Hallo everyone! Wie geht's? Hope all is well! It was a beautiful day here in Berlin, absolutely the perfect temperature! Today, we had a three hour tour of the city before class. Let's just say that my feet were still tired from yesterday, but it was enjoyable anyway!
So, I left the house with about 40 minutes before the tour, plenty of time. But then it ended up that there wasn't a train going to the exact stop that I was looking for! I tried to walk there, but ended up going in the opposite direction accidentally! Oh well. It all worked out in the end. I was a little over 15 minutes late for our meeting time, but I was only the third person there out of six, so it was fine. Unfortunately, Anna and Paula thought we were meeting at a different Starbucks, so they didn't go with us on the tour. But even though we were worried about them, it was still a very fun walk around the city and history lesson, anyway!
We saw so much: from the Brandenburger Tor to the Reichstag, from the site of Hitler's Bunker to Checkpoint Charlie. Sehr toll! Our tour guide was a really neat guy. He's from Maine, but he's been living in Berlin for three years. It was neat to have another perspective on everything and since he is so young, he definitely knew what kind of attractions would appeal to students our age. I thought that it was very interesting to see the different ways that history is skewed. Although there are some very correct representations of reality, Checkpoint Charlie itself has just become a tourist trap for foreigners seeking Stazi hats. Our tour guide really knows his history, in some ways it made me interested in living abroad and seeing the past first-hand. But I still enjoy living in the States, too! I guess we will see what the future brings!
Another interesting but sad thing about Berlin is that 1 in every 7 buildings is abandoned. It's been really striking to see a city that is built bigger than the size of its population. They definitely have rebuilt Berlin from the time of WWII and also since the twenty years of reunification, but there is still a ways to go. Unfortunately, renovation costs money and no one seems to have much of that these days! There is also a very interesting Holocaust remembrance site which is basically a city-block full of concrete blocks serving as a reminder to all who pass by. But its meaning is also "open to interpretation," which was very interesting.
So, after the three hour tour and much sight seeing, we made our way to the Goethe Institut. Classes were tiring, but I am happy that I am making a good first impression in this new one! I hope my teacher picks up the pace a bit, though! So, I called it a day right after class and made it home in time to prepare a dinner at a normal time. It was nice to have the apartment to myself and I enjoyed cooking a decent meal. This morning, I left the get well card and the tea I bought for my host mother on the kitchen table (I hadn't seen her directly this morning). When I came home, I had received a very sweet hand-written noting thanking me for the well-wishes. I guess a little bit of kindness goes a long way after all! I am glad that now I might be a bit more on my host's good side and hopefully I brightened her day a bit!
So, I've just been hanging out for the evening and catching up on things. It was nice to have some time to relax after a long day. Everyone is pretty exhausted, but hopefully the weekend will be a lot of fun! It looks like the new volcano ash won't be disrupting our travel plans, which is a good thing! Well, that's about it for now. Hope all is well! Gute Nacht! 'Til next time...Tschuess!
