I know, I'm terrible...

I'm sorry for not updating for so long-I've been both busy and lazy. It's not that I haven't done a ton of stuff...I just haven't felt like writing. So, sorry, and I'll bullet-point it for ya-

• ended up going out with Holly's friends not that night, but the one after...I only hit one place with them, then decided I was too tired for much more. Good decision.
• I saw a production of Shakespeares Sonette with the Berliner Ensemble. It was directed by Robert Wilson and music was written for it by Rufus Wainwright. You should check it out; it was amazing, although I definitely didn't get all the directorial choices.
• I managed to not have to pay the stupid fine! Yay! H and I went to the BVG office and talked to an employee there (auf Deutsch, obvi) for a long time and she was very nice :)
• H and I went to the Turkish market last week and I didn't buy anything...yay self control. But we also had lunch at Yellow Sunshine, where I had a vegetarian bacon cheeseburger. Twas delish.
• Last Friday we (as a program) went to Weimar and Buchenwald. It was a nasty, rainy day...not so nice for walking around. In the morning we went to the Goethe House, which was kinda cool-it's all organized to his color theory. Weird stuff. After lunch we went to Buchenwald, which was a labor camp just outside the city. It was a very...vivid...experience. I may write more on this later, as it really merits more than just a bullet point. It was my first visit to any kind of concentration camp and suffice to say, it felt right to be there in bad weather.
• Saturday night was JOSHUA RADIN!!! It was sooooo good. I may or may not have seen him 4 1/2 times already...but it was amazing. He is just so personable and is just wonderful onstage. Many musicians are either great recorded artists or great performers, but I think he truly is both. He actually played some new stuff-he's recording another album in February, when he heads back to NYC after finishing his tour. I'll be back there then too...maybe I'll run into him... ;) H and Kathleen went with me and I think they had almost as much fun as I did haha. We went to dinner at a Tibetan restaurant in Kreuzberg first...yum. I love me some momos.
• Sunday Daddy visited! I had to get on a bus ridiculously early (7am) to go pick him up at the airport, but it was worth it. He came and dropped of his stuff (and all my stuff). He brought my winter clothes, thank goodness, and some goodies-my comfort food, mac&cheese, and Halloween candy that Shiva was nice enough to get for me! I do love me some Halloween candy...there's no calories in it, right? :)Then we went and got breakfast near church. My "choir" was singing so it was nice to have him there for that, although the sermon was not as thought provoking as I would have liked. All Souls really has spoiled me. After church, we went to lunch at an Italian place near Potsdamer Platz...delish. I had a goat cheese-stuffed gnocchi and some tasty Riesling. Ahhh I do love good food. Then we went to the Friedrichstrasse area. Because it was Sunday, basically nothing was open. Yeah, Berlin pretty much shuts down on Sundays. However, Dussmann (the equivalent of Borders) was open for a special Staatsoper event, so we went in there. We got to hear a string quartet perform a bit. Dad also got me a guide to Munich (since I'll be there in just a few days) and The Man Without Qualities, a novel about the disparity between Viennese high society and the lower classes in 1913. Looks good...and it's crazy long so it should take a while to read...it's 1130 pages :) I haven't started reading it yet, but it seems like it might be similar to Vanity Fair. He also got me a set of 4 CDS, a vocal jazz collection. I've been listening to them on repeat. Sadly, Dad had to leave to get to some conferences, etc elsewhere that evening so the visit wasn't as long as I would have liked, but it was good to see him!
• Yesterday...I went to class. Nothing too exciting. Oh! Except the best buddy ever, Joe, sent me some Disney movies. And by some, I mean about 12. And I got them yesterday and have been enjoying them ever since. I watched Hercules last night. And Pocahontas this evening.
• Tonight Chelsea and I had our regular Gossip Girl viewing. What is with this show? It really needs to improve...and fast. It's getting frustrating. (Yes, we take it far too seriously)
• This morning my Museums class went to the Neues Museum on Museumsinsel. It was pretty cool, although we had to speed through because it only opened a few days ago, so we were assigned a block of time that we were allowed to be in there. They've got a ton of Egyptian stuff, so that was cool...I've always been a fan. C and I also went to a sweet bookstore in Prenzlauerberg, St. George's Bookshop, to get our books for our Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud class. I could have spent hours there...it's all English language and has mostly used books...I loved their music section. And their massive lit section. I think I may make it back there...

