Thursday, July 24, 2008
I miss Germany
I'm rather missing Germany. I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm glad to be back home too but I like a nice little 2 week vacation back in Berlin with the crew.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Frühlings in Berlin
Yesterday I took some out of my very busy Sunday afternoon to head to Treptower Park. The weather was beautiful; high 60's and sunny. I wanted to get there to take some pictures, because earlier in the semester we went for one of my seminars and the weather was absolutely disgusting and cold and lifeless. This time, it was just the opposite. The park was very crowded and you could sense what the Germans call Gemütlichkeit. It basically means the perfection situation. It the good feeling you have when you sitting outside on a nice day on a park bench chatting with a buddy, while drinking a cool german pilsner and eating your bratwürst. The part of Treptower Park were I went to take pictures, is actually an old Soviet memorial. The park lies in former East Germany, and they were very sympathetic to the Soviet Union. The Park memorializes the Red Army's victory of the battle of Berlin and there defeat of Fascism. It is also there to as a way to promote Stalin, Lenin, and other communist beliefs. The second function of the park, is the fast that its a cemetery. Buried under 5 lands memorialized mounds of earth of thousands of Soviet soldiers that were killed in Berlin during WWII. Most of them were unknown soldiers. The grandness of the place is far better to see in person than in the pictures I took, but they give you a pretty good idea I think.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A European Day
Today was a very nice day, and glimpse into how the Europeans live (or at least the Germans). I had a meeting this morning with a representative of the Jusos for my final project. So I headed into town like many other Germans on their way to work. We chatted, he answered my questions, and we had coffee. After that I returned back to the apartment for a little something to eat before heading outside to work on a photography assignment and enjoy the beautiful of day. It was sunny and really warm, with a little breeze blowing. I wandered around a section of the borough of Berlin that I live in and took photos for my class. I just walked around at things that looked interesting enjoying the weather and listening to my ipod. After about 45 minutes, I hoped on the train into Potsdamer Platz to drop of my photos to be developed. After dropping them off, I headed to a cafe near the photo shop. I ordered my cafe mocha and sat outside with the rest of the Germans reading and sipping on my coffee in the sun. It was perfect and quite enjoyable. I read for almost an hour, until I had finished my coffee then I went to pick up my pictures and went back to the apartment. It was a fun and beautiful day with all the interesting activities that Europeans are known for.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Bout Time
The sun is finally out and Berlin and the weather is nice. The temps are actually hitting high 50's and low 60's. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up all my work in the next few days, or at least get enough done, to get out there and enjoy it. Oh yeah, and the Biergartens (Beer Gardens) are open!
Monday, April 21, 2008
A Trip to Dresen
We had our last group excursion down to Dresden, Germany this past weekend. Although it wasn't the best trip, it was still nice to see the city. Dresden is the historical city of the once powerful kingdom of Saxony. Saxony, before German unification in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck, was one of the richest and most powerful kingdoms in what used to be the Holy Roman Empire. Dresden is also known for being completely devastated and destroyed by Allied bombers at the very end of World War II. It was carpet bombed and the entire city burned to the ground.
We left Saturday morning, taking the regional train there. Our guide is the same guide (Helmut Franz) that showed us around Potsdam at the very beginning of the semester. He was born and grew up in Dresden. He showed us around the old part of the city (Altestadt). We saw the former palace of the Emperors, the Treasury housing their jewels and other priceless belongings, and also a few churches. One was a stunningly beautiful Catholic church and the other was a Protestant church with a magnificent organ. We toured the other parts of the city, looking at what had been rebuilt, what was ruins, and also the different architectural styles of the regimes that controlled Dresden.
Our hostel was very nice, and located in the new part of the city (Neuestadt). The city is seperated in two by the river Elbe. The new part has less of the old buildings, and we walked around more to look at the architecture. The hostel was located in the part of the city where most of the students live, because there are nearby universities and schools. It was quaint and quiet. The weather wasn't the bus...in fact it was much colder and rainy than predicted. We ended up leaving a couple hours early, because we were looking to get back to Berlin to get work done and there were a couple of people who had started to get sick from a bug or something. All in all, it was a nice city to see, but would have been better as perhaps a day trip and with much better weather.
