Sorry this is a couple days late! Time goes by pretty fast over here!
On Tuesday, a trip to the Pergamon Museum was organized by school. We met at the school with Lsya, who was our group leader for the day. Things then got a little disorganized and confusing. She gave us the option of just paying for the day or buying a year pass for the museums on museum island. There were at least 20 people in the group and everyone except for 5 of us wanted a year pass. The rest of us didn't want to get one and only wanted to pay for the day, so we had to wait. We gave Lsya our money for her to buy our tickets and waited for the others to rejoin our group. When most of the group came back from buying their year pass, we went inside the entrance of the museum. We took our things over to a little coat check in area. We were given a little "ticket" back and then walked over to get our tour guide headset. Everyone kind of split up into their own little groups after that. We did take a few group pictures on the steps of the temple, but that was probably the only time our group was entirely together for the rest of the museum trip!
The Pergamon Museum is incredible. That's really the only way I can describe it. It is a huge museum! The Pergamon has original-sized, reconstructed monumental buildings such as the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus, all consisting of parts transported from Turkey. The Pergamon is divided into the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art. I strongly recommend going!
We pretty much stayed until the museum closed. I took a ton of pictures, but unfortunately, they are all on my camera, so I can't upload them! I can steal pictures from other people though that went! We were the only people left inside the museum, so we kind of hurried to get our things. Our group then got stuck inside the museum. Lsya wouldn't listen to me when I told her that a specific door was open and all the others were closed. She continued to walk around the bottom level of the museum trying to figure out how we would get out. I then decided to just walk over to the door I had been trying to tell her about and opened it. Other people in the group saw and followed. We would have been out of the museum 10 minutes earlier than we were if she had listened to what I had been telling her!
Last night for dinner we had Hackenbraten and Gemuese! It was delicious. It was merely meatloaf and vegetables, but amazingly good. My hmom doesn't follow recipes. She sort of just throws things together and creates new things on her own. It's great! She did it last night with putting different things in the meatloaf and was asking me how many eggs I usually put in when I make it. I told her that I've never put a cooked egg in the middle of the meatloaf and had never heard of that. She said her Canadian friend does it and says it's the popular way of making meatloaf. It must be popular in Canada, because I've never heard of such a thing!
Tonight we had spaghetti! It was so much food! We had salad before and then the spaghetti. I didn't finish my dinner, so sorry if there's bad weather tomorrow guys! I'll take the blame since I didn't finish my dinner. My hmom also created her own concoction for dessert! It was a mixture of coconut creme and bananas! I really liked it! With all that being said and what I've said previously about my hmom's cooking, I'm definitely eating well here!
I'm completely stuffed and my throat is a bit sore, so I think it's time to relax and then head to bed a little early tonight! Have a wonderful day everyone!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Beware the Ides of March
Today wasn't that special. Well, I take that back. Today was entertaining. Last night, we were supposed to get the 2nd student to live with us from the French part of SWitzerland. She was supposed to arrive at the apartment around 10PM. I hung out in my room ready for bed, because it was getting late and I wasn't going to stay up very late just to say hello. 10:00 came and went and it was soon 10:45PM. The doorbell rang. I was falling in and out of sleep since about 9:45, so I didn't really know what was going on.
A few minutes later, my host mom came back inside speaking French with the girl. I figured things were fine and so i went to bed. I woke up this morning and got ready like usual. My host mom told us breakfast was ready and so I said "ok! Ich komme!" and walked to the kitchen. My host mom looked at me and said, "We have the wrong girl! They sent us the wrong girl!" Apparently the flight was late and the car was packed of girls that needed to be taken to their host families. This girl, Virginia, claimed to be the girl who was supposed to live with us. My host mom made a couple of calls after breakfast and she and Virginia left before 8AM this morning to try and sort things out. I didn't worry about things at school. I figured either the right girl would be there when I got home, or the wrong girl would live with us instead.
