If there's anybody still reading this thing, you don't understand participatory exercises. If there's nobody reading this anymore, I'm officially a high school chemisty textbook, but with fewer questionable stains on my pages (I've got my share of stains, I just usually know what they're from). No offense to my parents, but if I wanted to talk to them and only them, I could just email. If you're out there, question authority, chase squirrels, and post comments for me. Especially Halloween related comments, Halloween rules.
Amsterdam didn't work out for this weekend, so we're gonna go next weekend instead, hopefully with a rented car. Adventure, excitement, Autobahns! Stay tuned.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like krismis...
(Warning: if you don't care at all about hip hop music or me ranting about the state of the music industry, skip to the bottom for a more interesting discussion of Halloween, it'll be fun.) Well, it's not really, since the weather's awesome, and it's still Oktober. But then again, I might be Santa for Halloween (and to make sense of me being the skinniest Santa ever, some girl should be my wife and keep telling me to "Eat...Eeeeeeat!"), so that sorta made me think of it. My parents are always complaining that I don't give them ideas for gifts, or not in time, or something, so here's a couple small ones to start with. Anyone else who likes music (well, hip hop music) should consider these too:
Blackalicious - The Craft
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
These are three recently released hip hop albums. Blackalicious is probably my favorite group, already having two flawless albums out there, and being the best live act I've ever seen (3 times!) Danger Doom is a team-up of Danger Mouse, the guy who gave us the incredible Gray Album (the mash-up of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album), and M.F. Doom, from whom I've only heard a few things, but who puts out consistently praised, intelligent, interesting stuff. Atmosphere is one of the few hip hop groups that performs at the Warped Tour alongside hundreds of punk and rock bands, and of course they're cool too. If you want to check out
Now, I don't normally buy music anymore, but it's not just because I like to steal, it's mainly because I don't like when major labels steal from artists and force crappy music on us (don't believe me or know what I'm talking about? Go directly to www.downhillbattle.org and find out). Well, have no fear, these have all been run through the RIAA Radar (at www.riaaradar.com, conveniently) and they check out as safe--that means the album is released by an independent label, not a major label or affiliate. And that means nobody's getting ripped off and it's not supporting a horribly corrupt system. Doesn't that feel good?
Of course, if you're in the mood to steal some awesome hip hop anyway, you should check out the hard-hitting conspiracy-theorist Immortal Technique, who actually encourages it in one of his songs: "I made this to bump in your ride, or burn it off the internet, and bump it outside". Can't argue with that. Of course, it's very explicit, so you'd better not decide for yourself, you'd better contact your local senator and insist that they ban it, if you're reading this and you're under 18 or 21 or whatever the catch-all age should be.
Well, if you're not interested in music, you're probably dead! Just kidding, what I meant was you probably didn't enjoy that, and you probably didn't even make it this far. But if you did, how about telling me what your plans for Halloween are? Trick or Treating? Partying? Enjoying the one day you can wear your girlfriend's clothing without getting those strange looks in the subway? Germany isn't huge on Halloween (blasphemy!), but there are some big parties, at least one of which I'm sure I'll be going to. Oh, and they actually do it better than we do in America: we don't have CLASS the day after Halloween, since it's "All Saints Day"--I knew there was a reason we created Sainthood. Okay, that's all for now--talk to me, people.
Blackalicious - The Craft
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
These are three recently released hip hop albums. Blackalicious is probably my favorite group, already having two flawless albums out there, and being the best live act I've ever seen (3 times!) Danger Doom is a team-up of Danger Mouse, the guy who gave us the incredible Gray Album (the mash-up of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album), and M.F. Doom, from whom I've only heard a few things, but who puts out consistently praised, intelligent, interesting stuff. Atmosphere is one of the few hip hop groups that performs at the Warped Tour alongside hundreds of punk and rock bands, and of course they're cool too. If you want to check out
Now, I don't normally buy music anymore, but it's not just because I like to steal, it's mainly because I don't like when major labels steal from artists and force crappy music on us (don't believe me or know what I'm talking about? Go directly to www.downhillbattle.org and find out). Well, have no fear, these have all been run through the RIAA Radar (at www.riaaradar.com, conveniently) and they check out as safe--that means the album is released by an independent label, not a major label or affiliate. And that means nobody's getting ripped off and it's not supporting a horribly corrupt system. Doesn't that feel good?
Of course, if you're in the mood to steal some awesome hip hop anyway, you should check out the hard-hitting conspiracy-theorist Immortal Technique, who actually encourages it in one of his songs: "I made this to bump in your ride, or burn it off the internet, and bump it outside". Can't argue with that. Of course, it's very explicit, so you'd better not decide for yourself, you'd better contact your local senator and insist that they ban it, if you're reading this and you're under 18 or 21 or whatever the catch-all age should be.
