German blog!

So, I've been writing a blog in German. At first I wanted it to be like this one, just sort of like a journal, but then I decided it would be better if I was writing about the differences in the German and American cultures that I see everyday. After all, I'm sort of here not just to learn German, but to also learn the culture. You can find the link on the right hand side of my blog, really close to the top. But, everything in it is in German.

20.02.10

The 21th of February was the last day of the Berlinale (Berlin's annual international film festival), so today I first did some quick shopping with my host family, sent my boyfriend a postcard, and ran to the Zoo Palast (a movie theater (by a zoo, hence the name)). To be honest, running would be a bad hyperbole in this case, because it's a 40 minute bus ride there. Of course, for the time that I wasn't on the bus, I was at least walking hurriedly. The Zoo Palast was only selling tickets for that day, but the movie I wanted to see was the next day, so I went to a different place, called the Urania, and they told me that the movie was sold out earlier that morning. Yay! But, I got some tickets to a different movie at least. The ticket was only €3, that made me happy. Oh, and I was also really lucky today! I just so happened to have my camera out and ready at the exact moment I found someone driving on the sidewalk!



I also finally bought a Russian book.

We had company over later on. My host mom's two friends came over (who are married to each other), and it was really nice. The wife had lost her voice, but the husband was making up for it. He was born and grew up in Algeria, and his first language is Algerian, a sort of Arabic. In school he learned French (unless I'm wrong, all of the courses were held in French), and he came to Germany at some point in time, without speaking any German, and eventually just learned it. I had a really interesting time talking to him. He introduced a new idea to me... he said how much German I should learn depends on what I want to do with it. Someone who just wanted to well... basically do nothing else with German again in their life, does't have to learn that much German here, but someone who wants to use it in their daily life (by living here or something), needs to learn a LOT... it makes sense. I don't want to go home and be like, "oh I know a little bit of German". I want to go home and be talking to all of the German exchange students in German, and then hopefully be able to attend a German university... and he was reading an Arabic book to me. My host mom had been studying Arabic during her time studying in a university, and had a book with French on one page, and the same text in Arabic on the other. So, he was trying to have me read the French out loud, and he was correcting me. Then he would read the Arabic, and I would repeat him. I learned and remember how to say "elephant" in Arabic, but I already forgot how to say rabbit and crow...

21.02.10

I went to the Berlinale movie, called This Way of Life, and got there 10 minutes before the theater should've opened. I say "should've", because it was already open. And I managed to get tickets then for the movie that was sold out before. But, the first movie was really good. It's a documentary about the life of a family living in New Zealand, and it's all a true story. Over the course of the movie, their house is first sold while they're still living in it (it was in the family for seven generations, and the grandfather isn't getting along well with the father, and the grandfather happens to own the house and the land around it), they were harassed, someone tried jumping in their window, their house was set on fire by an arsonist, they moved into a camper by a river (I think it was by a river at least), they moved into a shed, the father started a business with horses, the family's wild horses in the mountains were stolen (30 or so), and they moved into a house. It was really a wonderful movie though, and it really brought you close to the people. Which was helped by the fact that it was all actually real. The mother and one of the sons (they had six kids or so) was there, and the son said that they all lived in a tepee on a hill now, surrounded by 60 horses. They weren't happy in the home, because they all had their own rooms, and would play in there alone, and wouldn't spend as much time together as a family. So, in the end, this family is really... together. They are the essence of that word. It's really a beautiful story, and I'm not even going to try to describe why, you guys just have to watch it yourself. I got to talk with the makers of the movie afterwards, and they were talking to an American company about mass producing it like how they would with a Tom Cruise movie (I just don't know the word for that, basically they will make DVDs and put it in theaters, if everything goes right). Here's a linkto the film's website. Oh, and I got the mother and the cameraman to sign my entrance ticket! Oh, and I totally forgot. In line to get the tickets, I met this nice lady and her daughter. The daughter is 18 and is hopefully going to New Zealand next year as an Au Pair.

The second movie was "Sons of Babylon". It wasn't as good, but the whole point of the movie was to show the devastation of Iraq after Sadaam Hussein's reign. It starts out with this kid and his grandma walking in the middle of the desert along a road. They're looking for the kid's father, who is also the grandma's son. Eventually a vehicle comes, but it doesn't stop. Then a second one comes, and the grandmother stands in front of it, forcing it to stop. The driver reluctantly lets them come along (although he does it more happily after the grandma bribed him), and they well... got to a city. They looked in a jail where the father was supposed to be, but they couldn't find him. They then went to mass graves looking for him. The movie is extremely desolate. Every single scene is desolate. The landscapes are nothing but sand, the buildings are destroyed, and the people are dead, mourning, or somehow doing something that isn't... happy. There's just a few moments that are different. And in the end, the grandma can't take it anymore, and just dies. The kid is left alone. It's not really mentioned, but it's sort of assumed that he has absolutely no family left. Now that I think about it, this film was actually really good too... it wasn't made to be enjoyed, it was made to show what a tyrant did to the people. And it showed that amazingly well. Too bad the movie doesn't have a website...

