Hallo all! It is Day 2 here in Berlin and what a busy day it was! But first, I will recap last night. We went to the Three Penny Opera and it was quite a show. I made it to the theater fine, it looks like I am able to figure out the subway system after all! I feel very comfortable using it after only being here since yesterday! So, the show itself was very well done. It reminded me a bit of the way Hitchcock's The 39 Steps was put on as a modern show in that both productions sort of made fun of the we ways plays are dramatized. The singing was wonderful and the body language of the actors was just so awesome to watch. They really exaggerated every move and made the whole thing interesting even to us who are not fluent in German. I followed the play pretty well, but it probably helped that we read up on the overview ahead of time. It was interesting how the plot came together on a critique of money and greediness and how so much was what was said echoes in today's world. I thoroughly enjoyed the opera, but I was definitely quite tired by the end of the whole thing, as was the rest of the group. So, afterward I made my way back to the apartment alone. Unfortunately, it turns out that no one is at the exact same subway stop as I am, although there are other Union students in my section of the city. I ended up taking the way back to the house that I was familiar with, but I have since found a better way. I had to walk down a dark and deserted street which made me a bit nervous. But there's definitely a better sense of safety here than what I have experienced in my short visits to other big cities, which is a good thing. Alles ist gut!
Well, now onto today, then! I woke up fairly early (although not as early as I was planned, I forgot to hit the "on" button for my alarm!) in order to explore the city a little bit. I first went grocery shopping and found that there are so many more stores in the area than I originally thought! When I came back to the house, my arms were full of groceries. So, I sort of swung the door shut with my foot and it shut pretty loudly. I thought I was alone in the apartment since there was evidence that my host mother had already been up that morning and I assumed that she had gone to work. Well, she came out of her room and asked me to close the door more quietly next time. Although she wasn't trying to be mean about it, of course I was mortified! I would have shut the door more carefully if I knew she was still in bed. I just don't want to "get off on the wrong foot" with her. I talked a bit with my fellow Union students and they think that she was just trying to "lay down the law" (so many cliqués!) because she may have had some not so great tenants in the past. I definitely think that this might be the reason why she may have acted this way because she kept mentioning yesterday how the last tenant broke the window, broke the toaster, etc. I just feel badly because if she's home on recovery this week, I didn't mean to disturb her! I bought her a get well card and some tee. Maybe that will brighten her day and let her know that I won't be too much of a trouble maker!
So, after that incident, I fled the scene of the crime! Just kidding. But was out of the house all day long, from about 10 am to 10 pm! I ended up explore Kreuzberg (my section of the city) and finding some neat things. I was trying to walk down to Viktoria Park to see if it was suitable for running, but I instead walked the other way and made it to an even bigger park. From there, I took the metro to Viktoria and came across a beautiful waterfall. The park is situated on a hill and I literally had to hike to the top to see the church squire (no church, just a squire) and in front of it was the waterfall. Kind of a neat thing to see in the middle of a city! It was a little bit strange, while I was up there a man was loitering and it made me a little nervous. He approached me and I think he asked me if I had any change, but I couldn't quite tell because he spoke very quickly even after I asked him to repeat what he said. I just said no and walked away, although I always feel badly about doing that. I walked around a bit at the top and headed back down the other side of the park in what I thought was another way to the metro station. And it was! By then, my feet were pretty darn tired, so it was nice to have a break as I waited for the train to reach Friedrichstrasse. I then took the S-Bahn (another form of public train transportation) to a stop closer to the Goethe Institut. I first had trouble finding the building (the street name wasn't on my map) and was going to ask for directions, but I came across it after all!
Then, classes started and we all made it there safely! It was interesting being in such a different environment than Frieburg. But I like my class and my teacher is very energetic. I am trying to be very interactive and outgoing so the teacher does not get another impression of me right away. Our classes are later here in Berlin, but I think I like having the mornings free. Although it's sometimes difficult to sit through so much class, I generally do my best work in the afternoon anyway! So, after classes, Andrea and I booked our cheap plane tickets to London! We're headed there this weekend to see the sights and eat some Fish and Chips for Zach (yes, it's true!). I am very much looking forward to going there, we're planning on staying in a youth hostel and just touring the city a bit. RyanAir/EasyJet has awesome prices, so I would definitely recommend either of them to anyone planning on traveling within Europe!
After class, Andrea and I headed to Alexanderplatz in hopes of finding a new shopping center called "Alexa." There, we walked around a bit and ended up running into Anna and Paula, our fellow Unionites!! What are the chances of that?! So, we hung out with them for a bit (and I ate my second Doener Kabap of Berlin, a Turkish delicacy that comes from a huge rotating chunk of meat). And they joined me on the subway ride home. I walked back on a much more heavily trafficked and well-lit street tonight, so I felt a lot more comfortable.
So, that's about it! Tomorrow, we are waking up fairly early in order to go on a three hour tour (luckily, it's not the five hour one that was previously planned!). I am looking forward to seeing more of Berlin and having the opportunity to hear more its history. Even though I am not the best museum-goer around, there is so much history here and I can't wait to see it all first-hand! Well, I must get some more work done and head to bed soon. I hope that all is well with everyone back home! I have only 25 more days until I take that flight back to New York! Wow! 'Til next time...Tschuess!
