Filming in the Bay Area

It's been a while. But I suppose it's time to revive the blog briefly as I'm on the road again. This time, I'm in the Bay Area to film an educational video for Medtronic. Since I owe my ability to walk now to Medtronic's medical therapies, they asked if I would be willing to share my story with other potential patients who are considering those therapies too. In exchange, they flew me and my dad down to San Francisco, where my doctors are, to shoot this film. 

The educational film itself is actually focusing on the work of my doctors at UCSF. Where I come in is the patient stories as they have three patients from around the country to share their experiences with Medtronic's therapies. I met one of the other patients, a sixteen year old girl from Nevada. She's only the third person I've ever met with dystonia, so that's pretty neat.

Since they didn't call me till late August, they've been working like mad to organize everything. From their headquarters in Minnesota, they booked our flights, the hotel, and arranged an hour-by-hour itinerary for us. Organized itineraries can be wonderful things.

This morning, I woke up at 3:30 AM, and my sister, Grace, kindly drove me (and my friend, Luca, who was flying early this morning as well to Cornell for a med school interview) to the airport. I suppose I could've left later since I had checked-in online, printed my boarding pass, and walked through a relatively empty security line in less than 10 minutes. So I waited around for an hour and ten minutes before we finally took off.

After a rather uneventful flight (and one annoying child, wailing in the row in front and across from me), I arrived at SFO and found my dad waiting at baggage claim already, since he'd arrived ten minutes before me from Spokane. A driver with my name on a sign picked us up and helped us load our bags into a nice black sedan.

My itinerary had said "limo pick-up," so I was expecting a long, black limo. But apparently a large, chauffeured sedan can also be considered a limo. In any case, it was comfortable and had perks you don't normally get in the back of the car.

I snuck some pictures, and I was rather chuffed to bits about this one of my dad, reading his newspaper in style. (If you don't know what "chuffed to bits" means, check out the video; it's such a fun little phrase).

Our driver brought us first to UCSF, where I had a quick appointment with my doctor. I hadn't seen her in a few years, so it was really nice catching up. It's also the first time I've ever visited the doctor's office in a suit. Haha.

We were actually well ahead of schedule, so when our driver picked us up and took us to the hotel, we had plenty of time before the next item on my itinerary. The drive from downtown San Francisco to Lafayette (where the hotel is) was rather long. Funny how they wanted to film this thing in SF and then put us all up in a hotel way over in East Bay. But hey, it's a nice hotel, so I'm not complaining. :)

The driver had given me his business card so I could call him, and I noticed his name was the same as one of my Ethiopian friends in Seattle. So when we were driving to the hotel, I asked him, "Are you Habesha?"

He was pleasantly surprised and probably somewhat shocked that I even knew the word, but he said yes, he was from Ethiopia. We chatted and laughed about several things, and he told me he was fully expecting that I would know more words in Amharic (I can only say, "Hello, my name is Sam"), since I pronounced "Habesha" correctly. Sadly, I didn't.

He dropped us off at the hotel though, and we went to see if we could check in. It was only 11 AM or so when we arrived, so unfortunately, we were not able to check in just yet. I did get to meet most of the team though, so that was nice. Then my dad and I just chilled by the pool outside to do work.

My laptop's battery was nearly dead though, so I went and took pictures of the hotel instead. I brought my swimming trunks and goggles, so I plan to hit the pool later on.

There's my dad working away by the pool.

We had lunch downstairs in the hotel's bistro. I had a grilled Reuben sandwich, while my dad had a gigantic plate of clams. I wish I could've taken a picture, but I didn't want to since we were having lunch with all the Medtronic folks and the other patient and her mom. We had a really nice conversation, and I have had many opportunities to push Scholarship Junkies today already. If you didn't know, we launched a new site (www.scholarshipjunkies.com) a few weeks ago. Let me know what you think!

Tomorrow's a very busy day with all the filming and what-not. I even have to go to make up first! Really not sure what to think about that, but I met the make-up lady today. She was really nice, so I'm sure it'll be fine. Then at night, I'll head up to Berkeley to have dinner with friends from UW and SF. Should be fun!