Interestingly though, the whole movie was in Arabic and Kurdish. It had English under-titles though.

Also, rather to this subject, "Free Iran" was written on the statue outside of the Berlinale headquaters.



22.02.10

I got a little nauseous at school, then pukey at home.

23.02.10

I stayed home from school, and ended up drawing flowers.

24.02.10

I hung out with Tara and bought CLOTHES!

25.02.10

I went out with Tara again and BOUGHT MORE CLOTHES!

26.02.10

I bought more clothes! (Not really, I just sent my mommy a box with stuff in it)

27.02.10

I wrote a LOT for my German blog, and I also sort of went wandering around... I walked in on a fashion show in the middle of a mall. I took pictures, and I interviewed someone for my German blog (that means the interview is going there and not here ^^ (P.S. learn German)), and I got autograph from her for some people.

08.02.10

My first day back at school after Winter Break! I got a new schedule, and now I get out of school at 12:25 every Wednesday! I also have no more geography, instead I have history.

09.02.10

I started taking free art classes every Tuesday in a renovated Citadel. Basically, I get to go to a room almost whenever I want Tuesday after school, and throw paint around or draw. And I actually mean it when I say „throw paint around“.



I don’t really have any skills at all with painting though, and my first painting is well... extremely ugly. It’s like a splotch of brown with orange. But also, there IS a teacher there, but he’s really only there to help you... the class really just let kids explore their own talents, and what they want to do. I want to throw paint :D.

10.02.10

I went over a very nice lady’s house with my host mom. The lady is my host mom’s friend, and she is also an artist. She even has her own art supplies shop that she runs with her husband, and her home is FILLED with paintings, and not just her own, but also from just random sources I believe. She gave (or let me borrow, I’m not sure) a novel, then gave me a book about painting.

11.02.10

I wanted to go ice-skating with a friend, but when we got there, the skating arena was going to close in half an hour... so we just walked around, found really good deals on Coca-Cola at the Euro Shop... and I think she ate a Döner.

12.02.10

No school today!

14.02.10

I went to Carnival celebrations with my host mom. You might know this event by the name of „Mardi Gras“. It’s celebrated in Germany, mainly in the southern area (especially in Cologne), with parades and other celebrations. And on TV, it seems like there’s nothing but constant footage of some guy making a comedy appearance, speaking in the German version of a Southern Drawl, standing in front of a bunch of people in outrageous costumes. And that’s a HUGE part of Carnival; the costumes. My host mother used to live in Bonn, a city close to Cologne, and there it is normal to come into work during Carnival with your fingernails all painted different colors, and something in your hair. You actually look out of place when you DON’T dress up.



In Berlin, that’s not really the case though... my host mom doesn’t like participating in Carnival in Berlin, because the spirit just isn’t there.

17.02.10

I went shopping with a friend, and found a really pretty dress for €13 or so, and earrings for only €1 per pair :D (they’re more like a bead glued onto an earring holder thing, so that sort of explains it... but they’re pretty!).

18.02.10

First, I met my community representative after school in the Florida Eis Café, and I ate ice cream. Second, I used that pretty dress I bought the day before. I went to my school’s „Valentine’s Ball“. The dress code was „glamorous“. Someone was talking to me a day later about the ball, and the first thing they said was, „I heard everyone got drunk“. He/she/it (I can’t remember) was sort of right... one of the first things I saw after getting off the bus to go to my school was guys drinking beer. A little bit before the school, the friends of a different exchange student stopped me, and asked me where I was from, and... well, they were acting like idiots. I assume they were drunk. And then a little later, in the school, someone was telling me that I can’t learn German without drinking beer. So, this was all surprising to me, but... well, it’s sort of normal in Germany. Alcohol isn’t so taboo, and you can start buying beer at 16. And then on the way home, I was wearing sandals and stepped on a beer bottle (they were ALL over the place)... yay!