Kelleen came home with me today because we had planned to see a movie in the afternoon. Mondays are called "Blue Mondays" because it's the cheapest day to see a movie. My host mom had left her keys in the door, so I couldn't unlock it. I buzzed and she let me in. Kelleen introduced herself and I told her we were thinking about seeing a movie. We had a schedule of movies and the theaters on the kitchen table, so kelleen and I looked at it. i asked if the right girl was here, but my host mom looked at me like I was crazy. I repeated my question and she said, "no, but we are going to make the switch at 6PM tonight."
We had just gotten home in time for "cake time". My host mom made tea for both Kelleen and I and gave us some kind of baked good with chocolate in the middle. Delicious. We looked at the schedule of movies and decided we'd see "The Ides of March" at 6PM. We hung out in my room until it was time to leave. The movie theater we were planning to go to is only just down the street. it's 5 minutes away or so. I'll have to add a picture of it, so that you can see the street where I live and such. Just as we were about to get ready to leave, the doorbell rang again. It was Virginia and another girl, the right girl! I have no idea how to spell her name. It's something like "Nuamee". I'll have to find out how to spell it! My host mom introduced us and I continued to put my shoes on.
We were getting ready to leave when my host mom asked where we were going. I told her we were going to see a movie and then I'd be home. She asked what I was going to do for dinner and I told her I would be home only a little later. She said ok and that I could eat when I got home. She told me that "Verdammnis" would be on TV tonight at 10:15 and so I had to be home in order for that! "Verdammnis" is "The Girl Who Played With Fire". I told her I would definitely be home in time for that! We left and headed to the theater. We got there and it was a really small movie theater! IT's really cute though. We bought our tickets and were surprised. Normally, you have an assigned seat in the movie theater, but not in this one. I liked not having to seat in a specific seat. We had to wait a few minutes until someone told us the theater was open. We walked in and found our seats. It is a very old looking theater with a stage and curtains that cover the screen. They drew back when the previews started and then closed again before the movie started.
I won't give away anything about the movie, so no worries! It was a really good movie. George Clooney directed it and wrote the screenplay. The movie was all in German which made it a little difficult to follow. The voices didn't seem right for Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. I think they could've picked better voice-overs. They also spoke incredibly fast and so I had to focus on the words and also the scene to make sense of it all. It was a good experience and I liked the movie, even though I couldn't understand every single word.
I walked the short distance home. My host mom was surprised I was home so early and asked if I had eaten. I told her I hadn't and she told me to come to the kitchen right away and eat! I told her ok and followed her. She had left food on the stove for me to eat. Noodles! Yummm. I'll add a picture of my dinner as well. It was incredibly delicious. Pretty much everything my host mom, Birgit, makes is delicious! I've told her what I don't like, so she knows what to avoid cooking.
Anyways, I'm home now and just about to head to bed. I don't think I'll be staying up to watch "Verdammnis" with my host mom, unfortunately. I'm am way too tired for that. Tomorrow I'm going with a group from school to the Pergamonmuseum right after school. I'm going to need my energy if that trip is supposed to be 3 hours long. I'll leave home around 8AM and not return until 6:30Pm or so. I need my sleep!
Schlaft Gut!
A few minutes later, my host mom came back inside speaking French with the girl. I figured things were fine and so i went to bed. I woke up this morning and got ready like usual. My host mom told us breakfast was ready and so I said "ok! Ich komme!" and walked to the kitchen. My host mom looked at me and said, "We have the wrong girl! They sent us the wrong girl!" Apparently the flight was late and the car was packed of girls that needed to be taken to their host families. This girl, Virginia, claimed to be the girl who was supposed to live with us. My host mom made a couple of calls after breakfast and she and Virginia left before 8AM this morning to try and sort things out. I didn't worry about things at school. I figured either the right girl would be there when I got home, or the wrong girl would live with us instead.
Kelleen came home with me today because we had planned to see a movie in the afternoon. Mondays are called "Blue Mondays" because it's the cheapest day to see a movie. My host mom had left her keys in the door, so I couldn't unlock it. I buzzed and she let me in. Kelleen introduced herself and I told her we were thinking about seeing a movie. We had a schedule of movies and the theaters on the kitchen table, so kelleen and I looked at it. i asked if the right girl was here, but my host mom looked at me like I was crazy. I repeated my question and she said, "no, but we are going to make the switch at 6PM tonight."