Well, if you're not interested in music, you're probably dead! Just kidding, what I meant was you probably didn't enjoy that, and you probably didn't even make it this far. But if you did, how about telling me what your plans for Halloween are? Trick or Treating? Partying? Enjoying the one day you can wear your girlfriend's clothing without getting those strange looks in the subway? Germany isn't huge on Halloween (blasphemy!), but there are some big parties, at least one of which I'm sure I'll be going to. Oh, and they actually do it better than we do in America: we don't have CLASS the day after Halloween, since it's "All Saints Day"--I knew there was a reason we created Sainthood. Okay, that's all for now--talk to me, people.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Disappearing Posts Aren't Cool
I just typed up a post and then when I tried to post it it messed up and then all the text was gone too, so I couldn't just retry. So now I'm gonna try to type a short post in its place, and it darn well better work.
Friday we had to give theater presentations at our professor's house, which I was not at all excited about. I was wrong though, it was awesome. The presentations turned out reeeally easy, and the professor is the man. He made us such a huge meal with stuff like bread, salmon, and flammkuchen (like pizza but with a white sauce, so delicious). And about 6 bottles of wine. Of course, I think I ate and drank about 1/3 of everything that was put out, my professor was so happy about how much I consumed, in typical German fashion. There's only one other guy in the class of 10, and he didn't eat or drink very much, which meant I totally solidified my place as the professor's favorite guy student, and perhaps overall student. Plus, the dinner was in the middle of the presentations, and I gave the last presentation, which meant that both my professor and I were not sober for it. That always helps, in my experience (granted, this is the only experience I have...). Anyway, I gotta hang out with the professor again, he's the man. He also loved finding out that I had a pipe, even though he doesn't smoke anymore.
Speaking of pipe, Thursday night at the Dubliner for karaoke I smoked mine. It was fun, but I probably won't do it again. It's not worth it--it totally burns the tongue. Pipes are definitely one of those "cool...in theory" things.
And last but not least, Happy Birthdays to Tante Vicky (tomorrow, the 24th) and dear cousin Carley (the 26th). I didn't forget about you either, Julie, but you're not until Halloween. The end.
Friday we had to give theater presentations at our professor's house, which I was not at all excited about. I was wrong though, it was awesome. The presentations turned out reeeally easy, and the professor is the man. He made us such a huge meal with stuff like bread, salmon, and flammkuchen (like pizza but with a white sauce, so delicious). And about 6 bottles of wine. Of course, I think I ate and drank about 1/3 of everything that was put out, my professor was so happy about how much I consumed, in typical German fashion. There's only one other guy in the class of 10, and he didn't eat or drink very much, which meant I totally solidified my place as the professor's favorite guy student, and perhaps overall student. Plus, the dinner was in the middle of the presentations, and I gave the last presentation, which meant that both my professor and I were not sober for it. That always helps, in my experience (granted, this is the only experience I have...). Anyway, I gotta hang out with the professor again, he's the man. He also loved finding out that I had a pipe, even though he doesn't smoke anymore.
Speaking of pipe, Thursday night at the Dubliner for karaoke I smoked mine. It was fun, but I probably won't do it again. It's not worth it--it totally burns the tongue. Pipes are definitely one of those "cool...in theory" things.
And last but not least, Happy Birthdays to Tante Vicky (tomorrow, the 24th) and dear cousin Carley (the 26th). I didn't forget about you either, Julie, but you're not until Halloween. The end.
Okay, So Theater's Okay After All
If I was able to take just 4 classes instead of 5, theater is probably the one I would have dropped. But it's turning out better than I expected. Friday we had to give presentations at our professor's house (this was especially rankling considering we have no classes on Fridays, and since it was going from 3 pm to who knew when, I couldn't travel this weekend). But those turned out reeally easy. And our professor is the man. He made us such a huge, multiple course meal, with stuff like salmon, bread, and flammkuchen, which is similar to pizza but with a white sauce, and absolutely delicious.
Also, we went through about 6 bottles of wine. I'm one of 2 guys in the class, I think there are 10 people overall, and my professor definitely loves me--don't get me wrong, he's so nice and likes everybody, but I think it's safe to say I'm his favorite, especially after he saw how I could eat and drink. At dinner, I was the garbage disposal, and also the wine disposal, but the other guy wasn't eating or drinking very much, so I could tell the professor was disappointed with him, in typical German fashion. Of course, we had this incredibly long meal in between some presentations, and I went last, so I was definitely not sober for it, and neither was my professor. That always helps, in my experience (which is limited to this one time, granted...). Anyway, it turned out to be such an awesome time, and I definitely want to hang out with the professor again sometime.
Workin in reverse chronological order, I smoked my pipe Thursday. I went to the Dubliner with people for karaoke, as usual, and we smoked the pipe a few times. I don't think I'll do that again. It was fun, but not really worth it. That stuff is crazy, and it really burns the tongue. Pipes are one of those "cool in theory" things.
Couple of birthday shoutouts: Tante Vicky, tomorrow, the 24th, and Carley, the 26th. I didn't forget you either, Julie, but you're not for another week. Happy birfdays. The end.
Also, we went through about 6 bottles of wine. I'm one of 2 guys in the class, I think there are 10 people overall, and my professor definitely loves me--don't get me wrong, he's so nice and likes everybody, but I think it's safe to say I'm his favorite, especially after he saw how I could eat and drink. At dinner, I was the garbage disposal, and also the wine disposal, but the other guy wasn't eating or drinking very much, so I could tell the professor was disappointed with him, in typical German fashion. Of course, we had this incredibly long meal in between some presentations, and I went last, so I was definitely not sober for it, and neither was my professor. That always helps, in my experience (which is limited to this one time, granted...). Anyway, it turned out to be such an awesome time, and I definitely want to hang out with the professor again sometime.
Workin in reverse chronological order, I smoked my pipe Thursday. I went to the Dubliner with people for karaoke, as usual, and we smoked the pipe a few times. I don't think I'll do that again. It was fun, but not really worth it. That stuff is crazy, and it really burns the tongue. Pipes are one of those "cool in theory" things.
Couple of birthday shoutouts: Tante Vicky, tomorrow, the 24th, and Carley, the 26th. I didn't forget you either, Julie, but you're not for another week. Happy birfdays. The end.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
I'm Back, Been Around The World
But mostly just the Köln (Cologne) and Bonn part of the world. Stopped at a Monastery on the way to Köln, it was gorgeous. The tour guide lady spoke as sl ow ly as humanly possible to us, but still used tons of vocab we didn't know, so it took roughly 3.5 times longer than it should have.
We also stopped on the way and took a boat ride for a couple of hours down (okay, up) the Rhine. That was absolutely beautiful as well. I've never imagined so many castles in my life. Brian and I would have jumped out of the boat for the right amount of money; that is, between €75 and 100, depending on whether we did it alone or together. No one else would really consider it. Cowards!
Köln was sweet. Definitely much more city-like than some places here, and big, but still highly attractive in its way, with the river running through it, and the Dom, the Cathedral, was crazy, in a huge and cool sense. Brian, Dave, and I drank some Kölsch, the Köln beer, and we got a free round of drinks and got charged less than we should have by the really cool bartender. We also talked to a fat, drunk, old man for a while, he was pretty hilarious. We also checked out the AntikMarkt, which was a lot like a flea market. Got some neat stuff there, including pipes for €5 each--pipes are just fun to have, more for the classiness than the smokiness. Also, we ate in one weekend more than we probably have in a month. If you've never felt drunk from eating too much food, you've never lived.
Bonn was nice too, although the fantastic weather helped, naturally. The University campus is a lot like an American one, with the huge green and the long stretches lined with trees and such. And we saw Beethoven's house.
Busy week ahead, lots of work to do, including preparing an oral presentation for theater. We present them on Friday, which isn't cool, but nothing I can do about it, and at least the professor's making us Flammkuchen. Brian and I are probably still gonna try to make it to Leipzig and Dresden Saturday and Sunday; we'll see. I'll try to get my Köln pics up tomorrow maybe (I forgot my camera on the bus for the couple of hours we were in Bonn); since they're mostly scenery pics I doubt I'll be putting many captions on them, and that's what takes the most time normally. See ya next time.
We also stopped on the way and took a boat ride for a couple of hours down (okay, up) the Rhine. That was absolutely beautiful as well. I've never imagined so many castles in my life. Brian and I would have jumped out of the boat for the right amount of money; that is, between €75 and 100, depending on whether we did it alone or together. No one else would really consider it. Cowards!
Köln was sweet. Definitely much more city-like than some places here, and big, but still highly attractive in its way, with the river running through it, and the Dom, the Cathedral, was crazy, in a huge and cool sense. Brian, Dave, and I drank some Kölsch, the Köln beer, and we got a free round of drinks and got charged less than we should have by the really cool bartender. We also talked to a fat, drunk, old man for a while, he was pretty hilarious. We also checked out the AntikMarkt, which was a lot like a flea market. Got some neat stuff there, including pipes for €5 each--pipes are just fun to have, more for the classiness than the smokiness. Also, we ate in one weekend more than we probably have in a month. If you've never felt drunk from eating too much food, you've never lived.
Bonn was nice too, although the fantastic weather helped, naturally. The University campus is a lot like an American one, with the huge green and the long stretches lined with trees and such. And we saw Beethoven's house.
