Endlich in Berlin!

(Warning: This is really, really long post since I wrote it over time and it covers part of the past two weeks or so.)

I am finally in Berlin! FINALLY! It seems like it was an eternity between when I was accepted to do the Fulbright and when I got here, especially since there was always something in the way, be it graduation, my summer internship, or my program in Dresden.

I left Dresden last Friday (August 31) after a wonderful party the last night of our program. I really had a blast, although it was sorta difficult to say goodbye to everyone considering it was a party with a DJ and too much going on. I hope I will keep in touch with the participants that I liked and I’m glad that a few will be in Germany this year, so I’ll be able to visit them.

My train to Cologne was eight hours! I got a direct train so I wouldn’t have to switch trains with all my luggage, and I can’t believe how much longer eight hours on a train seems than eight hours on the plane. We stopped in about 20 random little towns. Anyway, I arrived in Cologne and went to my hostel, where I found an interesting assortment of people. There was one guy checking in at the same time as me, and he was wearing the Rastafarian red, yellow, and green, had some circus-looking pants on, and carried this huge hat made out of pleather. The worst part is his dreadlocks were down to his ankles, no joke. I prayed I didn’t have to stay with this guy. I saw him in the street the next day carrying a flag and screaming something in some weird language (I think he’s from somewhere in Africa). He then proceeded to scream at a baby in a stroller. Creepy. The people in my room weren’t the best either. Five guys and me, two from India, two from some Scandinavian country, and one nice guy from Italy that I enjoyed talking to. But the Indian guys were horrendous. They brought over all their friends—an endless number—and talked and talked. But thankfully they went to bed early. The next night, however, there were four of them and also one Chinese girl who somehow has been living in Germany for four years but her German stinks. Those guys were so rude and inconsiderate. I guess they didn’t realize that when someone goes to bed, she would appreciate it if they quieted down a bit. The worst thing is that they woke up at 6:30 AM and sat in bed for TWO hours and just talked and laughed and farted a lot. I kid you not. I wish I could say I’m embellishing, but it’s the absolute truth. I even took video of them, and if I knew how to put the video on here, I would. So I decided to switch rooms for my last night, and they gave me my new room number, and they put me in the room with the crazy Rasta! I was actually quite scared of him since he was walking down the street screaming like a madman, so I demanded that they put me in an all-female room. Thank God they did, because I would have cried myself to sleep if I had to be with that other guy—I think he was certifiably crazy (or on drugs, but either way . . . ). I was in a room with a bunch of boring girls who were all in bed before 10, and they woke me up at 7 AM with their packing, but it was much preferred to living with annoying Indian guys or a crazy Rasta. I found out later that the Indians were there selling equestrian gear at a trade fair. How hilarious is that?

I was in Cologne for about three days, and I think that’s more than enough time to see the city. The first night I just walked around by myself, and then the first day I met up with my roommate from Dresden and we did some self-guided walking tour that was miles long. We also took a tour of the Dom in English and I felt bad because she couldn’t understand the tour guide and she knows nothing about Christianity or Catholicism since she is from Turkey. Anyway, I found the tour great, and the Dom really is beautiful. It is absolutely huge! We climbed the 500 stairs to the top, which was extremely painful. The stairs are so narrow, and people come down really fast while you are trying to go up. I never thought we’d make it to the top. But the view was great, although it was foggy. I guess it’s just nice to say that you’ve done it before? Add that to the list of cathedrals I have visited and climbed.

On our tour of Cologne, we saw like 10 weddings, no joke, since it was a Saturday. One wedding was really fun, in the middle of some random neighborhood—there were all these people in costumes and so we decided to crash the reception and take lots of pictures. I was a little embarrassed because we were in jeans and clearly were not invited guests, but no one seemed to mind.

After my roommate flew back to Turkey that night, I tried to go to the movie theater, but I had to walk really far and kinda got lost and it was dark and sketchy and I kept asking myself if getting mugged was worth seeing a movie. Another boring night. The next day I went to Mass in the Dom and then I visited Museum Ludwig, which is full of okay-ish modern art. I then went to Bonn for the afternoon and walked around a lot. I also took a tour in German of Beethoven’s House—he was born there. I was amazed that I understood all of the tour, and I actually think I fooled everyone into thinking I was German. The tour was really wonderful, which was surprising because Rick Steves told me that the house was nothing special.

