If Only Every Day Were Like This One...

This morning, Brandon and I both woke up by 8 AM and then we went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff for our dinner tonight. Brandon's current roommate, Mario, is heading back to Spain tomorrow, so tonight was his last night in town and we wanted to celebrate with a nice, homecooked meal. Check out what I found in the "American" section of the grocery store.

After we shopped and prepped food for dinner, Brandon and I headed to Potsdamer Platz to meet our old "boss" so to speak. We both volunteered (Brandon still, actually) for the Meet US program through the US Embassy, where we would go out to local schools and speak about life in the US. Heike, who oversees the program, was meeting us for a little coffee/tea, which was nice. It was great to catch up!

Once we wrapped up our meeting, we headed to Schlachtensee, which is a lake in southwest Berlin near where I lived in 2008 during my HIA fellowship. It's a nice lake where people go swimming and chilling by the water. Apparently, there are also huge catfish in the water, which rarely but every once in a while will attack humans who venture too close to their nests. Naturally, that freaked me out a bit, but we still had a blast.

The weather was gorgeous, and even though it was warm out, the combination of swimming in a freshwater lake and laying out on the nearby grass with huge trees around us was just absolutely perfect. Surprisingly, this was actually the first time I'd ever gone swimming in Berlin. For Brandon though, it was his second time in two days. In fact, he took my underwater camera out for a swim and got some pictures.

We chilled on the grass for the rest of the afternoon, and it was nice to just soak in the sun (yes, I used sunscreen). The view and the sounds of the surrounding wildlife was quite relaxing.

Once we got home and showered, we went to pick up fish for our evening grill fest. We stopped by a Mediterranean grocery store, where Brandon apparently knew the owner and often got a nice discount. It was quite impressive, and I snapped a few photos of the food and drink selections.

After shopping, we went home and prepped dinner some more while snacking on some grilled mozarella (amazing) and Spanish olives (delicious).

I had also marinated some meat earlier in the day, so it was soon ready to be grilled. The fish (herring) was nicely prepared as well. With Brandon and Stefan, you always know you'll have good fish, since they study fish for a living and enjoy catching fish as well.

Stefan soon came over and Mario came home as well. Our old friend from our Fulbright program in Marburg, Nora, stopped by as well. It was a great reunion! We had quite the grill party once all the food was done.

It was a very pleasant evening, and it was beautiful out, too, since tonight was a full moon.

Later in the evening, a few of Mario's friends came over as well, so that was fun to have so many friendly folks over. Tomorrow, Brandon and I will find some time to go back to Schlachtensee with them, although Brandon first has to go to work and I have a meeting with my old Fulbright faculty advisor.

All in all, it was great to catch up with more friends and meet new ones as well. See a theme here? :) I am running out of time in Berlin though, and I still have many friends to visit. I don't think I will be able to visit them all, sadly.

But, till the next update...

The Adventures in Berlin Continue

I haven't updated the blog in a few days, because it's been a bit nuts since I last wrote a post. In fact, that was also the last time I was even really online. So, a quick recap.

On Friday morning, Sarina, Simon, and I went to breakfast in der Oberstadt, which is basically the upper part of Marburg. It's full of little shops, cafes, and restaurants along small cobblestone streets. There's a place that has a full breakfast for students for 5,80€ with drinks included.

Not only was the view amazing, but the food was also quite good as well. Check out the awesome drawings on our hardboiled eggs.

After breakfast and a bit of downtime at Sarina's, I headed to the south train station to meet my ride share to Berlin. On the bus, I snapped a view of the castle in Marburg. Everything seemed so familiar, since I had basically taken this bus to my language course three years ago.

My ride share arrived after a few minutes of me wondering if I was going to be able to find this blue 2010 Renault Clio. I don't have a German cell phone this time, so I've been making plans ahead of time and going to places at times I've arranged with people. For the most part, Germans are very punctual (and I try to be as well), so it works out well.

The plus side of a Mitfahrt (or ride share/carpool) is that it's quite affordable and is usually with pretty chill people. It only cost me 25€ instead of the 99€ for a train ticket. The down side is that you never know what's going to happen traffic-wise.

It doesn't happen often, but when a bad accident happens on the Autobahn, the entire thing just shuts down. My first experience with this was during my Fulbright year when it took me 12 hours to get from Marburg back to Berlin (normally takes six). This time, it took us nine hours, because of an accident that saw us move about 15 km in three hours — we were walking around on the Autobahn, because you literally could not move!