We left Saturday morning, taking the regional train there. Our guide is the same guide (Helmut Franz) that showed us around Potsdam at the very beginning of the semester. He was born and grew up in Dresden. He showed us around the old part of the city (Altestadt). We saw the former palace of the Emperors, the Treasury housing their jewels and other priceless belongings, and also a few churches. One was a stunningly beautiful Catholic church and the other was a Protestant church with a magnificent organ. We toured the other parts of the city, looking at what had been rebuilt, what was ruins, and also the different architectural styles of the regimes that controlled Dresden.
Our hostel was very nice, and located in the new part of the city (Neuestadt). The city is seperated in two by the river Elbe. The new part has less of the old buildings, and we walked around more to look at the architecture. The hostel was located in the part of the city where most of the students live, because there are nearby universities and schools. It was quaint and quiet. The weather wasn't the bus...in fact it was much colder and rainy than predicted. We ended up leaving a couple hours early, because we were looking to get back to Berlin to get work done and there were a couple of people who had started to get sick from a bug or something. All in all, it was a nice city to see, but would have been better as perhaps a day trip and with much better weather.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Ostseebad Binz
I just returned yesterday from a weekend getaway to a small town on Germany's northern coast. We visited a tourist town known as Binz. Binz is a coastal town on the Baltic Sea in an area of Germany known as Rügen. Since it was the off season, there weren't very many tourists. 14 of us went. We took the regional trains up and back, so it took about 4 hours each way. The ride was comfortable and we all either talked, did work, or napped. We left Saturday morning and arrived later that afternoon. The youth hostel we stayed in was top notch and was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station. It was located right on the beach and was beautiful. The rooms were nice, they served us breakfast, and they had ping pong and pool tables to keep us occupied.
When we first arrived, we unloaded our stuff into our rooms then headed for the beach. We had great weather. It wasn't really hot, but the sun was out and it was warm enough to play outside. Once on the beach we pretty much took over a huge section haha. We ended up splitting up into 3 groups. One group played frisbee, the other wiffleball, and the other soccer. I played some wiffleball and then jumped into the soccer game. We had some intense games for both. We pretty much stuck out like a soar thumb on the beach. All the Germans were just walking the beach with their winter coats on and children dragging behind. We were running around in our shorts or bathing suits and having a good ole time. After the sports matches, some went off to walk and take pictures, and just sat in the sand. Me and a couple other guys decided to build a sand castle. Then the sand castle idea turned into deciding to build a sand snake. Then that idea turned into building a sand crocodile. The crocodile idea stuck and looked pretty good for what we had to work with (which was nothing but a frisbee as a shovel).
After that most everyone headed back to the hostel to clean up and find something to eat. A group of us wandered around the town looking for a pizza place we heard about. It took us about 45 minutes to find, and we discovered that it was pretty much right across from the hostel. The pizza was delicious. After that we headed back to the hostel and people just chilled, talked, or played ping pong for the rest of the evening.
The next day, I got up early to shower and take a walk on the beach. I regretted not bringing my running shoes or clothes, because it would of been perfect conditions to run on the beach. But I wandered up and down for about 45 minutes taking pictures and admiring the scenery. It remined a lot of back home in Scarborough and in Rhode Island. I definatley love being on the water. After my stroll, I headed back to the hostel for some breakfast. We hung around on the beach for a little while longer after that, then we caught a bus to a nearby island town for an afternoon hike. We walked through the town, to a small forest located on the edge of the sea. The hike was beautiful and was located on the cliffs. The sea looked amazing on this day, because parts of the cliff had actually slide off into the ocean just a few days before. The ocean looked much like the carribean, because the soil in these cliffs had a lot of chalk and limestone in them, thus turning the dark blue and much lighter color. We hiked for a good long time, then headed down to the rocky beaches. We sat on the beach (i layed down the rocks which were actually quite comfortable and almost fell asleep) for almost an hour. It was sunny and warm and absolutely beautiful. We then headed back into town for the bus back to our hostel. When we arrived back into Binz, we went to the local grocery store to pick up some things for the train ride back, got our things from the hostel, then caught the train back to Berlin.