Busy week ahead, lots of work to do, including preparing an oral presentation for theater. We present them on Friday, which isn't cool, but nothing I can do about it, and at least the professor's making us Flammkuchen. Brian and I are probably still gonna try to make it to Leipzig and Dresden Saturday and Sunday; we'll see. I'll try to get my Köln pics up tomorrow maybe (I forgot my camera on the bus for the couple of hours we were in Bonn); since they're mostly scenery pics I doubt I'll be putting many captions on them, and that's what takes the most time normally. See ya next time.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Representations Of Reality
That is, pictures. I posted a ton of them. Go there now and feast your eyes and souls. http://community.webshots.com/user/bleibcool
I have 2 classes on Tuesdays. One's at 9:00 AM, one's at 6:00 PM. Today the 9:00 one got cancelled, but I was already almost here, so it was too late to shut back down and sleep longer. I don't know what to do with myself all day--so much potential, so little drive.
Maybe I'll hit up the outdoor track. Maybe some grocery shopping. I just don't know. All I know is I accidentally baked a frozen pizza with some plastic last night. Tasted even better than normal.
I have 2 classes on Tuesdays. One's at 9:00 AM, one's at 6:00 PM. Today the 9:00 one got cancelled, but I was already almost here, so it was too late to shut back down and sleep longer. I don't know what to do with myself all day--so much potential, so little drive.
Maybe I'll hit up the outdoor track. Maybe some grocery shopping. I just don't know. All I know is I accidentally baked a frozen pizza with some plastic last night. Tasted even better than normal.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Homework Sucks
Especially when it's in German. Oh well, I still goofed off for most of Sunday, and only had to read for like 4 hours. I do have 4 classes today though. Pity me.
The weekend wasn't bad. When I say weekend, I'm including Thursday, of course, since there are no classes on Friday. Envy me. Thursday was Brian's 21st birthday, which loses most of its meaning when it happens in a country whose drinking age is sweet 16. We still got crunked though. Dave baked a lil cake and brownies so we ate those while we "prepared" to go to the Dubliner for karaoke. Karaoke was fun, naturally. Brian, Dave, Chris, and I sang Roxanne, and apparently we were awful. I don't care--we don't have to hear ourselves. You get a free shot for singing, too--this time it was a real shot. The last time we did it, they gave us a shot of straight margarita mix, which is not only alcohol-free, but sickly sweet. Mix it with something.
A few of us slept over Brian and Dave's (they're in the same building, not suite though) that night 'cause the buses to our dorm stop running at 12:35, and it's a much shorter walk to their place than it is to ours. Actually I ended up sleeping over there again the next night, Friday, because I didn't feel like heading home alone, although I did remember later that the night bus runs Friday and Saturday, so I could have taken that. Anyway, it was convenient because we got up Saturday and just went straight into town, met up with Dave and Erin, and spent around 5 hours hiking near town. The weather has turned beautiful again so it was pretty awesome. Then we made a huge, delicious German dinner together. Then that night we tried to go to a Quentin Tarantino--Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction themed party at the JazzHaus, but it was 7 euros to get in. We're too cheap. Potential fun averted.
I'm off to check out this Film course now. Don't stop a-rockin'.
The weekend wasn't bad. When I say weekend, I'm including Thursday, of course, since there are no classes on Friday. Envy me. Thursday was Brian's 21st birthday, which loses most of its meaning when it happens in a country whose drinking age is sweet 16. We still got crunked though. Dave baked a lil cake and brownies so we ate those while we "prepared" to go to the Dubliner for karaoke. Karaoke was fun, naturally. Brian, Dave, Chris, and I sang Roxanne, and apparently we were awful. I don't care--we don't have to hear ourselves. You get a free shot for singing, too--this time it was a real shot. The last time we did it, they gave us a shot of straight margarita mix, which is not only alcohol-free, but sickly sweet. Mix it with something.
A few of us slept over Brian and Dave's (they're in the same building, not suite though) that night 'cause the buses to our dorm stop running at 12:35, and it's a much shorter walk to their place than it is to ours. Actually I ended up sleeping over there again the next night, Friday, because I didn't feel like heading home alone, although I did remember later that the night bus runs Friday and Saturday, so I could have taken that. Anyway, it was convenient because we got up Saturday and just went straight into town, met up with Dave and Erin, and spent around 5 hours hiking near town. The weather has turned beautiful again so it was pretty awesome. Then we made a huge, delicious German dinner together. Then that night we tried to go to a Quentin Tarantino--Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction themed party at the JazzHaus, but it was 7 euros to get in. We're too cheap. Potential fun averted.
I'm off to check out this Film course now. Don't stop a-rockin'.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
I'll Have My People Call Your People
In response to Mark, but also info for whoever else might have a burning desire to call me: my home zone cell phone number is 07612048038. I'm normally in my "home zone," but if it goes to some sort of German woman speaking about voicemail, don't leave a message, because I don't have my mail set up. I don't know if that's exactly how you would have to call me from America though--when my parents read this, they can post a comment clarifying, I'm sure.