We had just gotten home in time for "cake time". My host mom made tea for both Kelleen and I and gave us some kind of baked good with chocolate in the middle. Delicious. We looked at the schedule of movies and decided we'd see "The Ides of March" at 6PM. We hung out in my room until it was time to leave. The movie theater we were planning to go to is only just down the street. it's 5 minutes away or so. I'll have to add a picture of it, so that you can see the street where I live and such. Just as we were about to get ready to leave, the doorbell rang again. It was Virginia and another girl, the right girl! I have no idea how to spell her name. It's something like "Nuamee". I'll have to find out how to spell it! My host mom introduced us and I continued to put my shoes on.
We were getting ready to leave when my host mom asked where we were going. I told her we were going to see a movie and then I'd be home. She asked what I was going to do for dinner and I told her I would be home only a little later. She said ok and that I could eat when I got home. She told me that "Verdammnis" would be on TV tonight at 10:15 and so I had to be home in order for that! "Verdammnis" is "The Girl Who Played With Fire". I told her I would definitely be home in time for that! We left and headed to the theater. We got there and it was a really small movie theater! IT's really cute though. We bought our tickets and were surprised. Normally, you have an assigned seat in the movie theater, but not in this one. I liked not having to seat in a specific seat. We had to wait a few minutes until someone told us the theater was open. We walked in and found our seats. It is a very old looking theater with a stage and curtains that cover the screen. They drew back when the previews started and then closed again before the movie started.
I won't give away anything about the movie, so no worries! It was a really good movie. George Clooney directed it and wrote the screenplay. The movie was all in German which made it a little difficult to follow. The voices didn't seem right for Ryan Gosling and George Clooney. I think they could've picked better voice-overs. They also spoke incredibly fast and so I had to focus on the words and also the scene to make sense of it all. It was a good experience and I liked the movie, even though I couldn't understand every single word.
I walked the short distance home. My host mom was surprised I was home so early and asked if I had eaten. I told her I hadn't and she told me to come to the kitchen right away and eat! I told her ok and followed her. She had left food on the stove for me to eat. Noodles! Yummm. I'll add a picture of my dinner as well. It was incredibly delicious. Pretty much everything my host mom, Birgit, makes is delicious! I've told her what I don't like, so she knows what to avoid cooking.
Anyways, I'm home now and just about to head to bed. I don't think I'll be staying up to watch "Verdammnis" with my host mom, unfortunately. I'm am way too tired for that. Tomorrow I'm going with a group from school to the Pergamonmuseum right after school. I'm going to need my energy if that trip is supposed to be 3 hours long. I'll leave home around 8AM and not return until 6:30Pm or so. I need my sleep!
Schlaft Gut!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Leipzig!
Today (Saturday) a group of us from school went to Leipzig. The trip was organized by school, so we all had to meet at McDonalds in the Hauptbahnhof. It's a huge station with multiple levels and can be really confusing. It was a giant group of us that were going. We had to be there by 9:30AM and a lot of people were really tired from going out last night. I got plenty of sleep, so I was just fine! A girl named Anja was our group leader and took our money from everyone to pay for our train tickets. We then ventured to the platform to wait for our train. Everyone was sort of in their own cluster. We would speak German, but also other languages that we know. You can hear German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, and a lot of other languages when we're all together.
The train ride to Leipzig was a couple of hours or so. I sat next to Olivia, another girl from our group and helped her with her homework. She's younger and has only taken the level 210 back home. She has a harder time with German, so she would ask me questions and how to say things. My host mom, Birgit, gave me 3 books the other day. They're the books in the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Here, the titles are only one word! It makes things so much easier when talking about them. I brought the first book, Verblendung, with me on the train to read. It's definitely not as easy as ready a children's book, but it's really good practice!
We had to switch trains, which wasn't too bad. The ticket control person came through and people started to worry. He didn't ask any of us for our ticket, only the people that were sitting near us, who weren't with our group, for theirs. At first the people in the same train car as me started to panic, because we didn't have a ticket to show him! One girl told him that Anja had our tickets. He said he already had talked to her and that we were all fine. We continued the ride to Leipzig.
We arrived a little after 1:15PM. Anja told us we were free to roam around and only had to meet at the McDonalds there by 4:30PM. Kelleen, Emily, Olivia, and I roamed around together. We had no idea what there was to see. All we knew was that Bach had been there and there was a very important church to see because of him. We roamed around for a while and saw a couple of cool things.
We saw a children's playground with a small tower and climbed that. We ventured different ways for a while. We then thought we had to be back at 3:30 instead of 4:30, so we headed back so Olivia could get some lunch. We started walking down a pathway and found out we couldn't go any further that way. I saw the fence was open and decided we could just go through that to go to the street instead of walking all the way around again. As we went through, I realized something wasn't right. The area we had just climbed into had ping pong tables outside, benches, basketball hoops, and bike racks. We walked over to the gates to get out...they were locked. We thought about jumping the fence. Emily and Olivia both said they wouldn't be able to, so we walked back to the gap in the fence, climbed through again, and walked all the way around. It was after we walked around that we realized we had just climbed into a school's outdoor area. Well, I guess I can cross trespassing off my list of things to do! Looking at my watch I realized we didn't have much time left. We started walking back in search of a place to eat. We didn't find anything and ended up walking back to the train station. We all ended up getting some food at the train station.
After realizing we didn't need to be back until 4:30, we went searching for the important church. Kelleen and Emily were pretty much running because we didn't have a lot of time left. Olivia and I took our time. We had time to find the church and head back by 4:30.
We found the church,but the signs were very misleading at first. Random sidenote -Olivia and I paid the 50 cents to use the bathroom, which were really nice ones! I definitely try to wait until I get home so it's free. St. Thomas Church is amazing. It is the home of the St. Thomas Boys Choir and also the final resting place of Johann Sebastian Bach! It's absolutely amazing inside. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. We got there during a mass I believe and begged our way inside to observe. We got to listen and watch for 5 minutes or so before we left. Interesting facts about St. Thomas: The St. Thomas Church dates back to the 12th Century. It was here in 1409 that the University of Leipzig was founded. From 1492 to 1496, the church had the form of a late Gothic hall church. It was also here in 1539 that Martin Luther preached the implementation of the Reformation.
We rushed back to the Bahnhof and met with the rest of our group. Anja had us all group up to take a photo of everyone. Afterwords, we went to the train and got on. There was a giant "BMW Werk Leipzig" sign in the station, so I made sure that I took a picture of it for Michael.
I got home, had some dinner that my host mom left on the table for me, and crawled in bed. Today was such a long day, I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Tomorrow night we get a girl from the French part of Switzerland to live with us. She won't arrive until 10PM or sometime late in the evening. At least that's what my host mom said. We'll have to see!
I'm off to bed! Have a splendid rest of your afternoon or evening! Tomorrow comes with another blog!
Tschuess!
The train ride to Leipzig was a couple of hours or so. I sat next to Olivia, another girl from our group and helped her with her homework. She's younger and has only taken the level 210 back home. She has a harder time with German, so she would ask me questions and how to say things. My host mom, Birgit, gave me 3 books the other day. They're the books in the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Here, the titles are only one word! It makes things so much easier when talking about them. I brought the first book, Verblendung, with me on the train to read. It's definitely not as easy as ready a children's book, but it's really good practice!
We had to switch trains, which wasn't too bad. The ticket control person came through and people started to worry. He didn't ask any of us for our ticket, only the people that were sitting near us, who weren't with our group, for theirs. At first the people in the same train car as me started to panic, because we didn't have a ticket to show him! One girl told him that Anja had our tickets. He said he already had talked to her and that we were all fine. We continued the ride to Leipzig.
We arrived a little after 1:15PM. Anja told us we were free to roam around and only had to meet at the McDonalds there by 4:30PM. Kelleen, Emily, Olivia, and I roamed around together. We had no idea what there was to see. All we knew was that Bach had been there and there was a very important church to see because of him. We roamed around for a while and saw a couple of cool things.