The vacation was short, but a much needed time of relaxation. The weather was perfect for us, and I was feeling much better after being sick. The area reminded me a lot of home and made me realize how much I really like the scenery of Maine and Rhode Island. I probably will never really be able to live in a city setting much longer than I have now. I like the ocean and the mountains to much and the activities that go along with them. I was a very nice getaway. I also am aware that I haven't told you anything about Hungary and Romania yet, but I've been wicked busy and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I'm going to have the time to post anything about the trip. The excursion was very long and there is a lot to tell, but if I have time I promise I'll make a post. If not, then just remind me to let y'all know when I return.
Bis Dann
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Spring Break 2008
Hello All! So here it is. Finally my spring break post. I'm going to break it down into 3 parts (because we visited 3 different cities). I've already posted the pictures from our trip up on webshots so you can see them there.
So first is Vienna, Austria! As I said before, we left for Vienna (Wien in German) on the afternoon of Monday the 17th. Luckily, on that particular day, the BVG started running again so it was much easier to get to the airport with the trains running. The flight was short and comfortable. It only took us a little over an hour to arrive. We arrived shortly after 4. The airport is located out of the actual city, so we had to take a subway train into the city. Something funny though...I din't realize how close Vienna is to Bratislava. In the actual airport, we saw several signs show the direction to Bratislava haha. Anyway, the ride was about a 45 minute long ride and put us just north of our hotel. We walked about 15 minutes south to our hotel and checked in. The room was comfortable, but sort of small. The hotel was nice....and they gave us breakfast every morning which was nice. After we settled in, we headed out in the square located next to our hotel and looked for a place to eat. We found a nice restaurant and had a pretty good dinner. After dinner, we just walked around the rest of the square and down some of the streets to then to our hotel.
On the next day, we had a full day of exploration ahead of us. We woke to snow in the morning. Then the sun came out, then it snowed a little more, then the sun came out again while it was snowing and it eventually stopped snowing and became a really nice day. We took a good look at the subway map and headed to the central square in the city called "Stephans Platz." We just walked around the old city looking at old cathedrals and churches, we saw the Holocaust Memorial, the Opera House and the former Imperial buildings of the old Habsburg Imperial Dynasty. We decided to go look for the City Crypt, which contained the remains of the Imperial Habsburg family. It took a while to find, but the crypt was awesome. It contained many members of the former royal family and even the brother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the royal family member that was murdered and started WWI). After that we walked around the park next to the Imperial Center and checked out a little bit of the Museum Quarter. We walked to the government district from there and saw the Austrian Parliament building. From there we grabbed some pizza for lunch then found our way to a subway station so that we could head to the face Habsburg Palace known as Schloss Schoenbruenn. There was a nice Easter market at in the courtyard in front of the Schloss. We paid for a self-tour of the Schloss and walked around with hand-held guides for about 40 minutes. Then we went to the back of the Schloss were there was an even larger courtyard filled with Gardens, and a Labyrinth with a maze and a huge Grotto with fountains and high up on a hill was a look out point. We walked up, took some pictures, then took a nice hike back to the bottom. We then headed back to the hotel for some rest before getting some dinner. I took a nap, then we found some dinner in the square again.
The next day, it started off snowing again. We didn't have too too much time, because we need to catch an afternoon train to Salzburg, but we had just enough time to go to the Imperial Treasury. This building held all the family jewels and possessions of the Habsburg Family. From there, we went back to our hotel to grab our stuff and head to the train station. I enjoyed Vienna, because it was a lot different than Berlin. Even though the cities are both very old, it was much more visible in Vienna. Most of the city wasn't destroyed in WWII like Berlin was. The streets are still smaller and the buildings old. Another difference was the language and religion. Although Austria is a German speaking country, there some subtle differences like word placement, or different slang. Also, Vienna and most all of Austria is far more religious and extremely Catholic. Signs of Easter were all over the city. It was a nice visit.