On the other hand, it costs me 15 cents a minute to call America from here, so it's not a horrible deal (my friend has a phone card that only lowers it to about 13 cents a minute, but he mostly uses it to call France, because I guess it's expensive to call to other European countries for some reason?). So I can definitely make an effort to call some people sometimes, the only problem being that I don't have many people's phone numbers anymore, since I don't have my normal cell phone or even normal access to talking to people on AIM to ask for numbers. I've even forgotten your cell phone number, Mark, embarrassingly enough--I wanna say 671 something, but I don't want to risk an international wrong number. Of course, if anybody wants me to have their number, but doesn't want the other 2 readers of my blog to know it, they can email me at MonkeyBitesKlown@yahoo.com.
Thanks to dad for a couple of good links over the past few days, including an interview with Neil Gaiman at The Onion's AV Club and a wonderfully nostalgic article at the Washington Post about the new complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. I gotta check the library and see if they have some Calvin and Hobbes--although if it's in German, I have a feeling it wouldn't be quite the same.
And disaster averted: I got my IPod to start working again. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but there's a button combination you have to hold sometimes if it messes up, and I had to charge it again. Crazy IPod.
I had 2 classes yesterday, my normal Advanced German course at 9 AM and then Midieval Mindset at like 6 PM. German 305 will be alright I suppose, even though I wish I had been able to pull myself up to the middle level course instead. Midieval Mindset seems like it will be interesting--the professor seems really cool, and actually not that difficult to follow so far. He has a ridiculously deep voice too, it's nuts. I've never been that interested in history, but oh well, we'll see, and also we've got tons of field trips planned, so that'll be good.
I meant to check out a literature course, but I didn't notice that it was today at like 12:15, so I missed it, but I also had an advising session with one of the IES people at 1:00, so I wouldn't have been able to stay for all of it anyway. It's only a backup course, too, so I'm not that worried. I'm going to Media, Society, and Politics at 4ish, that seems like it'll be a cool course. Skyy (the woman with whom I had my advising session) warned me that the professor often tries to make the course seem really hard at first, because everybody wants to take it, but not to be worried because it's mostly just to try to scare some people off. Good to know, since I frighten easily, and am known to freeze up and even wet myself.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Meredith--she's in London now for the semester, and we're planning to meet up at some point. She emailed me just over a week ago, but of course I was in Berlin so I didn't get to respond until Monday. Good times.
Aaaaanyway, I have a lot of time until my next class, but I'm getting bored and will probably just start writing about things like my grocery list if I don't quit now, so I'll bid you adieu. I expect comments too, people, I slave over this blog and you give me nothing...nothing! I'll think about posting more pics if I get a better response with news and stuff, like the cool one Mark wrote. I just enjoy the imagery of doing a mix of karate and The Robot. Like the Robot Fight from Eurotrip. So, okay, um, see ya next time?
On the other hand, it costs me 15 cents a minute to call America from here, so it's not a horrible deal (my friend has a phone card that only lowers it to about 13 cents a minute, but he mostly uses it to call France, because I guess it's expensive to call to other European countries for some reason?). So I can definitely make an effort to call some people sometimes, the only problem being that I don't have many people's phone numbers anymore, since I don't have my normal cell phone or even normal access to talking to people on AIM to ask for numbers. I've even forgotten your cell phone number, Mark, embarrassingly enough--I wanna say 671 something, but I don't want to risk an international wrong number. Of course, if anybody wants me to have their number, but doesn't want the other 2 readers of my blog to know it, they can email me at MonkeyBitesKlown@yahoo.com.
Thanks to dad for a couple of good links over the past few days, including an interview with Neil Gaiman at The Onion's AV Club and a wonderfully nostalgic article at the Washington Post about the new complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes. I gotta check the library and see if they have some Calvin and Hobbes--although if it's in German, I have a feeling it wouldn't be quite the same.
And disaster averted: I got my IPod to start working again. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but there's a button combination you have to hold sometimes if it messes up, and I had to charge it again. Crazy IPod.
I had 2 classes yesterday, my normal Advanced German course at 9 AM and then Midieval Mindset at like 6 PM. German 305 will be alright I suppose, even though I wish I had been able to pull myself up to the middle level course instead. Midieval Mindset seems like it will be interesting--the professor seems really cool, and actually not that difficult to follow so far. He has a ridiculously deep voice too, it's nuts. I've never been that interested in history, but oh well, we'll see, and also we've got tons of field trips planned, so that'll be good.
