So close...

to break! I can't wait!
Today I...did laundry in the bathtub again. It's quickly becoming my least favorite activity, yet it's still better than paying inordinate sums of money to use the apartment complex's washer and dryer. There are now clothes hanging all over my room.
I went to class, as per usual. I don't even know why I bother mentioning it...it was German, we finished our second book, Am kuerzeren Ende der Sonnenalle, and we have our midterm tomorrow. Which I should be studying for instead of writing here.
Then we got our vaccines. Except they weren't, as advertised, the H1N1 vaccines. It was the normal flu vaccine, which I am glad I got, but I'm a little annoyed about their apparent inability to inform us of this ahead of time.
A couple other girls and I went to the Deutsche Oper to get tickets to tomorrow's performance of Carmina Burana. I absolutely love that work, and was hoping the tickets wouldn't be too expensive. Well, apparently if you go the day of, one hour before, they have tickets (in good seats!) for 13.50. Hellz yeah. So we're going back...even I can afford that! I am so excited...I can't wait to see it performed by a major group...it will far outshine Pioneer's A Cappella and NYU's Choral Arts Society. Yay!
Just two more classes and then it's break. On Friday I take the bus to Munich, and wander around the city for a couple days. Maria will (hopefully) be coming back Sunday night, so we can catch up then. I can't wait to see her! I come back on Monday, and then on Tuesday I leave again, this time for London! I'll be seeing Ems and Karina for sure, and hopefully Danni and Stac as well. 'Twill be a camp friend-filled break :) I am sooo excited!
xoxoxo

Anybody need some spinach?

Gossip Girl was not as good as I'd hoped...of course we had a good time watching it though! We enjoyed our usual treats and comments directed at fictional characters.
Wednesday...German class...I can't remember doing anything other than going to that and doing homework...
Thursday for our Lit class we were supposed to meet at 9:30 at a cafe about 45 minutes from our apartment. Holly, Chris, and I all traveled together, actually arriving about 15 minutes early. I got a chai and they got tea and an egg, respectively, and we waited for our professor. For 45 minutes. Apparently class didn't start till 10 that day...a fact of which she forgot to inform us since it said 9:30 on the syllabus. Great start, eh? We then went on another walking mini-tour in the rain, culminating in visiting an elderly lady who lived in England during WWII as a Jewish refugee from Berlin. It was amazing to hear her story and that of her parents (who were sent to a concentration camp and only lived for a few weeks after arrival) and some of her friends (one of whom survived by hiding and presenting false identities throughout the Holocaust). She was a very nice, sweet, and stylish woman-despite being almost 90 and having lived through all this, she was completely put together, down to her makeup and jewelry. She even served us tea and cake! The only downside of this was that I was about 15 minutes late for German and H had missed her entire class. Sometimes our professor doesn't exactly understand we have anything in our lives other than her class...like when she handed us a book she wrote and told us to read it-then sent us an email today telling us we owe her 23 euros each. A bit inconsiderate, especially as I'm sure I could find it cheaper elsewhere.
Then last night H and I went to Bierhimmel. I swear, soon they're going to start recognizing me. But on a cold evening, their drinks and atmosphere are so much better than beer in a hot, smoky bar.
Today I did laundry in the bathtub (my usual method here, as the machines are crazy expensive and my sleep/class schedule does not agree with the Hausmeister's and the machines are in a different building). It's actually quite effective and I don't have to worry about the machines messing up or shrinking my clothes. The only hassle is drying...at least there's a drying rack built into the shower. It'll be nice to have my washer and dryer back in A2...
Then Chelsea and I went to the Turkish Market. Soooo good. All the produce there is super cheap and fresh-I got a ridiculous amount of fresh spinach for a little more than a euro, and 7 apples for 70 cents and 6 clementines for about a euro. I actually wont be able to eat all the spinach before it goes bad. So if any of my NYU in Berlin peeps want some...let me know. I also bought some overpriced chai but it'll be totally worth it for those days that I'm not feeling the coffee and I need something hot/with caffeine. Ahhh I love chai. On the way back we stopped at Yellow Sunshine, a vegetarian burger "fast food" place. Not that fast, actually. I just got a chai (ha) but I tried C's french fries that she got along with her burger...they were delish. Legit fries that you could tell actually came from a potato.
Tonight we're supposed to be going out with a bunch of people-H has some friends visiting, and I think they'll be fun...we're all ready for a good time.
xoxoxo

Back to my old faves-with some changes in taste

So last night we had to go see Mein Kampf for my "Berlin in and as Lit" class. It's written by George Tabori, and yes, co-stars Hitler. It's a very, very strange play. I read it in English last week and prepared a presentation on it (that I never gave, don't ask me why my teacher wanted me to do that if we weren't even going to discuss the play), which was very helpful. Obviously, the performance was in German. It was produced by the Berliner Ensemble, a very prominent theatre company. I'll be seeing another show with them in a couple weeks (Shakespeare's Sonnette) and am looking forward to it. Mein Kampf was very into realism. Scenes that could involve nudity-full nudity. The pet chicken, Mitzi, was a real chicken. She literally wandered around the stage from her entrance in (I think) the 2nd act until she was turned into dinner. Thankfully it wasn't the same chicken then, but it was another real chicken! That realism I couldn't handle-as they started-literally-hacking up the dead chicken I stopped watching. Despite my vegetarian squeamishness, I really enjoyed the show. I thought it was brilliantly performed and well worth the student price of 7 Euros (and more).
Today I had German-we finalllllly finished reading Die Weisse Rose. Whew. Not my fave book. Even better, my Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud class was cancelled. I like that class, but any extra free time I love. Even if it is finally cold out and so I did not enjoy wandering around as I would have if it had been a nice day :(
I'm on a jazz kick right now. I really need some more-all I have is Jamie Cullum and Frank Sinatra. Not even very much of either. If anyone wants to email me some tracks, I would be eternally grateful...I'm sure my roommate will get tired of hearing the same 3 CDs over and over.
For some reason I'm also craving great choral music. I listened to the Carmina Burana for the first time in quite a while and just enjoyed it so much. I think that not being in a choir right now is intensifying my need to at least hear the kind of music I'd like to be singing.
"So tell me why should it be true/That I get a kick out of you" -Jamie and Frank!
xoxoxo

Such an exciting life I lead

I literally went to my one class today and spent the rest of my time in my apartment.
It wasn't till 2:30 so I futzed around for hours after waking up at 9:30. It was German, so the norm-I babbled until my teacher started talking and then just agreed with her. It's been a very effective form of participation.
I got home a bit before 5-thanks public transportation. I did homework, made dinner, did random stuff on the internet tubes, homework, and then lots and lots of emails and FB messages. I feel like I've just been staring at my screen for hours.
Oh I did do something productive this morning! I booked my bus ticket for Munich/Oktoberfest! I'm going down on October 23rd and coming back up on the 26th. I wouldn't spend so much time at the Fest itself except that a good friend, Maria, goes to school there. I worked with her at my camp (she also played with the ponies) in 2008 and haven't seen her since last September. I can't wait!
I also spent some time figuring out my hopeful visit to London. I plan on going the day after I get back from Munich since it's my fall break and leaving on November 1st so hopefully I can find cheap tickets for then...I do need to talk to my English girlies and confirm with them so I don't get there and have nowhere to stay/have to wander around on my own.
Oh and I did do a spot of shopping yesterday as a little retail therapy for the fire scare-I got an adorable headband from H&M. I can't find it online, but it's a seafoam green stretchy headband with a bow made of the same material. Not a big tacky one-just one made out of folds of the fabric. I'm a little obsessed with it since it meets the love requirements-some shade of aqua/teal and a cute accessory that can jazz anything up. So cute!

It's the weekend!

