Let's play catch-up

Good news everyone! I've got internet access at home and at school, so I'll be able to read emails comments, and the like more often. I'll probably still only be updating from home, since I don't really like to hang out at the program building more than I have to.

Bad news is, I'm sick with some European virus that resembles the common cold. I think I'll call it the Common European Cold. Yeah, that'll do nicely.

I'm about two weeks behind on this thing, so I'll try and keep this brief and informative. Again, pictures and videos will appear when I can find a way to get them loaded all at once.

Things that I have done:

Two Sundays ago I went to the Zoologischer Garten (the West Berlin Zoo) and saw, of all critters, Knut! If you don't know the story, Knut is a polar bear that was abandoned by his mother. The zookeepers have cared for him since he was a baby, and he has become a major attraction in the city (more or less the mascot, really). He's not as as small as he used to be, but he's still cute as hell.
The other polar bears...well, let's jsut say that captivity has not been kind to some of them. One of the bears was doing this 'dance' where he would move forwards a few steps, stop, and then move backwards while swaying his head back and forth. Wash, rinse, repeat. OCD bear was something of a downer.
Later that day the group of us went to a flea market at the Mauerpark (Wall Park - the Wall went right through it), which was pretty cool. I bought a blue Steinkrug for 10 euro - far less than you'll find anywhere else in Berlin.

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Classes started last week on Monday. I'm taking Beginner 2 German (which is challenging, as the class is administered almost entirely in German), German cinema before 1945 (fun), Berlin: History Memory, Literature (interesting), and Contemporary Germany in a European Perspective (interesting and current). All of the courses offered require us to go out out into the city for independent projects of one kind or another, so we get exposure whether we want it or not.

Aside from classes, other offerings from the program include the Stammtisch (which are informal meetings at bars and cafes where we can speak German with Germans, and they can speak English with...Americans), free tickets to a selection operas, concerts, and football matches (real football, not the stupid American kind), and the Tandem program.
The tandem program (which I have signed up for) pairs students like myself with German students, and we then meet at least once a week to improve language skills (German and English). I haven't met with my partner yet, but I hope that it's productive and useful for both of us.

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On Fridays, there's usually a mandatory excursion for the entire program. Last week we went to Potsdam to see San Souccie, Frederick the Great's summer palace, and Cecilienhof, another palace and the site of the Potsdam conference following World War II.
San Souccie was beautiful, to say the least. Sadly, I have no pictures of the interior, since they need revenue from the gift shop (no joke) to keep the palace maintained. I do have extensive photos of the grounds, though. Imagine a vineyard spread over six tiered terraces, and you have one small corner of the grounds. The grapes were tasty, too. My favorite room of the palace: the music room.

Cecilienhof also had a ban against interior photos, but that was because there were some copyright issues raised by surviving members of the original royal family. From the tour, I learned that Josef Stalin was something a prankster (giving the smoking room as an office to Truman, who hated cigarettes, giving Churchill a narrow chair and a painting of a Saint Bernard that bore an uncanny resemblance to him). What a petty jerk. The building itself has been used as a hotel for several decades now, interestingly enough.

Potsdam on its own is quite beautiful, and we lucked out on the weather for the day. There are loads of small shops and monuments that I'd love to go back and see some other day.

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Last Friday I went out to a club with a bunch of people from the program. It was pretty awesome, although I think the 2 and half feet of smoke hanging in the air contributed to the current state of my health. Last sunday, I went to the Tiergarten (lit. Animal Garden, a large park in the middle of the city) and climbed the Siegesaule (Victory Tower, umlaut missing), and got a great view of the city. Aftert that I went to a couple of flea markets and bought myself a black wool fedora-looking hat. Sadly, it's half a size too big, so it needs to get tightened a little before I can wear it without worrying that the wind will carry it off.

I'm heading to bed now. There'll be a little bit more tomorrow.

Good night.