We saw a children's playground with a small tower and climbed that. We ventured different ways for a while. We then thought we had to be back at 3:30 instead of 4:30, so we headed back so Olivia could get some lunch. We started walking down a pathway and found out we couldn't go any further that way. I saw the fence was open and decided we could just go through that to go to the street instead of walking all the way around again. As we went through, I realized something wasn't right. The area we had just climbed into had ping pong tables outside, benches, basketball hoops, and bike racks. We walked over to the gates to get out...they were locked. We thought about jumping the fence. Emily and Olivia both said they wouldn't be able to, so we walked back to the gap in the fence, climbed through again, and walked all the way around. It was after we walked around that we realized we had just climbed into a school's outdoor area. Well, I guess I can cross trespassing off my list of things to do! Looking at my watch I realized we didn't have much time left. We started walking back in search of a place to eat. We didn't find anything and ended up walking back to the train station. We all ended up getting some food at the train station.
After realizing we didn't need to be back until 4:30, we went searching for the important church. Kelleen and Emily were pretty much running because we didn't have a lot of time left. Olivia and I took our time. We had time to find the church and head back by 4:30.
We found the church,but the signs were very misleading at first. Random sidenote -Olivia and I paid the 50 cents to use the bathroom, which were really nice ones! I definitely try to wait until I get home so it's free. St. Thomas Church is amazing. It is the home of the St. Thomas Boys Choir and also the final resting place of Johann Sebastian Bach! It's absolutely amazing inside. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. We got there during a mass I believe and begged our way inside to observe. We got to listen and watch for 5 minutes or so before we left. Interesting facts about St. Thomas: The St. Thomas Church dates back to the 12th Century. It was here in 1409 that the University of Leipzig was founded. From 1492 to 1496, the church had the form of a late Gothic hall church. It was also here in 1539 that Martin Luther preached the implementation of the Reformation.
We rushed back to the Bahnhof and met with the rest of our group. Anja had us all group up to take a photo of everyone. Afterwords, we went to the train and got on. There was a giant "BMW Werk Leipzig" sign in the station, so I made sure that I took a picture of it for Michael.
I got home, had some dinner that my host mom left on the table for me, and crawled in bed. Today was such a long day, I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Tomorrow night we get a girl from the French part of Switzerland to live with us. She won't arrive until 10PM or sometime late in the evening. At least that's what my host mom said. We'll have to see!
I'm off to bed! Have a splendid rest of your afternoon or evening! Tomorrow comes with another blog!
Tschuess!
Friday, January 6, 2012
merp. back in school!
Back in school and I'm totally feeling like a high schooler again. On Monday we had our placement test and interview. We were all tired and jet lagged, so I'm sure none of us did as well as we would have hoped, unless you're Kelleen! Haha just kidding! This blog may seem really boring. It's pretty much me explaining my day and how things work.
After that we took a tour of Berlin around where school is. There's a doener restaurant down the street! Delicious. There are also a bunch of little cafes and bakeries nearby school. Lunch is not provided by my host mom, so I have to get lunch on my own every day. It's not bad and I can usually find something pretty cheap!
I'm in class from 9am every morning to a different time in the afternoon every day. I have class from 9:00-10:30AM and then a 15 minute break and then 10:45AM-12:15PM every day. It's called Standard-Kurs (Standard Course). On Tuesdays I have Standard-Kurs and then Intensiv-Kurs (intensive course) from 1-2:30PM. After that, I'm done for the day! On Mondays and Wednesdays I have an additional class with Prof. Hayden-Roy, who came with us from UNL. The class with her is at different times on Monday and Wednesday. On Wednesdays, I have to attend Selbstlernzentrum. It's like a study hall where I can get extra help and work on my homework. Most people only go right before our tests. For us who came from UNL, it's mandatory for the first couple of weeks and strongly recommended to continue going. It's another reason why I feel like I'm in high school again.
Everyone that goes to Deutsch in Deutschland Institute (DiD), comes from all over the world. There are 6 of us Americans, who are all from our UNL group, in my class. I also have guys from Australia, Mallorca (Spain), Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The other girls in my class are from Switzerland, Russia, and Brazil. They can speak English, but they don't seem to know a lot. It's interesting to hear them speak German because of their accents. It makes it difficult for most of them to say certain words or make certain sounds. For us Americans, it may seem difficult to others, but not as difficult as it is for the other people in my class!
