Hamburgers in Hamburg

Although I was in Hamburg for an entire weekend, I didn't manage to eat one single Hamburger... But I did find a historic building within the city that showed the Hamburgers' undying love for our delicious American sandwich:
But not everything in Hamburg was about greasy fast food. It turned out that the city of Hamburg was filled with a rich history of destruction, reconstruction, prostitution, and refinement. Hamburg grew up (and continues to operate) as a port city on the river Elbe very close to the North Sea. As such, the sustainment of its trade operation was necessitated by its ability to satisfy the burly seamen who passed through from day-to-day. To this extent, a lonely street in Hamburg called Reeperbahn was able to develop itself into a haven for peep shows, strip joints, and other establishments of worldy desires... A walk down this street brought back memories of Amsterdam and the red-light-district, but it seemed that Reeperbahn was something different... The lights and sounds and thousands of tourists made it more of a "party avenue" than a back alley sex shop.

During WWII an Allied operation called Operation Gomorrah, targeted at demoralizing the German citizens into surrender was launched upon the citizens of Hamburg. The effect of this operation was the total destruction of Hamburg and a need to rebuild pretty much everything. From the top of the St. Nikolai Kirche I could see the whole city and thanks to some circa 1942 photos that were up there, I could also see how much the city had rebuilt since its leveling in the war. When I was there, there was still a lot of construction going on everywhere, but I think that most of it was no longer due to World War bombings. Instead, it was because of a new initiative to create a residential area in the middle of the Elbe called HafenCity. I didn't get a lot of details on Hafencity, but it looked like a sort of land creation project in which they were building a whole new district on concrete posts extending into the river. Joe and I walked around this area for hours seeing all of the construction being undertaken in the area. It was really pretty neat to see.

I've got lots of pictures of everything in my Picasa album here.

While in that area, I was also able to take a visit inside a Russian U-Boat parked in the Elbe river. It was really amazing to see the tight quarters that they had to live in for months on end while out at sea. And it was also a little unsettling to know that this U-Boat was probably primarily used to spy on (and probably prepared to attack) the United States during the Cold War. This fact was confirmed by a picture that was hung up inside the boat...

A Living, Breathing, History

I guess last weekend was just another few days spent halfway around the world… Whenever I start to get lonely or upset or frustrated by something, I just look back at my life and realize that I'm currently doing something that some people will never be able to do in their lifetime. Right now, I'm spending my time in a city that has warred with our country twice in the last 100 years, was blocked by the Iron Curtain of communism, was fueled by the Air Lifts of democracy, tore down walls, reunified, and became one of the most desired places to be in Germany. Thomas Friedman says in his book that the fall of the Berlin wall was probably one of the most important events in our history in terms of globalization. That event single handedly could have led to the coming together of our entire world, creating the synchronous rhythms of global supply chains in all corporations, big and small. Berlin holds on to probably one of the richest, most dynamic and influential histories that has ever occurred in my life…and I'm here to see it. Whenever I feel troubled all I have to do is open my eyes and take in the Berlin air and say to myself "wow, I have truly been blessed!"

Just another weekend…

Last weekend I tasted the most amazing bratwursts on the planet…three times… Friday night I went out with my roommates ins Kino gehen (to the movies!). We saw Into the Wild, the story of a boy who rebels from his parents, runs out west, lives with hippies, rows down some rivers, and does some other crazy things. It was…ehh….OK but nothing to really write about (ironic because I am…). Before that, we went to Mehringdam to have some of the most incredible Currywursts known to mankind. Doused in ketchup and served with fries and mayo, it was probably one of the least heart-healthy meals I could have ever eaten. But it tasted so delicious that I proceeded to eat that meal two more times during the weekend (I think I'm going to need to start jogging or something…). On Saturday, I went to the Judisches (Jewish) Museum. On first entry, you feel like you're a mouse entering into a maze with twisty walls and a floor that slants sideways. Nothing that you look at is straight which gives you sort of nauseous feeling that I'm sure was intended by the architects. The museum is full of random spaces called "voids" that sometimes have lights shining from the outside, are sometimes pitch black dark, or are sometimes just stone figures that echo voices through audio headsets. In one void was contained a bunch of heavy metal faces on the ground that made a loud clinking sound when you walked on them. Watch this video to see what I mean...

Upstairs were all kinds of exhibits that told the story of the Jews in Germany from the Nuremburg Laws to the Enlightenment. The Judisches museum was probably the most creative, informative, and interactive museum I've ever been to and I think it's a must see for anyone coming to Berlin (Alyssa and Ariel would really like it…lol).

On Sunday a friend of mine who is studying abroad in Italy came to Berlin. I went with her and her friends on the Berlin walking tour and learned a lot more about the city. I did, however, think that the tour guide missed out on a lot of important stuff and next time I have guests in Berlin, I think I'm just going to give the tour myself. One of the most incredible sites we saw was Babelplatz, the site of the German book burning in 1933. There are two metal signs set into the cement there. One is Heinrich Heine's famous quote written in 1820 "Where books are burnt, in the end people will burn." Right next to it was the description of the actions done 100 years later that had been so precisely foreshadowed:

"In der Mitte dieses Platzes verbrannten am 10. Mai 1933 Nationalsozialistische Studenten die Werke hunderter freier Schriftstiller, Publizisten, Philosophen, und Wissenschafler."

