2 down 3 to go in a country still dealing with WW2.

Monday, December 8

I had two finals today which ended up being harder than I thought. Luckily, I studied alot for them (which I hadn't planned on doing) so they weren't bad at all. It was nice to finally have them over with and to be that much closer to home.

Afterward I went to the Neue Synagoge which is only about a block from IES. I have been meaning to for a while now but have never gotten around to it. And seeing as how I'm running out of time I thought I should stop by. I did a presentation and a calendar page on it for my Germans and Jews class and I at least wanted to see it...

It turned out to be pretty cool. Like most things in Berlin its morphed into a museum but there temporary exhibit "War hier eine Synagoge?" (Was there a synagogue here?) was really cool. A polish man went around Poland taking pictures of old synagoges and showing what they had become today. Many of them were abandoned while others had been turned into grocery stores, bars, and homes. Weird to think and see but really really interesting. The permanant exhibit was all about the history of the synagogue and the Jewish Gemeinde (there's not really a good translation, think parish). It's amazing what the synangoue and the people of the area went through and really neat to see some of the things they were able to recover after it was set to fire and bombed.

This carpet is outside the entrance of the synagogue. It reads "Morality is of the highest important for us, not for God."

I then decided to do some shopping since I'm starting to get stressed about all that I have to accomplish in NO TIME! So I knocked some things off the list which was really nice. When exiting the Friedrichstrasse Bahnhof I noticed the new memorial they set up. It's for the Kindertransport to England during WW2. I'm not sure what the english name for it was when England accepted alot of German Jewish children to get them out of Germany. It's hard to believe that they are still putting statues and memorials up but its alot of history to deal with and I think this is just one great example of how far Germany still has to go.

The new Kindertransport Memorial.

But I came back and watched 4 hours of Amazing Race (now before you judge, I watched one 42 minute episode. It just a 4 hour process trying to get the STUPID internet to load - I can't wait for fast internet!!)

My host and her son got back from a trip to see grandma which they said was great. I had a great conversation with Max tonight and I think I've finally gotten the hang of his mumbling 10 year old accent. :) I also got the chance to talk to my host mom about the last 4 months. I'm not going to get sappy here or anything (I'll leave that for later) but it was fun to talk to her (and to hear that I've been one of her favorite students).

I always knew I was a nerd.

Sunday, December 7

Well, after waking up and having a productive morning of laundry I headed over to Rosenthaler Platz (in Prenzlauer Berg) to study in St Oberholz (best cafe ever) for my Portable Roots and Film finals that were Monday. Now, did I really need to study? No. But did I love curling up in the back of a coffee shop all day? Absolutely.

And I was actually REALLY productive. I got alot done and felt really good about my tests and even made a couple new friends (Irish guys who worked on Obama's campaign and own a bar in Berlin). I know, I don't understand either...and I can't even blame this one on my good ol' "lost in translation" excuse.

Anyway, a group of us headed over to the famous Rosenthaler Platz doner place and had a quick dinner before they headed back to studying and I went home for some sleep. One Grey's Anatomy later I was curled up in bed and so ready for some sleep.

Out of bed after the sun went down.

Friday/Saturday December 5/6

After being up late and not getting any good sleep on Thursday night I ended up being in bed until 4ish on Friday. Don't worry the sun sets in the 3 o'clock hour these days so I missed the sun...haha oh well!

I got out of bed and went to Kaiser's for the LAST TIME and to the Turkish Market for the SECOND TO LAST TIME and then came back and got in bed again.

I coaxed myself out of bed to make dinner and take a shower and then went over to hang out with the girls. We met up with some other people from IES at a club/karaoke bar in Prenzlauer Berg where we had a GREAT time. It was an Erasimus party (international student party) which made it alot of fun!! I headed home around 3:30ish and obviously went straight to bed!

I woke up late again on Saturday and went to Alexanderplatz to do some shopping at H&M (can you believe this was the first time I bought clothes!?!?!?) and purchased a handful of things including a dress for semi-formal. Don't judge. I also bought a picture book of Berlin and the first gossip girl book...IN GERMAN! haha, i have to practice somehow. right?

I came home and cleaned up my room. made dinner. talked to the fam. and then the girls were supposed to come over which sadly fell through but it gave me a chance to catch up on some MUCH NEEDED SLEEP!!! I can't believe my last full weekend in Berlin is almost over!

