin was the most heavily attacked German city in the war, Hamburg sustained the most damage and I think also the most casualties because it had a lot more small, narrow streets with denser residential areas (that is, each bomb that fell in Hamburg did more damage than in other places). In addition to equipping cellars and basements to serve as "bunkers" in case of air raids, cities built lots of communal bunkers like the one we visited, which was designed to hold hundreds of people. There isn't a whole lot to see in such a bunker - just lots of rooms with rows of special chairs with head-rests and other rooms where people could lay down on tiny bunk beds - but the guy who led our tour gave a whole talk on the air raids on Hamburg and his own personal experiences as a kid growing up in Berlin during the war. It was very interesting.
-Being formally greeted by equivalent of Altona's mayor (not really a mayor since Altona is now only a district of Hamburg and not a separate city). He shared with us about Altona's unique history and relationship to Hamburg, and afterward invited us to join him for a glass of wine (or juice) in his office in the Rathaus!
-Playing on the COOLEST playground I have every seen with Molly, Jamen and Andrew. This was totally designed for 20-somethings and not kids, it was like grown-up size and super fun. Afterward we - ironically - ate hamburgers for dinner.
-Time by myself in an art museum looking at Renaissance (approx.) art. We had a group tour of the section on the Romantic era, and it was okay. Afterward we could wander on our own or do whatever, and I kinda lost myself looking at Renaissance art. I am definitely not a big art person, but I kinda have thing these days for religious art. Some of the paintings I saw in this museum just totally took my breath away and I basically had a little one-on-one worship service with God. It was really incredible.


by stinaberlin

Spargel Saison
Okay "Spargel" is the German word for asparagus, and "Saison" the French-quasi-German word for season, and these two words compose a very important aspect of Germany in May. Asparagus - the big, fat white kind, not the skimpy green stuff - is a big deal in Germany in May. Like really big. Everyone is selling it - all the fruit and veggie markets, random people who set up little markets JUST to sell asparagus, and restaurants of course. Every restaurant is advertising their asparagus specials - asparagus cream soup, pasta with asparagus, pizza with asparagus (no joke), asparagus with a side of steak (haha)... Yep. And although I've never been like head-over-heels for asparagus, I have to mention that I had the most delicious meal in a really long time the other night at good ol' Tutti Gusti, my Italian restaurant/pizzeria right down the street where they know my name. I have eaten there billions of times and this was the best meal I've ever had there, hands down - it was ravioli in a cream sauce with thinly sliced ham and big fat chunks of white asparagus. It was absolutely heavenly.

1,0 for Frau Lordeman
I finally got my last grade back from last semester and it was a very pleasant surprise! This was the paper I wrote for my TV and History class about West German TV in East Germany. It was the one I worked the hardest on and the one that had been the most interesting, and I knew the prof well enough to know he wouldn't grade me easy just for being a foreign kid. (With my other profs, I was not so sure this would be the case.) Basically, I was waiting to get this grade to see more or less how I could really do in a German seminar, with no handicaps. The prof took a really long time to grade it (don't know why) but I am taking another class from him this semester, and I emailed him last week to see if I could come by to discuss my research project for this semester so I could get started on it. He wrote me back and said that would be great and then we could also discuss my paper from last semester. So, I was kinda nervous, because I don't really like getting a grade from a prof face-to-face; I'd rather find out anonymously and then perhaps discuss it later, after the initial reaction. Anyways... I went and met with the prof, and he decided first to talk about this semester, so I had to wait even longer, but then he was like, "Okay, so let's talk about last semester..." and he pulls out a copy of my paper and his comments and such and he's like "I really liked your paper a lot. I haven't graded all of the rest of the class's papers yet [who, P.S., were all or mostly German students], but from those I've read, yours was my favorite..." and out of the corner of my eye, I see the paper he's holding with a very significant number written in red grading-pen ink... 1,0. 1,0!!!!! That's the best you can get!!!!! That's like an A+!!!!! And I'm like, "Really?!?" I was definitely not expecting to do THAT well. I would've been stoked with an A- or even a B, and satisfied at least with a B-. I was totally shocked. And needless to say, I'm totally feeling encouraged about this semester...

Re: the title - This professor calls me Frau Lordeman. That's really normal, since professors and students address each other very formally all the time as a general rule of German-ness, but most professors don't really address students that much, so I don't hear it that much except from this guy. And I still it sounds really funny. Frau Lordeman. Hehehe.

Vanessa
Vanessa came to visit this week! (Vanessa is a friend from Crusade and music classes at Penn, for those who don't know...) She's been studying Scotland this semester and just finished up, so she's doing a big European tour with some friends. We had a good time and I got to do a little bit of tourist-y stuff. Probably the best was a four-hour free bike tour of the city! These people give free bike tours and work only for tips, so they know they have to do a good job if they want to earn any money. We had a great time riding around the city and seeing everything. We also went bowling one night with two of her guy friends from high school who are tagging along on part of Vanessa's trip. (One of them studied in Florence this semester.)

