Just a few notes, observations and FYIs

1. This is random but it's kind of cool, even though it's difficult to see in this picture. When people would spray paint the windows, it would peel off so now people scratch the windows to do graffiti on them. I'm sure it's not just in Germany where people do that but I wanted to applaud them for their creativity.


2. If you say hello to random people on the street they will think you are crazy, with the exception of old women. Not because they are rude but because people don't do that here.

3. Chocolate is amazing here and I can have as much of it as I want for the next few months...mmmm

4. Also, Germans love JFK. When he was president, he went to Berlin and said "Ich bin ein Berliner" (translation for all you non-Deutsch speakers: "I am a Berliner"). Below is a pic of me in one of those face cut-outs of JFK. Since I have been here, I have heard that story so many times. I have been walking around Berlin saying that to all the random people I strike up a conversation with and I have yet to reach the fame that JFK did. I want to do something, not illegal, that people in Berlin remember me by. Any ideas?


5. I am amazing at directions. Berlin is a huge city but since I have been here I have yet to get lost. It's even more impressive because I don't take special care to know exactly where I am going. Today I wasn't sure which which direction train to take but the train was there so I randomly guessed and I ended up where I was planning to go. Maybe that's a lesson for life. Wander around in life with no clear goal and maybe by chance you will end up where you want to go. That was really deep. If anyone quotes me on that I expect my name to be included. Maybe that's how I will become famous.

6. The German language is really difficult to learn. But there are a lot of words that are almost the same just different pronunciations.

7. The Christopher Street festival is a gay pride parade...not a parade to honor Christopher Columbus. It was a lot of fun and every float had really good music and everyone was dancing. I take any excuse to be able to dance in public without people thinking I'm crazy. Two things I didn't really like was all the cigarette smoke (I'm pretty sure every other person smoked) and the fact that clothing was optional. There were drag queens all over the parade I loved it but I was a little bitter that they were walking so well in the highest stilettos I had ever seen. This was my favorite drag queen. He was dressed up as a flight attendant and he did their safety demonstration. It was hilarious.


8. Traveling by bus/train is really cheap within Europe, therefore I will go to quite a few countries while I am here.

9. An adapter (used for recharging things) is different than a transformer (used for things like a straightener) and you can blow out the socket if you use an adapter when you should use a transformer. Needless to say I will not have straight hair for the next few months. Good thing it is the fashion in Berlin to let your hair go crazy. Also be very careful when you are walking down stairs because most of them are very steep. On Sunday I was walking down the stairs in my heels and I tripped and fell down the stairs. Luckily I only got a few scratches and bruises but the girl in front of me turned around and said, "Don't be embarrassed, my brother fell down those and broke his arm." So really I blame the stairs.

10. Lastly, moving to a new country where you don't speak the language and don't know anyone is extremely scary but it is such an amazing experience. Berlin is wonderful. I love wandering around the city looking at monuments and statues and stuff because they are everywhere.

I love the food here. All the food tastes delicious here (I'm sure there will be some food they don't like but I haven't found it yet). And the sweets, they are divine. I had a pastry this morning from the corner store and it was so delicious. I can't even describe how good they are. Whenever I want, I can just walk to the corner store and have an authentic german chocolate or pastry for so cheap. This is me eating something that I can't pronounce because it is like 20 letters long and I can't speak German, but trust me, it's really good.


There are rivers all over Berlin. I knew that there was one main one but there are a lot. And there are bridges everywhere. Whenever I am walking over a bridge, there are always big tourist boats floating on the river and I have really been resisting the urge to be like a spy and jump onto the boat from the bridge like they do in movies. I feel like that might not be the best idea for many different reasons.


So this is the fountain of Neptune, he's the statue in the middle of the fountain (you can't really see him too well, I realized that when you ask a stranger to take a picture for you, even if you are standing in front of very famous monument...you should specify that you want the monument in the picture). Note: the next picture. I asked this man to take my picture standing next to the fountain but he insisted I climb onto this statue's lap, luckily I didn't fall while climbing on it. There are fountains everywhere, and not just plains fountains but they have elaborate sculptures and memorials from the war. Also the buildings are incredible. They are so old and there is so much history here.


So this is what I was talking about by getting the monument in the picture. In the background is the monument to the Berlin Wall. This picture is for Lutie. That's right, I am killing Darth Vader in Berlin.


For Michelle, Mollie and Karalee. I met Edward on my flight delay! Ok not really but he looks just like Edward, except for the fact that he's German. I think he was kind of annoyed when I asked to take a pic w/ him (his friend told me that people ask if he is Edward all the time).


I spent all of today wandering around the city and I love Berlin so much. I fit right in with the people, besides the fact that I don't speak the language and am a lot more friendly to strangers than most Berliners are. Berlin is an incredible place and I think there are parties every night.

I'm in Berlin

I made it to Berlin. I'm so excited to be in the city but there are lots of things I need to do. I'll post more later :)

My plane broke down

SO about an hour into my flight to Berlin, the captain told us that there was a problem with the air pressure of the cabin so the plane had to turn back to JFK (New York City). But the pilot said that our plane was overweight and he couldn't land until he burned off some fuel so we flew in circles over JFK for another 2 hours. After we landed safely, the Delta personnel said that we needed to rebook a flight so everyone did a mad-dash for the Delta customer service counters. Luckily, I called the help desk number instead of waiting in line so I got my flight rebooked rather quickly. However, once my flight was rebooked I still had to wait for meal and hotel vouchers for the night so me and all the people on the airplane just sat around for a few hours until we got everything we needed. Now (10 hours later) I am in the hotel and about to go to sleep. On the bright side, I am in New York so I can see the city tomorrow and the airplane gave us meal vouchers for 3 meals :) Hopefully my plane tomorrow won't be broken down.

New haircut and Germany

Let me just start off by saying that I am going to Berlin, Germany in less than 10 days. Let me repeat NEXT SUNDAY I WILL BE IN GERMANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited (if you couldn't tell by the all caps and exclamation marks).

So this first pic is for my mom. She isn't what you would call tech savy and she wanted me to post this pic. Here I am in my Easter outfit (I'm basically the next Gisele Bundchen).


Also I got a hair cut, as you can see it is a big change from the previous pic. Kara, my cousin, cut it and she did an amazing job. I don't think I have ever gotten so many compliments from a haircut before. I love my shorter hair. It is so easy to style in the morning and it is nice to have less hair in the summertime when its hot.


Lastly, me and my roommates have been running lately and it feels wonderful. I love the feeling of the wind rushing past me and the soreness of my muscles (and believe me there has been plenty of that). I did cross country in high school but I really haven't run since then. I like running just for fun rather than in a race. It is so nice when you aren't running against a clock. There isn't any girl that I am trying to beat. I just run at whatever pace I want. If I want to speed up I do and if I want to slow down I do. I just like how I can be so stressed out in the day and when I go running, my stresses go away. My mind just clears and all I think about is putting one foot in front of the other. I realized these past few weeks how much I like running. I don't like racing but I like running, not because I want to beat someone but because I want to feel good and be healthy.