Tipsy. 10am. In Class

Thursday, December 4

HAPPY LAST DAY OF CLASS!!!

And to celebrate I came to class 30 minutes late (haha! i love not caring!) and we had a 2 hour party in German. We started with a table full of chocolate and a huge tub of Gluhwein. We played Christmas music, sang Christmas music, and ate and drank more than i thought I could eat at that hour!! Then we played a white elephant type game with all of the presents we brought which was so fun!! (and i got to use my Monopoly/Game vocabulary!!! We sang some German Christmas carols and went caroling to the 4 IES offices!! We has a blast!!

Me and Erica enjoying the party!

Corinna, our professor, explaining the typical German sweets!

Corinna passionately singing Christmas Carols!

We watched Rosenstrasse, a movie about the Rosenstrasse protests in Berlin, and then I had a two hour break where I watched Private Practice and vegged and then had my LAST CLASS OF IES!!!

Afterwards I ran home to make a quick dinner before going to see Kabale und Liebe (a play) at the Berliner Schaubuhne. It was an interesting ride over there on a new bus line I found and a very interesting interpretation of the play. But with an incredible migraine I headed home, got in bed, and called it a night!

Snowklakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Wednesday, December 4

It snowed all day today which was so fun but it wasn't quite cold enough for it to stick which turned it into this ever so delightful slush (please note the sarcasm). However, while walking to class snowflakes were sticking to my nose, eyelashes, cheeks, hair, hands, and anything else it could find! I felt so Sound of Music!!

Today was another long day! I locked myself into a small back room in IES (much like the 8th floor in ZSR) and finished everything! But I had my last tutor session and have officially printed EVERYTHING out! I am officially done with everything, except those small dinky little things they call finals, and I couldn't be more excited!!

After theater class I went home took a nice hot short shower, cooked some noodles and then headed to bed. Tomorrow is the last day of classes! WA-HOO!!!

Christmas Cookies to welcome December!

Monday/Tuesday, December 1/2

Well, monday was long as expected. I had class all day, a two hour tutoring session for my MANY papers and then my night class. Long and miserable. Especially since I hadn't even bought the book we were supposed to have finished for class. I came home, went to bed, and tried as hard as I could to block the day out of my head.

Tuesday was MUCH better than Monday. I had class in the morning and procrastinated most of the afternoon. I've been having internet trouble at my apartment so things go SO SO SO slow which stinks and was my "excuse" for not accomplishing anything.

BUT, once Max got home from school we made Christmas Cookies!! Aloisia made the dough the night before so when Max got home we dumped tons of flour on the kitchen table and rolled the dough, getting flour EVERYWHERE. Then we broke out some seasonal (and not so seasonal) cookie cutters which as always we turned into foreign language class making sure Max knew all of the shapes in English and that I knew them in German. After we baked them we DECORATED, which is SO my favorite part! Pounds of icing and sprinkles later we had filled a HUGE tin of the most delicious cookies!Max got bored part of the way through, much like Zach during gingerbread house making, so he played some Christmas carols for us on his trumpet! So cute!! At one point he looked at me and told me "Tonight I'll have to brush my teeth a little bit better tonight." right after having told me "I'm just cleaning it up" with his tongue on the table licking off icing!! Enjoy the pictures!
I stayed up later after that nice 4 and a half hour break to finish page 5 of my last paper! So close!

write write write

Saturday and Sunday, November 29 and 30

Courtney and I woke up at 4am on Saturday to get to the airport for her 7am flight. YUCK!! We made it the airport with plenty of time but spent FOREVER in line before I figured out that we needed to check her in at a computer kiosk and drop her bags off. Dear AirFrance, there MUST be a more efficient way.

But we had our sad goodbye and I hopped back in a cab to get back into bed. With a sketchy turkish cab driver, I watched out the window as Berlin passed me by. It's weird to think that I have 2 weeks left and that the next time I'm at the airport I'll be saying goodbye to Berlin for who knows how long. I don't mean to be sappy but its kind of weird to think about. I'll be back, I'm not worried. But the graffiti will change, new buildings will be built, and I'll be back as a tourist and not as a Berliner.

But anyway, I woke back up after another handful of hours of sleep and wrote. ALL DAY LONG! And then I went to sleep and woke back up on Sunday to write for another FULL DAY while Aloisia and Max decorated the apartment for Christmas! But alas, I'll have to wait for Houston to decorate.

20 pages in German is alot alot alot to write. So, back to writing...

Sledding in No Man's Land/ Ha Ho He Hertha BSC

Friday, November 28

Courtney and I slept in late again today. And I have to admit, I could really get used to this not going to class and sleeping all morning stuff! Why didn't I think of it before? When we finally motivated ourselves to get out of bed we headed over to Potsdamer Platz for Winterwelt (winter world).

Now lets take a little bit of a pause to do Victoria's favorite thing...talk about history. Potsdamer Platz is situated in Berlin Mitte and has always been one of the main areas of the city. For many Germans Potsdamer Platz is known for having the first street light in the country (1924) and even more so famous as part of the No Man's land during the Soviet's rule in East Germany. So, as a nice way of saying "we hate you Communism" winter world has been by far one of my favorite parts of Berlin. So imagine with me, this HUGE HUGE HUGE square in the nicest part of Berlin filled with a huge Christmas Market, an ice-skating rink, and a GIGANTIC hill for sledding. That's right. You read correctly: sledding!!!! So being the mature and fun people that we are, Courtney and I decided to participate in the Winterwelt. Although nobody with more than one number in their age was sledding we figured that since moments earlier we were carded as 12 year olds for trying to buy Gluwein, that acting our age was SO not important! So we went 4 times and it was SO much fun! I promise i haven't laughed that hard or smiled that big my entire time abroad (or maybe since the last time I saw McKin!) Caroline and Christine came and hung out for a little bit before Courtney and I left for the Turkish market. Once we returned home we put our finishing touches on packing (Court was so nice and took home SO much of my junk!) and walked to Oranienstrasse for a Turkish dinner. Now I had my doubts about the place but it looked inviting and turned out to be one of our favorite meals from the whole week!

We then made our way to highlight #2 of the day: THE HERTHA BSC SOCCER GAME!!
After a long, long, long train ride out to OlympiaStadion we finally arrived and were ready for the mayhem!! So after walking through a path full of guys peeing...seriously, I've never seen so many in my life, I'd venture to say in the triple digits...we arrived at the stadium home of the 1936 Olympic Games. Now, I'm sure you can tell from the pictures that the stadium has had a face lift since then it was still really cool to see the area and take a quick peak at the swimming pool!! And, for those of you who don't remember the 1936 games, they were used by the Nazi Party to promote the Aryan race AND the games where Jesse Owens won 4 gold metals as one step further toward Equal Rights and a big ol' slap across Hitler's face...but anyway.The game turned out to be amazing! Full of loud and obnoxious fans all wearing crazy forms of blue and white strips and all chanting and clapping and jumping and screaming nonsense like, "Ha Ho He! Hertha BSC!" After defeating Koeln 2 to 1, Courtney and I made our way back to the U-Bahn station. The stadium itself, however, can only be reached using one line and there were about 40,000 of us trying to get on the train. I know. Bad Idea. But Courtney and I made it on the first train that came and were thankful not to have to wait with the crazy mob of people still jumping, screaming, and clapping. Or so we thought.

Once the doors to the train shut and we were all squished inside the CRAZY people started jumping, chanting, screaming, and clapping INSIDE the train. So the train is rocking and their slapping the walls and its funny and a little scary but mostly funny. Until they get the bright idea to punch out the lights landing glass all over Courtney causing it to be pitch black and a little less funny. And I know your thinking I'm a terrible cousin but if you knew how many people were in the train and how crazy they were being you would realize there wasn't a whole lot I could do. So with the help of a very wonderful German woman we got off the train at the next stop and waited for the next one where we could get in the front car with the driver and not die! Which we did, and made it safely back home around 11:30.

When we got back Courtney gave Aloisia her gift which she LOVED! She even ran across the hall to the neighbors to show them! It was so cute!! And then after a shower and the final touches on packing, we headed to sleep for a handful of hours...oh how I love early morning flights!

Oh yea, I'm sorry about the double title thing but I had to restrain myself from making 3 or 4 more! I guess that's what happens when you have one of your favorite days abroad!!

Thanksgiving? I think.

Thursday, November 27

After sleeping in late and eating some breakfast Courtney and I willed ourselves to get ready for what we thought would be another cold day in Berlin. But luckily enough the Thanksgiving gods were looking down on us and gave us beautifully sunny 40 degree weather. And yes I know, 40 degree weather is freezing but when you're used to 20 something and drizzling today was the perfect day!!

Before we left the house Aloisia offered us some of her homemade Lebkuchen (gingerbread) which is from an old family recipe. And wow, DELICIOUS!!! We finally made it out (me wearing my oh so wonderful new boots) and headed over to the East Side Gallery where Courtney and I enjoyed a nice stroll down the wall admiring the art work and pondering what life behind the wall must have been like. Once we reached the end we hopped on the S-Bahn to the Hauptbahnhof where we finished up the last of Court's sovenier shopping before going to Hackescher Markt to have a very wonderful late lunch in one of the Hackescher Hofe. Lucky for us there was a jewelry market just outside which entertained us for awhile and I got to show Courtney Otto Weidt's house and some Stolpersteins.We made a quick stop for a crepe (we are absolutely obsessed!) and then headed back to the apartment to do some packing and to talk to our families. As wonderful as it was to talk to everyone, we both realized later that it made us homesick and pretty sad not to be with the family. But we had each other and Berlin so we really couldn't complain for that long!!
We met up with a few girls from the program at an Americanish bar where we watch some football. I mean if I can't have turkey, I've gotta have football! We made it home safe and sound, thankful for another great day in Berlin.

I look like a gangster. No one will mess with us now.

Wednesday, November 26

Courtney and I woke up late marking the beginning of my self proclaimed Thanksgiving holiday. After breakfast we went to the Hauptbahnhof and bought tickets for Friday's soccer game!!! We are both so excited and so happy that Courtney is staying until Saturday.

We then made our way to Bahnhof Zoo were we visited the Schloss Charlettenburg. We toured inside and took some illegal pictures (I mean seriously 7 euro and no pictures? you have to be joking!) But anyway, just our luck there's a Christmas Market outside the castle so we wandered in the rain to the gardens in the back which were beautiful!! We took some fun pictures and enjoyed the ducks (who are apparently not afraid of people after all!).

As we were leaving the gardens we saw the tiniest little glove on the ground which reminded Courtney that she had in fact lost her glove. again! Now let me just tell you how many times this child has lost her glove. People have been running after us all week to give her that stupid glove back. Enjoy the photo documentation of the event.Once we made it back to Bahnhof Zoo we took a little pause at a bakery to enjoy some of Germany's wonderful treats and then made our way with the S-Bahn to Alexanderplatz where we bought a crepe. YUM! (I love having people here to visit because I get to do things like buy a 2 euro crepe which I would NEVER splurge for alone!!)

We headed to Alexa - the big shopping mall at Alexanderplatz and did a fair amount of shopping. And a I finally bought some boots!! Now maybe I'll be able to feel my toes when I'm outside!! After leaving Alexa we wandered through yet another Christmas Market (Yes, they're everywhere) and then headed to Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse to make a dent in some more souvenir shopping.

We came home to drop of our bags and head back out for the IES Thanksgiving feast which turned out to be a blast! We had a great time hanging out with some of the girls and even made plans for some Thanksgiving festival of our own! Courtney met James and Thomas which was also another interesting event seeing as how the conversation was mostly in German...poor Courtney!

(We had some trouble getting to dinner because our U-Bahn line was closed because they were shooting a movie! Oh Berlin. How I love you!)

By the time we left the restaurant the trains weren't running very often so we took the opportunity to take a photo shoot. 100 and something pictures later we had finally made it to Schoenleinstrasse and we started the walk home. Being loud and obnoxious as usually we were attracting a little to much attention so I told Courtney to stop talking (these people REALLY pick up on the American accent) to which she promptly turned her hat backwards and said "I look like a gangster. No one'll mess with us now." And let me assure you that was only one of about a thousand absurd things Courtney said today!

We finally made it back and hopped straight into bed which is why this post is a little later than usual!!

Multilingual Monopoly

Tuesday, November 25

Courtney and I got up and got ready for another exciting day in Berlin only to notice that it was SNOWING like crazy outside. So naturally we took about a thousand pictures of the snow which delayed our commute slightly. But hey, when am I going to see it snow in Berlin again? probably tomorrow, but that's beside the point! But the snow was so much fun and a group of teenage turkish boys threw a snowball at us. So apparently flirting isn't any different here...

I dropped Courtney off at the Jewish Museum and then made my way to IES. I had two boring classes, in between which I broke down and bought a can of Pringles, and then went back to the Jewish Museum to pick up Courtney.