This day, Wednesday, we were traveling to Munich, Germany to continue our vacation. However, I purposely scheduled a brief stop in Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is a smaller city in Austria. It is located right on the border with Germany and is an Alp town. It too is very old, and in fact was an important city for the Roman Empire (as was most of Germany and Austria). We had about a 3 hour train ride to Salzburg. The ride was nice, we shared a compartment with 4 other people (two of them got off a stops shortly after leaving Vienna). The views from the trains were awesome. The land in Austria is much different than that of Berlin or norther Germany. There are many more hills and mountains. It was easy to see snow capped peaks and some alp mountain ranges as we rode to Salzburg. The ride was comfortable and nice. We arrived at the station and picked up a city map, then walked to the city center. The main station was a mere 15minute walk to the city. Along the way, we took pictures and admired the landscape. Mountains and valleys with snow surrounded the town, as well as the river Danube that ran through the city. High on a mountain face, lay a one of the oldest fortresses in Austria. It looked liked an old white medieval castle. We didn't have enough time to walk up and explore it, but it was amazing to see. We walked through the streets and looked at the markets, the architecture, and the people. More Easter markets were taking place here. The streets in Salzburg were also old and narrow. There were many tourists (mostly Italian). The main church bells started ringing as we were standing in front, admiring. We looked in the church, however services were being held so we didn't disturb them. We walked around the side of the church to find more easter markets and a life-size chess board painted on the street. Two older gentlemen were playing and a small crowd had formed to watch. Then about a million little church-kids came running out of the church past us and into a building on the other side of the square. We continued to walk and looked a fountain on the edge of the square. Then a bird flew by Court's head and she almost was so shocked she started to scream "Jesus Chr..!" but she contained herself, because at the same moment a nun was walking by us. I laughed...hard haha. We walked around a little more, then bought some treats at one of the market stands and made our way back to the train station. We grabbed some dinner at BK, of all places, then waited for our connecting train to Munich.
Our next stop was Munich (München in German). The train from Salzburg to Munich was much shorter, only about an hour and a half. We had regular seating this time instead of a compartment. It was ok, except there was this family with two kids that kept fighting and were completely out of control. So Court and I just donned our iPods and that took care of the problem. We arrived in Munich at about 8:30. The travel office was closed in the train station, and we couldn't find any street or subway maps to help us find the street our hotel was on. So we just decided to take a cab. Funny thing was, that our street was actually right next to the train station and our cab ride lasted a whole 30 seconds (still cost us 3 Euro). We checked in and settled into the room. The room was nice, and was much bigger than the last. However instead of one big bed, they gave us two twin beds and just pushed them together. They also provided breakfast in the morning and the stay wasn't that bad.
On the first day, Thursday, the day also started off a bit snowy but then the sun came out in full force and it was a gorgeous day....for a little while. We figured out the map and subway plans and headed off to the English Garden. The English Garden is the "Central Park" of Munich. Its filled with fields, and paths, and trees, and there is a giant lake/pond in the center. In the center, you can find many beergardens full of people and bustling and lots of people in paddle boats out on the lake. There were a few people strolling through the park, or on the bikes, or with their dogs the day we went. Also during the summer, there is a "man-made wave rider" where you can try surfing located next to the creak that runs through the entire park. We went to find it, and found the waterfall and it was really beautiful. Then in the blink of an eye, the sun ducked behind some clouds and it literally started snowing like crazy. It looked like a blizzard. I took a few pics and you can see them online. We then wandered around some more trying to find a subway station and get ourselves orientated. From there we headed back to the hotel quickly then went to the BMW Museum.
The Museum was actually under construction, but located across the street was the main BMW showroom and exhibition. This building was huge and had multiple floors. It displayed the latest BMW technology, as well as all its car models, motorcyles, and F1 car. We spent a lot of time here and I took tons of pictures. It was definately one of the highlights of the trip. Across the street was the the BMW headquarters and the main BMW factory. Both buildings were huge and you can see them in pictures I took. After that we wondered around the neighborhood for a little while, before heading to one of the main tourist attractions. For dinner, and our next stop, was the Hofbrauhaus. This is the probably the most famous brew house in Germany. It has been around for centuries and hosts one of the largest tents during Oktoberfest. We ate in the traditional beer hall and had the traditional Munich meal - Weisswurst (White bratwurst) mit Senf und Pretzeln (with mustard and a pretzel). We also had the traditional Hofbrau home brew beer. It was delicious and came in the famous tall 1 litre mugs. The experience was similar to that in Hamburg, and probably would have been more fun if the band was playing and it was outside during summertime, but it was still enjoyable.
