Mein Leben in Bildern

As promised, here are some pictures from the last couple months. Unfortunately, they're not really in chronological order, but that shouldn't matter! And as always, apologies for my inability to figure out how to space these things appropriately.






"Arbeit Macht Frei": Work sets you free (same slogan at Auschwitz and perhaps at all of them?)















Memorial at Sachsenhausen to the victims of the Holocaust. Guess who constructed the memorial? Perhaps the Soviets? What gave it away?

Nonetheless, a sobering experience.











My parents' visit: told them to look frightened at the thought of having to enter the Russian Sector













Sans Souci Palace at Potsdam on a beautiful day (probably won't be seeing any more of those until April)










The adorable (???) trick-or-treaters who came to my door on Halloween. I'd say American kids do better, but the Germans are only just discovering the fabulousness of a holiday devoted almost entirely to candy. :-)









Slug bug! Beetle-looking cars on the street in Oranienburg. Not sure where they were off to, but fortunately caught them at a stoplight.














My awesome tour guide in front of the Berlin Dom. If you come to Berlin, you have to take the New Berlin Walking Tour. Free, four hours, fun, and tons of information!








Picking the nose of a Botero sculpture on the lawn in front of the Altes Museum/Berliner Dom (no idea how this got linked to a bad picture of my parents in front of the Brandenburger Tor, nor can I figure out how to fix it, so enjoy!)














Opening fireworks of the Festival of Lights













Berliner Fernsehturm during the Festival of Lights (I live a five-minute walk from here!)
















More pictures to come, but I have to run off to a movie date. I promise I don't go to all these places by myself, even though there aren't any other people in my photos--I do need someone to take pictures of me, after all! I will try to start taking more pictures in social settings, to give you all an idea of who I've replaced you with. :-p

Süßes oder Saures!

So this post is going to live up to my blog’s reputation and be depressing (thanks, Peter). Maybe it is depressing, but I suppose it’s not a good indication of my time here in Berlin. I guess I just need a place to vent and get things off my chest. But yeah, I haven’t posted about what’s going on in a couple weeks, and thus I am going to just write what comes to mind, and not in chronological order.

I FINALLY got paid, I think maybe 9 weeks into my job. That is horrendous, and despite having my money, I am still really mad. I know some people who still haven’t been paid, so I guess I should be feeling blessed. It was nice to actually pay my rent on time. And buy a bed (see below).

Since my computer crashed, I no longer had Word, and my mom had conveniently bought the newest version for her own computer, so she mailed me the copy. And two weeks later, I finally got a notice about it—saying I had to go to customs to pick it up. It turns out that because she wrote it was worth $200 (it can’t be worth that much???) I had to pay 20 Euro in customs. I tried to convince the guy that because it’s from my mother it’s not a gift, but apparently that is a ridiculous argument. And I literally cried as I left from customs, because when you have 25 Euro in your bank account (this was before I got paid), you cannot afford to dish out 20 Euro for something you should not have to pay customs on. What makes it the stupidest thing ever is that the same day I picked it up from customs, my parents arrived in Berlin. What luck! They could have just brought it with them, but because I was in the middle of law school apps and desperately needed Word, my mom mailed it. Didn’t realize it was going to take so long and that I was going to have to pay the equivalent of $30 for it. L

My parents were here last weekend, and it was so good to see my dad. Except he fell the day before coming and broke some ribs. Huge bruises to boot. Yet he still came. That’s a trooper. But then he couldn’t walk that fast and was in a lot of pain. And then he and I both decided it would be a good time to get sick. He had to lie in bed for most of Saturday, and he was only here 48 hours. What luck! But it was good just to see him and show him Berlin. He’ll be back in the spring for sure. And of course it was good to see my mom, but extra special to see my dad since it’s been a while. Oh yeah, that reminds me, my brother leaves tomorrow for truck driver training. That’s right, he’s becoming a truck driver. No comment. Except I hope he enjoys it. And I hope he toots his horn when people do that arm thing driving by on the freeway. I always loved doing that as a kid.