Knut and other cuteness

Yep, I did indeed see Knut over the weekend. Yes, Knut is the baby polar bear who was rejected by his mother and, after some controversy over whether a rejected baby polar bear should be put to sleep or be raised by a human being, is being raised by his "keeper". Knut, however, is growing very fast; he now has teeth and claws and all that, and his keeper has to wear special clothing and stuff to cover his hands so he doesn't get torn to shreds playing with Knut.

It was a very fun day at the zoo. Manu was at a seminar for the day on Saturday, and Timo wanted to do something fun with the kids, but it's difficult for him to go anywhere with three kids all by himself. So he asked if I was interested in going with them to the zoo. And of course I was! We had a blast. The kids really like the animals, and Berlin has a pretty nice zoo. I enjoyed it. The place was still packed when it came time for Knut to come out and play, and that was a little crazy, but not bad. We had a fun day.

Other than that, there's not a ton of news... Life is good. A couple things on my mind lately; one thing I can't really discuss publicly (it's not bad, just, uh, secret!) and the other is, well, my future. Specifically, there are some people from our denomination here (the Evangelical Free Church) who are coordinating a missions project called Live to the Power of Nothing (Live^0). They are sending teams about 20 young people (20-somethings) to various cities around the world for a 2-year project; the main focus is on ministering to people particularly through social aid. Anyways... they are contemplating sending such a team to Berlin, and they asked me to help with the research and drafting of a proposal for what the team would do. I'm working with Timo and mainly one other guy on this; it is super exciting, mainly because one of the big things we are really considering is ministering to the Turkish communities in Berlin. Right up my ally! It's so exciting to have other people around me who are excited about my passions and can envision a practical application of them. That doesn't really happen much in America. ("I think when I grow up, I want to teach Turkish kids in Germany." "Huh???") Yeah, so it's really cool.

And that's basically life right now. Oh yeah, I'm doing a really cool Bible study right now, "Experiencing God" (or "Gott Erfahren" in German!) by Henry Blackaby. It's way awesome. My biggest lesson out of that so far is that serving God doesn't just mean doing stuff. It means having a close relationship with Him, knowing Him intimately and being moldable in His hands. Then He can really use us for whatever He wants to do in the world. I am learning to go to God not just to ask for my next assignment, but to get to know Him and enjoy Him for who He is.

Ah yes, the photos from the zoo, as well as a dinner at church with a kids group we have:


by stinaberlin

My new life

Life is really good right now. I have good classes for the semester, not too much stress (I'll only have to write 2 term papers this semester instead of 3!!!), beautiful weather that I just can't get enough of, some exciting possibilities ahead of me, and the motivation to just start doing things differently - better - because I feel so much better when I do.

I'm gradually gonna get the hang of this going-to-bed-earlier-waking-up-earlier thing because even though I've never been a morning person, I think morning is the prettiest time of day, and I just feel good all day if I get up and make use of or at least enjoy the morning.

I'm feeling more inspired about schoolwork; it just seems more interesting to me now than it did before. It probably helps that I'm not all intimidated like I was last semester; I love sitting in my classes and NOT being the clueless foreign kid. The other day in a history class some German kids started complaining about the amount of reading we had to do and I was like "Eh no biggie!"

I'm feeling good because I'm experiencing the fact that changing old habits really is possible, and totally worth it. I've got a lot of things on my mind right now but I have peace about all of them because I know God's in control.

Los geht's

Ahh, back to the real world. Second semester started this week. Which is weird, because everyone at Penn is getting out for summer break soon; this week is the LAST week of classes there. But it's okay. The weather here has been very nice, which just makes life happier. And so far I've visited some cool courses.

I'm actually almost set on a schedule for the semester; looks like it'll be the course our program director is teaching - American Perspectives on Germany from Bismarck through Hitler, Social and Cultural History of East and West Germany Compared (same prof as my TV and History course last semester), plus Turkish 3. I'm also visiting a couple modern literature courses, from which I will choose one to take.

Still up in the air is what sort of musical activity I might be engaging in this semester. It didn't work out with that other choir I wanted to join--I will be out of town on the big rehearsal weekend right before the concert--so I'm still looking for some other possibilities. Maybe voice lessons. We'll see.

That's all for now--got another class to go to soon. Later!

More pictures

An afternoon at the Tscherners' (another family from church) with Tobi

by stinaberlin

Robert and Emily's Easter Egg Hunt

by stinaberlin

PICTURES

Well, I just took Mom to the airport, so things are quieting down now. It feels weird to be here by myself! The last several weeks have been pretty awesome though, so I can't complain. I've got just enough time to rest up and get organized before second semester starts.

I have a ton of pictures I haven't posted yet, so here we go...

First of all, my trip to see Shannon in Lyon:

by stinaberlin

Celebrating Robert's birthday at "Tommy's turbulente Tobewelt" ("Tommy's Turbulent Tumble-World... kinda like Discovery Zone in the U.S.):

by stinaberlin

Mom and Dad's visit to Berlin (just a few random shots):

by stinaberlin

My trip to Istanbul:

by stinaberlin

İstanbul`dayım! Türkiye'den çok selamlar!