The radio later said it was backed up for 16 km (which is 10 miles), and it was only six km long when we first hit the back up. I asked our driver where we were, and even she had no idea. We turned around and saw this exit sign that cracked us up, because it sounds like literally in the middle of nowhere.

The three-hour delay meant that it would not be easy for me to meet up with Brandon, who would be hosting me for the week. Since I don't have a German cell this week, I realized I had to pull one of the SIM cards from my bag to see what might work (while avoiding costly charges on my American cell).

I ended up using up the balance on my Singaporean SIM card, but it did help me snag a bed for the night at another friend of mine's apartment. It worked out well, because she lives just around the corner from where I was dropped off — and also just down the street from one of my old apartments in Berlin-Neukölln.

It turns out she ended up cutting her night short after getting my text, so I felt awful. But she would have none of it. She let me sleep in her bed while she took the couch, even though I protested that I could sleep on the couch. So I made sure to buy her lunch the next day — at my favorite spot in Berlin.

My favorite spot is a schwarma shop that has 3€ chicken schwarma sandwiches that will fill you up. I used to go there all the time. But sadly, they've become more expensive and way too salty. In fact, it really didn't taste as good as it used to. Bummer. I may not be going back there anymore.

After thanking Tamar again, I headed to Brandon's. Thankfully, he was home, so we got to catch up. It was like old times!

Honestly, my Fulbright year was as great as it was, because I had a buddy like Brandon to hang out with. In catching up, it was like I had never left. He actually reminded me of some hilarious stories that I had completely forgotten — like how one of his first memories of me was at breakfast in Marburg when I stacked a plate full of schnitzel like pancakes and had a bowl of cereal to boot. In case you didn't know, you don't eat schnitzel for breakfast.

Soon, we both headed out: him to our friend Stefan's roommates' birthday party, where I'd join them later, and me to the complete opposite corner of the city to meet some old softball buddies for a drink. It was fun to see the guys and to chat about American sports in German. Good times!

After that, I headed to the other corner of the city to meet Stefan, Brandon, and the rest of the gang. It took me nearly two hours just to get there, even with only one transfer. It was really all the walking that caused the long transit, but still, it was quite a trek. Saw some really nice buildings on the way there, though.

It was great to see Stefan again, whom I had last seen in Seattle. I told him all our friends in Seattle said hi and that he should come back and visit again. Just like old times, we enjoyed some grilling, beers, and catching up in the park. Random note: we also saw a heron in the park.

Once it got dark, we decided to head to a bar with delicious Augustiner beer on tap. It's one of my absolute favorite beers, and it's either too expensive or too hard to find in the US. The bar was cool, too. There was the smallest foosball table I've ever seen, so we stuck with pool. Brandon and I paired up against two of the German friends we met in a sort of US vs. German shoot out. I'm ashamed to say that we started strong but couldn't finish in the clutch. Ugh.

After we left the bar, it was already quite late, so we spent the night at Stefan's, but not before we picked up a dürüm döner for the road. Sooo delicious!

Also, there was a funny little cartoon on the wall. An angel offered a boy three wishes, and he responds, "Okay, I'll have three döners." They're that good.

This morning, we all went to brunch at this all-you-can-eat place near Stefan's apartment (which is also very close to the HIA Berlin office). It was a smorgasbord of food to eat, but my appetite has changed such that I really can't eat that much anymore. So I only had two plates, which were both mostly vegetables and fruits. I didn't even bother grabbing bread.

After brunch, I had to leave them all to rush to the Berlin central train station to meet my friend, Benjamin, who came up from Leipzig for the day. I was so grateful to him for making the trip up to see me and to take pictures in Berlin. You can see his amazing photos on FB.

He thought it was funny that I (the American) was giving him (the German) a tour of Germany's capital city, but I'm glad I could show him around. We took a few pictures around the federal government buildings area, and I snapped a picture that a recent CW show had shown as "Nanjing, China" on TV.

I also got to see the articles of the German Constitution on a glass wall nearby for the first time. The first line is one that all Germans know: "Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar" or "Human dignity is inviolable."

We made our way to Unter den Linden and caught a boat up the Spree for a river tour. It was so hot out, but we were able to enjoy the best of Berlin, including one of my favorite places: the Berliner Dom.

I just learned today, too, that the long debate over what to rebuild (or not rebuild) on the spot where the former Palace of the Republic stood was decided last year. The debate had been over whether to rebuild the original Berlin Castle (Berliner Schloss) or leave it as a grassy open space. Personally, I think the original castle (destroyed after heavy damage during World War II) would be great. Not sure how the funding looks, but the idea is nice. Obviously, it's a touchy debate in Berlin still.