But seriously, the party was fun. And it was more of a party than a „ball“. There was NO slow dancing when I was there, and there were strobe lights, and those lights that flash on and off REALLY fast, and well... it’s what I always thought a club was like ^^. But it was a lot of fun. Everyone was dancing, and they made like circles (to the best of their abilities, the whole dancing group was packed together like a sardine can, even though not the whole dance floor was being used) of friends, who were all like... dancing sort of, together. It wasn’t real partner dancing, just sort of moving ^^. And German club music was being played, but there was also some soldier boy ;). And people stepped on my feet. I seriously have a bruise from where someone stepped on my foot... but, I was dancing half the time with these girls I don’t know too well, but then I found my friends and was dancing with them until 10:30pm almost. I was really tired, so I went home early, even though the dance ended at 11pm. Also, there was artificial smoke in the room too, to add to the light effects, and there were SO many people! Their sweat and everything... ew. It was like, as soon as you walked into the dance room, you were covered with a layer of people-exhaust. You actually needed to go out and take a break from it every 15 minutes or so... but then the people-exhaust leaked into the entrance hall, and people were going outside into the snow filled outside world, without jackets, just to cool off.

19.02.10

I actually didn’t have any school for the first period, because of the dance last night ^^. So cool xD.

Hallo! Ich heiße Charles.

Good news! For me, at least. The Euro is losing its value, and so in comparison the US Dollar is slowly rising in worth. I started paying attention to my allowance recently, and within two weeks it rose by four Euros. Yay!

Also, I was talking a lot with another English speaker, and he told me that I use the word „thingy“ a lot... I only use it because I have forget what the word is called in English.

And my mom sent me a box of candy! ^^

I have also been thinking about starting to post in German as well as in English... sure no one would read it, but oh well ^^.

31.01.10

I know I wrote about this day before, but I didn’t mention that my host mom came back from the south of Germany this day.

01.02.10

A Monday, and the first day of February! I was walking to the Topography of Terror (an outside exhibit about the history of the area where it’s now situated, more about that later), when I saw a very nice looking building. I was a bit nervous at first, because there was a cop patrolling outside of it, but I walked inside anyways. Here's a picture of it from the inside, rather elegant, isn't it?



I found out it was the building for Berlin’s parliament. So basically it is where the Parliament of Berlin meets to do those things that parliaments do. And it’s also just for the state of Berlin (Germany has 16 „Federal States“, and Berlin is big enough to be its own state), not for the other areas of Germany. It was really cool inside, but mainly because I thought it was the meeting ground of the actual national German Parliament (Bundestag). But, I did find a nice little cafeteria inside.

Right across the street was the Topography of Terror. It’s a collection of pictures with information about the area. The area is so important because it used to be the headquarters of the SS during World War Two. In fact, the government of that period was mainly headquartered in that area, not just the SS. There was also a Gestapo prison there in the cellar. In the war the SS-headquarters were extremely damaged, and instead of rebuilding them, the Germans tore them down. And then built the Topography of Terror exhibit where the SS headquarters and Gestapo prison used to be. Here’s a link to the actual website, in case you want to know more.

Topography of Terror

Afterwards I found a souvenir shop where I could buy 10 postcards for €4. I of course took advantage of this deal. The postcards in Berlin are really nice, in fact this guy I met from England thinks the best part of Berlin is the post cards. Speaking of which, I slipped on the ice outside of the souvenir shop, and this guy who was walking by with his nose buried in a map asked me if I was ok. I asked him if he needed help finding something, and then I walked with him to a holocaust memorial. That is how I met the guy from England.

02.02.10



I went over the neighbors to cook with them. We made „Rouladen“, a traditional German food where you basically beat up the meat before you cook it. The end result is a rolled up thing of meat with seasonings, or basically whatever the cook wants, smeared on the inside side of the meat strip. To make it though, you need to first take a mallet and hit the meat so that it has the same thickness in all areas, and it will also become wider and looser. Then we smeared mustard on the inside, sprinkled bacon and onions over the mustard, and then rolled them up and cooked them. We also made an orange flavored cream, and „Spätzle“ (a type of noodle).

03.02.10



I met up with a friend in a café in a store by my school. Then we realized neither of us wanted to actually eat or drink anything, so we walked to the Luftwaffen Museum that’s behind my school. The planes were really cool there, but it wasn’t too informative... but I believe that’s only because I’m not really into planes. But it was definitely nice to see all the different kinds there ^^.


Afterwards I went home and my new community representative came over. I was assigned a new one because my old one is now my host mother, in case someone missed that ^^. But, she’s really nice and just started going to college last fall, and offered to show me her university. I’m the first exchange student that she has had to look after.

04.02.10

I met up with the British guy again at the Siegelsäule statue in the Tiergarten. Here's a picture of the statue.