Yay!
I had my last first class this morning, Berlin in and as Literature. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it, but I think I'm going to like it. We visited Brecht's apartment (which is just a couple blocks down), which has been turned into a museum/archive. That was pretty cool, as we were given a tour through it that was just long enough to be worth it but still short enough to keep my attention.
I had yet another long break between that and German, so I went and bought some more notebooks and had lunch, killing time because I didn't yet have very much homework (for which I had the necessary material). However, that will all change tomorrow. I already have 20 pages of German to read (Der weisse Rose), a play by Brecht (Mother Courage and her Children), in English thankfully, and once I get the readers much more. Eek. Good thing I've got at least all weekend for them, if not even longer! Gotta love these (mostly) once a week classes.
I then did some real grocery shopping, getting staples like milk, eggs, OJ, olive oil, etc. Let me tell you, living on the 4th (5th for you non-Germans) floor with no elevator is not fun when you just did the newly-moved grocery shopping. Boy did my shoulders hurt by the time I got to the top of the stairs. Oh well. I'll be in great shape, right?
This evening I went out for "happy hour" (ie a beer early in the evening) with about 8 other people from my program. We went to some random bar and just hung out for an hour or so. After one (quite large) beer I was ready to head back and make some dinner and fall asleep, so I came back a bit earlier than most of the others. I had a great time though, and I've become a big fan of leaving while I'm still having fun, so I don't end up annoyed or frustrated or just too tired (which believe me, has happened too many times).
So goodnight all, and join in my happiness at not having to set an alarm for tomorrow :)

Wow, I actually have homework now...

and I just finished it. Back to those silly German grammar worksheets, boo.
I only had my German class today (uneventful), but we were also supposed to go to the opening of the International Literature Festival for my Berlin in and as Literature class.
I actually only saw 2 people I knew there-Jim, who is on the advising side of the program here, and Holly, who is actually one of my classmates. I wonder where the rest of my class was...Anyway, it was a pretty interesting opening. After we got past the insanely long intro, all in German, natuerlich, and a ridiculous number of thanks, we finally got to hear Arundhati Roy, the author of The God of Little Things. Thank goodness I read it this summer! (incidentally, I really would recommend it. Great read.) She spoke about "Democracy's Failing Light"...in English :) It was fascinating to hear some of her answer to the question "is there life after democracy?" from the point of view of someone who has lived in India's democracy. Not only was the topic interesting, from the broad ideas to the specific facts, but the way she spoke was as compelling as the way she writes. She is simply a fantastic speaker. I am so glad I had the opportunity to hear her. I have no idea if it would be possible to find this talk online, although apparently it's the intro to a book coming out soon-I have no idea which one, but look out for it.
This little field trip went until about 8, and then I had to get all the way back across Berlin to get home. Luckily Holly and I live in the same building (as do all the NYU students) so we could travel together. When we got back, I went to her room for a peanut-butter-and-nutella sandwich (ie deliciousness) and then came up to mine to do homework.
What a packed day. I am so tired! But not too tired to update you, my lovely readers. :)

Getting adjusted

...it's finally happening.
This morning I went down to the Baeckerei (bakery), etc on the corner and got some fresh Broetchen and Kaffee, then brought it back upstairs to have with some of my brie left over. Delish. The Broetchen were still warm from the oven. Does it get any better than that?
I only had one class today, so that was nice. It was one about the Museumsinsel, or Museum Island. We're going to be visiting all the museums that are a part of that, as well as the Gemaeldegalerie in the Kulturforum and the Neue Nationalgalerie. A little more than half will be those trips, the other being lectures/discussions. Yay. It's going to be so much fun.
After that my roomie, Chelsea, and I went to Friedrichstrasse to pick up some books and for her to buy herself a birthday present (it was yesterday). We went to basically the Berlin equivalent of Borders or Barnes and Noble, Dussmans. We got our German-English dictionaries (why did I have to forget mine?!) and I also got a journal for my time here. While I right about all the stuff I've done in a strictly narrative manner here, I want to have a place as well to record my private reactions, thoughts, and feelings during my time here. As pretentious as it may sound, I really feel like this could be a time of great personal growth. It is certainly the most independent I have been.
Anyway, when we got back I did a little mini-grocery shopping. I went to a place called Aldi, which is strange. Lots of stuff, but a very random selection...and you have to pay to use a grocery cart! And they don't give you shopping bags. I literally carried the about 8 items I bought in my hands because all I brought with me was my wallet. It was a little silly looking, I fear. I'm going to do some more extensive shopping tomorrow.
Tonight I went out for a (yes, one) drink with a couple people from the program, Chelsea and Paul. We went to a little bar a few blocks away and I had my first beer in Germany! It was quite fun-and yummy. We just chilled out there and then came back...I love going out and still managing to have an early night. Of course I don't have class till 2:30 tomorrow...but I do love being good to my body :)
All in all, a good-and productive-day.
See you tomorrow!

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.