Berlin with Sarah

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Last week, after camp was over and after my night in Zuerich, I spent 5 days with a really cool girl in Berlin. I had never met her before -- her mom volunteers in my mom's ESL class every Thursday. This past spring when I was at a potluck that my mom's students had, I met Sarah's mom and she told me that her daughter lives in Berlin. I got her email address and wrote her to see if there was any way I could visit her in Berlin after I was done in Switzerland. She very graciously wrote back and she seemed very open to letting a stranger who randomly wrote to her stay at her apartment with her. It was such an amazing week and I made a very good new friend.

I had a very comfortable bed in the living room next to the window; the room was even decorated with pretty red vases of flowers, and the duvet matched the vases. I am impressed with all the furniture from Ikea that she has managed to get up 5 flights of stairs into that apartment. It looks very nice and she seems very well settled into Berlin.

I'm going to refer to some emails she sent my mom last week to write this - I am very grateful that she kept all these notes!:

Monday:
I arrived to the main train station in Berlin at 7:30 that evening, and met Sarah. I could tell right away that I would get along great with her. We stopped at the pharmacy to get me some better stuff than what I had for my infected knee (yum, I know...), and headed to her apartment, about a 15-20 minute train ride from the main train station. Sarah made an incredible meal of beef curry over rice, and then homemade vanilla pudding (with real vanilla beans.) We ate and talked, and then we watched the beginning of a Bollywood movie. Her boyfriend Zameer is from Pakistan; I think since they have started dating, she has gotten a good fill of Bollywood. 😊 I got SO into the story - the movie is called "Yes, Boss," and is 4 hours long - we gradually watched parts of it throughout the week.


Tuesday:
We got up and had rolls and croissants (which Zameer went downstairs to the bakery to get) with cream cheese and strawberry jam. I had one of the rolls with pumpkin seeds on it, and part of a chocolate croissant, and with it we had a blended fruit juice. After breakfast, Sarah and I decided to be girly, and we went shopping for clothes and shoes after that while Zameer had to go take inventory with his boss.

We came back after shopping and had the rest of the curry from the night before for lunch. Zameer got home, and we went to Amrumer Straße for samosas at a Pakistani shop (which Zameer got for us!) and mango juice. We also went to a Pakistani movie store, where Zameer picked out some new Bollywood movies. Afterwards, the three of us went to Zoologischer Garten and saw two beautiful churches - one old, bombed out one, and the new church next to it that is gorgeous inside (you'll see from pictures) that still has services every week.

We saw a water clock at te Europacenter, which is really fascinating and was one of those things one has trouble looking away from. Then, we went to a HUGE department store (I can't express how huge it is - it has *everything*) called KaDeWe, just to see the huge sections of everything they had. They even had an American section with imported barbecue sauce, chocolate (like Reese's), ketchup, etc.

On the bus to the Sony Center, at which we saw "Mama Mia!" that night, we passed by Embassy Row where there are tons of embassies, just one after the other.

After seeing the movie, Sarah and I did a few more things while Zameer went home. The two of us went to the Holocaust Memorial (Stelenfeld) with all the concrete blocks - it was one of the things I especially wanted to see, cause I had heard so much about it in the past. Sarah also showed me the Brandenburg Gate, and then to an excellent Vietnamese restaurant on Friedrichstraße. Oh, oh, oh, and we saw the Hotel Adlon at which the famous Michael-Jackson-baby-dangling incident occurred. I think M.J. should be given some credit, but whatever. I'm not going to lie - it was kinda cool to see that hotel.


Wednesday:
That was a really wonderful, classy, VIP-esque morning. The reason I say that we were like VIPs is that Sarah, who is really organized (I am hoping some of that has rubbed off on me) had reserved us a table for breakfast at the famous Reichstag. There was a line that was about 2 hours long, and we got to walk right past it and go up to Keefer (the restaurant) for omelettes and complimentary fresh-squeezed carrot-apple juice. Then, we walked around the perimeter of the Reichstag, and Sarah pointed out things in the skyline and told me what they were; she's really well-informed about the city she's from - more informed than a lot of people who have grown up in Berlin.

We then walked through a very pretty, quiet green area called the Tiergarten (the Love Parade is held there every two years), and met Sarah's friend Sven for lunch. I liked Sven a lot - he is very German. I don't know how to explain how he is "very German," but he just is.

After that, Sarah had to get to work, and she gave me a map of Berlin and a cell phone and some tips on where to go; I had 4 hours to explore.

The first thing I did was go into the French church, where there are a lot of sculptures. Then, on to the Pergamonmuseum, which was simply unbelievable. The exhibit is about Babylon, and so it's centered around the clashes/confusion caused by language (in general) and around the history of Babylon. I spent a good hour and a half or so in there.

After that, I made my way to the New Synagogue, which Sarah had pointed out to me when we were looking at the skyline that morning. It has a gold dome and is amazing and gorgeous. The actual synagogue was closed but there was an interesting Jewish museum inside, and I also got to go up into the dome. I stayed there for longer than I expected, and after that I had about an hour and a half left until meeting Sarah.

So, I walked around with no destination, took pictures, saw cool streets, sat on benches in parks and by the river, and eventually made my way back to the building where Sarah works. That night, her co-worker Yukako (she and I have the exact same birthday by the way!) came over, and Sarah made salmon with couscous and vegetables, and some heavenly carrot cake. She is a total connoisseur when it comes to cooking; I don't have that same innate cooking knowledge so I was very impressed.

