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!)
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, March 09, 2007
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?
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?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
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 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!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
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... :)
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... :)
Friday, February 16, 2007
"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...
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...
Monday, February 12, 2007
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).
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).
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, February 02, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
...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...
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...
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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...
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...
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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. ;)
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. ;)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
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...
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...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
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
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
Friday, January 05, 2007
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. :)
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. :)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
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. :)
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. :)
Monday, December 25, 2006
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!!! :)
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!!! :)
Sunday, December 17, 2006
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. :)
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. :)
Sunday, December 10, 2006
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?
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?
Sunday, December 03, 2006
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!!!
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!!!
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