I am only in this class for 2 or 3 weeks and then we'll take a test. If I pass the test, I'll move up to the next level. If I fail the test, I have to retake that entire course again. My course is in it's 5th week. This is where we started unlike the others. The other people in my class have been in Berlin for 4 months or so. Students are constantly coming and going depending on the program they are here with.
I don't really get homework. If I do, it's a worksheet that doesn't take long. We work on things in class most of the time. Things might change as things progress, but we'll see!
Bis spaeter!
Later!
After that we took a tour of Berlin around where school is. There's a doener restaurant down the street! Delicious. There are also a bunch of little cafes and bakeries nearby school. Lunch is not provided by my host mom, so I have to get lunch on my own every day. It's not bad and I can usually find something pretty cheap!
I'm in class from 9am every morning to a different time in the afternoon every day. I have class from 9:00-10:30AM and then a 15 minute break and then 10:45AM-12:15PM every day. It's called Standard-Kurs (Standard Course). On Tuesdays I have Standard-Kurs and then Intensiv-Kurs (intensive course) from 1-2:30PM. After that, I'm done for the day! On Mondays and Wednesdays I have an additional class with Prof. Hayden-Roy, who came with us from UNL. The class with her is at different times on Monday and Wednesday. On Wednesdays, I have to attend Selbstlernzentrum. It's like a study hall where I can get extra help and work on my homework. Most people only go right before our tests. For us who came from UNL, it's mandatory for the first couple of weeks and strongly recommended to continue going. It's another reason why I feel like I'm in high school again.
Everyone that goes to Deutsch in Deutschland Institute (DiD), comes from all over the world. There are 6 of us Americans, who are all from our UNL group, in my class. I also have guys from Australia, Mallorca (Spain), Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The other girls in my class are from Switzerland, Russia, and Brazil. They can speak English, but they don't seem to know a lot. It's interesting to hear them speak German because of their accents. It makes it difficult for most of them to say certain words or make certain sounds. For us Americans, it may seem difficult to others, but not as difficult as it is for the other people in my class!
I am only in this class for 2 or 3 weeks and then we'll take a test. If I pass the test, I'll move up to the next level. If I fail the test, I have to retake that entire course again. My course is in it's 5th week. This is where we started unlike the others. The other people in my class have been in Berlin for 4 months or so. Students are constantly coming and going depending on the program they are here with.
I don't really get homework. If I do, it's a worksheet that doesn't take long. We work on things in class most of the time. Things might change as things progress, but we'll see!
Bis spaeter!
Later!
Ich bin in Deutschland angekommen!
Hallo! Wie geht's? I've arrived in Germany! First off, let me explain the title of the blog. "Ich bin ein Berliner!" is a famous quote by John F. Kennedy when he
visited Berlin. A Berliner is a donut, so he literally said "I am a donut!" when he gave his speech. It's a joke and fits perfectly since I am in Berlin!
The plane rides weren't great, but they also weren't horrible. We had some drama on our flight from Chicago to London! I sat next to a guy named Timothy in our group. I had finally fallen asleep on the plane when he woke me up. I looked over to my left and saw a flight attendant standing next to me and Timothy asking if I could get up so he could get out. I let him out and sat back down. He was gone for a while. After some time, a flight attendant came over the speakers and asked if there was a doctor on board. What was going on?! I got worried and asked Emily, another girl from our group who was sitting in front of me, if she knew what was going on. She said she didn't. A little bit later, a different flight attendant came up to me and asked if I could hand her Timothy's backpack. I gave it to her and she walked off to the back of the plane. He was still gone for quite some time. A different lady came up to me and asked for his kindle. I got it out of the seat pocket and handed it to her. She said that Timothy wasn't feeling well and that he was going to stay at the back of the plane for a while. He was fine and I shouldn't worry. I tried falling back to sleep a few different times after that. After a couple of hours or so, he came back with a flight attendant. I asked him what was going on and he told me. The flight attendant wanted some information from him. We told her we were traveling in a group and that our teacher was actually meeting us in London once we arrived. "Oh fantastic!" Timothy then got to move to the very front of the plane to First Class for the rest of the flight. The doctors who helped him also moved to the front so they could be nearby if he needed anything. Once we landed in London, our group got together and I had to update people on what had happened. Timothy got checked out by paramedics as soon as we got off the plane. We continued to our next gate while he stayed behind to get the ok from the paramedics to carry on. What a great flight, right? It certainly was interesting!