Hello from İstanbul! I can't believe I'm here. My mom and I arrived here on Wednesday and have spent the last two days staying with a Turkish family - my TA from my Turkish class at Penn last year is back in İstanbul now and lives with her parents and sister - eating Turkish food, learning how to avoid carpet sellers, visiting incredible Turkish palaces and other sites, and gawking at the beautiful vıew of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, a small natural harbour that juts into İstanbul. It is beautiful here and we are having quite a cultural experience! One for the books! Pictures and more stories are on the way - I will post them when I get home.

I also had a lovely week with my parents here. Mom is here wıth me in İstanbul and will stay with me in Berlin until Wednesday. I will also send some pictures from that and share more stories as well.

For now... Görüşürüz! (See you later!)

Beaucoup fun in France!

Greetings from Lyon! I am here visiting Shannon and having a great time. Here's what we've done so far:

On Tuesday I got up early and flew to Lyon (via Munich - actually found the best deal on Lufthansa). When I got to Lyon, I took a bus to the heart of town, where Shannon met me right after her class. The weather was (and still is) absolutely beautiful - like mid 60's. We hopped in the subway from there to get to where her host family lives - they were nice enough to let me stay here too. After dropping off my stuff and getting a tour of the house (no one was home yet) we went out and walked around so Shannon could get me acquainted with the city. We found a litte cafe where we could sit outside and chat. After a little more wandering we also got waffles with Nutella, one of Shannon's favorite snacks here. :) We also did a little grocery shopping.

We ate dinner with the host family, which was really really nice. Her host parents have three children but they are grown-up and not at home, so it was me and Shannon and the parents, plus another exchange student staying with them who is from China and two dinner guests that her dad invited over from work. One of them was this guy from Mexico who was hilarious! Everyone could speak English so there was no trouble there, though occaisionally they switched into French, but usually I could at least figure out what they were talking about. Also, the dad speaks some German too, so he spoke a little German with me. They were super cute. The food was great too - we had lasagne, and I think it was the best lasagne I have ever had. There was no ricotta cheese (which is the number one thing I don't normally like about lasagne), but instead some kind of creamy cheese layer. It was really tasty. We also had "tomatoes provencal" - tomatoes sliced in half and topped with olive oil, thyme, and I think a little bit of garlic and then baked in the oven. Tres delicious! Last but not least came the cheese plate. There were like 6 or 7 kinds of cheese; I tried three of them. My favorite was comte, which is a harder cheese and tastes a little bit like parmesan. I also tried camembert, which is brie-like in consistency but has a little more of a kick to it, and roquefort, which is made from sheep's milk and has some bluish greenish stuff in it. It is not very attractive. But it actually tasted pretty good. I don't think I could eat a whole lot of it at a time, since it's pretty intense, but I liked it more than I thought I would. Dinner was really late, so afterward Shannon and I watched a few DVD's of one of her new favorite TV shows, and then it was time for bed.

Yesterday Shannon didn't have any classes, so we slept in and had a lazy morning, then we met Janine (girl from Penn who also stayed with me when she and Shannon came to Berlin) for lunch at Shannon's favorite sandwich place. I had this yummy calzone-like thing with ham and cheese, plus they had a sort of combo-meal that included a drink and a dessert for only 5 Euros, so I finished it off with a tasty little strawberry-kiwi-raspberrry tart. Delicious! From there we went over to "Old Lyon", on the other side of the river, where there is a big beautiful basilica (Fourviere) and also a big Roman amphitheatre. That was really cool. For one thing, the view from up there is amazing - you can see the whole city, and with such nice weather it was just great. The basilica is absolutely gorgeous too. It is so ornate and full of incredible artwork. The amphitheatre is really cool - the acoustics are incredible! There is a certain spot on the stage at the bottom where if you talk, there are perfect acoustics - it sounds like there are speakers or something. We sat up there for awhile just admiring the view and the nice weather, then after that we decided to cross the river again and visit the park. They have a really cool park in Lyon. It is huge, and parts of it are like a zoo - they have giraffes, zebras, monkeys, crocodiles... crazy huh? They also have this random part of the park with a big ditch going around it which is full of deer. People throw there old baguettes to feed the deer! Very funny. We had hot chocolate in the park along the lake that's on one side of it, then we made our way to the subway to go to a big grocery store, where we had to pick out what we needed to make an "American dinner" for her host family tomorrow night. We found Jack Daniel's barbecue sauce in this store! So guess what we're making? Sloppy joes!!! I canNOT wait to see her cute little French host parents eating sloppy joes! It's going to be hilarious.

We dinner at home again that night, but this time the dad was gone at some work thing so it was just the mom, me, Shannon, and the Chinese girl. As an appetizer we had leek soup with mussels, then for dinner we had what I am calling "seafood pot pie" - it was basically chicken pot pie but with salmon and scallops instead of the chicken. It was pretty tasty. I'm not normally a huge fan of salmon, but this was very good salmon. We ended up not having cheese that night - we had yogurt instead, with homemade jelly. Yum.

This morning Shannon had class, so while she was in class, I went to an art museum. It was pretty neat - they have a lot of great sculptures, but paintings as well. I left in time to visit the gift shop because I always like museum gift shops, but when I got down there it looked like it was closed, so I had some time to wander. :) I went to a pharmacy because my throat has been sore, and I was like, "parlez vous anglais?" and they helped me get some stuff for my throat. Then I decided to get a milkshake from McDonald's because there is one right down the street from Shannon's apartment and it is super trendy - very jazzy decor. I think it's hilarious. I wanted a milkshake for my throat. Despite my lack of French abilities I was able to successfully get what I wanted - "milk shake fraise", a strawberry milkshake. Then I mosied over to meet Shannon, stopping in a random cute store to buy some earrings on the way. :)

Shannon and I had lunch at Pomme de Pain, which is sort of the French version of Cosi. After lunch we walked to the university, since Shannon had another class. During her class I sat in a little courtyard and read a book in the sun. :) Then we met back up, wandered around the city a bit , poking our heads in a few stores and finishing the afternoon with crepes. From there we stopped at home to look up recipes for chocolate chip cookies (that we could actually make here), then made a quick trip to the grocery store to purchase the necessary ingredients. Then it was time for dinner! Dinner tonight was at a nice restaurant that her host mom recommended. I had French onion soup, a Lyonnaise dish with these sort of dumpling-like things with sausage and mushrooms in a cream sauce, and then for dessert we split upside-down pear cake with caramel and dark chocolate and white chocolate swirled mousse. Tres yummy!!!

Tomorrow we don't have too much planned - in the evening we will be preparing our American dinner. We are also going to make an American birthday cake, since tomorrow's my birthday! I am having a great time here - this was a nice way to celebrate. :)

That's all the news for now... hope everyone is doing well!

I'm free!!!

Hehe, that reminds me of Footloose. That was centuries ago! Wow... anyways... I am done with the papers!!! I've actually been done basically since Monday and technically since yesterday--on Monday I finished writing the last paper and sent it to the tutor for proofreading, and yesterday I made the small adjustments based on her corrections and sent the final version to my prof. It is a great feeling.

The last couple days have been slightly strange with nothing really big and important to do, but life will start getting busier... in a good way! Here is some upcoming funness I have on my calendar:

This Saturday: "practiing" making Mexican food for the Fiesta we are having at church in a few weeks. Yummmy.......!

Next Monday: I'm going to rehearsal for the second time for this cool choir I might be joining. I went last week and really liked it. It is a smaller group, probably 30-35 people, a mix of music and non-music students from all over Berlin. Since I liked it the director said I should come to a second rehearsal and then afterwards she will officially decide if I'm "in". I hope I can join, 1) for the music and singing and 2) because I'd get to know lots of German kids my age, which is harder than expected because they don't really have the "campus life" here that American universities do. The group is very social though - they always go out for a beer (or a hot chocolate!) together after rehearsal, with their director too!

Next Tuesday: I'm going to Lyon to visit Shannon!!! I am so excited! For one thing, I have never been to France, and really, until Shannon and Janine visited me and told me all about their experiences, I really didn't know anything about France and I wasn't particularly interested. But now I am very interested, and super-excited about getting to hang out with my favorite roomie from Penn! Plus, I get to stay with her host family, which will be so neat. Shannon told me all about the amazing meals they have, which of course are always accompanied by a cheese plate with like 8 types of cheese... And Shannon is stocking up on chocolate for me... teehee...

Next Friday: I turn 21! I will still be in France, so I will celebrate with Shannon.

Next Saturday: I come back from France, and I might try to get together with friends here in Berlin to celebrate my birthday.

The Wednesday after that: Mom and Dad come to visit!!!!!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!

The Sunday after that: The Fiesta at church. Mom is going to help with the food, and it's going to be fun! We are having it as part of the 40 Days of Purpose campaign we are doing right now. It is actually going to be an opportunity for people to present all the areas in which people can get involved in the church and give people an opportunity to find ways to get involved, but they recommend adding a theme to make it a special event that no one will want to miss. So... I thought it would be awesome to have a Fiesta! And Tobi and Manu liked the idea, so... I'm getting to eat Mexican food in Berlin! Woohoo!

The Tuesday after that: Dad has to go back to the U.S. But...

The Wednesday after that: Mom and I depart for ISTANBUL! And we are staying with Elif, my TA from my Turkish classes at Penn!!

The Saturday after that: We come back from Istanbul.

The Wednesday after that: Mom has to go back to the U.S. I will be sad. But then, not long afterward, second semester will start (and hopefully kick first semester's butt!), I will go on an excursion to Hamburg with my study abroad program, I will come home briefly for my brother's graduation!!!, and... I'm sure life will continue to be fun.

Hehe........ can you tell I'm excited?

TWO down, ONE to go!!!

I'm two-thirds done! Woohoo!!!!!

