The Little Things

Last night at a restaurant I got up to pay for my food.

The Waiter: And where are you from?
Me: The US
The Waiter: So you are on a vacation here?
Me. No, I'm an exchange student here.
The Waiter: Oh, so that is why your German is nearly perfect then!

:) :) :)

(I really doubt that my German is so close to being perfect, but getting my German complimented on is one of the best things (:  )

Fußball!!

It seems like I will be visiting the airport a lot in these last few weeks. This last year I have gotten so good at hellos and goodbyes. Hello's are my favorites (: It seems so weird to think about saying goodbye to all of these people that I have come to love & care for, and count on them as my best friends, and then all of a sudden we are at the airport saying goodbye until and unknown, possibly nonexistent date in the future.

We have found a very cool building in East Berlin. I believe it used to be a factory but because it was so close to the wall during the time in closed down. Now it's vacant and full of very cool graffiti. We came by one time when the artist was creating this piece and came back later. From the roof there is a very cool view of the TV tower. Everytime we go there, there are always other people there as well, sometimes doing photo shoots, playing soccer, watching films, etc.

This here was made during one of the Berlin Street art festivals. At night there is a car dealership with flags outside ,and one of their lights shines the shadow of a flag right underneath the astronauts hand, unintentionally. It's very cool.

This last Wednesday I went to Berlin to take a Free Alternative Berlin Walking Tour. We met underneath the TV Tower. There were about thirty of us total so we split into two groups. Our tour was in English, and our tour guide was from Rome. We were mostly in old East Berlin. She showed us a lot of street art and graffitti, we went inside some old buildings that were being squatted since the wall fell. 

Last night was a soccer match between Germany and Portugal. I went to the Brandenburger Tor to watch with thousands of other people, and exchange students. Unlike during New Years, this time we were way at the back, having arrived just ten minutes before the match started. I was fine with it though because it was not as crowded. You can see in the picture above, way, way, at the end of the street and people was the large screen where the main thing was, however there were a lot of screens along the way so we could watch from anywhere.

This was unlike any sport event I have been to in the US. The Germans (and everyone else there, German or not) were totally involved in the game. It was too crowded for me to see the screen most of the time, but at one point I had a really good view (for about thirty seconds) and in that time, Germany scored the one and only goal! The crowd went totally crazy! We ended up winning 1-0, which was really nice.

Hamburger Bahnhof

A few weeks ago, I think when I still had more than fourty days left in Germany, a friend in Berlin told me about this museum that was showing artwork from Andy Warhol. The name immediately rang a bell - a friend of mine in the US had had some posters of his and maybe a book or two a couple years ago. So, naturally, I was stoked.

Andy Warhol artwork.

This here was a projector shining light at the wall (or floor) it was really very cool to see. I think the collection was called "Five Minutes of Light" or something similar.

My Parents!

For the week after Eurotour my parents came and visited! It was so nice to see them! And they arrived exactly nine months after the last time I saw them as well. It was so funny watching them try to figure out how to be in Germany. They reminded me so much of myself when I first got here! I was so lost back then!

Half hour or so after getting of the plane at Tegel (:

Me & my dad having bubble tea.

At the Berlin Wall

Us three at the Reichstag.

They stayed for about a week in a nice little B&B in the near from Zoologischer Garten. Luckily they got another bed so that I didn't have to travel to Berlin every day to hang out. My parents arrived the exact day that eurotour ended so I was really pretty distracted  by that. I had this weird feeling of homesickness when they got there, except for Germany.. but I was still in Germany! Anyways, it was really good to see them again (: