Haven't written in a while!!
Sorry :-) I know how you all love to hear my stories. Just as much as I love telling them.
We leave off on the 15. Well.. That weekend was a tad... eventful.
Every semester each student dorm and apartment building gets to throw a party. Its the largest one of the semester. Well. Steingarten (where I live)... we don't mess around :-) We threw a mafia party :-)
Jordan, Haesols boyfriend came from America to spend time with her so Hazel, Jordan, and Gillian were my guests. We dressed up Mafiosa like you wouldn't believeeeee!!!! We definately got the best respect that night.
Ok... Well... thats all for that story. HA. Lots of things happened that night including laptops being stolen from the 1st floor. (thankfully I live on the 6th) and Almir peed on my desk chair. (Long story) But overall it was fun. You will see pictures lol.
That Saturday was FANTASTIC!!!! Gillian and I and her boyfriend at the time (haha I love you Schnoox) Went to the championship Rugby game in Heidelberg. We watch Spain KILL, we watched Germany get beat in the last 1 minute to Portugal, (Who I knew would win anyway) and then we watched those penny gyps from ROMANIA KILLL KILLL KILL RUSSIAAAAAA. OMGGGG I have never seen Rugby played like that before! These guys were running around the field pulling tricks out like I have never seen before. Needless to say that Russia walked off the field with 0. and Romania took it home 36-0. What a game.
Well. That next week was nothing spectacular. Just alot of reading and writing, I even skipped the German night party at Zimmer. (thats a first for me).
That weekend 24-26 was the VISUM Berlin trip! I have lots to talk about!!
We left at about midnight and we took a double decker bus for our 8ish hour drive to Berlin. I was especially excited to see Berlin because of all that I already learned from Frau Dombrowskis class.
We got to Berlin at about 8 in the morning and the first thing I saw was..... DUNKIN DONUTS!!!! I WAS IN HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. It was awesome. They only have DD in Nordrhein Westfallen and Berlin. We got to the hostel , had some breakfast, and the first thing on our agenda was a city tour of Berlin. That was interesting because it was our first view of Berlin. The starting point was the American Embassy which was located right next to the Brandenburger Tor. I liked seeing that because It had a huge history behind it. The American Embassy was recently built and they have real exit signs.
Next to the American Embassy was the hotel where Michael Jackson hung a baby outside the window. That was an interesting part of the tour... Other things we saw were the siegesäule, (which I got to see in the movie Himmel über Berlin), the Berliner Dom, Alexander Platz, Potsdamer Platz, Reichstag, Holocaust Mahnmal, East Side Gallery, Judisches Museum, Checkpoint charlie, just to name a few, and some other really important sites.
After the tour we got to rome around for a bit. haha rome. I was just there!. I grabbed some lunch with friends and dunkin donuts of course, then we headed back to the Hostel to check in. The hostel was cool because of the way it was set up. Back in the day it was actually used as a boarding school for Jewish Girls. One of the VISUM events was going to a well known club in Berlin called the Fritz club. It was in what looked like an old factory with large rooms and bad music. (like most clubs in Germany). We didn't stay long, we went back and went to sleep. haha
The next morning we knew exactly what we wanted to see. HOHENSCHONHAUSEN!!!!!
I was excited to see this because this was an integral part of my favorite movie called Das Leben der anderen. This was an intense tour of the dark side of the former german democratic republic (ddr). Hohenschonhausen was a former remand prison of the stasi (ddr's state security). This tour was guided by former prisoners so you can tell how intense it was. We watched a movie about the history of the prison and its role in the system of political persecution in the ddr. Then we got to see the actual prison, and the submarine, which was a dark part of the prison where torture usually took place. We saw all the processes everything from internment to interrogation. This was cool because on the upper floor of the new prison, built next to the old, there were more interrogation rooms than holding cells. This was because they wanted to be efficient, we saw the room where they used to water torture people, and it was interesting because the set up of the interrogation rooms were all the same. We learned that several tape recorders were used at the same time, and the mind control techniques that the stasi used really did work. We got to see the tiger cages, which were small outdoor walking places,where prisoners were allowed to walk in circles with their hands behind their backs to get fresh air. This was because they weren't allowed to go outside, so when they did, they were only allowed to walk in a circle, with guards standing overhead.
This was an eery building. I could still smell the stench and the clammyness. I felt wierd being in this building, but it was definately worth it.
After that we went to a FABULOUS museum. We went to see an exhibit called signs of the city. This was an exhibit that tells about cities and the youths in them. Two kids made their way through their cities with digital cameras and cell phones with cameras and explored "signs" of their cities. They went through london, barcelona, berlin, and sophia (bulgaria). This was cool because you got to see each students perspective of different aspects of urban living, and the signs that we live by everyday.
This was really cool to see because you can see life through other peoples eyes, instead of your own. Quick story. I was sitting at the tram stop outside in the marktplatz and I had my earphones in. I also had a coffee in my hand. Well. An older lady was sitting next to me with a ciggarette. She then commented on how good her cigarette would taste with my coffee. She then told me to take out my earphones because she believed that students and younger people today don't open their eyes and ears to the world around them. (and all in german too! ). So I could see what she was talking about, because to the average observer these signs mean nothing, but to others they mean so much.
We hung out in Alexander platz and saw these guys on stilts... well... we couldn't resist :-) Pictures to come!
We also danced to the accordian players and pretended to be airplanes.
That night we went to the largest shopping mall in all of continental Europe called the KADeWe. It had a million floors with 500 Euro scarfs... Then of course that night Visum sponsered a party with lots of booze. I skipped out on the club that night, and didn't have much to drink. Instead I stayed up with the American guys and we went and had some Falafal at the cafe next door.
The next morning was Sunday and we go to sleep in. I woke up early and grabbed some friends and went to the East Side Gallery. That was so cool to see the actual wall and the amazing art thats... well... somewhat preserved. I can't stand how people can grafitti over other peoples grafitti! It was so upsetting to see peoples names and stupid remarks over the artists work. I got to stand on the east and the west side!
That monday was long... thats all I remember, and it was back to the daily grindstone of work and school and grammar.
I worked with Brian who helped me with Konjuctiv II vergangenheits form. I get it now.
The international dinner yesterday (Tuesday) was great because it is when everyone from all over the world prepares food and we all come together and try it. We had some great foods from Malaysia, France, Sweden, Italy, and of course America. The Americans represented and made some Jungle Juice! that was such a huge hit!!! Haesol made annies Macaroni and Cheese hahaha. Free Beer and great food. Can't get much better!
Thats pretty much it actually. I haven't been partying lately because I haven't been in the mood really. Drinking takes too much time, money and energy. Its gotten to the point in the semester where I like to read and study. That, and the weather has been constant rain!
For the rest of the week I plan on working on some presentations that are due... some case studies, and of course, some Grammer. (working on passive now and Konjuctiv I). So I can use all the study time I can get. Friday is Halloween and we plan on going to Frankensteins Castle in Darmstadt. This is cool for us because Frankensteins castle is cool! and it would be so awesome to go there on Halloween! But most people think we are corny :-) But we don't mind.
Enjoy the pictures!
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