One more week of this madness... I hope I can make it. I also hope I can figure out what the heck the last paper is really supposed to be about... heh heh oops. Wish me luck!

In other news, it's almost spring! It's been so nice and sunny lately! And this week it will be March, and March means spring. Woot!

One down, two to go...

But most importantly, one down!!! I just finished the first term paper--the hardest one, actually--and I'm feeling very encouraged. It's a very good feeling to have completed something that didn't seem possible a few months ago. And... it really wasn't that bad. Once I got myself to just start putting something on the page, it kinda came together.

Also, having Shannon and Janine here for a little while really helped. I was little nervous that I'd be distracted and tempted not to work, but they actually turned out to be a source of encouragement. I didn't get to go around sightseeing with them a lot, but living with friends for a few days just gave me a necessary boost. If they hadn't been here, I know I would've just sat in front the computer all day everyday feeling depressed and thus not working very effectively. But they cheered me up a lot and helped me to relax a bit. :)

So... now we're on to the next one! Not without taking a little time to celebrate a special day though... :)

"The H-word"

HAUSARBEITEN. The German word for TERM PAPERS.

Time to start writing. What I'm supposed to write... heh heh I wish I knew! Wish me luck!

These papers are really consuming my life right now. Grr. But, in like 2 weeks they will be done and I will be FREE for like 6 weeks. Can't wait.

In other news, Shannon (my roomie from Penn) and another friend from her study-abroad program in France are coming to visit this weekend. I will have to ditch them a good bit to work on papers, but it'll be fun to have people around. I hate spending so much time alone, and especially now that classes are over, I'm pretty much by myself except for when I'm at church stuff.

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day! Mine was uneventful--V-Day is not a huge deal in Germany--but still nice. I wore lots of pink to keep me in the V-Day spirit.

Sigh... I'm getting anxious to get out of study-land and into the real world where life is more consistent and normal. Hopefully when I finally get there I won't miss study-land and it's on-again off-again nature. Right now I can't imagine that...

Photo update

I don't really have time to write, but I have time to post some pictures...

Okay this isn't a great picture, but maybe the "stern look of approval" is easier to imagine if you at least know what the guy looks like. Here's Manfred, the choir director:



And here are some pictures of my pastor's little kids, who I'm totally addicted to: Robert, Emily and Heidi. :)


Robert thinks it's cool that we both have blue coats. :)


Robert and Emily playing inside their new armoire/closet thing, before the drawers had been put in...


Emily looks a little suspicious!


And here's little Heidi, though she's grown a good bit since I took this picture (like 2 mos. ago).

Cute just got cuter.

Additional text added! Scroll down if you've already read the original post. :)

Hard to believe, I know. But this morning I experienced a level of cuteness far beyond what I had ever imagined.

Last night after dinner (which was like midnight!) I asked Timo if he would call me in the morning when he gets up. Robert and Emily are very early birdies and so Timo is pretty much always up between 6 and 7 because of them. I was afraid I'd oversleep and miss class or even my exam since I'd been out so late the night before. Timo thought it was funny but said he'd call. Then I jokingly told him that Emily should call me because she'd just be like "Keeee-nahh!!!" and then I would definitely wake up.

So, bright and early this morning, I'm all snuggled in my warm bed and in the middle of some dream, and all of a sudden my cell phone rings. My first thought: Argh! Who in the world would call me in the middle of night? Second thought: Oh no, I told Timo to call me. Yeah right Timo, I'm going back to bed! But then I answered the phone, and alas, a sweet little voice... "Keena aufstehen!" ("Keena get up!") It was the cutest thing EVER. I laughed so hard and was so cheered-up I couldn't have gone back to sleep even if I wanted to. :)

Edit (7. Feb.): Okay so yesterday I too tired and out of it to give a full update, so I just posted the cute story because I couldn't wait to post it. :) Here's the rest of the news:

The choir concert was Monday night and went very well. Not 100% perfect, but a lot of things that were not working out at dress rehearsal on Sunday worked out at the concert, which was awesome! Our director is so cute too. He can be so funny and animated, and whenever we got through a hard part during the concert he looked up at us and gave us this very intense look of approval. Unfortunately hard to describe, but it was very nice. His conducting also becomes even more animated on stage than in rehearsal, which was also rather entertaining.

Lots of my friends came, which was really cool. During the orchestra-only work I played "Where's Waldo" and found Molly, Tobi, Clemens and Tina. The rest were hard to find. I was thankful though that they weren't like a lot of other choir people's friends and families, who stood up and waved rather hideously when we first came out on stage. Embarassing!

After the concert I went to dinner with Timo, Tobi, Clemens, Tina, Gerard, and Johanna. And guess what we ate? Mexican-ish food! This restaurant was sort of a vague Mexican/Brazilian/South American place. Most importantly: I ate fajitas. And they weren't bad. Salsa was actually decent too. Wasn't fresh like American Mexican restaurants, but it didn't taste like ketchup!