Ben also taught me a few tricks for taking and touching up awesome pictures with my iPhone. Check out what we did to this picture of the Reichstag:

Ostensibly, touching up pictures too much makes it look pretty obvious. But it can help make some of the features in various pictures pop. This was actually a bad example, as Ben shared, because of the type of photo we used and the color balance to begin with. I learned a ton today!

Ben headed home after dinner, and then I went home to hang out with Brandon and relax after a busy weekend. We snacked on Brandon's homemade pizza and some delicious red wine (and I don't even like red wine!). All in all, it was a busy but enjoyable weekend back in Berlin.

The next few days will include a few meetups with other friends. Then I fly out on Thursday. The travels continue!

Why I Enjoy Returning to Germany

This morning, I left Ginger's place and headed to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to catch a short one-hour train to Marburg. I'd booked a ride share via Mitfahrgelegenheit.de, so I only had to pay 7€ for my trip. Not bad, considering that's about half the normal price for one person.

I had a blast in Frankfurt, though, and the time I got to spend with Ginger and her friends was a pleasant and necessary reminder about why I enjoy traveling and also returning to Germany so much. The diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas that you learn and share with others can be incredibly inspiring. (On this note, please do check out this article Ginger recently wrote, because its message is a critical one.)

I also decided I'd make sure to take pictures of/or with each of the friends I visit during my trip like this one of Ginger and me. Taking pictures with friends might've been a given in years past when I took about a thousand pictures a week, but in recent years, I've just stopped taking many photos at all.

My friend Sarina, whom I had met during my Fulbright language course through her roommate who happened to be my former neighbor in the student apartments, came to pick me up at the Marburg Hauptbahnhof. In the two years since I was last here, not too much has changed except that there's now a brand new McDonald's inside the Hauptbahnhof. The outside construction is still moving along at a glacial speed.

We headed to Sarina's apartment, so I wouldn't have to schlep my stuff all over the old cobblestones. Walking the streets and looking at all the shops brought back fond memories of my language course though.

Sarina's apartment has a pretty filthy view, too. I wish my rent in NYC were this good and came with views and space like this. On that note, I'd like to have a castle in the middle of NYC, too.

For lunch, we grabbed a few döners and headed down to the Lahn River to eat our food next to the water. This was my first döner in a long time, and it was as delicious as I hoped. I cannot wait till schwarma in Berlin, though!

The Lahn River was as murky as ever, but looking at the landscape as a whole, it was quite nice.

After walking around a bit, we headed back to her apartment and continued catching up. What's great is that I can always speak in German with Sarina, and she very rarely will switch to English as many other of my Germans do. She'll probably tell you it's because she doesn't think her English is that good, but I know it's great. In fact, even better than my German. But I do appreciate her letting me make my mistakes and correcting me every once in a while with all the masculine, feminine, and neutral articles I mix up and the various cases that go with each.

Soon, I went to meet up with my friend Gerdi, whom I had met through my old doctor's office in Marburg. Gerdi worked in that office and became somewhat of my "German grandmother" if you will. We've stayed in touch since then, and she's definitely helped me maintain my German as well through emails and Skype calls. It was a lovely day to be out in Marburg, so we grabbed some ice cream drinks and then had dinner at a nearby restaurant.

It was wonderful to catch up, and after speaking mostly English in Frankfurt (naturally, since I was hanging out with fellow Americans or native English speakers), it was a nice change to be speaking German nearly the whole day in Marburg. The conversations I had with both Gerdi and Sarina ranged from what our latest updates were to the latest happenings in the world. I enjoy these kind of current event conversations, and I especially appreciate hearing perspectives from other parts of the world.

After dinner, Gerdi went home, and I headed back to Sarina's, where we continued catching up and listening to Macklemore and other American artists she enjoys. Her boyfriend, Simon, came over as well, and we had a fun time looking up places in Google Maps and checking out the street views in places we've been. A rather chill Thursday evening, but it was perfect for me.

Tomorrow morning, I'll grab breakfast with Sarina and Simon before heading to catch my ride share to Berlin. The fun continues!

Wieder in Deutschland

It's been quite a while since I've updated the blog. Since I've just kicked off six weeks of traveling through Germany, Indonesia, and Singapore though, I was inspired by some wanderlust-stricken friends to revive it. So, here we go.

Yesterday, after flying from New York to Frankfurt, I arrived back in Germany for the first time since I left after my Fulbright year in July 2011. The Singapore Airlines flight itself was rather nice: my own little TV, plenty of space, and even a fancy menu for my meals (yes, TWO meals).