We hopped on the U1 to Wittenbergplatz where we had a wonderful time looking at the Christmas decorations on the street as well as in Kaufhaus des Westens (or KaDeWe). And since we were there we decided to go to the international food floor and have lunch in the Italian section. Yummy! And after eating we decided to run to the bathroom before leaving, which I realize I wouldn't normally comment on in my blog...however, I wish you could have seen Courtney's face when I told her she needed to pull out some money to go to the bathroom! Hysterical! And I'm still not sure she's over it!!

We then walked a few blocks through the many Christmas decorations to the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaenknis Kirche which if you remember from my parents being here is a HUGE church that was bombed during World War 2 but has yet to be renovated. Conveniently located all around the church is ANOTHER Christmas market which we happily walked through. Courtney bought a few things for some friends and then in typical fashion we headed back to KaDeWe for sorbet!!

After a quick ride back on the U-bahn we made a quick stop at Kaisers (for breakfast stuff) and the Turkish Market. Our long but fun day had finally come to an end...or at least we thought it had. until I stepped into a HUGE PILE OF DOG POOP!!!

Let me take this brief moment to discuss Germans and their dogs. They love them! They treat them like people. You think I'm kidding but I'm not. They are allowed any and everywhere. Trains? Without a doubt! Restaurants? You betcha! Kitchens in restaurants? Why not! And, since Germans have to pay a special tax for their dogs they feel as if they have the right to not pick up after their dogs...somebody PLEASE explain the reasoning there! But finally, after 3 months of avoiding the poop I managed to step in the biggest possible pile which made for a very interesting next 30 minutes as Courtney and I cleaned it up. YUCK!! (Take a look at this website. And no, its not a joke!)

Anyway, enough rambling...Aloisia and Max finally made it home and we decided to play a game of Monopoly which ended up being unbelievably fun and educational for everyone. Whenever you rolled you had to say the number and count your spaces in your second language. And Max had to read all of the cards in German and then translate them (with my help) into English. Courtney even learned how to count to ten!! I also learned the word for die/dice which is Wuerfel (for those of you who care) and I also picked up a few fun phrases for the next time you get stuck playing a board game with me...look forward to that!

As the game came to an end and we declared Courtney the loser (haha!), Aloisia gave us the wonderful idea of heating up Nutella and dipping our pineapple in it. Now, I've been dipping pineapple in nutella since I got here. But warm nutella. Heaven. and I'm not even close to joking.

So here we are, freshly showered, curled up with the heater on as high as it will go, ready for another long nights sleep! And Court's excited to sleep in a little bit later tomorrow since I've officially declared the end of my week! I hope you have a great rest of your day!!

Oh yea, and I'm sorry there aren't any pictures today. Courtney has most of the good ones and quite frankly I'm exhausted. Hopefully I'll get some good ones of the castle tomorrow!

Courtney's Tour and a Christmas Market Afternoon

Monday, November 24

Courtney and I woke up after a wonderful nights sleep of almost 11 hours. And yet somehow we both still woke up exhausted. Typical. We had some cereal and set out for a VERY exciting day in Berlin.I took her to the Starbucks at the corner of Pariser Platz (aka, overlooking the Brandenburg Gate) where we both enjoyed lattes before I went to class. They were in the middle of putting up a HUGE Christmas tree in front of the Gate which was SO exciting! I went to two boring classes while Courtney went on a 3.5 hour walking tour of Berlin. She saw so much (including the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Berliner Dom) and had a great time.
I picked her up at the Lust garten where we took a few more pictures and then made our way to the Opernpalais Cafe for lunch which was one of my parents' favorite place. After a great and SUPER filling lunch (on mom and dad, I might add) we spent about an hour and a half walking through the Wiehnachtsmarkt am Opern Palais (a CHRISTMAS MARKET!). It was so pretty and so much fun! And we may or may not have bought a few things!! We also scouted out an ice skating rink which is being built right across the street from Humboldt Universitaet!! Hopefully it'll be finished before she leaves!
It was about time to head back to IES for my theater class and since it was about 22 degrees neither of us complained! We walked back up Unter den Linden to Friedrichstasse and we were so cold that we had to pop into a couple of stores just to make it back to IES! When we got there I put Courtney on Facebook in the computer lab and then went to class. And while I kind of felt bad she's been going through Facebook withdrawl so I knew she was SO HAPPY to catch up with some friends!

