A little more tourism + the accommodations

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, when classes finally start, I won't have any choice but to switch back to German (even if I sound like I'm in kindergarten).

I had a really good friend visit me this weekend. He's studying abroad in Ireland this semester, so he caught one the ridiculously cheap (and horribly uncomfortable) flights over to Berlin for a couple days. I took him around to all the touristy sights and did my best to explain what they were along the way. One place Barry asked me about and I still haven't actually seen is the sight of Hitler's bunker. I did a little research on Wikipedia (always the BEST source) and apparently the structure of the bunker still exists in Berlin. The East Germans attempted to destroy it but apparently it was just too strong, so they just buried it and...now it's a parking lot! I'll have to go over and see it sometime soon. It's actually very close to the Holocaust Memorial...so that can't be an accident. Anyway, we had a great time this weekend, not only with the tourist sights but also going out at night. The first night he was here there was a huge exchange student party in the middle of the city--the DJ played a really international mix of music, so everytime we heard an American song we went crazy. The next night we wound up eating Turkish food at this place I saw on Anthony Bourdain's show (I think the restaurant's called Hasir)...really different stuff, but delicious and cheap, too. We met up with a friend in the middle of the city later on and wound up in a jazz club; it was a total mistake but I actually thought the music was a nice change from the techno you usually hear in Berlin. In fact, I found myself dancing out on the floor with the girl we came with--another new experience for me, dancing to jazz!

But the weekend wasn't without consequences. I started feeling sick Thursday and it just deteriorated everyday until I couldn't get out of bed on Sunday. So now I'm trying to take it easy and recover a little bit before I do it all again this weekend.

I have some pictures of the stuff we saw this weekend, some of my room and the building I live in, and also a couple from this huge karaoke event that happens every Sunday in Mauerpark. There must have been at least 500 people there, and they were all singing American pop music in their accents...really hilarious stuff for me (although nobody could understand why I kept cracking up all the time)!

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Part of trip: Berlin

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