Sunday night I met up with some other Fulbrighters and an Australian guy from my hostel and we had some Koelsch (beer from Cologne, or Koeln) and then went to a karaoke bar, which was absolutely hilarious. Some people were really good, others were awful, but they were the most fun to watch. On Monday we all went to the Cologne Zoo, which had a lot of animals but was a little too expensive for my taste. I guess I’m not the biggest fan of zoos, but I guess I have to go to the Berlin Zoo and at least see Knut the Eisbaer.

Orientation finally started on Monday afternoon. There were about 180 of us, 140 from the U.S. and the rest from the U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We went to a monastery near Cologne and had about three days of informational meetings and training sessions. We met in groups with the people from our Land, so I kinda got to know the other 35 or so people who are also in Berlin (about 12 or 13 Americans). Our last day we had to give a lesson, and two guys and I had to teach about the entire American government in just 45 minutes! The task was more than challenging, because how do you teach about the entire government in such a short time? I had the worst part of the lesson, the non-fun, non-discussion, lecture-for-15-minutes part. But the simulation was wonderful, because it allowed me to plan a lesson and see what being in front of a classroom is really like. Although let’s be honest, the real experience will probably be nothing like it!

I have to say that I really didn’t enjoy orientation that much. I figured it would be a good chance to meet people from other Laender so I’d have a place to stay when I traveled, but I really didn’t connect with anyone. I don’t know why, but I didn’t have that much fun, even though everyone else seemed to be having a good time. Now when I want to travel within Germany I won’t have anyone in particular to visit! Boohoo. Although I did find a guy who will let me stay with him when I take the LSAT in Munich.

And now I am in Berlin! Two teachers picked me up from the train station and drove me to my place here in Reinickendorf. I’m staying in a Ferienwohnung (vacation apartment) in an Evangelische Gemeinde (Protestant church) for three weeks while I try to find another place to live for the year. I was supposed to live with some girls I had met but that’s fallen through and now I am desperately looking for a new Wohnung. Not fun at all! But for now, I’ve got a nice fully furnished apartment to myself (except no microwave, freezer, or dryer, but that’s pretty typical here). It takes me about 30 minutes to get to the center of Berlin, but I can’t complain. It’s a great place to study for the LSAT. Except there is no Internet, which makes applying to law school a real pain in the butt. Every day I visit my Turkish friends at an Internet café about 15 minutes from my apartment. It’s high-speed, high-tech, and cheap, but it’s so frustrating to have to try to figure out law school stuff and apartment stuff in an hour a day. I try to save time and money by writing things out beforehand (for example, I’m currently sitting on my couch/bed, not writing this in the café).

Friday I visited my school and I’m pleased that it’s not as ghetto as I expected, although I certainly won’t be walking around the neighborhood at night. I met several teachers and am happy that they are all really friendly and even asked me to call them by their first names, which from what I was told in orientation is a rare occurrence. I told them all to speak to me in German because I really need to practice, and I can already tell that my German is getting better. There is another student-teacher at the school for four weeks, and she’s going to help me figure out classes at Humboldt if I do decide to take any. She’s a great resource and she speaks excellent English (although I told her to speak German to me). Oh, a funny thing about the school—it says out front something along the lines of “Schule ohne Rassismus”—“School without Racism.” I thought oh great, that means they’ve had some sort of problem with racism before. We’ll see, I didn’t actually meet any students and Monday is my first day in the classroom. Fortunately, I just observe for two weeks and don’t start teaching until I’ve set a schedule for myself. I plan to get Fridays off so I can travel a lot too.

I’ve tried to do something interesting every day, and thankfully JT is visiting now so I have someone to hang out with. Friday we met up for lunch and then last night we had dinner and drinks. Today we’re meeting to go to a movie. And he might end up staying with me for a few days, which is nice, but I hope it doesn’t violate my contract. I also went to the church in my building today since I am staying there and wanted to get to know some people, but of the 30 or so people there, about 25 are at least 70 years old. They were all so friendly, but oddly formal. Whenever someone entered the room, he went around and shook every single person’s hand (including mine). A very dear old woman took me under her wing and told me that she’s going to come by on Wednesday and bring me a newspaper with ads for apartments. Very sweet and very welcoming. But I’m pretty sure from now on I am going to go to the English church I went to before, since everyone there is around my age.

Alright, I know this is a lot to read, but once I start writing, it’s kinda hard to stop, and at the moment my only other alternatives are writing law school essays or studying for the LSAT, and writing in my blog is a lot more appealing.

I don’t know when I will be able to write next because of the Internet problem, but I will report back soon about my school and whatever else has happened in the meantime. Auf Wiedersehen!