Let’s see, I also finally got my visa on Thursday. You get a 90-day tourist visa, and I got my residence visa about 80 days into my tourist visa. Phew. My residence visa ends June 30, which is the same day my job does. I asked for an extension, since I’d heard that sometimes they’ll give you a few days or even a month. The woman got really mad at me and said they never ever do that (yes, they do, my friend just got a one-month extension). I guess I will have to go to Poland on June 30 and get my passport stamped coming back in. This would be after my last day of work. Or maybe I will just be gone before then. Argh, who knows. But one thing for sure—German bureaucracy is as HORRIBLE as the stereotype.

The woman who lived in my apartment before I moved in (i.e., the one whose room I took) came back and took practically every single thing in the whole apartment since she’s moving to Munich. I’m not kidding. She took my bed, which is kinda something I wasn’t happy about. Actually, I should say mattress, because I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Yep, just as un-fun as it sounds. She even took things like the toilet bowl cleaner, the salt and pepper shakers, just about everything. While my apartment was once full of all sorts of furniture, it is now almost completely empty. She had a right to take it all, as she owns it, but I feel like she could have at least left the toilet bowl cleaner. She must really be as broke as my roommate says she is. Also, my roommate hates her a lot, and it makes me feel weird, but at least I know I don’t have big shoes to fill.

So I needed to get a new bed. I’d been sleeping on some “emergency” mattresses from neighbors upstairs, but they looked like someone had had an emergency on them, if you get my drift. I was very happy to be buying a new mattress, rather than borrowing or buying one. Was not happy to shell out the money for one. Never realized just how expensive they are! I headed to Ikea on Friday to buy the mattress and an actual bed frame. Was interesting going there alone. I felt a little foolish lying on all the beds and mattresses, trying to figure out which were the best. Decided on a 21-Euro bed frame, and so I went to the warehouse section of the store to find the bed, and I put it on my cart and was wondering why the price was 39 Euro. Just figured it was a mistake. Waited in the Costco-like line, asked cashier why the price was wrong, he said go ask the customer service, so waited in another Costco-esque line, was told the price was really 39 Euro. At which point I realized I bought the wrong bed. Well, the right bed, but in the wrong size. Typical Meghan. So had to go back and get the right one (which was not where they said it was), wait in the Costo line, and then go back to customer service to return the other. Lots of waiting in lines, as you can see. Oh yeah, had to wait in the delivery line too, since there is no way I could take a bed frame, a mattress, and my assorted goodies back on the S-Bahn.

Amazingly, the bed was delivered within 24 hours, and I had the pleasure of setting it up all by my lonesome yesterday. It was an easy process overall, until I got to the end and had all these extra metal parts. The picture instructions (thank God not in German) told me what to do, but it made no sense, so I just left them out and set up my mattress (which smells like dead fish, they must have sprayed it with chemicals for its warehouse life) and bedding. Then I decided it was probably a good idea to figure out what to do with the metal parts, so I disassembled the bed partially and added them in. I’m pretty sure they serve no function whatsoever. We’ll see how long this bed lasts before it breaks while I am in a deep sleep. You all know it’s bound to happen. I mean, come on, it’s me we’re talking about. I am not known for my assembly skills.

It was also Halloween this past week, which means I got to teach my students about it and bring candy corn to school. The kids decided that German candy is definitely better. Fine by me, that means more candy corn for me. I won’t complain. I also got a room of 30 11-graders to sing the "Trick or treat, smell my feet" song, which was admittedly awesome. And we actually had trick-or-treaters come by our apartment on Wednesday night, and I was so happy I gave them full-size candy bars (I didn’t have any other candy, but trust me, that is really generous of me, as I have a huge sweet-tooth). And I took pictures of them too. Made my night.

Friday night I went to a Halloween party with all the American and British teaching assistants in Berlin. It started at 7 and was hosted by our sorta mentor and her husband. I couldn’t believe that some people were rude enough to come already drunk at 11 or 12. When a party starts at 7 and is hosted by a real adult, I think it’s bad to come so late. And to pre-game so much. More than one person had to go throw up. Glad to hear they are enjoying the other Berliner experiences that are really foreign to me.