On May 10, 1933 in the middle of this plaza National Socialist students burnt the works of hundreds of free authors, publishers, philosophers, and scientists.

The university that organized the book burning now holds a huge book sale every year to "commemorate" this event. And books markets are set up almost every day across the street.

Later that night we went to the Staatsoper and saw a ballet in the first public opera theater in the world. The ballet was Onegin and I've gotta say I was surprisingly impressed about how much I enjoyed it. The music was by Tchaikovsky and the performers did a superb job detailing the story without saying any words at all! Not too bad of a deal considering the student tickets we got were just 12 Euro.

The Cast of Onegin

New Roommates!

I guess I've kind of been slacking on this blogging thing… As you know, I moved in last week to a new apartment in Neuköln with some pretty cool new roommates. Last weekend I was able to go out with them and meet some of their friends. It turned out to be a pretty calm weekend compared to some of them that I have spent in Amsterdam or falling asleep on trains. We ended up chilling in a bar in a bar for a while and talking all night. I guess there always comes a point in the conversation which it switches to soccer, and then the next discussion will always be politics. We followed this progression although I can't say I understood everything that was going on… As much as I've been practicing, I've still got a lot of work to do before I can get in political debates with the Germans. Anyways, I took a few pictures from the night and put them up in my see all pictures place on the right.

Interesting facts about my new place:

-One of the main roads nearby, Sonnenallee, used to be a major division between East and West Berlin and there used to be a lot of crossings along the way. There's even a movie written about some kids who live around here (with that guy from Viktor Vogel for anybody who was in my German class…).
-Just down the road there's a strip of lots of different kinds of Middle Eastern restaurants. Definitely would not be very common in the U.S.
-Everyone who has a dog walks around without the dog on a leash. Sometimes you'll see the dog 20 ft in front of his owner just roaming around on his own free will. Then, when the owner calls him he'll come right back.

Last week I also went to the Pergamon Museum on Thursday, which held the Pergaman alter, a giant stairway that was excavated from the ancient city of Pergamon and brought to Germany. The museum hosted an amazing assortment of Greek and Roman statues, mosaics, columns, and other architecture that made me feel like I was visiting Rome. The frieze that ran around the main room described the Roman mythological story of the battle between the giants and the gods, for who would control the world. The scenes were incredible renderings of Zeus, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, and all of the others vanquishing their enemy and restoring order to the world (I feel like I'm back in Latin class…) The museum was really very incredible and I'd highly recommend it to anyone coming to visit Berlin. I also went to the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie last weekend and saw that museum, dedicated to the division between Berlin during the Cold War. The museum contained some pretty cool stuff like a car that had been smashed through a barricade by some East Germans escaping to the west. It really made me think about all of the history that's happened here in Berlin just over the last 50 years. Recently, I was also able to watch a German movie that really highlighted the pre-unification times called Das Leben der Andern (The Lives of the Others). It was all in German, but I turned on the subtitles J. This is an incredible film that shows the twisted way that socialism ruled the East Germans back in those days. I think it also won an Oscar for best foreign film. For most of the movie the main character has his entire house bugged and the Stasis can see every little thing that is going on in his life. It reminds me a lot of 1984… It's hard to believe now that people could live knowing that every action they made, word they spoke, person they made friends with, could be recorded and used against them.

New room in Neukoln!

This Monday I came home to my new apartment in Neukoln...at 5 AM! I came back from Amsterdam via a night train so when I got here, I had to wake up my new roommate in the wee hours of the Morgen to let me in. When I got here I had a lot of work to do! I had to plan out my new route to work, unpack, and just get situated in my new place. Truth be told, I ended up falling asleep, missing my train, and walking around Blankenfelde for almost an hour looking for a taxi to work... So it was a rough start to my new life in Neukoln...

Neuokoln is defintely a completely different place from my old apartment in Friedenau. While Friedenau was an upper middle class neighborhood with lots of school children and old folks walking around, Neukoln is the exact opposite, with mostly students and Turkish people occupying the streets. Its kinda like some type of rough neighborhood in Chicago except much safer because the gangs don't have guns... The bus stop is right in front of my apartment, though, and my U-Bahn station is only a five or six minute walk away. From there, I can get to the most active parts of the city in under 20 minutes. I really love the location and I think I'll enjoy the change in lifestyle.