After class we headed back over to Brandenburg gate only to be disappointed that the Christmas tree lights weren't on yet but we got to browse some tourist shops too which made it worth the trip. We walked back to Friedrichsrasse and headed back to the apartment making a quick stop to pick up a pizza. We got back, panting from the stairs and a sprint after the U-bahn, ate our pizza, showered, and now I am finally going to bed. (I had to stay up and do homework. SICK!)

Gute Nacht von Berlin!

Court's first meal in Europe: Mac&Cheese!

Sunday, November 23

I woke up bright and early (actually, it couldn't have been bright because the sun wasn't up) and headed to the airport where I dealt with Italians who don't understand the concept of a line to save themselves. One behind the other and you wait your turn...it just can't be that hard!!

Anyway, I made it back to Berlin where the ground was covered in snow and headed back home to Skype and clean up before I went and got Courtney at the airport. She made it safe and sound and it is so fun having her here! It's so great to see the city through someone else's eyes! The U-bahn is cool?! I almost forgot!!

We headed back to the apartment so she could shower and put her stuff away. We got lazy, tired, and cold and cooked Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner and then walked down to the corner of Paul-Linke-Ufer and Kotbusser Damm to Cafe Ubersee for some wonderful dessert. I have some fabulous pictures that I'll post tonight!

When we got back we talked to my host mom for a little over an hour which was so fun! I even learned a little bit about my apartment. Apparently in 1930 a jewish family lived there and immigrated to America because the dad got a job in teh USA. Well, obviously that was an incredibly lucky move for that family. My host explained that the woman (who was 4 years old at the time) came back with her granddaughter a handful of years ago to see the apartment. The huge heater thats in my room was the woman's only memory of the house which is why my host mom hasn't gotten rid of it. There's also a little sign on the side of the door that the woman's father hand carved. It says Shalom on Hebrew. Anyway, it was a really cool night and really fun for Court!!

Check back later for pictures of our European outfits!!

More Pics of Italy!

I had such a wonderful time and I just want to make sure y'all get to see everything!!

Rialto Bridge

Casa Artom from the Salute Bridge

This is a sample from the movie/tv show Loff and I were in!!

I'll post some more once I get them from McKin!

Loff's 4 wheel drive suitcase

Saturday, November 22

McKin and I woke up and started the morning by cleaning up some of the thousands of Solo cups from the party. While back in the US you just throw them away, they are SUPER expensive in Europe so you wash them and keep them for the next house party. So after cleaning and breakfast we headed out for a fabulous day!We started by walking across the Salute Bridge which gave us a wonderful view of Casa Artom. We then headed over to St. Mark's where we ran into Hotel Flora (look familiar family?!)! We then made our way slowly to Rialto where I bought a new scarf and then finally to Strada Nuova where I bought a new hat!!We then headed to the airport to pick up Laughlin (McKinley's sister, freshman at Wake) which was SO exciting! It was nice to finally meet the person I've been skyping with for the last 3 months! We made it back to Venice where we crossed the New bridge (opened since McKin got to Venice) where we experienced a movie/tv show being filmed. It was two guys dancing/fighting/chasing each other to music. Loff and I made our first guest appearance in Italian film as they ran in circles around us!! How fun!

We went straight to the train station where we hopped on a 3.5 hour train to Milano. We talked and laughed the whole time and I got a present from ZACH!! So wonderful and I would say such a suprise but we all know thats a lie!! When we finally made it to Milan we wandered FOREVER around the train station trying to find the bus we needed. And Loff, lugging her 30 something pound suitcase, was forced to off road...haha! So fun! This picture of me and Loff is from a little photoshoot we did while waiting for the bus.
Anyway, we checked into the hotel which was SO NICE and then headed to dinner around the Duomo which we conviently saw afterwards! We went back to the hotel for one last hang out before bed. Another wonderful weekend with McKinley has passed which makes my heart hurt. alot.

I think I've lost my game.

Friday, November 21

Well, the time FINALLY arrived to go see Mckinley in Venice and I could not have been more excited. I packed into my brown purse and set off for Berlin Schoenefeld Airport which I had yet to fly out of. So I got some directions and then set out. The directions were simple go to Warschauer Strasse and take the S9 until it ends. Perfect. Easy. Except for it only leaves every 20 minutes and the doors shut as I was coming down the stairs. Great. But, I made it to the airport with plenty of time, checked in and started my anxious waiting!!