I meant to check out a literature course, but I didn't notice that it was today at like 12:15, so I missed it, but I also had an advising session with one of the IES people at 1:00, so I wouldn't have been able to stay for all of it anyway. It's only a backup course, too, so I'm not that worried. I'm going to Media, Society, and Politics at 4ish, that seems like it'll be a cool course. Skyy (the woman with whom I had my advising session) warned me that the professor often tries to make the course seem really hard at first, because everybody wants to take it, but not to be worried because it's mostly just to try to scare some people off. Good to know, since I frighten easily, and am known to freeze up and even wet myself.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Meredith--she's in London now for the semester, and we're planning to meet up at some point. She emailed me just over a week ago, but of course I was in Berlin so I didn't get to respond until Monday. Good times.
Aaaaanyway, I have a lot of time until my next class, but I'm getting bored and will probably just start writing about things like my grocery list if I don't quit now, so I'll bid you adieu. I expect comments too, people, I slave over this blog and you give me nothing...nothing! I'll think about posting more pics if I get a better response with news and stuff, like the cool one Mark wrote. I just enjoy the imagery of doing a mix of karate and The Robot. Like the Robot Fight from Eurotrip. So, okay, um, see ya next time?
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Ich bin ein Berliner
But now I'm back to being a Freiburger. The week in Berlin was fun, although the 11 or 12 hour bus ride each direction was somewhat less fun. Berlin is definitely an interesting city, very different from any I've ever experienced. It's so strange to think that 60 years ago so much of it was destroyed. Of course, there's still evidence of this, since some building were never really rebuilt. We went to at least one museum or historical attraction every day that we were there, and I'll very briefly try to describe a bunch of them.
We arrived Sunday night, but Monday we took a tour of the city in our bus. That wasn't much fun, because it was 2 hours long and it's impossible to pay attention to some woman pointing out about 3000 different buildings and sites in a brand new city. Especially when she's doing it in German. The part where we got out for a bit was much better, especially since we saw this crazy frog sculpture thing come to life--I got a couple pics, so when those ever go up hopefully you can see a little bit more what I mean. Speaking of pics, I have around 70 from the trip, and most are just of different sites and so forth, so I'm not sure how enjoyable they'll be, but whatever. After the bus tour we had the rest of the day free, so a bunch of us just wandered around for hours. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, which was cool, but the souvenirs were cooler.
Tuesday we went to the Bundeskanzleramt, which is where people like Chancellor Schröder work, so naturally it was a very cool building. After that we went to the Haus der Wannsee Konferenz. Let me explain. This house is gorgeous, it's on a beautiful lake, there's a beautiful garden, etc. Lots of Nazis used to vacation there, Nazi officers and such. But the Wahnsee Konferenz was when the Nazis got together at the house and organized, planned, discussed the "Final Solution"--the final solution to exterminate all Jews. Needless to say, it was a disturbing and depressing place, while very interesting at the same time.
Anyway, after that we had free time again, which is how every day went. Coincidentally, Hennie was in Berlin for a couple of days, and of course Kay lives there. So around 6 PM Hennie came and picked me up. Hennie studied in Berlin for 3 years, so he's basically an expert on the city, at least the important stuff like bars and clubs. We drove around for hours, stopping at different places to check some stuff out and have a beer, and he gave me tips on places to go when I had the chance. It was pretty awesome to get a chance to see the city like that, driving around and seeing different places I would never have known about. Then at like 9:30 or something we met up with Kay and Carston for dinner at a pizza place, which had the huuugest pizzas I've ever seen or eaten in my life. One of them even had truffles on it--truffles are really expensive, and I had never tried them, but they were really interesting, in a good way. So, we ate and hung out for a while, which was really nice. Hennie left the next day, and Kay and I didn't get another chance to meet up, so I was glad I got to see them both, and Carston too, who's really cool.
Wednesday we went to some place where they have information about the Berlin Wall, and we had a tour which wasn't very good, and the whole thing actually wasn't very interesting--it was much more fun to see a different part of the Wall that's still standing elsewhere in the city, because it's still very long and completely graffittied and everything. After that we could go to Museum Island to check the Goya, but it was pouring out and the line was incredibly long (it's usually no less than 5 hours, I don't know exactly what it was then, but we weren't about to wait). So we went to the movies instead, which is a learning experience in German anyway! We saw Alles Auf Zucker, which was an awesome, hilarious movie. That night we went into Kreuzberg, which is the Turkish section of Berlin. Hennie explained to me that it's actually more like Turkey than Turkey is, these days. The people who immigrated in the past were less educated, poor, and so they clung to a lot of the old values and religion and so forth. Turkey, especially Istanbul, is more modernized now, so Hennie said that if people want to connect with their roots they actually travel to Kreuzberg a lot of the time. Pretty funny. It's a totally cool place, too.