I’ll skip the commentary on my huge law school angst—how I screwed up recommender forms, how my mom has had to tell me to give it a rest several times, how I hate applying from a foreign country, how I fear I will not get into any schools, etc. I’ve made so many mistakes, and I am sure my pre-law advisor is tired of getting my emails every day. At least I’m done with 7 apps, and have 3 more to go, although I’m delaying those until a little later in the game in case I get in anywhere earlier.

Well, this has been a long post, and I need to do my lesson plan for tomorrow. Still haven't talked about a lot, like my classes and how these creepy people keep talking to me on AIM (people I know, but still creepy (ok, nice but creepy)). Oh, I promise to post pictures soon! Tschues!

Die verheerendere Großflächenbrände

Most everyone has already heard about the raging wildfires all over Southern California. The news is major, even here in Berlin. Every day it is on the front page of all the German papers, and it's even on the Berliner Fenster (the news program that is shown on the subway). Friends from across the U.S. and even my friend in Serbia emailed to see if my house was ok. That makes me realize just how bad the situation is/was, since being so far from home I can't see for myself.

I am brought to tears reading about what is going on in Orange County in particular (check out coverage here), especially because it has been determined that the fires are a result of arson. There are a couple fires blazing within a few miles of my house, threatening my elementary school, my old post office and favorite childhood restaurant, many of the stores at which I used to shop, and the roads on which I often drove. My mother was in Istanbul at the beginning of the week, and as she caught wind of the news, she freaked out about our house, and even told me that my dad might not be able to visit me (they both came and visited me this weekend--more about that and how my dad and I got sick in another post--and I am happy to report that my house is totally fine and my brother, dog, and bird stayed home to be our heroes).

I knew all along that my house would be ok, even though we are completely surrounded by fire-feeding woods. My dad said he had to clean up a ton of ashes in our front and backyards, and the sky is dark with smoke. You can see the fires from the toll road (the 241), as the sides of the road are burning in many areas. Here's a good map of the safe distance my house is from the fire (FYI, I live in Coto de Caza). However, until fourth grade I lived in Robinson Ranch in Trabuco Canyon, and we used to go down into the affected canyons (Santiago, Modjeska, Trabuco) all the time--our orthodontist, the post office, Senor Lico's (only the best restaurant ever), and our 4-H club (don't laugh) were there. The road right past Robinson Ranch was closed, and my high school and presumably my elementary school were closed on Friday.

Despite my house not being in danger, I feel for the victims of the fires, the victims of the arsonist, I should say. I think roughly 14 homes or so have been lost in Modjeska, and a few firefighters have sustained minor injuries.

I realize that pretty much none of my "readers" is from OC, and since I'm not affected by the fires none of you probably cares that much about the situation, but I just needed a place to express my sadness. And oddly enough, I think all of this is making me a little homesick. Not homesick for my family, per se, since my parents were literally with me until a couple of hours ago (although I miss my two "brothers," Beau and James, not necessarily in that order), but homesick for the best place to live in the entire world.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/county-fire-fires-1911377-san-orange

"You are monster."

At least according to a German guy with whom I was forced to have a conversation about abortion . . . in a mixture of German and English, and I don't think either one of us was qualified to talk about the issue in our non-native languages. He admitted that he could not think of any other word connoting someone who is a bad person, so that's why he called me a monster. I was at a party Saturday night at my Yemeni friend's apartment and my American friend just had to tell his German roommate that I was conservative, and his roommate would not stop talking to me about political philosophy, despite my total lack of interest in the topic. And then his other German friend wanted to talk about abortion and how I was personally responsible for all the children living in homes without parents. I just have keine Lust dazu--I don't want to talk about (American) politics with Germans because they just don't get it. I know I should be an ambassador and all, but sometimes I just want to have mindless conversation like everyone else.

Otherwise, I quite enjoyed myself at this party, and I am amazed and happy that my social calendar has really picked up. Friday night I went to a shisha bar with people from my church (yes, church people here regularly go out to bars together, which seems totally odd to my American Christian self). It was fun, except I somehow managed to be stuck talking to a guy from Brazil whose English was almost as terrible as his German (which was totally non-existent), so I spoke to him in Spanish, but at the same time this German guy whose English wasn't the best was also trying to talk to me, and they couldn't understand each other at all. I finally had to excuse myself politely, because I am definitely not meant to be a translator.

