We just got back from Berlin this afternoon. The entire BU program went (37 of us in total), so we had our own personal bus on the way back. Yet again I was able to enjoy the nice Wisconsin-esque countryside, and I even saw my first cows here!
On the way there we all took the early bird train (departing at 6 am) and arrived in Berlin at about 8:30 or so. We had half an hour to walk around the Hauptbahnhof, and Lin and I found our first Dunkin' Donuts since Boston! Of course we had to go, and I must admit, the donuts here are more delicious and have many more varieties. I got Raspberry-Banana or something like that. So good! Then the Libby's and the Bio Students separated for our free "lunch" from BU. We went to a nearby cafe/restaurant, and of course we were the only ones there because it was only 9 am. Since this was our free meal, we all stuffed ourselves as much as possible. I had some delicious minestrone soup and Cheese with Broccoli (technically it was Broccoli with Cheese Sauce and Cheese backed on top), but that broccoli could barely breathe in its little cheese swimming pool. Too much for my tastes.
Then we went to the Bundestag, Berlin's Parliament building. We sat in on an economic debate, but I didn't really understand anything they said, although I could tell where the different parties sat by who clapped and who laughed at the speaker. We walked to the top of the building next and went into the big glass dome. It has ramps along the inside of the dome so you can circle all the way up and get a great view of the city (unfortunately my camera was broken by then!) The top of the dome was open to the sky and had a bench underneath that people could lie on, so Lin and I stayed there awhile and looked at the clouds.
That was all BU had planned for us, so our Freizeit (free time) began at 2 pm or so. The majority of the group wanted to do a Stadtrundfahrt and see the sights, but my budget is tight so Lin and I wandered around for awhile looking at souvenirs. We met up with my friend Robin from Texas who's studying in Berlin for the year. He helped us find this Turkish Market that Lin wanted to check out, but we got kinda lost so we only had about 15 minutes to see the market before we met the rest of the group. It was exactly what I imagined a real market in Turkey would be like. Everything was kinda dirty and crowded and loud, but mega-cheap! I didn't buy anything, but it was worth it to see that little cluster of a different culture. There are a lot more Turks in Berlin than Dresden (they came in the 70's as Gästarbeiter, guestworkers) and have been here ever since. Their culture is pretty different so obviously there are some racial tensions in those areas. They make delicious döners though! I'm gonna miss those in the States.
Robin and I helped Lin find the rest of the group so they could check into their hostel, and then I went back with him to his apartment (he lives with a "Host mom," although she's a bit older.) We just hung out for awhile and talked about our impressions of Germany, where we'd travelled to, how our German language classes were going, etc etc. He's only been here 2 weeks, compared to my 4. We had Thai food for dinner! I miss Pad Thai so much. It was almost the same as what you get in Boston (although the portions are much smaller.)
At 8 I left to meet Oli at the Hauptbahnhof because he was taking the train to Berlin from Hamburg. It was so nice to see him again! He'd booked us a room in a really nice hostel (with its own bar and everything), but since all the Doppelzimmer were full, we ended up getting a 6-bed room to ourselves! Great party room! Oli brought some Bacardi Gold for me (it's kinda hard to find here), and he had Wodka mit Redbull for himself of course (it's quite popular here in Germany.) Also, for those of you who don't know German, w is pronounced as v so that's why Vodka is spelled differently. If it was actually pronounced the English way I don't think I would ever be able to order a drink without laughing! We listened to techno naturally, because this is Berlin we're talking about here. Although my tastes lean more towards eurodance and the dancier techno (for running and aerobics mostly), we both really enjoy House music and club hits. Those are better to chill out to anyways.
We went to this Disko called Soda Club, which was quite difficult to get into (and even more difficult to find the bathroom within,) but ended up having good dance music. There was a spanish/black music room, a Top Hits room, and a techno room (FTW!) We spent the night between the techno room and the Top Hits room. I know, you're all confused because I didn't spend the entire night in the techno room, but Top Hits are really good for dancing too! Plus it was fun to watch all the Bio Students hook up and grind on each other. :-) It was a fun club, but not what I expected for Berlin. That came on the second night...
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