Thursday we went to the place where they held the Potsdamer Konferenz, which is where Truman, Churchhill, and Stalin met to discuss war-related issues. It was an interesting, short tour, and it's a very beautiful place, especially the gardens. After that we went somewhere that I have no idea what it's called or anything, but it was some sort of castle slash art gallery deal, and it was pretty extravagant and sweet. The tour guide was really cool, and he also taught us a bit of Berliner dialect--they pronounce "gut" like "yout," if you say the word you with a t at the end. Also, to walk inside the place, we had to put these massive slippers over our shoes, and it was so slick that you could basically ice skate around the floors, which was wayyy too much fun.
Friday we went to the StaSi Gefängnis (prison). This was also a bit disturbing, but also really cool. We checked out the U-Boot (submarine), as they called the area below one building where they had built tons of cells ("they" being the DDR police force during the years of Berlin separation, and I use the term police force lightly, because they did horrible things and locked up everyone they could). The normal cells were bad enough, but they also had a few torture ones, such as the Chinese Water Torture room. They had tons and tons of interrogation rooms upstairs. There was even one open-air cell outside. Very unsettling stuff.
Saturday we had all day free, so we went to the Jüdische Museum (Jewish). It's not just a history of German Jews during the war, it's also like a comprehensive history of the Jewish people, so it was a massive museum. We were there for hours and couldn't process more than maybe half of it, probably less. There was some really cool and interesting stuff though.
And that's just the historical type stuff. We went out every afternoon and night. We had to buy lunch and dinner, but breakfast was provided for us (and was awesome). We were close to Oranienburger Strasse, which was a good place to be near, because it had tons and tons of places to eat, and also shops and whatnot, so we ate something different for every meal. We checked out news bars and and clubs every night too, but you can probably imagine what happened at those, so I'll refrain from detailing. A couple of bars were really cool though, especially one at the top of an art building. This building used to be where squatters lived, but now it's sort of a historical building that the government charges like €1 a year for. Artists get scholariships to go live in a room for a year and just create art, and they have to keep their doors open when they do so that people can always check out what they're doing. That's cool, and the building itself is 4 floors of absolute graffiti--there's not a non-graffitied surface to be found. At the very top there's a bar with one open wall that face behind the building. They project huge movies and stuff on a building back there--they were like weird homemade music videos. It was a sweet setup. There was also a secret bar that Hennie told me about--it had no markings to tell you what it was, and you had to ring a doorbell to be let in. He said there used to be passwords required, but that was a long time ago. It was a creepy place, but cool at the same time.
Okay, I'd better stop now. In (seriously this time) brief other news, classes started today. Yesterday was the holiday for the Berlin Wall coming down, so most things were closed, but we did go to the movies--we saw NVA, which is a comedy about the National Volks Army in East Berlin before the wall had come down, near the end of the 80's, so very fitting, and it was hilarious also. So far we're 2 for 3 with German films--Stadt Als Beute has been the only let down. My IPod has stopped working for some reason, but I do have warranty that covers all expenses still, so if I have to resort to that I will.
It's Opa's birthday today, so Happy Birthday Opa (although I doubt he reads this), but I'll be emailing him, and you should too, unless you're a friend of mine who has no connection to my grandfather, in which case maybe just don't. Well, it's been a long post. Maybe see ya tomorrow. And enjoy your amazing weather that everyone seems to be having, since it's dreary and dismal here.
We arrived Sunday night, but Monday we took a tour of the city in our bus. That wasn't much fun, because it was 2 hours long and it's impossible to pay attention to some woman pointing out about 3000 different buildings and sites in a brand new city. Especially when she's doing it in German. The part where we got out for a bit was much better, especially since we saw this crazy frog sculpture thing come to life--I got a couple pics, so when those ever go up hopefully you can see a little bit more what I mean. Speaking of pics, I have around 70 from the trip, and most are just of different sites and so forth, so I'm not sure how enjoyable they'll be, but whatever. After the bus tour we had the rest of the day free, so a bunch of us just wandered around for hours. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, which was cool, but the souvenirs were cooler.
Tuesday we went to the Bundeskanzleramt, which is where people like Chancellor Schröder work, so naturally it was a very cool building. After that we went to the Haus der Wannsee Konferenz. Let me explain. This house is gorgeous, it's on a beautiful lake, there's a beautiful garden, etc. Lots of Nazis used to vacation there, Nazi officers and such. But the Wahnsee Konferenz was when the Nazis got together at the house and organized, planned, discussed the "Final Solution"--the final solution to exterminate all Jews. Needless to say, it was a disturbing and depressing place, while very interesting at the same time.
Anyway, after that we had free time again, which is how every day went. Coincidentally, Hennie was in Berlin for a couple of days, and of course Kay lives there. So around 6 PM Hennie came and picked me up. Hennie studied in Berlin for 3 years, so he's basically an expert on the city, at least the important stuff like bars and clubs. We drove around for hours, stopping at different places to check some stuff out and have a beer, and he gave me tips on places to go when I had the chance. It was pretty awesome to get a chance to see the city like that, driving around and seeing different places I would never have known about. Then at like 9:30 or something we met up with Kay and Carston for dinner at a pizza place, which had the huuugest pizzas I've ever seen or eaten in my life. One of them even had truffles on it--truffles are really expensive, and I had never tried them, but they were really interesting, in a good way. So, we ate and hung out for a while, which was really nice. Hennie left the next day, and Kay and I didn't get another chance to meet up, so I was glad I got to see them both, and Carston too, who's really cool.
