The last couple weeks have definitely been pretty busy but a definite improvement over what I wrote about last time. I made a very last-minute decision to visit my friend Barry, who's studying abroad in Cork Ireland this semester. There's a very cheap airline in Europe called RyanAir, and I managed to get a fairly good deal only 3 days before I left. There's a reason they're cheap, of course: no baggage is included in the fare, the carry-on rules are notoriously strict and they're constantly trying to sell you overpriced liquor during the flight. I made it into Dublin, though, [View Full Entry]

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What a week. After spending all of September and half of October meeting people, exploring the city and having fun, I almost forgot that I had to take some classes. Unfortunately that turned out to be a lot easier said than done. I'll try to make a laundry list of things I don't like about the system/bureaucracy for choosing classes at TU Berlin, but I have plenty to say about it. First of all, there actually IS no enrollment process. You just show up the first day of class and hope there's enough room for you. Knowing that, the logical thing [View Full Entry]

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It's been awhile since I've written, partly because I've been busy, partly from having a friend visit and partly because I've been neglecting my health. The German language class ended last week, and I was a little sad about it. I really enjoyed meeting all the exchange students in the class and having fun, while learning a little bit of German (probably not enough). I think I might be able to find another German class to take during the semester, so hopefully I can do that and keep improving. Lately I've been really lazy and have mostly spoken English...but next week, [View Full Entry]

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The weather is still incredible here. I'm pretty sure it's unprecedented for Berlin to have so many beautiful days in a row. We didn't have class today so I let myself sleep in. The Spanish kids had a huge party upstairs last night, which kept me up for awhile but it was great to meet new people. One of the international advisors from the Technische Universität was there, too. Plus, free sangria and food are always good. On the other hand, I doubt the Putzfrau will be in any better mood after cleaning up that mess... But anyway, since the weather [View Full Entry]

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Finally, I have internet in my room...after 25 euros and a horrendously outdated instruction manual. Today my class and I had an excursion into the city, starting from our building on the TU campus and ending in the district of Mitte (downtown). It was a beautiful day again, as it has been nearly the whole time I've been here. I thought I'd share a couple pictures I took along the way; they're not necessarily the best quality but I had to do my best to keep up with the group. I'm getting much more used to things here in Berlin. Finally, [View Full Entry]

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So it seems the impression that Dad and I got from Siegmunds Hof when we were there over spring break was fairly accurate. The room is really cheap--170 euro--but doesn't come with much. It's fairly hideous, and for the first few days I didn't have any curtains, so I guess I was giving the world a free show every night and morning. Everything got a little better after I went to IKEA, though...I finally have a pillow, sheets, curtains and some pots to cook with. Now the problem is Internet access--right now I'm in a different building that has free internet, [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday I finally arrived in Berlin. I had my passport out at the airport, but nobody checked it--hope I'm not an illegal immigrant now. First impressions were great. The weather was sunny and warm, which is certainly a departure from what it was like over spring break. My Turkish cabbie wasn't particularly friendly, but he got me to the hotel (and didn't rip me off...which was a concern after I noticed he never started the meter). The hotel's is nice enough; actually it's the lap of luxury, compared to what I'm about to move into! Quick story: as I was riding [View Full Entry]

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