I did it. I took a picture of my döner. The one I had after I last blogged. Deeeeeeeeeelicious!
In fact, so delicious...a bird wanted some too. So I fed it crumbs.
Well, I was on my way to meet the students in the Honors Berlin program for a tour of the Jewish Museum, which I had still not visited in my two previous trips to Berlin. As I walked, I saw a basketball court, but of course, there were soccer goals at each end. Two boys were playing there, and they were playing soccer on the court. I was disappointed they weren't shooting hoops. haha.
The Museum was pretty neat though, although the tour guide talked on and on and on. My goodness, man! I had to leave immediately after the tour since I had a dinner in southwest Berlin to get to, but I hope to go back sometime and just explore on my own.
Dinner last night was great though. I spent the evening with a family introduced to me by another friend, and we had a great conversation about all sorts of things, including their recent trip to Oregon and their son's hopes to study for one year of high school in either the US or New Zealand. Where would you choose?
The food was delicious--we had Indian curry! Meeting people is part of what I love about international travel, and especially when you get a glimpse of their daily lives. Anyway, I had a great time, and I made it home just after midnight. Still I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the full moon. (The light in the middle--the other one is a street lamp).
Well, this morning, I woke up around 9:30 am and planned out my goals for the day--visit the Hertie School of Governance (potential graduate school for me), have lunch with Manuela and Ronny (both from Humboldt and good friends--I'll explain another day), and then meet up with whoever would like to grab food or a drink.
Instead, I got out late, so I went straight to lunch with Manuela and Ronny near the Humboldt campus, and I remembered that I needed to take more pictures with my stuffed penguin--Fredolyn and I got penguins so we could take them around the world to take pictures with.
Someone inside saw me and laughed. Jerk.
Oh well, lunch was fun. We all spoke in German at one point in the conversation (well, I mostly sat and listened but I understood at least 90% of the conversation, so that was good). I said a few words here and there in German, then back to English.
After lunch, we went up to one of the professors' offices where Manuela works. Nice view of the Neue Wache.
In the office though, I saw a hilarious puppet that I wanted to take a picture of. Awesome, eh?? It's name is Ginger.
Since I didn't make it to the Hertie School before lunch, I headed there after and snapped a few more pictures of familiar places along the way. I have taken considerably less pictures in Berlin each time I come back, because it'd feel the same way I feel when I take pictures in Seattle. I'm trying to take more though so I can document my trip. Greece will be a different story; not to worry.
Once I got to the Hertie School, I went to the receptionist and basically asked if she had any info for a prospective student. Turns out they are pretty quiet during the summer, so no one was around. Plus all my friends who graduated from Hertie were not around either.
The receptionist was extremely nice though and made a few calls to see if anyone could show me around. When it became clear that people's schedules were busy and since I hadn't made an appointment, she basically put up her away sign and said, "Let's go, I'll show you around." Talk about great first impressions of the school.
They recently moved to their new offices in the few years, so it's a nice place. I took a few pictures.
I eventually even got to meet up with the recruitment officer, who gave me another extended tour and then challenged me to a game of Foosball, which he barely beat me by one goal. I also got to meet up with the Career Services advisor, and we had a great conversation about what I see for my own future, both academically and professionally. Still working on that...but he thinks there's plenty of great opportunities internationally.
Two hours after walking in with no appointment and a simple idea of just touring the building, I left with a number of contacts, plenty of helpful information, and a great feeling about the institution itself after such a warm reception.
Anyway, the rest of the night was mostly running quick errands (Fredolyn, I have your flag!), and then meeting up with the others for drinks and a bit of a bar outing. I took another penguin picture on my way.
Then I ran into a few of the Honors Program folks near Alexanderplatz, and they kindly helped me out with another first I'm trying on this trip--one of my high school teachers' face-on-a-stick idea. She took a goofy picture of herself (she's a phenomenal teacher and person) and sent one to me on a stick so I could "take her around the world." I have to admit, I haven't been able to do it quite yet on my own in Berlin--I'm waiting for some help from others, but don't worry, D-Ro, I will get there. Muhammed helped me out this time. :)
I headed to the students' apartments and met up with a few before heading to Kottbusser Tor for dinner at my favorite burger place in Berlin. I even got a "Turkish Sprite" to go along with my two burgers and fries with mayo and ketchup. I was stuffed! Not a bad deal either--only 5 Euro.
After a short break at home (dropped off my backpack with all my Hertie brochures), I headed out to the apartments again to meet up with a few friends to hit up a beach bar nearby.
Berliners don't usually party till late at night, so we were a bit early. But we had a few drinks before we left, and soon enough, it was dark enough and a decent time to head out.
The bar was called Kiki Blofeld and was on the bank of the Spree River. It was pretty fun. Plus I got to use my night scene function on my camera. I have enjoyed getting to know most of the folks in the Berlin program, although I'm still struggling to remember everyone's names. Getting there slowly...it'll be sad to leave when I fly to Athens as I've enjoyed my time with them very much. If only I had Hermione's Time Turner, so I could be in Athens and Berlin at the same time...
Anyway, I finally headed home around 1:15 am and got back in just 15 minutes. Record time, I think! Thank goodness for U-Bahns and busses.
Tomorrow is another packed day, so it's time for bed. But I'm going to join the group at the Pergamon Museum (my favorite in Berlin) and then head to the Hertha BSC season opener against Hannover (hopefully, we will get tickets...keeping my fingers crossed). Then tomorrow night, Prater Beergarden with my buddy, Steffen, and anyone else who wants to come!
Steffen, who visited me in Rome last August, is in Berlin from the University of Konstanz again, and so for the second summer in a row, I will get to hang out with my good friend from HIA.
Ok, bed time. Sorry for the long post. Hope you enjoy it. Gute Nacht!
Sam
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