Meine Abenteuer in Berlin

Oh, my gosh! I have so much to write about, and not so much time to write it in!

Let's start with what I did this weekend. On Friday, I met a friend of my family's at Potsdam Hauptbahnhof and went with her to Berlin, where I saw my first opera ever, La Traviata. It was amazing, and even though it was a modern take on the original, I could still sort of get what they meant. (The analysis will be haunting my dreams, I assure you, lol.)

They sang in German and Italian. I used to understand a bit more of Italian, since it's a romance language, but now I understand more German, so that was interesting. Thankfully I had a screen in front of me with an English translation, so I didn't get lost. Oh, and here's one interesting tid-bit. La Traviata is about a "working woman," and so is Carmen. What was it with these composers and their interest in the life of prostitutes, I wonder? Just putting it out there!

Today I had the oportunity of going to not one, but two museums in Berlin: The Neue Museum and The Pergamon. I didn't have too much time to spend there, but I've gotta say, both are worth visiting. I hope to go there again while I'm here, especially to the Pergamon. (They have a t-shirt I want, lol. Not to mention all the amazing artifacts and exhibits!!!)

And now I have a few words to say about Berlin. Like other great cities of culture (Paris, Rome, New York, even), Berlin has its own rhythm. Its own ebb and flow of traffic, sounds, and sights. While I was walking to the museum island, we crossed over a bridge, and there was a man playing an accordian there. The sky was its classic business suit gray, and the water in the river below reflected the color back like graphite. And of course the stones in the street were left shining from the recent rain. The whole thing was so amazing, I can't possibly describe it. But if you have ever been someplace that just oozes of stories, whether real or fiction, then you know how a place like Berlin feels.

Okay, I've had my little creative writing exercise, lol, so let's continue. Thursday was 11.11, or Elfte Elfte, aka the day when German teens go crazy for absolutely no reason at all. They dressed up in all sorts of crazy outfits for school, and we have what would be our equivalent of a pep rally. Oh, and here's something that sort of shocked me: I think the total number of students attending my school here is about an eigth the amount of those in my high school back home. Crazy, right?

And now we continue my little list: (uhm, which number were we on? oh, well, I'll just do bullets for now...)
-We had a fire drill a few weeks back in my school. I have to say, it wasn't very organized, and they didn't check to see if everyone was there. I really hope they never have a fire or other catastrophe here..
-They have German pretzel vendors in Berlin. I freaking LOVE that place!! lolz
-The sun is a primadonna here. It makes seldom makes appearances, and it's not terribly spectacular when it does. (Okay, fine, it's spectacular. It's like the color comes flooding back to the world in a torrent of light. Happy? hahaha.)
-Germans do not use the handy-dandy serrated edge of the aluminium foil box. They throw away the box, and leave American foreign exchange students to struggle with the roll of foil as they go to make their lunches, lol.
-Some German boys look like Edward Cullen and Clark Kent. Some smoke, some don't. Some are nice, some aren't. Some are dull, others must be smart (but I can't grasp what they're saying cuz it's in German, lol). Some are fit, some aren't. But all of them wear clothes which would label them as gay in CA in about, oh, point 5 seconds, lol. This is the dillemna: Is it just European style? lolz

Stay tuned for next week's episode, where our attractive and intelligent young heroine ventures out into a world which is quickly turning into a very cold, but very pretty, Winter city.