I'll try and blog again tomorrow, but we'll see if I still have internet since we have to pay for it here. Lame. How come luxurious hotels always charge for internet service but the cheapest places (like the Super 8 I stayed at in Shelton, WA) offered free internet? I will never understand it. Speaking of extravagance, if you haven't seen how ridiculously out of touch some employees of the federal government are (well, not only federal government employees, but specifically some of them in this case), check out how much the Department of Justice paid for 250 muffins...

Cheerio!

Sam

Back Home in Washington

It's been a few weeks since I got home to Washington, but it took me a long while to get back to the blog. Here's what's happened since my last day in Berlin. It only took me a few hours to pack up my whole room, but I did get everything into one suitcase and a duffel bag. 

Lenz and Aga made me dinner, which was really quite delicious.

Lenz thought my suitcase was over the maximum 20 kg, but it turns out it was only 18.1 kg. So I didn't have to pay extra!

My friend, Tamar, also sent me a picture from my farewell party in Mauerpark, and I have to say it turned out pretty well. Brian and I were playing one-on-one, and Tamar managed to capture us playing with the TV tower in the background. I miss Berlin...

However, it's nice to be back in Washington, and I have already gone several times to my favorite German restaurant in Seattle.

I also made schnitzel with Michael, which turned out really well. It only took 15-20 minutes to do it all too.

As much as I love Berlin, there are also parts of Seattle that I missed, particularly the cityscape. Ain't it nice?

Of course, I also went to several Mariners' games, which was fantastic. They even won two of the three games I went to.

At one of the games, one of my friends even got free tickets to sit behind home plate, so we got to sit back there and tried to catch foul balls. We failed.

Baseball games are a fun way to meet up with friends too, particularly ones who may be going away for a while.

I also went to a game with my Fulbright friend, Jill, who is also from the Pacific Northwest. We had tried to watch a game together in Berlin, but never got a chance to. So it seemed that going to a real game would be a good idea.

Being back in Seattle also means cooking with my sister. I think it turned out pretty well.

I'm back in Spokane at my parents' place now, and I have been trying to organize all my stuff from Berlin, including pictures that Brandon sent me from the past year. Here are some of those highlights:

Paddling down the Lahn River in August 2010 with our program director, Nora.

Eating Christmas goodies with Michelle in Dresden in December 2010.

Enjoying our Fulbright Conference in Berlin in March 2011.

Grocery shopping at an Asian supermarket in Schöneberg with Brandon in April 2011. (Duck feet!)

Swimming in Attica with Thanasis and Brandon in June 2011.

More swimming in Greece.

Checking out the Acropolis in June 2011.

Cooking with Doros in Athens in June 2011.

Swimming on the island of Aegina in June 2011.

Checking out all my pictures is making me miss Europe quite a bit, but I'm sure I'll be back there soon. Hopefully, I'll have more adventures to document on the blog soon enough.

Till then,

Sam

Danke, Deutschland

In twelve hours, my roommate, Lenz, and I will be on our way to the airport, so I can catch my flight to Newark and then on to Seattle. Total travel time from airport gate to airport gate will be seventeen and a half hours. Let's hope there are no delays.

I just finished packing, and now Lenz and his friend, Aga, are prepping dinner as they promised me a nice last meal in Germany. How nice! I just tried to ask if I could help prep, and they shooed me out, telling me to go finish packing. Haha. I just have to wait for the rest of my clothes to dry...

Yesterday, I was extremely lucky to have "good" weather for my farewell party in Mauerpark. All week it had been raining, and the grass was undoubtedly wet. But the rain finally stopped around 5 AM yesterday (yeah, I went to bed late), and the sun came out by late morning. Despite the sunshine, the wind didn't get the memo that we were supposed to have nice weather for my party, so it was quite windy.