So I'm getting really excited for fall break. It's next week, although really mine's starting on Friday. I'm going to Munich early Friday morning and getting back to Berlin Monday evening. I'm going to be staying at Maria's apartment, although she'll only be there Sunday night, as she's going to be going home to the fam for her birthday. Sad, but understandable. I'm still excited to see Munich though!
A week from today I'll be in London! I'm flying in Tuesday morning and flying out very, very early the following Monday. I'll hopefully be staying with Karina, and seeing Ems and Danni and Stac. I am soooo excited! I'm looking forward to seeing London, of course, but mainly I'm super excited to see my girls. It's hard to be far away from people you've grown really close to (obvi) so getting to see them while I'm on this side of the ocean is very important to me.
Ok, this was an epic post...I could probably write more, but I've really got to go do my German reading. Although maybe I'll watch Mulan instead...
xoxoxo

Boring day

Really, it was.
I went to church this morning. I got there surprisingly easily considering my lack of familiarity with the public transportation here. Just one transfer, whew!
Church itself though-not a success. As I mentioned before, I went to a Catholic mass. I basically just felt uncomfortable the whole time. Part of that was due to my beliefs, which don't exactly line up with Catholic dogma. However, that wasn't all-or I think even most-of it. It was a very, very small congregation. Like 40 people, maybe. I felt awkward because I didn't always know what to do, since I haven't been to a Catholic service other than Christmas in a long, long time, and I didn't feel like anybody was ready to help me out or welcome me. True, I didn't stay for their version of coffee hour, but I just didn't fit there at all. It didn't help that everybody there was about 35+ or their children-mostly the younger adults had kids, so I didn't feel that there would even be anybody to really connect with. I know that age shouldn't matter...but when I already feel divided by faith, age doesn't help. I think I'll try a different church next Sunday...
The rest of the day I spent doing homework/watching the rest of Moulin Rouge for the millionth time/reading Sing Them Home. I finished Gourmet Rhapsody on the train this morning-brilliant book, read it ASAP-and started Sing this afternoon. It's a little odd but very good. I also love that it's quite a thick book so hopefully it'll take me a bit longer to read...it's the last of the 6 books I brought with me. I don't want to have to buy too many while I'm here, both for financial and space reasons. Trying to take 20 books back with me...not an easy task, even from NYC. I think I'll be doing a lot of rereading...

First day of classes

As you might guess from the title, today was the first day of classes. I had two, Composition and Conversation and Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.
First, however, I had to find a Citibank and turn in all my forms. I managed to sleep through my alarm or it didn't go off...I have no idea which one...and so got ready in a panicked hurry, rushing out the door in an attempt to get to the bank and to Humboldt by noon. I managed to find the bank-and almost had a heart attack when I saw my balance before realizing they just hadn't yet processed my paychecks. I got to Humboldt in plenty of time and had everything I needed for my residency permit application except my health form, which luckily I can just email. Whew.
I had about an hour and a half before class then, so I got passport photos for the application taken and grabbed a light lunch with some other girls from the program. Gotta love the availability of Broetchen mit Brie oder Mozzarella. Und Kaffee.
So, my German class...there's only 3 of us. Good, yes, but I almost feel like it's too much individual attention. Gotta be perfect every day. Okay, time to study...haha.
I had about another hour after that finished before my next class, so I got a coffee (of course) and sat outside a Starbucks copycat reading and people watching. I love just seeing the people go by, especially in a city I don't know well. It really gives me the feel of the city.
Next was Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud. I think it'll be really good once we get into the readings. Today just seemed really long because I was starving by about 1/3 of the way through the class and the professor went off on A LOT of tangents. Usually I enjoy things like that but I was just so hungry! Ah well, I really can't wait to get started on the actual content.
After class I decided to walk to the S-Bahn instead of taking the tram to see if there were any stationary shops, as I hadn't brought any notebooks with me. Luckily I found one, so I got a couple notebooks. Then when I got off the subway I just picked up a frozen pizza (and some Ritter Sport) for dinner. Too lazy to make anything complicated. Man I need to go grocery shopping! It's happening tomorrow. I only have one class. It has to.
Oh, I also started reading Muriel Barbery's second book, Gourmet Rhapsody. It's amazing, just as good as The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Many passages are beautiful and brilliant and inspiring. One sentence, however, has stuck with me. "The real ordeal is not leaving those you love but learning to live without those who don't love you." Don't ask me why, but this speaks to me. I think perhaps because it is so honest but not something people will often recognize...I don't know. It is certainly something to ponder. I feel like it's one of those things that could inspire an entire essay, drawing on the ideas at which it hints. If you have any ideas regarding it, let me know. Even better if you've read Gourmet Rhapsody. I don't think I can fully understand this book without discussion.