I arrived Sunday early afternoon in Berlin and was picked up by my host mom, Frau Graw (Mrs. Graw). At first I thought she had forgotten to pick me up, but then we found each other. She is really nice and also speaks English! We speak Germish around the apartment, but will soon become only German.
The weather is cold and it rains sometimes, not a lot, but it will rain. I mean cold by it being in the 30s here. I'm hoping it will warm up soon! I packed all layering clothes so I stay warm!
We live in a typical German apartment only 5 minutes from the subway. I live close to another student from the UNL group who is here, Emily, which is really nice. We meet and go to school together every day. We live on the 4th floor, but here in Germany, the 1st floor isn't the 1st floor. So really, I live on the 5th floor! It's definitely a work out every day! We live in Charlottenburg, Berlin. It's literally China town here. No joke. There are so many Chinese restaurants around us!
The first night for dinner I had a goulash with veal! I had never had veal before, but it was good! I met the neighbor across the hall. She's from Austria! She's really nice, everyone has been so far. I've been warned about violence and what to do in case something happens.
More to come later!
visited Berlin. A Berliner is a donut, so he literally said "I am a donut!" when he gave his speech. It's a joke and fits perfectly since I am in Berlin!
The plane rides weren't great, but they also weren't horrible. We had some drama on our flight from Chicago to London! I sat next to a guy named Timothy in our group. I had finally fallen asleep on the plane when he woke me up. I looked over to my left and saw a flight attendant standing next to me and Timothy asking if I could get up so he could get out. I let him out and sat back down. He was gone for a while. After some time, a flight attendant came over the speakers and asked if there was a doctor on board. What was going on?! I got worried and asked Emily, another girl from our group who was sitting in front of me, if she knew what was going on. She said she didn't. A little bit later, a different flight attendant came up to me and asked if I could hand her Timothy's backpack. I gave it to her and she walked off to the back of the plane. He was still gone for quite some time. A different lady came up to me and asked for his kindle. I got it out of the seat pocket and handed it to her. She said that Timothy wasn't feeling well and that he was going to stay at the back of the plane for a while. He was fine and I shouldn't worry. I tried falling back to sleep a few different times after that. After a couple of hours or so, he came back with a flight attendant. I asked him what was going on and he told me. The flight attendant wanted some information from him. We told her we were traveling in a group and that our teacher was actually meeting us in London once we arrived. "Oh fantastic!" Timothy then got to move to the very front of the plane to First Class for the rest of the flight. The doctors who helped him also moved to the front so they could be nearby if he needed anything. Once we landed in London, our group got together and I had to update people on what had happened. Timothy got checked out by paramedics as soon as we got off the plane. We continued to our next gate while he stayed behind to get the ok from the paramedics to carry on. What a great flight, right? It certainly was interesting!
I arrived Sunday early afternoon in Berlin and was picked up by my host mom, Frau Graw (Mrs. Graw). At first I thought she had forgotten to pick me up, but then we found each other. She is really nice and also speaks English! We speak Germish around the apartment, but will soon become only German.
The weather is cold and it rains sometimes, not a lot, but it will rain. I mean cold by it being in the 30s here. I'm hoping it will warm up soon! I packed all layering clothes so I stay warm!
We live in a typical German apartment only 5 minutes from the subway. I live close to another student from the UNL group who is here, Emily, which is really nice. We meet and go to school together every day. We live on the 4th floor, but here in Germany, the 1st floor isn't the 1st floor. So really, I live on the 5th floor! It's definitely a work out every day! We live in Charlottenburg, Berlin. It's literally China town here. No joke. There are so many Chinese restaurants around us!
The first night for dinner I had a goulash with veal! I had never had veal before, but it was good! I met the neighbor across the hall. She's from Austria! She's really nice, everyone has been so far. I've been warned about violence and what to do in case something happens.
More to come later!
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