I did not get much sleep though (thanks to the kid behind me who kept kicking my seat while he played his little video game), so I ended up watching one movie and half of a second (we started our descent before I could finish the second movie). Once I actually walked around the airport and made my way around Frankfurt, it felt a bit strange to be back, but I found my friend Ginger's office with little trouble.

Ginger was also a fellow Fulbrighter, except she stayed in Germany after our Fulbright year and has had many awesome experiences here and around the world since. She is also the one who introduced me to the wonderful world of CouchSurfing, which has been great for some of my travels since then.

After going to a fun, informal lunch meeting with Ginger and some entrepreneurial folks she knows, we went back to her office, where I dozed off a few times (on accident) in the empty conference room. I sincerely hope I did not snore, because my eyes just closed while I tried to do some work. I usually have little trouble with jet lag, but I blame the kid who kept me up the whole flight.

Once we made it back to her place and bought some groceries, we cooked up some curry and rice (by "we," I mean Ginger, since all I did was wash and chop a few vegetables). Her roommate returned home with impeccable timing to join us right as we sat down, too, so that was nice to have dinner all together.

This morning, I slept in while Ginger and her roommate both went to work (I'm on vacation, after all!), and then I went to meet a current Fulbrighter who happened to email me last week after he found my Fulbright Alumni Ambassador profile on the Fulbright website. He actually had no idea I was even coming to Frankfurt when he contacted me, so it was extremely fortuitous that we happened to have the chance to meet in person.

We went to his favorite spot near the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Café Laumer, which apparently has its own Wikpedia page and was known as the local spot for German philosophers throughout the 20th century. Ardevan's Fulbright research has many ties to German philosophy, so it was fascinating to learn new stuff.

Nearly all the food items on the menu were named after German philosophers who frequented the place back in the day. We both had a "Horkheimer," which was a platter of potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, feta cheese, cucumbers, lettuce, and fresh bread. It made me think that perhaps one day I will have a plate of food named after me at Shultzy's on the Ave in Seattle. But...probably not.

After a very filling brunch, we took a bus over to Ardevan's university nearby. I have always enjoyed visiting colleges and universities in the US, so when Ardevan agreed to show me around campus a bit, I was quite thrilled to have my own campus tour guide.

I learned some crazy (and also a few extremely disturbing) facts about the campus, including:

1. The IG Farben building pictured below was where gas used in concentration camps was produced during World War II (Wikipedia also says it served as "the principal location for implementing the Marshall Plan" after the war);
2. The university campus is HUGE like one you'd find at an American university, which is actually quite rare since most German university campuses I've seen are nothing like universities in the US (more campus pictures below); and
3. The student population is actually quite diverse (relatively speaking in Germany).

The campus is also just wrapping up some new construction, so most of the buildings looked extremely modern. I also liked that there was plenty of sculpture art spread around campus. And they had multiple fountains, too!

We headed up to one of the newest buildings on campus, which also happens to be one of the places on campus where you can see Frankfurt's skyline. Frankfurt is probably the only city in Germany that has a modern-looking skyline.

I was very grateful to Ardevan for not only showing me around campus but for also setting me up in one of the many cafés on campus and logging in so I could use the Wi-Fi. After a few hours of work, my laptop's battery died, and with no power outlets nearby, it was time to move.

So, I went back to the bus stop where we had arrived earlier and took the bus on the other side. One of the things I love about living in NYC is how easy it is to get around with public transportation (compared to Seattle), though it isn't without its own set of bumps and challenges. The German public transportation system, though, is phenomenal in all its major cities.

For instance, check out that TV screen in the front of the bus. You can see not only the upcoming bus stop but also the next few ones after. Unless you fall asleep or are completely clueless, it's really not very hard to figure out how to get around if you know the name of the bus stop (or simply, the street/area) where you want to get off — plus you can do all that at the bus stop before you even get on, since all the stops on the line are usually posted.

I do find the U-Bahn and S-Bahn system in Frankfurt a bit funny though. They don't look too much like the U-Bahns and S-Bahns in Berlin. Rather, they're quite colorful and remind me a bit of the trains in Philadelphia, actually.

All in all, Frankfurt has been a nice stop, not only to see good friends and to meet new ones but also to simply get reacquainted with life in Germany before I head to Berlin to see tons of old friends. Tomorrow, though, I make a one-day stop in Marburg to see some other old friends first. Marburg will be nice, because it's always fun visiting cities with a castle right in the middle of everything — something that just doesn't happen all that often.

Till the next update...