Then, after we ate, Zameer, Yukako, Sarah and I played a couple of games (Apples to Apples, and another one that I won't try to explain) and all except Zameer went to this extremely cool club. I can't convey how amazed I was by this club (it is called Tacheles); it's collectively run by freelance artists (but it is going to close soon, which is really unfortunate) and it is in a huge house just filled with art of all kinds... outside is really cool, too - it is a huge area with tables and garden decorations and other funky art. We went into a concert room and heard a really great Colombian band, and danced and danced and danced. I will never forget that night - I've never experienced a place quite like that. With good company, it was pretty much perfect.


Thursday:
That morning, we had cereal with sliced bananas, and while Zameer headed off to work, Sarah and I headed out to see the Frankfurter Tor, and then we got on a train and passed part of the Berlin wall, and then to Kottbusser Tor, and picked up some amazing cookies from a bakery and ate them at the Angel's pool. St. Michaels Church was there, which was really pretty. After that we went to see Checkpoint Charlie, and I had another afternoon while Sarah worked to explore some more of the city.

I took a train to the stop closest to the famous Jewish Museum, stopped for some ice cream and then for a very short stop at an internet cafe for 10 or 15 minutes. I updated Facebook (I have my priorities...), but then got kicked off the computer before I could email anyone. Then, I went to the Jewish Museum, which was fascinating and engrossing. I didn't feel any drastic emotional impact from it (I don't know if one is intended to at that museum) cause it's so touristy and so clean, but it was really interesting, and I stayed for almost two hours - it is huge. One cool thing was that I got to listen to tapes recorded by a Holocaust survivor; that was probably the highlight of the Jewish Museum... and it was a woman other than Anne Frank! This woman had some good stories about her family and how they lived day to day. There was one part of the museum that made me really uncomfortable and pretty upset - there was an art piece that was about 30 feet long or so, with metal faces (with horrific expressions) loosely thrown together on the floor, and people were meant to walk on them and hear the loud clanging of the faces. I didn't walk on them but I saw others doing it. Another really interesting part was the tilted columns outside, which are on uneven ground, and when one walks among the columns it is supposed to make a person feel dizzy/sick. It worked - I felt like throwing up after just a couple minutes, so I got out of there quickly. I don't know how I feel about that exhibit; it was supposed to make a person "feel" what a person felt during the Holocaust - feeling dizzy and uncomfortable. People obviously put a lot of thought into exhibits like that, so I don't want to knock it completely, but to me, Holocaust simulation is pointless and even kind of ridiculous... how can we even think that we can experience anything remotely similar to what Holocaust victims experienced? So, in a nutshell: I think it's interesting, but I think it's much more productive to be informed and to live in a way that will help prevent another horrible thing like the Holocaust happen, than to try and "empathize" and "feel" the same thing as people who were put through such torture.


I had to get that out there.

Anyway, after the Juedisches Museum I went to Alexanderplatz where the huge TV tower is, and walked around there for awhile. Then, I got a chai latte at the Einstein Cafe for the mere purpose of being able to say I was there.

Then, I made my way back to Sarah's office and sat by the fountain for about 30 minutes or so until she got off work - my feet really needed a break, and I wanted to write some stuff down. Then, she and I went to Bebelplatz where the burning of the books memorial site is. We also saw Käthe Kollwitz's famous "Mother with her Dead Son" sculpture, which was beautiful. Then, Sarah and I went to her favorite Indian restaurant for some puffed up bread with good sauces, and split a chicken salad. This makes my mouth water just remembering it. I guess I shouldn't be writing when I haven't eaten yet this morning.

Um...... where was I?

Oh, okay, so after the Indian restaurant, we went back to Sarah's for some mangoes, watermelon, and Bollywood. Such a great end to the day.

Friday:
Sarah took the whole day off which was really cool; it was my last full day with her, so I was glad to get to spend it all with her. The day was filled with some more sightseeing, some amazing doenner kebab (the doenner kebabs as we know them today were invented in Berlin by Turkish immigrants) and hanging out with Sarah's friend Daniel. He's very cool. We all went to an ice cream place and walked around Potsdamer Platz and rode a huge seesaw. Then, we went to Sarah's old place of work, and I met a bunch of her old co-workers - all very, very nice people. Her friend Anne was working there, and she left with us and we went back to Sarah's place, played Nintendo and got ready for karaoke night.

Let me just end this with: karaoke with Anne and Sarah is unforgettable.

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Photos

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächnis Kirche
The church was bombed, and this is what remains of it. The cylindrical tower next to it is the new church, where services are held.

inside the old church
On the wall

This is myserious and interesting.
I can't find any background story on this on Google. Oh well, it's cool, whatever it is.

inside the new church
That image of Jesus is unique

The Meatball
This fountain, the Wasserklops, has been nicknamed "The Meatball" by the people of Berlin.

Trying on really, really expensive hats
at the huge department store

The Sony Center
Where we saw "Mamma Mia!"

Comments

[Margaret]

Sarah is an amazing hostess!
It's astonishing how much you did in a few days! She sounds like a really nice and smart person, which doesn't surprise me because her mother is the same!

[Margaret]

Perhaps an ignorant question?
Um, why is there a French church in Berlin?

[alia142]

I'll attempt to answer
All I know is that it was built for the Huguenots (French protestants), who had to flee France b/c they were persecuted... a lot of them ended up in Russia. Maybe there were some who fled to Germany too.