Wednesday we went to some place where they have information about the Berlin Wall, and we had a tour which wasn't very good, and the whole thing actually wasn't very interesting--it was much more fun to see a different part of the Wall that's still standing elsewhere in the city, because it's still very long and completely graffittied and everything. After that we could go to Museum Island to check the Goya, but it was pouring out and the line was incredibly long (it's usually no less than 5 hours, I don't know exactly what it was then, but we weren't about to wait). So we went to the movies instead, which is a learning experience in German anyway! We saw Alles Auf Zucker, which was an awesome, hilarious movie. That night we went into Kreuzberg, which is the Turkish section of Berlin. Hennie explained to me that it's actually more like Turkey than Turkey is, these days. The people who immigrated in the past were less educated, poor, and so they clung to a lot of the old values and religion and so forth. Turkey, especially Istanbul, is more modernized now, so Hennie said that if people want to connect with their roots they actually travel to Kreuzberg a lot of the time. Pretty funny. It's a totally cool place, too.
Thursday we went to the place where they held the Potsdamer Konferenz, which is where Truman, Churchhill, and Stalin met to discuss war-related issues. It was an interesting, short tour, and it's a very beautiful place, especially the gardens. After that we went somewhere that I have no idea what it's called or anything, but it was some sort of castle slash art gallery deal, and it was pretty extravagant and sweet. The tour guide was really cool, and he also taught us a bit of Berliner dialect--they pronounce "gut" like "yout," if you say the word you with a t at the end. Also, to walk inside the place, we had to put these massive slippers over our shoes, and it was so slick that you could basically ice skate around the floors, which was wayyy too much fun.
Friday we went to the StaSi Gefängnis (prison). This was also a bit disturbing, but also really cool. We checked out the U-Boot (submarine), as they called the area below one building where they had built tons of cells ("they" being the DDR police force during the years of Berlin separation, and I use the term police force lightly, because they did horrible things and locked up everyone they could). The normal cells were bad enough, but they also had a few torture ones, such as the Chinese Water Torture room. They had tons and tons of interrogation rooms upstairs. There was even one open-air cell outside. Very unsettling stuff.
Saturday we had all day free, so we went to the Jüdische Museum (Jewish). It's not just a history of German Jews during the war, it's also like a comprehensive history of the Jewish people, so it was a massive museum. We were there for hours and couldn't process more than maybe half of it, probably less. There was some really cool and interesting stuff though.
And that's just the historical type stuff. We went out every afternoon and night. We had to buy lunch and dinner, but breakfast was provided for us (and was awesome). We were close to Oranienburger Strasse, which was a good place to be near, because it had tons and tons of places to eat, and also shops and whatnot, so we ate something different for every meal. We checked out news bars and and clubs every night too, but you can probably imagine what happened at those, so I'll refrain from detailing. A couple of bars were really cool though, especially one at the top of an art building. This building used to be where squatters lived, but now it's sort of a historical building that the government charges like €1 a year for. Artists get scholariships to go live in a room for a year and just create art, and they have to keep their doors open when they do so that people can always check out what they're doing. That's cool, and the building itself is 4 floors of absolute graffiti--there's not a non-graffitied surface to be found. At the very top there's a bar with one open wall that face behind the building. They project huge movies and stuff on a building back there--they were like weird homemade music videos. It was a sweet setup. There was also a secret bar that Hennie told me about--it had no markings to tell you what it was, and you had to ring a doorbell to be let in. He said there used to be passwords required, but that was a long time ago. It was a creepy place, but cool at the same time.
Okay, I'd better stop now. In (seriously this time) brief other news, classes started today. Yesterday was the holiday for the Berlin Wall coming down, so most things were closed, but we did go to the movies--we saw NVA, which is a comedy about the National Volks Army in East Berlin before the wall had come down, near the end of the 80's, so very fitting, and it was hilarious also. So far we're 2 for 3 with German films--Stadt Als Beute has been the only let down. My IPod has stopped working for some reason, but I do have warranty that covers all expenses still, so if I have to resort to that I will.
It's Opa's birthday today, so Happy Birthday Opa (although I doubt he reads this), but I'll be emailing him, and you should too, unless you're a friend of mine who has no connection to my grandfather, in which case maybe just don't. Well, it's been a long post. Maybe see ya tomorrow. And enjoy your amazing weather that everyone seems to be having, since it's dreary and dismal here.
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