So that pretty much concluded that day. The next day we went to the Altesmuseum which housed old renaissance and reformation paintings and artwork. This was a nice museum that we spent about an hour at. After that we headed over to the Olympic Park (Olympiapark). This is a huge area, turned park, that was the main site for the 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich. On the site is an indoor soccerfield, a hockey rink, an events theatre (kinda like a civic center), a pool, and the main soccer stadium. We were able to tour and walk around the soccer stadium for a little while and even saw where the olympic flame was kept burning the games. Also on site now, is an aquarium and the main tv tower in Munich (called Olympia Tower). With in the tower is a small museum for rock music, a rotating restaurant, and two observation decks. One of the observation decks is indoors, the other is outside. We took the long ride up to see the view. Up there we got some pretty good pictures (despite the wet windows form the rain) from both observation decks. We also checked out the little museum and wanted to have dinner at the museum. Unfortunately they here taking a break and weren't serving dinner so we just got something to drink then left. After that we made our way back towards our hotel and got dinner at nice Italian restaurant. The food was very good and the service was nice too.
The next morning we got up for breakfast, then headed to the train station to catch a train to the subway. The Munich airport is another airport that is located quite a ways outside the city. It was about a 45 minute ride. We arrived at the airport and checked in with no problems and a good chunk of time to spare. I read the paper and Court read some of Harry Potter (im trying to get her addicted like I am). The flight was short and comfortable. We tried to work on some of the word games and puzzels and stuff in the paper, but I eventually gave up haha.
Overall, the break was amazing and a lot of fun. We had no real problems and the weather was great for most of the trip. I was glad that I had the opportunity to spend it with Courtney and that we got to see some of the best places in Europe together. It will be hard to top.
So first is Vienna, Austria! As I said before, we left for Vienna (Wien in German) on the afternoon of Monday the 17th. Luckily, on that particular day, the BVG started running again so it was much easier to get to the airport with the trains running. The flight was short and comfortable. It only took us a little over an hour to arrive. We arrived shortly after 4. The airport is located out of the actual city, so we had to take a subway train into the city. Something funny though...I din't realize how close Vienna is to Bratislava. In the actual airport, we saw several signs show the direction to Bratislava haha. Anyway, the ride was about a 45 minute long ride and put us just north of our hotel. We walked about 15 minutes south to our hotel and checked in. The room was comfortable, but sort of small. The hotel was nice....and they gave us breakfast every morning which was nice. After we settled in, we headed out in the square located next to our hotel and looked for a place to eat. We found a nice restaurant and had a pretty good dinner. After dinner, we just walked around the rest of the square and down some of the streets to then to our hotel.
On the next day, we had a full day of exploration ahead of us. We woke to snow in the morning. Then the sun came out, then it snowed a little more, then the sun came out again while it was snowing and it eventually stopped snowing and became a really nice day. We took a good look at the subway map and headed to the central square in the city called "Stephans Platz." We just walked around the old city looking at old cathedrals and churches, we saw the Holocaust Memorial, the Opera House and the former Imperial buildings of the old Habsburg Imperial Dynasty. We decided to go look for the City Crypt, which contained the remains of the Imperial Habsburg family. It took a while to find, but the crypt was awesome. It contained many members of the former royal family and even the brother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the royal family member that was murdered and started WWI). After that we walked around the park next to the Imperial Center and checked out a little bit of the Museum Quarter. We walked to the government district from there and saw the Austrian Parliament building. From there we grabbed some pizza for lunch then found our way to a subway station so that we could head to the face Habsburg Palace known as Schloss Schoenbruenn. There was a nice Easter market at in the courtyard in front of the Schloss. We paid for a self-tour of the Schloss and walked around with hand-held guides for about 40 minutes. Then we went to the back of the Schloss were there was an even larger courtyard filled with Gardens, and a Labyrinth with a maze and a huge Grotto with fountains and high up on a hill was a look out point. We walked up, took some pictures, then took a nice hike back to the bottom. We then headed back to the hotel for some rest before getting some dinner. I took a nap, then we found some dinner in the square again.