Nevertheless, it was fun...after people showed up. I had invited people to join me at 2 PM, and in my hurry to pack all the beer into my bag and not be late, I completely forgot the sausages in my fridge (actually that turned out to be a good thing as I ended up having something for lunch today). But when I arrived at Mauerpark at 2 PM exactly, there was no one to be found. I waited for maybe 15 minutes, looking kind of idiotic with a gigantic duffel bag stuffed with beer, bread rolls, and sports gear with another plastic bag with the one-time grills on the side.

When it seemed no one was going to come till later, I moved over to the basketball court, which was empty—something that has never happened in all the times I have visited Mauerpark. So I kept my headphones in and promptly shot hoops by myself. Before long, Laura showed up (she'd come the long way around as she got a bit mixed up by my lack of directions provided). Soon after, Arnhild arrived, and Stefan and his friends showed up right behind her with Stefan's grill.

After some trouble getting the fire going because of the wind, we got the grill hot and ready for cooking up some meat. They had brought some sausages thankfully, so we had food to eat!

People told me they kept checking the Facebook event page I had made to see if I had changed the plans. C'mon, people. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, the grill party was going to happen, rain or shine. I will say that coats and jackets were a good idea yesterday though.

It was a fun afternoon of food, drinks, sports, and just plain old catching up. Tamar and Nino came by as well, and later Brian, Temneet, and Rachel all swung by too. Lena came too with a nice bottle of wine, and we all had lots of fun taking pictures, eating, and playing sports. Later on, Danielle came by too.

I had stopped by the grocery store in the morning, so I picked up a small thing of mustard. Can't eat German sausages without good mustard!

Despite the wind, the day stayed dry overall, and the sun made a few extended appearances. 'Twas real nice.

I forgot who, but someone brought these amazing cheese-filled sausages with bacon wrapped around them. Man, those were good!

Looking at the pictures now, the sky didn't look quite so friendly, but it felt fine out.

Some of us went to play basketball and football; some of us just chilled and chatted. I think everyone enjoyed it.

I had to leave around 6:30 to have dinner with some good friends, Kerstin and Holger. They had offered to take me wherever I wanted to go for dinner, since they figured that'd be better than buying me a farewell present that I'd have trouble sticking in my suitcase. 'Twas very nice of them!

Some of my Fulbright friends had told me about a supposedly really good and authentic Chinese restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg that was well-known for their dumplings. We'd tried to go there for lunch during the Fulbright Conference back in March, but they were only open for dinner that day. Kerstin and Holger said that sounded good, so to "Wok Show" we went.

I'll be honest: as much as I enjoyed their dumplings, they weren't the best I've ever had nor really even in my top five. Their other options were even worse  (not to mention pretty cold customer service from the main lady). But I enjoyed chatting with Kerstin and Holger, and they also asked me how I would rate the restaurant after it. I told them I still like my mom's cooking the best. Haha.

During dinner, Kerstin remarked that it's pretty awesome that I could speak in German now, since when I first met them in 2007, I could only speak English. Now, it's somewhat weird to speak English with them now, and we always converse in German. It's also good, because then I can talk with their two young sons, who can't speak English yet. Always a treat speaking German with a little kid. :)

They were kind enough to drive me home after dinner to drop off my bag and then take me back to Prenzlauer Berg for a night out with friends. They even gave Lenz a ride too, since he was at home. I'll miss seeing them, but as we said, I'll be back before I know it.

Lenz and I ended up being the only ones who showed up on time (again), since I had told people to meet up at 9:30 PM. He hadn't eaten yet, so we ended up chilling at a little convenient store with good quality Bavarian beer. He also snapped a photo of me in front of graffiti. Typical Berlin.

Aga showed up shortly thereafter, and finally, the rest of the crew came too from the winery where they had been enjoying wine. I had really told them to just show up sometime after 9:30, so I shouldn't complain. Besides, I showed up an hour late once for a Schnitzel dinner with Anton and Arnhild (I got lost)...something Arnhild hasn't let me forget. Haha.