Once arriving at the gate I looked outside to see...well, what was it? rain? hail? snow? I wasn't quite sure but in about minutes it was EXTREMELY CLEAR that it was snow. alot of snow. SNOW EVERYWHERE!!!! The snow, as wonderful as it was, delayed our plane a little because they had to power wash (with anti-freeze) the snow and ice off the wings. Now, I'm sure this is a normal procedure but just as I was getting over my little traveling panic attacks they have to go and anti-freeze the wings. really y'all?Anyway, I finally land in Venice and run into McKin's arms, both of us squealing the whole time. We started chatting (which we only stopped doing when I got back on a plane on Sunday) and hopped on the bus to Piaza la Roma (McKin, how do you actually spell that?). As we slowly wondered our way to Casa Artom (the Wake house) we stopped for pizza and gelato. DUH!!We finally made it back to the house where I got the full tour. I know y'all have heard it a thousand times before but IT'S ON THE GRAND CANAL!! Like seriously on the Grand Canal. Like I watched boats (and fire boats!!) drive by the house. Like I could lay in McKin's bed and hear the water lapping. absolutely unbelievable!

After settling in we went with a group of people from the house to the Salute church which is only a handful of blocks away. It turns out I picked a very important day to visit Venice. On November 21st every year 50,000 of the 70,000 people in Venice light a candle in the Salute church. Apparently during the 1630 plague they promised the Madonna that if the plague ended they would celebrate every year! How cool! They also build a temporary bridge (the Salute bridge) that goes from the other side of the church directly to the front of Salute!! They also have a market of sorts around the corner from the church to help you celebrate. McKin and I shared an almond cookie and then a Nutella covered donut. yummy!We made our way back to the house and cuddled up with some of the girls in the house to watch Grey's Anatomy on the projector before throwing a wild and crazy HOUSE PARTY!! We had such a fun night and it took me back to the wonderfully fratastic nights at Wake!! McKin and I even won beer pong! so much fun! we wrapped up theparty and headed to bed knowing we had an exciting day with Loff ahead of us!PS- the title of this post is because I wasn't Ciao Bella-ed the entire time I was in Italy. yikes!

Longest. Day. Ever.

Thursday, November 20

I hate Thursdays. I really do. They are straight from you know where. My day starts (as you probably already know from my whining) with a 4 hour German class, followed directly by my 2 hour German and Jews class, a 2 hour break, and then Film for 2 hours. YUCK! And today was unfortunately even worse.

It was pouring down rain when I woke up. pouring. The kind of pouring where you call in sick and stay in bed all day listening to the rain outside, thanking God your under your covers and still in your pajamas. But today that wasn't an option, so I finally coaxed myself out of bed...bribery, it works every time...and made it to class. I gave a presentation in my Germans and Jews class which went very well and then I went to the Imbiss for some much deserved spring rolls (Don't worry Nit Noi, I haven't forgotten you). I spent most of Film, ok fine, all of Film catching up on the blog and then watched Private Practice in the lounge before heading to the Berliner Ensemble for a great but 3 hour long performance of Nathan the Wise. I finally made it home around 11:10 which in case you were wondering officially marks today as the longest day ever. in the history of the world.

But now that its over I have one thing, and one thing only on my mind. VENICE!!! I am "packing" a toothbrush and a contact case and hopping on a plane for a weekend of WFU fun and McKin cuddling! And y'all, I don't think I can wait a minute longer! So, I'm off to clean up my room for Courtney (who comes on SUNDAY!) and then to bed...Another week down. Another incredible weekend to go!

The 2008 Berlin-Salem Formal

Wednesday, November 19

Well, the day of the Berlin-Salem Formal finally arrived and after a day of class and a great skype date with Pownall I came back an eagerly waited for my date to pick me up. And right on time, actually a little bit early (he was probably anxious), Zacho "picked me up" for a wonderful night of well, skyping. It was a fun night of catching up on a long week and by far the best date of the entire semester! :)

Enjoy the pictures of my ever so handsome date in his tux. Too bad the only thing i could scrounge up was a jersey dress and some long underwear!

SO SO SO tired

Monday, November 17

4:00 is early. I don't care who you are. What you're doing. Or why in the world you decided to need to be up at that time. But its early. And it sucks. And it sucks even more after a relatively sleepless night. ugh.

I landed in Berlin 8 pages away from having my book finished at 7:30 am and had the perfect amount of time to head back to my apartment to shower and get ready for a long day. As I was running around my room trying desperately not to be late to class I checked my email. And what did I find? An invitation to the Berlin-Salem formal!!