The next day, it started off snowing again. We didn't have too too much time, because we need to catch an afternoon train to Salzburg, but we had just enough time to go to the Imperial Treasury. This building held all the family jewels and possessions of the Habsburg Family. From there, we went back to our hotel to grab our stuff and head to the train station. I enjoyed Vienna, because it was a lot different than Berlin. Even though the cities are both very old, it was much more visible in Vienna. Most of the city wasn't destroyed in WWII like Berlin was. The streets are still smaller and the buildings old. Another difference was the language and religion. Although Austria is a German speaking country, there some subtle differences like word placement, or different slang. Also, Vienna and most all of Austria is far more religious and extremely Catholic. Signs of Easter were all over the city. It was a nice visit.
This day, Wednesday, we were traveling to Munich, Germany to continue our vacation. However, I purposely scheduled a brief stop in Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is a smaller city in Austria. It is located right on the border with Germany and is an Alp town. It too is very old, and in fact was an important city for the Roman Empire (as was most of Germany and Austria). We had about a 3 hour train ride to Salzburg. The ride was nice, we shared a compartment with 4 other people (two of them got off a stops shortly after leaving Vienna). The views from the trains were awesome. The land in Austria is much different than that of Berlin or norther Germany. There are many more hills and mountains. It was easy to see snow capped peaks and some alp mountain ranges as we rode to Salzburg. The ride was comfortable and nice. We arrived at the station and picked up a city map, then walked to the city center. The main station was a mere 15minute walk to the city. Along the way, we took pictures and admired the landscape. Mountains and valleys with snow surrounded the town, as well as the river Danube that ran through the city. High on a mountain face, lay a one of the oldest fortresses in Austria. It looked liked an old white medieval castle. We didn't have enough time to walk up and explore it, but it was amazing to see. We walked through the streets and looked at the markets, the architecture, and the people. More Easter markets were taking place here. The streets in Salzburg were also old and narrow. There were many tourists (mostly Italian). The main church bells started ringing as we were standing in front, admiring. We looked in the church, however services were being held so we didn't disturb them. We walked around the side of the church to find more easter markets and a life-size chess board painted on the street. Two older gentlemen were playing and a small crowd had formed to watch. Then about a million little church-kids came running out of the church past us and into a building on the other side of the square. We continued to walk and looked a fountain on the edge of the square. Then a bird flew by Court's head and she almost was so shocked she started to scream "Jesus Chr..!" but she contained herself, because at the same moment a nun was walking by us. I laughed...hard haha. We walked around a little more, then bought some treats at one of the market stands and made our way back to the train station. We grabbed some dinner at BK, of all places, then waited for our connecting train to Munich.
Our next stop was Munich (München in German). The train from Salzburg to Munich was much shorter, only about an hour and a half. We had regular seating this time instead of a compartment. It was ok, except there was this family with two kids that kept fighting and were completely out of control. So Court and I just donned our iPods and that took care of the problem. We arrived in Munich at about 8:30. The travel office was closed in the train station, and we couldn't find any street or subway maps to help us find the street our hotel was on. So we just decided to take a cab. Funny thing was, that our street was actually right next to the train station and our cab ride lasted a whole 30 seconds (still cost us 3 Euro). We checked in and settled into the room. The room was nice, and was much bigger than the last. However instead of one big bed, they gave us two twin beds and just pushed them together. They also provided breakfast in the morning and the stay wasn't that bad.
On the first day, Thursday, the day also started off a bit snowy but then the sun came out in full force and it was a gorgeous day....for a little while. We figured out the map and subway plans and headed off to the English Garden. The English Garden is the "Central Park" of Munich. Its filled with fields, and paths, and trees, and there is a giant lake/pond in the center. In the center, you can find many beergardens full of people and bustling and lots of people in paddle boats out on the lake. There were a few people strolling through the park, or on the bikes, or with their dogs the day we went. Also during the summer, there is a "man-made wave rider" where you can try surfing located next to the creak that runs through the entire park. We went to find it, and found the waterfall and it was really beautiful. Then in the blink of an eye, the sun ducked behind some clouds and it literally started snowing like crazy. It looked like a blizzard. I took a few pics and you can see them online. We then wandered around some more trying to find a subway station and get ourselves orientated. From there we headed back to the hotel quickly then went to the BMW Museum.