Then we walked to the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church. Afterwards I lead us in circles looking for a Döner shop I had eaten at one time with my boyfriend. I found it like a half an hour later. I felt bad for dragging him all over the place... but then we went to Museum Island. We reserved a time slot for us at the same museum I was at before with the Egyptian collection, the Neues Museum. I got something to drink before it was actually time to go in, and then we looked at the museum ^^. It was a lot of fun though, because the museums were all free (except for two because they had special exhibits) on the island, and we ended up really just looking at all of them we could get into for free ^^. We weren’t really studying every exhibit... if we were, then we wouldn’t have been able to see them all in one night. But then we went to the Altes Museum and looked there. Then the Bodes Museum. The last two weren’t as interesting as the Neues Museum, but one of them had a very nice (and HUGE) coin collection.

To end the day, we walked towards his youth hostel, and found a restaurant to eat at. The English guy had his eye on a traditional German good called „Eisbein“, and we ate that. It was pretty good, but there was so much food! The only bad part is that it’s basically a pig leg with some side-food, and the leg still has the outer layer of skin on it.



Then, I kind of freaked out because I didn’t really realize that my options on getting back home were limited, and I was sort of in the middle of Berlin... my host mom had said it would be ok if I started heading back at 10pm, but I had planned on taking this one bus that didn’t run anymore because it was too late, and la la la la. I basically didn’t get home until midnight. My host mom looked up on the Internet how to get home for me, and she told me to take this one train, and it was really late... I was waiting for I don’t remember how long. But then I got to Spandau, and she picked me up from there ^^.

05.02.10

I dragged myself out of bed rather early, and got on the subway system to Oranienburg. It’s a really small, sort of out of the way town. Or, at least I believe it is small... and I had to take some crazy subway connections to get to it. But, I was going to meet up with the English guy there, but the information I had given him about how to get there from his hostel wasn’t so up-to-date (sometimes there are last minute changes on which platform a train will go to), and he ended up needing to take a different route and being an hour late. It wasn’t his fault though, so I didn’t mind so much. I walked to a bakery and ate a donut. Then I walked to McDonalds and ate a cheeseburger. I was rather hungry, because I didn’t really eat that morning, since my stomach had been hurting me.

Anyways, he finally got there, and we starting walking. And on the way, I swear one sign said „Sachsen Hausen 2,0 kilometers“, and the next one said „Sachsen Hausen 2,6 kilometers“ :(. But, as you might have figured out, we were walking to Sachsen Hausen. I doubt any of you know what that is. Or maybe you do. It was used as a concentration camp by the Nazis, and as a „special camp“ by the Soviets. It was one of the major concentration camps in Germany. And did you ever hear of that one plan the Nazis had, where they were going to counterfeit an enormous amount of British (I’m not sure if they had been planning on counterfeiting a second country’s money as well or not) money, and then drop it into England to super inflate, and destroy, the British economy? Well, they succeeded in making a crapload of money. And they did it at Sachsen Hausen.



At first, we were just walking by ourselves, but then, I heard something. Another American! And he was leading a tour group! Of course, we followed them. I thought he might get mad (since technically, people were supposed to pay for a guided tour), so we drifted off for a while, but then we found him again, and I flat out asked him if we could follow. And we could ^^. It was definitely interesting there. And extremely sad. Without the guided tour though, we wouldn’t have understood what most of the stuff was, so if anyone goes there, do NOT go without a tour guide!

But, in the end... I can definitely say that it was awful what the Nazis did. It’s one thing to read or hear about what they did, and it’s another thing to actually stand there and see the remnants of what they did.

Afterwards, it was getting late, and I took the English guy with me to Spandau and showed him around a little. I showed him the local church, the Rathaus, the huge shopping mall, and marzipan. And I also spent five minutes talking to a salesman for him because he wanted to buy some German sausage ^^. Then, I showed him how to get home, and got home myself.

06.02.10

I really can’t remember if I did anything productive. I was just so tired...

Oh wait, I washed my clothes!

07.02.10

I watched the beginning of Shrek 3 with my host mom, and then she and my host dad walked to a restaurant, while my host brother and I left an hour later for the restaurant (we took the bus). We got there and had really nice meals. I had little pieces of chicken with rice in a curry sauce. The same restaurant has special events going on sometimes. They have a back room where it’s all decorated like a medieval castle, and people are allowed to eat in there once a week ^^.

Then I walked back with my host parents, while my host brother walked a little bit, but then got the bus to go back home. My host mom and I went to walk over the river in this one area, when I made this picture.



Just one last question. Do you like green cheese? I do!