So excited about my date for Wednesday night, I headed out for class. And when I returned...MY HOST FAMILY WAS BACK!!! It was so wonderful to finally have them back in the apartment and even better to feel my head hit the pillow...but then again, I might have been asleep before that happened!

Tuesday, November 18

Waking up this morning was tough but what do you expect? I've traveled every weekend since September and I guess its finally caught up with me.

My German and Jews class when to Wannsee today which was fun but long. We toured the house of the Wannsee Conference (where the Nazi's decided the Final Solution for murdering the Jews) and the Max Lebermann House. When we finally made it back to Berlin I made a quick run to the Turkish Market and then headed back to the apartment for a good good nights sleep.

Wannsee House

Some of the many quotes from people whose relatives were Nazi officials or whose relatives were in Concentration Camps.

Max Lebermann's House

I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see, wanna see them dancing.

Sunday, November 16

We woke up in our teenie, tiny hotel room and had our free breakfast (there's a reason why we didn't have to pay. yuck!) before walking by the 5 lakes of Copenhagen. While it was chilly, the sun was out and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day! After walking and talking down the lakes we made our way to the Kastellet Fortress which is a star shaped island set within the main land...SO COOL! We walked around it for a while until we found...you guessed it! THE LITTLE MERMAID STATUE! (ie, the reason I wanted to go to Copenhagen! After years of sleeping with Little Mermaid sheets and a Flounder stuffed animal it was really really fun to see!

After seeing the Little Mermaid we made our way to the Kastelet Church just in time for the heavens to let lose for a trenchal downpour!! So we quickly made our way to the Marble Church with the third largest dome in Europe where we took refuge. When we regained our strength we found ourselves a cozy little coffee shop and cuddled up with out books (I was reading Nathan the Wise - really really good play) until the rain let up. And after deciding to face the weather one more time we wandered our way through a Christmas Market by the harbor and toward the Opera House square.It was there, while consulting our oversized tourist map that Thomas (and eventually Daniel) came up to "give us directions." It turned out, and much to my surprise that they were really fabulous guys who just wanted to practice their English. So we went to another coffee shop where we sat for just shy of 3 hours! It was so much fun and hands down the best conversation I've ever had with a stranger.

We got their recommendations on dinner, took a picture for our scrapbooks and then headed in the direction of their recommendation. And while we had every intention of going to the restaurant we got side tracked. With what you might ask? Hard Rock Cafe and an english version of Quantum Solace. So, we gave into the temptation, ordered chicken fingers and potato skins and bought tickets for Quantum Solace. The night was fun (and American) and we headed back to the hotel ready to face another week.

Umm, sure I'll be your friend?

Saturday, November 15

So after waking up around 6:30 am I made my way to the airport and had a pretty empty flight to Copenhagen. It was a pretty relaxing flight and as we flew in we saw those HUGE windmill things IN THE WATER!! It made me think of Bradley. haha!

Anyway, I made it off the plane and into the heavily Christmas decorated airport to spend about an hour trying to figure out how to make it to the airport. Stupid train tickets...this is how the cabs make all the money, frustrated tourists! But I'm happy to say that I didn't give in and along the way made a new friend. A german woman, currently living in Denmark. After talking to her for all of 4 minutes she asked if we could exchange emails. Why not i thought. Well, as I'm writing it she tells me that she will be going to Nicaragua in the next year or so and would love a place to stay in Houston during her lay over. Needless to say, i conveniently lost that piece of paper. Ok not true, but the only reason I kept it was for the scrap book! Oh yea, and she hugged me. Invasion of personal space? I think so.
After finding the hotel and checking in I had about 2 hours to wait until Katie made it in so I decided to read a little of my book and take a nap. And exactly 2 hours later after a coma of a nap, Katie arrived and the Copenhagen adventures began! We wandered around and saw the Tivoli gardens, City Square, River/Lake/Sea, the royal Library, and duh, we shopped!

City Hall

Royal Library

After all of that walking we realized how exhausted we were so we decided to go eat dinner. And, as we walked into a cute little Italian restaurant we noticed it was 4:30. PM! As in earlier than Luby's opens for dinner! How embarassing.

But I mean seriously, we were REALLY tired so we headed back to the hotel and on our way stopped at a market where Katie bought 18 euro worth of candy. But we finally got in bed (full of sugar), watched Stick It (it was AWESOME!) and Friends and then headed to bed. Good night Copenhagen. See you in the morning!