Only bad thing about it was that we left the restaurant at midnight, and I had my Turkish final the next morning. The exam was at 10 but I had another class before that at 8:30, which is why I was afraid I'd oversleep and thus asked Timo to call me when he woke up. And then sweet little Emily called. Soooooooooo precious!

The exam went well. Turkish teacher was nice and gave each of us the opportunity to ask for help on up to 5 vocabulary words. For each question we didn't use, however, we earned an extra .5 point. I used four of mine, so I didn't really gain many extra points, but other than the questions I used I felt like I knew everything. I was pretty well-prepared. Hopefully I did well--Turkish is a lot like math, you can understand the concepts really well and still make careless errors that can mess you up a good bit, but I took my time with it and had time to check a lot of answers too. We'll see!

After the exam I pretty much just crashed at home. I did a little laundry because all my jeans were dirty (jeans are important!) and attempted to do a little reading, but it didn't really work. Oh well. Then I met up with Tobi to plan out our "Mitarbeiter Fiesta" for the 40 Days of Purpose (series by Rick Warren, now translated into German), then we ate at the Chinese restaurant underneath the church. Yum. Then I had music practice with Manu, which is always fun although my fingers are a little tender now from not playing guitar for two weeks. Then I went home and slept a lot.

And that's my update! In other news, Mom and Dad have finally planned their trip to visit me in March, and Mom and I are officially going to Istanbul and staying with Elif!!! Woot!!! I'm totally excited. Like, totally really excited. :)

That's it. Love to all!

Yippee!!! It's February!!!

That almost rhymed. Teeheehee.

So, despite the fact that "February" means my term papers are due in 1 month, I am totally stoked that it's February.

February is a really cool month. And greatly underappreciated. But my obsession with it probably makes up for it. Why do I like February so much?

Lots of reasons! For one thing, I'm not a big fan of January. It's just a hard month to get through. First you have the after-Christmas slump, and then there are no exciting holidays, and you have to go back to school/work/the real world and it's cold and gray and... you get the point. Only good thing about January this year is that in January, the days noticeably get longer again in Berlin, which is very comforting after the depressing darkness that falls in December.

Also, I really really like Valentine's Day. Like, a lot. Which most people think is kinda weird. Well, not most, but a lot. But Valentine's Day is the best non-religious holiday ever. "Significant other" or no "significant other", I can't help loving a holiday that celebrates red and pink (2 of my favorite colors), chocolate, and flowers, and love, and hugs. :) It just makes me happy. And because Valentine's Day is in February, the whole month of February just acquires this happy pinkish-ness for me. In my mental calendar, the whole month is colored pink.

Thirdly, my "spiritual birthday" (when I became a Christian) is in February, which is a cool milestone for me. This year I turn 3!

Fourthly, after February comes March. March means daffodils bloom (my favorite flower), my birthday, the beginning of spring, and then after that comes Easter. My dad always says he "lives on the slope of the curve"--i.e., it's not about where you're at, but where you're going. For me, January is pretty much a flat-bottom slump. But in February, the slope increases quite rapidly.

And thus, I am very happy that it is February.

...and wintered some more!

It snowed!!! I love snow. Snow is soooooooooo pretty. Especially when you don't have a car and don't have to deal with the troubles that snow causes. And here, snow is a really good sign--it actually indicates warmth. In this time of year, lack of snow can often be attributed to temperature too cold for snow.

Isn't it cool how no two snowflakes are exactly alike? God makes really cool stuff. Like, way cool. :)

Other than snow, the other topic I want to write about tonight is the choir I'm singing in. I don't think I've talked about it much. Really, up until now it hasn't been that exciting. I mean, I like singing... like, a lot... but the choir is really huge, it's not hard to get into so we're not especially amazing, and you get the point. But, tonight was our first rehearsal with the orchestra (also students, which is cool because I have friends that play in it), and tonight was pretty sweet. The music just sounds weird without the orchestra, and my friends in orchestra said the same about it without the choir. Hearing it all together though was way cool. Especially this incredible work we are singing, Honegger's King David. We sing the German translation, which for me is almost like singing English, which you don't get to do that often in choirs. The work tells the story of David's life through the music and through short spoken sections. It has the effect almost of a musical. The music not only tells the story, but it also responds to it. It's really awesome (despite my lame attempt at describing the awesomeness). I don't think I've ever gotten that into something classical that I've sung. I have sung music I connected with personally in some way before, but never in my own language. Even when you translate the text of something in another language and you sing it with a knowledge of what it means, it's not the same as singing something in your own language.

So, enough rambling, I'm just on sort of a high right now. Man that was awesome. I'm still bummed that I have to miss church this weekend for rehearsals, but I really get to worship through this music! Sweet...

Winter has... wintered.

That was supposed to be like a knock-off on the phrase "Spring has sprung." I know, not that funny, but I do try. :)

Yep, it's winter now. Below-freezing temperatures for the first time, I think since that little "November Snow" scare I had awhile ago. The nice, though strangely odd, dwelling in the 50's has come to an end, probably thanks to dear old Hurricane Kyrill. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but cold. I was outside around noon, and there were a few frozen puddles that were not melting despite the sunshine. Sigh...