After a bite of pizza since some of the crew hadn't eaten yet, we went to Alte Kantine, a club in the Kulturbrauerei. I know Lenz has gone there often, so that's why I knew about it. It was my first time though, and we had fun going in. We had a few drinks and danced the night away (I don't really dance though) until about 3 AM. I was getting tired and a tad bit cranky, so we left. As we walked out, there was a long line still waiting outside the door—people were still trying to get in, and it was already full inside. Ah, gotta love the night life in Berlin/Europe.

Today, I was not in the mood to really see people or even talk to people. I think the realization that I am leaving in less than a day hit me a bit harder than I'd expected, and I am feeling more sad about leaving than feeling excited about being back in Seattle. That is not to say that I'm not excited to see my family and friends, but I expect that I will experience a bit of  reverse culture shock after having spent the past 365 days in Europe.

I have met some amazing friends, several close ones I expect to remain close to for quite a while. And I reconnected with my pre-existing network in Berlin, while growing it even more. In the past day or two, I've received so many encouraging notes from friends here and back home who have wished me a safe trip back, and I have heard from many of my German friends who had known me before this year that my German has improved dramatically. Indeed, I'm understanding more of what people say now, and my own vocab has expanded drastically.

Most of all, nearly all of them have said, "I am 100% certain you will be back." And I whole heartedly agree. As I told a friend earlier, I don't quite feel like I'm "going home." Rather, it's more like I'm going from one home to another, and I just don't know when exactly I'll be back in Berlin. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, but I expect that the coming weeks will include much self-reflection as I realize how much I have grown personally during my year in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar.

I had thought about writing up something in German for this likely final blog from Berlin, but then it probably would only make sense to a small handful of my blog readers, so I'll just save it for my own journaling. But I want to thank all my fellow Fulbrighters, my friends, and all the people I met along the way in the past year who made my Fulbright year one that I will not soon forget. I'm seriously feeling quite melancholy right now, and I expect that I will be somewhat more reserved during my first weeks back in Seattle. I hear from my friends who've spent extended periods of time abroad that it's quite a normal feeling when you return to the U.S.

Since Aga and Lenz are making dinner right now, I will likely have more pictures to post in another blog post once I am back in Seattle. I was also thinking about writing up all the major highlights from the past year. Perhaps I'll post that too. In any case, my blog will continue. I still have the travel bug, so I am certain I'll have other travel stories to share shortly as well.

Thanks for following my blog this year though. Thank you again to all my friends I met and reconnected with in Berlin. We will see each other again very soon.

Cheers from Berlin,

Sam

Food as Social Lubricant

My friend and mentor, Stan, always like to say that, and I must say: I agree.

This morning, I met up with my Fulbright professor (one of two), and we discussed my project over lunch in Humboldt Universität's cafe. 'Twas good stuff.

We had a nice discussion about policies and education. It reminded me of how much I enjoy discussing policies and ideas. I am so grateful to Prof. Dr. Klepper as well as he agreed to support my project, even though it's not necessarily his area of academic expertise.

After our lunch, I went over to the Fulbright Commission office to say goodbye to the Fulbright team that really supported me and my fellow Fulbrighters this year. I was able to speak with a few of the folks who run the American Program, and I was able to thank them for all the support they've given me this past year.

I'm looking forward to staying in touch as well, as they also provided me with a great network in Berlin and beyond.

Tonight, I cooked at home for probably the last time in Berlin as my friend, Henry, came over for dinner. He was a Senior Fellow already when I became an HIA Fellow, and he looked out for me and my needs in Berlin during our program. It was a fun evening, and I cooked Thai Sweet Chili Turkey and Sichuan-styled green beans with rice.

I think Henry enjoyed it. He also brought a nice bottle of red wine from Slovenia. Pretty good stuff!

Lenz joined us later in the evening after his football training. They had to run 7 km today! That's probably more than I run all year. Haha.

Sadly, Henry and Lenz both won't be joining me for my farewell party tomorrow as they are both busy. Bummer. I hope it works out though, because the weather has been absolutely horrendous the last three days. It's still raining now, and we were planning to go grilling in the park tomorrow. There's still roughly 20% chance of rain tomorrow, but otherwise, it's supposed to be dry-ish.

