Picture bomb

It's no surprise that I am very bad at (and don't really like) posting pictures on Facebook, and most of the ones I do post are just of my face and other people. But I know there are some who would like to see what I am seeing, so here you go! A small sampling of the pictures I've taken.

The Jewish synagogue on the street parallel to my school

A museum and what many buildings around Berlin look like

Old National Gallery

Bullet holes left from WWII

The building from the last scene of "Goodbye Lenin" and the view from my school

Brandenburg Tor

German flag inside the Reichstag

Walking up the dome

Top of the dome

Cute picture (can't remember what it's from) in a museum

View from my room and the hidden playground on a roof

Outside of palace in Potsdam used to house visitors

Room for parties-walls, ceiling, and floor is made of rocks and shells

Krakow

Taco Mexicano- the sister restaurant of Bigfork's Taco Mexico

View from the palace in Krakow

Jewish cemetery in Krakow

Concert house and a public art display highlighting the struggles of refugees- pillars covered in orange lifejackets

Church in Dresden

Art!

More art!

Panoramic of the Olympic Stadium

The Olympic Stadium being used to play soccer--I mean football

Siedlungs in Berlin- identical, easy to build houses with slight individuality to help solve housing problems after WWI

The First Month

How many before me have taken this picture?

The first two weeks here were just orientation. Taking tours of the area, getting to know people from across the country, showing up late to informational meetings, you know the drill. Our "school" (we're getting credits through Humboldt but all of our classes are in English and in a totally separate building) is in the former East Germany and really close to the Jewish Quarters, plus it's Berlin, so you can imagine all of the history we see on a daily basis. But it's taken a while to really feel the history, rather than wonder at the city's age.

The thing that helped drill it into me was a tour through the bunkers under Berlin. During the Cold War, several bunkers were built to protect citizens from nuclear attack, and all of them are still functional, though mostly serve as places to teach, remind us of what could be, and, for me, provide imaginings of what it would actually be like to go through something like that.

I can't fully describe the bunkers, and we weren't allowed to take any pictures. But I'm sure you've watched enough disaster movies and read enough history books to understand what I'm talking about. On top of that, memorials to those lost in World War II are a constant reminder to the history of Germany and every class I'm in has had at least one big discussion about the fall of the wall and what it means to the City of Berlin. I've been dwelling on a question while I've been here--how much does the pain of history have to be at the forefront of our minds? It's important to learn from past mistakes, but does that prevent one from looking into the future?

I was worried that I would feel like a tourist in this Country, and for the first couple weeks I did. I tried to order food in German, but every one spoke a little too fast for me to understand the first time. Plus traveling mostly in large groups of loud Americans drew a lot of attention to our foreign-ness. I thought a lot about how best to blend into the crowd, how to look like a Berliner, so I didn't hold my camera out at every monument or wear the bright colors I'm used to. I kept my head down and used my RBF (resting bitch face) on the trains. But after the first weekend I realized maybe it's not such a bad thing to be a tourist. So, after the first month, I still listen to my podcasts and music on the train, but look up a little more often. I smile at one or two more people and I just bought a bright red coat. I have the chance to change who I am in Berlin, but I think I still want to be mostly me.

The Sad State of a Millennial

I was ready for the language barrier, the potential of food I wouldn't like, the jet-lag, the culture shock. But when I opened up my laptop and logged into Netflix for the first time in a different country, I was not ready to frantically search for Parks and Recreation, only to find that I would have to wait until May to finish the last season. Sure, they have Brooklyn 99, but it's just not the same.

They may not have all of my favorite shows and movies, but Netflix in Germany is still pretty great. They have way more animated films, and everything has the option of German audio--perfect for someone who has seen Rise of the Guardians five times and is trying to learn German. Almost anything you want has the actor's speaking German and mouthing English (although their best matching them up), which makes sense, because, according to Wikipedia, 'Germany has the most foreign-movie-dubbing studios per capita and per given area in the world.*" I've been torn a lot these first couple weeks between watching Netflix's new series "Scream," or seeing how the Germans voice Bugs Bunny in "Space Jam." That's right, we have "Space Jam." And "Shrek." Top that, America.

My friend Savannah told me that it's nice to have music you're used to when you leave home, and I was warned before I left by my RA that Germany doesn't have Pandora, but I still didn't prepare for the emotional trauma when I tried to play my oldies station only to be told that Pandora is not available in my country. I thought I could get by with just listening to podcasts, but it turns out sometimes I want to listen to music while cleaning my room or hanging out along. So I began looking for different options. I didn't want to pay for Spotify, and I couldn't understand all of the German on the page, so it had to go. There are some German sites, like Aupeo and 6 Seconds, but I just don't understand the layout and I am too impatient to learn. So I've been looking up playlists on YouTube of oldies (one of my faves here), but that gets real old if I want to do anything else on my phone. It's been a real struggle, especially since the copyright laws are really strict here, and if I were to rip something from YouTube, I could get hit with a huge fine.

It's been a struggle these past couple weeks, but somehow I've managed to keep my head up through it all. I just thank God I have other apps like Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to keep me sane through these rough times.