Some pretty snow would be nice though! I've definitely had enough of this constant raining it does here. Snow would be a good alternative.

Other news? Not a whole lot. Plugging away on a presentation I have to give tomorrow about the Integration (or lack thereof) of Muslim Immigrants in Berlin. It is a very interesting topic (which is why I picked it, haha) but a little tough because I took a whole class about Immigrants in Germany (which was more or less a class about Muslim Immigrants in Germany) last year at Penn, which means I'm relatively well-informed on the topic for a non-German, but there are so many directions I could take this project that I just don't know what to pick. And, I'm annoyed that I don't have all the articles and notes I have from my class last year. Oh well.

Not too much else to report on... Oh yeah, on Friday I watched Finding Nemo in Germany with my friends Molly and Elizabeth. The characters are sooooooooo cute in German! Of course, they were cute anyway, but this was a new cuteness. The sea turtles even spoke German with Australian accents! We also rented The Incredibles (in German), but only Molly actually saw it because Elizabeth went home and I fell asleep. This Friday we plan to watch Monsters, Inc. in German.

That's all the news from here...

Socialism is cool...?!

Okay, here it is, I just gotta say it... if there's one thing I don't like about Germany, it's the socialist attitudes. Especially at the university. I'm really rather baffled by it and am considering doing further research into this phenomenon during the break.

Elections took place this week at the university for student parliament. What exactly said parliament does or how much power they have, I'm not so sure. I am actually researching this at the moment so that I can write about it at my job. But, interestingly, student parliament elections work just like regular elections here - that is, you don't vote for a person, you vote for a party, and then each party can select a number of representatives to sit in the parliament according to the percentage of the vote that party received. At the university, they don't really have parties, but instead there are "lists" which appear to be about the same thing, but most are much more specialized. There are all kinds of "lists". First of all, there are lists that are associated with the major political parties in Germany, more or less the "Young Democrats", "Young Republicans", "Young Socialists", "Young Libertarians" and "Young Greens". Then there are a number of lists that represent specific majors or areas of study--the med students have one, law students, econ, history, philosophy, etc. Then are other special interest type ones, for gays, lesbians (yes they are separate groups here!), feminists, ethnic minorities, students who have a child, etc., as well as groups fighting for specific issues, primarily students against semester fees.

Basically all of them are incredibly left-ward leaning. The only ones that really aren't are the "Young Republicans" and "Young Libertarians", but they had very little advertising, and other lists actually put out flyers bashing them (as well as the other ones that are tied to political parties). Today, as I was researching all of this (to try to find out what in the world the student parliament actually does, how much power it has, etc. and also to investigate student opinions about this election) for work, I read a newspaper article that upset me more than any newspaper article has upset me in a really long time. It upset me for a number of reasons: very biased handling of an issue in an article that was not written as an opinion article, one-sided interviewing, and just the general shock received when one discovers that the university where one is studying is known as a left-wing stronghold. And by left-wing I don't mean left-wing like we know it in America. I think a lot of Democrats would not like all this either!

I don't get it. I just don't get it. These people expect higher education to fall from the sky into their hands, they don't want to pay a dime for it (and until very recently they never had to), and yet people wonder why so many Germans leave the country to go to college and why German universities are not competitive on the international spectrum. There are many initiatives right now trying to improve the universities--initiatives to bring some level of competition into the German university system, initiatives to streamline course registration and bureaucracy issues, initiatives to standardize (to some extent) diploma requirements so that diplomas can be better understood by international employers and schools... But the students here, at least from all the talk, are so resistant to change! The new diploma requirements set some higher standards, and they say it is an infringement on their freedom. Free higher education for all! is the big campaign. They will fight to the death over these semester fees (which soooooooooo miniscule compared to what it costs to finance higher education! up until now they've gone to college 100% free!!!) and are against the concept of having some universities be better than others (and receive more funding as a reward for accomplishment), but they don't seem to care that their own university is not that good! Maybe they just don't realize it could be better, but it's still... Settling for mediocrity is AOK with them. Heaven forbid a capitalist should enter the scene and suggest some ways to bring improvement.

Higher education costs money. It's a fact. In the U.S., we have never had "free higher education" but it works just fine. If you want to study badly enough, you can. You might have to work for it, but if you've got the grades and the desire to learn, you can go to college. Here? Less than a third of teenagers attend the type of high school that allows one to even study at a university (my thoughts on the split-track high school system another day), and those kids can bust their butts and still not get into the universities because there aren't enough spots. But there's no money to open new universities or expand the ones they have! Why? Because the whole darn thing is financed by the government (i.e. by the absurdly high taxes Germans have to pay) and controlled by the government, and the money's just not in the safe. I don't know what the motivation for these new fees was, but maybe, just maybe, they could go toward improvement of the university...

The kids at the university I attend right now probably had to go through a lot to get here. They represent a very small percentage of Germans who have the chance to study at a university. They cry "free higher education for all" but they don't realize that as long as higher education is "free" in the sense of "government financed", it will never really be free for all, and it will never be able to reach it's full potential.