The Museum was actually under construction, but located across the street was the main BMW showroom and exhibition. This building was huge and had multiple floors. It displayed the latest BMW technology, as well as all its car models, motorcyles, and F1 car. We spent a lot of time here and I took tons of pictures. It was definately one of the highlights of the trip. Across the street was the the BMW headquarters and the main BMW factory. Both buildings were huge and you can see them in pictures I took. After that we wondered around the neighborhood for a little while, before heading to one of the main tourist attractions. For dinner, and our next stop, was the Hofbrauhaus. This is the probably the most famous brew house in Germany. It has been around for centuries and hosts one of the largest tents during Oktoberfest. We ate in the traditional beer hall and had the traditional Munich meal - Weisswurst (White bratwurst) mit Senf und Pretzeln (with mustard and a pretzel). We also had the traditional Hofbrau home brew beer. It was delicious and came in the famous tall 1 litre mugs. The experience was similar to that in Hamburg, and probably would have been more fun if the band was playing and it was outside during summertime, but it was still enjoyable.
So that pretty much concluded that day. The next day we went to the Altesmuseum which housed old renaissance and reformation paintings and artwork. This was a nice museum that we spent about an hour at. After that we headed over to the Olympic Park (Olympiapark). This is a huge area, turned park, that was the main site for the 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich. On the site is an indoor soccerfield, a hockey rink, an events theatre (kinda like a civic center), a pool, and the main soccer stadium. We were able to tour and walk around the soccer stadium for a little while and even saw where the olympic flame was kept burning the games. Also on site now, is an aquarium and the main tv tower in Munich (called Olympia Tower). With in the tower is a small museum for rock music, a rotating restaurant, and two observation decks. One of the observation decks is indoors, the other is outside. We took the long ride up to see the view. Up there we got some pretty good pictures (despite the wet windows form the rain) from both observation decks. We also checked out the little museum and wanted to have dinner at the museum. Unfortunately they here taking a break and weren't serving dinner so we just got something to drink then left. After that we made our way back towards our hotel and got dinner at nice Italian restaurant. The food was very good and the service was nice too.
The next morning we got up for breakfast, then headed to the train station to catch a train to the subway. The Munich airport is another airport that is located quite a ways outside the city. It was about a 45 minute ride. We arrived at the airport and checked in with no problems and a good chunk of time to spare. I read the paper and Court read some of Harry Potter (im trying to get her addicted like I am). The flight was short and comfortable. We tried to work on some of the word games and puzzels and stuff in the paper, but I eventually gave up haha.
Overall, the break was amazing and a lot of fun. We had no real problems and the weather was great for most of the trip. I was glad that I had the opportunity to spend it with Courtney and that we got to see some of the best places in Europe together. It will be hard to top.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Congratulations Amber and Moses
I know I still need to post the rest of my travel stories but I promise I will get to it eventually. Right now I wanted to make a quick post, congratulating Amber and Moses on the birth of their baby boy Mason Benjamin. Mason was born without complications on April 6, 2008. He weighed in at 6lbs., 15oz and was 19 inches long. I can't wait to see him in person!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Court! Birthdays! and Anniversaries!
Wow, so it's been a really long time since I've posted, but as most of you should know, I've not been in Berlin that much. First Krakow, then Spring Break, then Hungary and Romania. But! Now I've finally got some free time to at least start to write about whats been going on. I'm first going to write about Court's visit then our Spring Break. Then I'll fill you all in about my travels to Budapest and Transylvania.
Court arrived on Saturday, the 15th of March. At this point in time, the BVG was on strike again so there was no direct route to get from my apartment to Tegel Airport. I first had to walk to an S-Bahn station, and take one of the alternative trains to the Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station) and from there they were running some buses to the airport. Although her flight arrived about 15 minutes, it took a quite a while for her to come out of the terminal (the must of been slow with the luggage). She made a German friend on the flight and the girl helped her with one of her bags until she found me. I had to laugh when I first saw her face because the expression just spelled, "UGH! My Life!" I knew she was tired and had a long long long flight, but I was happy as could be to see her and justed wanted to give her a great big hug and kiss her! So I did haha. I explained that we would have to take a round-about way to get home since the transportation systems were on strike and we proceeded to my apartment. We climbed the stairs and Court noted that she really had to pee and was wicked tired because she didn't get hardly any sleep on the plane. Little did she know, that she had a surprise waiting for her.