I failed again on packing today, so it looks like Sunday will be busy with packing everything into my bags and throwing out the rest that doesn't fit. :)

Down to my final two days/weekend in Berlin! Boo...

Sam

P.S. The Good Wife in German is quite interesting on TV...

English Lessons and Georgian Cuisine

For the past two months, I've been teaching English twice a week to two friends from Georgia (the country). Although they can already speak English well, they wanted to improve their fluency, particularly in business English.

It's been a fun challenge in figuring out how to teach the material from the English for German learners book we use, and I have had to figure out how to make homework assignments and write up quizzes. It's also a bit time-consuming, but it's nice to know they feel like they've improved since we started lessons. I certainly can tell that their English has improved.

Tonight, we planned a dinner after English lessons so they could cook up some delicious Georgian food for me. We'd been talking about it for several weeks, so I was super pumped. Tamar and Nino both made some awesome stuff, and I took plenty of pictures. Here's the beer I brought...really strong stuff.

Nino made a potato salad with other goodies mixed in.

'Twas so good!

I don't remember the name anymore, but Tamar made these dumpling-type things that were stuffed with spiced meats. Really good stuff! I took pictures of nearly all the steps. First, some flour.

Then the dough.

After that, roll out the dough and cut out little circles.

Then roll out the little circles into thin round pieces.

Then add the spiced meat...

...and wrap it up.

There are two ways to eat them, apparently: one, you can eat them straight after you boil them. Two, you can boil them, let them cool, and then pan-fry them in some butter (like gyoza).

We had both, and they were delicious! Here are the boiled ones.

Tamar also made a spanakopita-type dish with cheese. I love cheese, so I loved it. It was so fresh out of the oven. Yum.

Tamar and Nino also invited their Italian friend, Sergio, to come over, and he brought his roommate along as well. We had some fun taking pictures in the kitchen.

With the table all set up, we ate like kings. We were all so hungry and then after all that food, we were stuffed!

This is just one of the many plates of food I ate.

We had some of the gyoza-like dumpling things later too. They were also really good!

All in all, we had a great night of excellent food (thanks, Tamar and Nino!) and a fun time of chatting with friends.

This afternoon, I also went to the bank to close my German bank account. I had heard from others that you have to give up your EC Karte when you close your account, so I briefly contemplated telling them I had lost it. But then I worried they'd make me pay for a replacement card, so I just thought I'd ask them straight up if I could keep the card as a souvenir.

Apparently not.

There's a long bureaucratic process for deregistering the card and allowing one to keep it after closing the account. Typical German. Haha. So anticipating this, I took pictures of said card earlier this morning. :)

I will miss it. I'll think about writing about this another time, but the German banking system is actually extremely good. I like it much more than the U.S. banking system. Checks do not exist in Germany, and you can pay for things via automatic bank transfers. It's completely safe to give out your bank account number, since you have to have fifty-bajillion pieces of security information in order to even make it work (it's actually not hard if you own it all).

Anyway, step two of my bureaucratic responsibilities is now checked off my list. Step one was deregistering from the Berlin citizen's office (Bürgeramt?). I thought that was going to be a hassle, but I found out you can do it by mail, so I sent in all my info, and hopefully there will be no problems with it. If there are, I will be long gone and back home in Seattle already anyhow.

Tomorrow, the goodbyes continue as I have lunch with my other Fulbright professor and then will stop by the Fulbright Commission to say goodbye to our wonderful German-American Fulbright Commission team. Then I need to start packing in the afternoon. My attempt at packing today was pathetic, and I failed miserably. I will have tomorrow afternoon mainly because I have dinner with my friend, Henry, in the evening, and almost of all of Saturday will be busy with my farewell grill party in Mauerpark followed by dinner with some good friends and then drinks in the evening. Undoubtedly, I'm going out with a bang. :)

More as the adventures continue,

Sam