Anyway, this past week was time to be a tourist, since it was fall break and I didn't have any money to go anywhere (today was the start of my eighth week of teaching and I still have not been paid a single cent). Monday I took an awesome, free four-hour tour (wow, what proof of the messed-up vowels of the English language! do any of those rhyme for you? actually, four and tour rhyme for me, but for most people they don't) of Berlin. And then because it was so nice my friend and I lay outside amongst all these really ugly statues reading. The return of pictures when I can get my camera cord to work!

Oh, my tour guide was also at the ballet on Friday night, and he said he was sitting right behind
Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise! Man, if only I had known that. Would have loved to get a glimpse of such an adorable baby and an opportunity to knock some sense into a clearly brainwashed woman. And my friend found an article about what happened to the dancer. Poor guy.

Tuesday I went to class and waited around 20 minutes for it to start, since German university classes start c.t., or cum tempore, which means 15 minutes after the scheduled time. But my professor decided there was no real reason to actually show up, and no real reason to tell everyone that. His head TF was kind enough to inform us that he was out of the country and that lecture begins next week. I was pretty peeved.

Tuesday night I went to a Mexican-American bar and had the worst nachos ever. I was so happy to find Mexican food after a weeks-long quest, but it was lousy. But the laser and firework show at Alexanderplatz afterward more than made up for the culinary shortcomings of the evening. The lasers weren't that easy to see because the wind kept blowing all the smoke away, and the fireworks were nothing like what is used in any random American town to celebrate the Fourth of July, but it was still nice to stand in a crowd of a bunch of impatient Germans and pretend I was back in the U.S.

Let's see, I'm sorta forgetting what I did on Wednesday. At night I met up with the HU Christian group for a Bible study that never actually involved studying the Bible. Thursday I had two Linguistics seminars at HU, and they were just introductions, so I can't say what I think. Except that German students have it easy. They get a choice between a presentation or a term paper, and that's all their homework. Although I guess I always found my own seminars to be extremely easy.

I went to the Pergamonmuseum on Thursday night (free entrance!) and was so bored. The whole altar thing was cool, but Greek and Roman art does not really interest me. But the Islamic art was pretty awesome! And on Friday I went to Potsdam to see Sanssouci, except I couldn't go in any buildings because I don't have any money. So we resorted to walking around in the cold and admiring the miles of gardens. Saturday I went on a tour of a big bunker-like tower that the Nazis used during WWII, except unbeknownst to our entirely bilingual group, the tour was in German. Except I can't understand anything about the military, so I basically paid 7 Euro to stand around in a dilapidated old tower.

See, I told you I really was like a tourist this past week!

I was beginning to feel a bit of Heimweh, especially because the whole free time thing
was really getting on my nerves. I think I miss being at college, where I sorta choose what I want to do but at the same time have a nice big security blanket. But I am quickly accumulating a melee of international friends, and none of them is even a fellow Fulbright teacher (ok, except one). Now it's like every night I have something to do, and I'm missing a lot of activities this weekend because my parents are coming (like a Halloween party with the strict mandate of bringing alcohol with you--again, this is Christian people, my little naive self is shocked) . I'm really excited to be seeing my dad, as I only saw him for about four days this summer. They'll only be here for two days, but I'm glad to show him around. Except it's like 35-40 degrees out, and I'm not looking forward to being outside any more than I have to.

Gotta finally finish the law school apps. Oh yeah, I got my LSAT score, and contrary to what my nightmares predicted, I did not get a 160. I got a 180. Haha, totally lying. I'll just say I got somewhere in between.

P.S.

Since when does spreading lies about the environment have anything to do with the preservation of peace?

And personally, I pray for global warming. It's been less than 50 here the past few days, and I don't want to have to break out the long underwear just yet . . .

Gott sei Dank!