I'm off my soapbox now. Just had to rant because my university is so disgustingly full of socialist this, socialist that, everything should just be free and I don't believe in that. I don't believe in forced mediocrity. Yes, I want every person to have a chance in society. But it's not happening the way the system works now, and in the meantime I really feel the achievements of so many are being stifled. This country has so much more potential.

In other news: surrived a hurricane last night! Hurricane "Kyrill" came sweeping through Germany yesterday, it was pretty crazy. I mean, I slept through it, but it was all over the news, and my Turkish class ended early yesterday because they decided to shut down the building we were in and send everyone home. On the front page of the newspaper yesterday was a weather map with big BLACK clouds sweeping in. You know that can't be good! But we survived. ;)

Back in Berlin

Greetings from Berlin! Here I am, "home" again. It actually feels pretty good to be back here.

My journey back was a little interesting. Everything went as planned, except that my bag didn't make it (but it wasn't lost, it's being delivered today, thankfully!), but it was just like the weirdest day/two days ever. My flight took off from Nashville at 5:15pm on Sunday, and I arrived in Berlin around 4pm (Berlin time) on Monday, having stopped in Detroit and London inbetween. Tobi picked me up from the airport (and was a good sport about waiting with me to figure out what was up with my luggage) and brought me to my apartment, and when I got there, I had less than an hour before I had to leave to go to a film viewing for one of my classes at 6pm. Amazingly, I did not fall asleep during the movie (thanks for British Airways for flying me on a cozy 777 with newly designed economy class seats that have nice foot rests and adjustable lumbar, I slept pretty much that whole 8 hour flight). The movie was actually really good. But long. I mean, L-O-ong! It's actually a made-for-TV film series about the Holocaust, and we watched two parts of it, which lasted altogether almost 4 hours. I had never seen it before, but it's actually American (dubbed over in German) and pretty old. Meryl Streep stars in it, playing a young newly-wed. I spent the first hour of the movie trying to figure out if that was really her and the film was really American--you know, sometimes the lips don't move exactly the way they sound, but when it's an old film, it's hard to tell... Then in one scene a family was singing "Silent Night" and gave themselves away when their mouths said "holy night" while the voices sang "heilige Nacht". Those don't look anything alike.

So I made it through the whole thing, got home, and still thought it was Sunday. I was confused why there were so many people out and about on a Sunday night, and why the subways and buses were running more frequently than usual for a Sunday (when they more or less don't exist). I managed to go to sleep around midnight and woke up feeling better though. First thing in the morning was the class for which we had the film viewing, and the prof was like, "Frau Lordeman, can you give us a recap of what we saw for those who couldn't make it? And what was your impression of it as an American?" My first thought was, "Uhh, I didn't even know what day it was last night, why are you asking me?" but miraculously, German started coming out of my mouth! Alas, I can still speak the language--the two weeks at home didn't seem to deteriorate my language skills much. Just occasionally I think of words in English first instead of German, much like the reverse of what I did at home. Interesting.

One thing I do have to confess though is that I am still majorly missing Mexican food. I ate sooooooo much of it at home, and yet I still crave it. I've indulged myself in Turkish food twice now in the last 24 hours, which is a good substitute not available in the states, but still... anything for some chips and salsa and queso... sigh... I also ate a "sandwich" yesterday, which no one in America would really call a sandwich. It was very disappointing. Gotta go grocery shopping so I can make my own.

On a more positive note, the weather here is GREAT. And by great I mean not freezing, for one thing--around 50 most of the time, actually!--and there is much more sunlight than when I left. This morning was really beautiful and sunny. It's amazing how much that helps me feel better!

Now it's time to get cracking on some homework. Prayer is greatly appreciated for the work I have ahead of me the next two months--namely, 3 huge term papers which at the moment I'm rather scared of. But, there will be many fun things to come as well... just gotta muscle through, like Stelmaszak used to say, haha...

Los geht's...

Well, it's time to head back to Berlin, after an incredible two weeks at home. I think I'm ready. I needed this time very badly and God has done more during it than I could've asked for. Things are going to be different. I'm excited about it.

Thanks to all the wonderful Brentwoodians I love who made the last two weeks really special. I will miss y'all tons! Berlin friends... see ya real soon. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Love,Stina

Who is my anonymous blog commenter???

I'm beginning to wonder who's posting "anonymously" on my blog... not sure if the anonymous commenter from the salami post is the same as the anonymous commenter who asked me to bring home a WWI-era tank or airplane for Chrismas are linked, but perhaps... at any rate, I'm curious about both. So, if it's you, fess up!

On another note... life is good. I'll be ready to go back Sunday night, but I've loved my time here. No reverse culture shock. Except that sometimes I think I fumble with words more than I used to--I've stopped inserting random German words into sentences, but sometimes German words come to mind before English words.

Dinner time now, but I will provide a more thorough update on my adventures in Brent-hood sometime soon. :)