Now, I'm pretty much settled in and I think I'm really going to like this place. Yesterday, I had tea with my two new roommates and just talked in general about different things to do in Berlin. They want to take me out to the bars, introduce me to their friends, go to the movies with me, and show me around Berlin. That's really a great thing because I was getting a little bit tired of not having any German friends in Berlin (it gets kinda lonely after a while...) The other great thing about living here is that I get to speak a LOT more German. Conversations can take whole new twists when half the things you say have to be defined... I think it's really exciting and I think my language skills will improve a lot from living here. Tonight, we all had dinner together. The two girls cooked turkey with rice and fruit and I did the dishes. All of the work that needs to be done in the apartment like cleaning, vacuuming and taking the garbage out, is divvied up between us. They even have a little clock schedule that shows you what task you have to do for the week. Living here is a little like being back at Phi Psi minus the huge parties and the floors that stick to your feet. Here's a picture of my new room. It looks pretty much like the old one, but it has pictures on the wall and books on the shelves giving it a much more homey feel...

Amsterdam Escapade

Amsterdam turned out OK after all! Joe made it in by 6 pm on Saturday and I was able to hang out with those girls who I met in the morning until then. By the time he got there, all the touristy stuff was closed so we had to pack it all in to Sunday. That night, we saw the coffee shops and red light district. Seeing half naked girls dancing in windows down a long dark alley lit by only red neon lights was probably one of the weirdest experiences I've ever encountered. It's really something that can not be described in words and you'd have to go there yourself to really see what I mean. Coffee shops were another very interesting thing about Amsterdam with random drugs that would be illegal in the U.S. being sold at discount prices. A place called Bulldog even told stories of its history of providing marijuana during times when it was illegal in Amsterdam. The sign on this bar stool says "Our first and most successful hiding spot. A real high chair!" It kind of reminds me of being in Harry's and talking about the Prohibition days. The next day, we were also able to go to two of the amazing museums in Amsterdam, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum and the Rijks (pronounced rikes) Museum. Both had art from spectacular artists ranging from Picasso to du Jardin to Rembrandt (and of course Vincent Van Gogh). The scenes that these artists portrayed are really like nothing you can ever describe in words and its really a whole new experience when you can see the originals with their thick and thin layers of vibrant paints built up in different ways to bring about different moods and thoughts. One of my favorite was this Vincent painting of a broken down church in Nuenen called 'The peasants' churchyard' This picture though does not nearly do justice to the original hanging on the wall at the Van Gogh Museum. I have a lot more pictures of Amsterdam that I put online yesterday in my online photo album. To see them, click "See all my Pictures" on the right. Being in Amsterdam also gave me a chance to again feel like a complete foreigner, not knowing any of the language or anything about the city that I was in. This gave me a whole new feeling when I came back and could again speak German and ride on the Deutsche Bahn trains that I know and love. I think that I'm really starting to feel at home in Germany...

My German's as good as a 4-year-old!

Lots has happened in the last few days... I found a new room, moved in all my luggage, and took a train to Amsterdam where they have the biggest Burger King that I've ever seen in my entire life...

Let's start with the new room. I had been looking all last week for a new room to move into on the first of the month with some German students so that I could speak more German and meet more young people. Tuesday night, I went over to look at an apartment in Neukoln and met three very nice German students. One of them was leaving for 2 months for an internship in southern Germany so he offered his room and I took it. My roommates will be two German girls, one who studies politics, and the other who has an internship in ad type things. They seem like interesting people and they really like to speak with me and my broken German. I think this will be the best thing for me improving my skills.

Thursday, I moved in all of my luggage and noticed something else really interesting about Berlin. People were moving. I think I saw ten other people with luggage moving around on the day that I moved in to my apartment. Then, I thought about it and realized that it was the 31st so everyone was doing there apartment changes. I keep hearing how Berlin is such a dynamic city, but I think seeing all those people with suitcases really drove it in to my head. Berliners don't usually settle down for life. They come to experience life in a whole new way and then move on their way...

Yesterday, I took a train to Amsterdam that I had booked a few weeks back. I had heard that the BVG, the Berlin train company had decided to go on strike so I was a little worried about getting to and from the Hauptbahnhof, but it ended up that the S-Bahns, which I needed to take, were still running. But, this meant that they were PACKED with people. While I was riding on one, I finally found that I could speak German as well as a four year old. I was sitting in my seat reading a book and writing a little bit and some little kid came up to me and asked, "Was machst du???" (What are you doing?) . I ended up having like a 10 minute conversation with this little four year old about Germany and America and how much he likes trains! It turned out that the little kids German was just about as good as mine, so our simple conversation worked out perfectly.

From the Hauptbahnhof, I was supposed to meet Joe at the next stop in Spandau. I got there...but no Joe... I called him and asked where he was and he panted that he was coming... The train left about two minutes before he called and told me that he was there. I guess I'm going to Amsterdam by myself... For a while, the train ride was really awkward because I had no one to talk to, but then I engaged in a conversation with some girl traveling to Hannover. I was able to talk to her for a while, speeding up the ride. But after she got off it was pretty boring. I got to Amsterdam and walked around the city...lost...for about an hour before finding a hotel. The city is really incredible with all of its canals and old buildings (pictures will come up later). Joe called and told me he'd be coming by train in the morning...

So now, I'm sitting in my hotel in Amsterdam writing on this computer. I did end up meeting some girls from the States who happened to be pretty good friends with one of my pledge brothers from Phi Psi (again, a really small world). I guess I'm going to walk around the city today with them and see what I can find...