After taking the ICE (oh, it stands for the InterCity Express), I arrived in Berlin, my home for the next year. The train ride was fun. I spoke with a gentleman from Saarland, one of the 16 federal states in Germany. It's on the border of France, Germany, and Belgium, so students who go to school there learn German, French, and English.
We had a nice conversation, completely in German, of course, and he told me some pretty cool stories. He used to play handball. If you don't know what it is, find out. It's pretty nuts.
In Berlin, I was met at the Hauptbahnhof by my dear friend, Manuela. We've known each other for a few years now, so it was really awesome of her to come greet me when I got off the train. Brandon and I bid each other farewell until next week. We'll see each other when we register and continue our dinner party tradition.
It's nice being back in Berlin, and I'm enjoying my room again. I stayed my two new roommates last year as well, since Ronny was my first German teacher at the UW in 2007. It's pretty awesome that we're now roommates. Dinner was fantastic. Potatoes, fish, eggplant, and salad. I was so happy since I only ate two cheese bread rolls this morning.
As nice as it is to be in Berlin, I certainly will miss Marburg. It was a great place to study for my six-week long language course, and I met many awesome people. We had our celebration dinner last night by the Rathaus, but unfortunately, the restaurant thought we were coming tonight, so they did not have the place reserved for us or the buffet prepared. Schade.
Nevertheless, we had a good time. They set up tables for us outside, and we could order whatever drinks we wanted. Food choices included schnitzel (various kinds) and pasta. I had Wiener Schnitzel, and it was delicious.
Before we ate, we also had a nice musical performance from two of our fellow Fulbrighter friends. 'Twas very nice.
Our class also decided to take a picture together, since both of our teachers (and many of the others) were there as well. Oh, I got a haircut yesterday too. It was definitely more successful than the first one I got a few weeks back as I finally figured out what to say in German.
Earlier in the day, we actually played Pictionary, as I mentioned in my blog yesterday. I had to draw the last word, and one of our two teachers (they alternated days) gave me the name of the other teacher as the word to draw. It was pretty hilarious. Here's a picture of what I drew:
Tomorrow, I really have no plans for what I'm going to do. Probably prep for my research. I'm meeting up with a number of Fulbrighters and friends in Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest, so that will be fun. It's the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, so I picked a good year to come.
I think I'm going to hit the sack soon. Glad to be able to sleep again.
Sam
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