I am sitting here at the HUGE, apparently really happening Starbucks right by apartment (as in I was sitting there several hours ago, considering Starbucks wireless costs 8 Euro an hour), lounging in an incredibly comfortable chair, attempting to tackle the law-school essays I still have left (Duke and Berkeley, seriously, do you really need such specific essays?). I couldn't get any work done in my room, as I would just end up watching The Hills on the MTV website. Don't ask me how I got into this show. Maybe it's because MTV is the only channel that lets me watch online videos even though I am out of the country. Thanks a lot, NBC. I've been having to watch bootlegged Office episodes on random websites. Speaking of Starbucks, I always enjoy predicting how my name will be written on my cup. I guess no Meg(h)ans travel to Germany or something because no Germans have ever heard of my name whatsoever! They hear the first syllable and think it must be written with an A, since that is how the English A is pronounced in isolation (this would be the German E). Today I got Meagen, which was then crossed out and Meagan was written. Best effort thus far. The last time I got Magen, which means stomach in German. Magan is the most common attempt. Not like I go to Starbucks a lot or anything. I mean, come on, it's an evil American corporation and I totally don't support globalization. I've learned enough from the textbooks my students read to make informed decisions.

Today at church I met some people who were visiting for the first time, and the guy was from Russia and the girl from China. The guy actually asked me point plank, "So, what's the Bible about?" First time I have ever been asked that question, and it sorta hit me in the face that there are actually people who did not grow up in a country based on Judeo-Christian principles. And I actually had difficulty explaining to him just exactly what the Bible was about because I was really conscious about the very Christian language I am used to using to talk about the Bible, faith, etc. He also is obviously not a native English speaker, and his and my German abilities are not the best. They both kept saying over and over how they have no idea how to pray, and I kept thinking, well sheesh, didn't you just see me get called on the spot to pray for the group and fumble my way through a prayer, obviously there's no method to the madness. The girl was really excited about Christianity, and it was really cool to see how much her eyes kinda widened when talking about how much she likes Christian principles and the Christian people she has recently met. She seems really close to making that leap of faith, but it seems like the guy might be holding her back a little. One of the girls from the church is planning on meeting with her--please keep her in your prayers!

Last night I went to a housewarming party at some guy's apartment in what could have been an average neighborhood in Ankara or Istanbul. On the way to and from the party, I swear, I did not see one single person who did not appear to be Turkish. It's really quite an interesting thing about Berlin, how you're almost in another world some time. Anyway, it was really awkward at first at this party, because the guy who brought me (an American who for some undeterminable reason is getting his degree in Germany) did a really bad job of introducing us to people, because it turns out he didn't really know who a lot of people were either. I also came with a Yemeni guy who did a year of high school in Las Vegas (and stayed with a Mormon family, interestingly) and he and I sorta stuck together because we felt like outcasts. I think the host of the party is probably still wondering who the heck we were. But there were Peanut M&M's, so I'm glad I went.

Friday night I went with friends to see a ballet called Giselle. We got amazing seats for only 12 Euro because of the last-minute student discount. It was a pretty good show, and the dancers were fabulous, but we got almost to the end and then the male dancer fell and ran off stage abruptly. The ensemble cast just stood there and did nothing while the music played and it was clear the guy was supposed to be dancing. So then the female lead came out and did some improvisational dancing, which was obvious because it was a really anti-climactic ending. The guy is supposed to die in the end--the women all kill him by dancing him to death because of his bad actions in the first act--but instead it just ended with the woman prancing around the stage. Too bad, but I think I'll keep going to events at the Opera if I can keep getting such amazing seats for only 12 Euro.

Thursday night my tandem partner and I hung out for about 3.5 hours working on my German, and barely working on her English. She's really nice and I'm looking forward to getting to hang out with her more (and turning the tables on her and speaking English rapidly). Next week we are going to the opening of the Berlin Festival of Lights, which will involve Feuerwerk and a laser show. Hope to be able to post photos later.

Oh, on the subway on the way to church this morning, there was a woman with EIGHT children. They all looked like various-sized cookie cut-outs of the mom. I'm impressed.

And oh, I was Skyping with a friend the other day and he said something along the lines of, I don't like people who keep blogs, they think people actually care what they do. And yeah, I realize this is sorta silly, who cares what I am doing with my life. But this is for those of you who are bored at work, want to procrastinate from doing homework, or maybe actually even care about me. Although since NO ONE ever leaves me comments anymore, how can I possibly know?

Das alles ist Deutschland

If you want a good idea of what Germany is like, watch this video.

And here are the lyrics (translated into English, no worries).

Have been enjoying this week, except I have way too much free time and thus have been wasting my time doing nothing. I really need to get out and do more stuff, but it's getting too cold! Hmm, maybe I'll go to a museum now since it's Thursday evening and they're free. Except I have to meet someone to do a language tandem thing tonight.

Anyway, last night I went to the HU Christian group's Bible study. I had a good time (when I could understand what was going on), but it was funny that out of the seven people there three of us are native English speakers. And a few more who weren't able to make it are also native speakers. So I think technically the native German speakers are outnumbered. Oh well. But yeah, it's a good opportunity for me to make friends, because otherwise it is quite difficult. I haven't kept up with any of the other American or British TAs (except for one), because I did not come to Germany to hang out with Americans. Although I guess sometimes it would be nice to have an English-speaking security blanket. I think most of them are mainly interested in clubbing and staying out until 6 in the morning, which is not really my thing. No, not my thing in the least bit. So now I have a few people from this church I go to and I hope these people from HU, but we'll see how it goes. And perhaps I will make friends in my German class? Oh, I also contacted a pro-life group in Berlin because I think it would be cool to get involved here, and I was surprised to get a response--the website was so outdated-looking that I figured the group was now defunct or something. So I will update you if in fact I do do anything with other pro-lifers.

It turns out I am not going on vacation next week. I had hoped to go to Scandinavia, and then I thought I was going to Switzerland, and then I hoped to go to Bratislava, and then I thought about going to Italy and then on to Slovenia and Croatia, but because I have not gotten paid I do not have the financial means to travel. I am quite PO'ed at Berlin for this, because I could be enjoying my roughly 10-day vacation somewhere exciting, and you all know I love to travel. But I have to pay for law school apps--probably close to $800--and I absolutely had to pay my rent and deposit, in total 730 Euros. My German bank account had 1 Euro in it, and my American one was so low that my parents had to give me some money, unless I wanted to forget about the whole law school apps thing. I *should* get paid next week, roughly six or seven weeks after I started teaching, which in my opinion is really irresponsible on the part of the Berlin government. I wish I were getting paid directly by Fulbright--those people have already gotten paid for September AND October.

Anyway, teaching has been ok. Monday was my first conversation course, and 11 students showed up. I was quite content with the number--so many had told me they were coming, and they didn't, which made it better for allowing everyone to participate. The students seemed to like the course, even forgoing their ten-minute break to keep going. They basically spent the whole time interviewing each other with deeper questions than the standard name, age, family sort of thing, and then they shared with the class. I think more students will come to the next one, since apparently they did not know the class started this week. I'll probably teach about the American school system, as they keep asking me so many questions about it and I want to get it out of the way. The week after that I'll definitely teach them about Halloween. I wish in my other classes they let me do more--right now I'm just answering questions like "Can you say that in English?" and "How do you say such and such?" Not very challenging. I think I might step in and ask for more responsibility, even if they don't know what to do with me.

I had an interesting discussion with one of my classes yesterday about why Americans have to learn American history (one boy seemed to think it was terrible of us), and I had to point out the obvious, that they have to learn German history. Sometimes it seems like people are looking for an excuse to vilify the U.S. (or the U.S.A., as they always say--I tried to convince them that we don't really use the A all that much, but they don't believe me). The teacher fortunately pointed out that they are all biased because the media are biased, they're German, etc., and that they should put themselves in Americans' shoes. But another one of my teachers is so blatantly anti-Bush, and has made me uncomfortable several times. What am I supposed to do, openly call him out? P.S. I pray that no one from my school finds this blog. Not sure how they could?

Oh, on Monday my mom and I went to Ikea, which is a totally awesome place. I don't think I'd ever been there in the U.S. before. Seriously, there was so much cheap but not bad quality stuff. I got a bunch of things for my room, and if it weren't for my two ugly painted walls, my room might actually look nice. I'll have to see about painting over it.

Ok, that's it for now, I must actually do something productive. Tschues!