So we walked in the door and she saw an envelope with her name on it taped to my door. She put her bags down, but instead of making her way to the envelope she ran to empty her bladder. When she was finished she removed the envelope, I put her things in my room, and she discovered the surprise. For our one year anniversary (which actually wasn't until the 24th), I booked travel reservations for us to go to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany together. She was very surprised and loved it. I apologized to her for not being able to get much rest and eleveate the jet lag, but we were flying out Monday. She then presented me with books from my grandmother, some birthday cards from my little cousins, a card and some chocolate from her parents, and her birthday and anniversary gift to me. I loved everything! She bought me a brand new and top of the line digital camera! And also got us tickets to go see Country Fest this summer at Gillette Stadium. The gifts were perfect. The rest of the day we just chilled, had dinner, and hung out in my apartment. On Sunday, we met up with a couple of friends and checked out one of the biggest Flea Markets in town, then I took her to the best ice cream place in the city. We packed and got ready for our trip and luckily found out that the next day, the BVG was going off strike and we would easily be able to make it to the airport.
So to fast forward through our trip, we arrived back in Berlin Saturday afternoon (the 22nd). We made our way back to the apartment then went and picked up some food for dinner and unpacked. Court made me a delicious pre-birthday dinner. She made a yummy meatloaf all by herself. It was delicious. We didn't go out or anything the rest of the evening, but just rested. The next day was my birthday and we didn't have any special plans and most of my group was still gone. But I did want to show her around the city. So she made breakfast, then we headed out. The weather wasn't too bad, but kinda chilly. I took her to Potsdamer Platz where I showed her remnents of the former Berlin Wall and memorials where the wall used to lie. We then walked a little ways to the Sony Center and checked out the square there. We proceeded to walk along the Tiergarten to Mitte where I first showed her the world famous Brandenburg Gate. I showed and explained all the buildings in Pariser Platz in front of the Gate and there were some breakdancers there that we watched for a little while. After that we decided to get something warm to drink, so we walked to the end of the Platz and went into the Dunkin' Donuts. This was my first time having Dunkin since being in Berlin. It's quite a bit different from home, and frankly, I like the Dunkin' back home better.
The rest of the time, I just wanted to show her Mitte (the city center). I walked her to the government district and showed her the parliament buildings and the Reichstag. We walked down Unter Den Linden and I showed her some embassies, the Ferrari store, Humboldt University, and then the Neue Woche (fallen soldier memorial). We walked to Museum Island from there and saw some WWII ruins and the Chancellors residence. After looking at a bunch of the museums, I wanted to show her one more thing. I brought her to the square in front of Humboldt University where a memorial to the book burnings committed by the Nazis is located. After that we went home.
Later that day, we went to one of my favorite restaurants for my birthday dinner. We went to Hell oder Dunkel and the food was great and we had some nice long conversations. Before leaving I heard from a couple of friends who had returned back from their travels and we made plans to meet up later. Then, I asked for the check and something I've never seen before happened. The waitress brought the check over, but she also brought two free shots of Jager over as well. I couldn't understand why they gave us the shots, as they didn't know it was my birthday. The only conclusion I could come up with was that it was also Easter and this was to celebrate the holiday. After dinner, we went back to the apartment. Brian returned shortly after and then my friends showed up. We all went to a local bar, Slumberland, and they bought me a couple of drinks. We didn't stay out long, and all headed home. It was a great birthday.
The next day was mine and Courts 1 year anniversary. Unfortunately I had a pre-departure meeting at 11 with my group, since we were leaving for Hungary and Romania the next day. The meeting was kinda boring and lasted way too long. After the meeting a few of us went to pick some things up for our trip then Brian and I headed back to our apartment. I did some work I needed to get done before leaving then we made dinner. In the afternoon I took Court to the famous Palace here in Berlin - Schloss Charlottenburg. We walked all around the outside of the palace and through the gardens. Then I took her to a traditional German restaurant near by where we enjoyed a beer and some goulosh soup. After that, we both wanted some ice cream for dessert, so we went back to Potsdamer Platz for Gillatto. The ice cream was delicious, at least mine was haha. Court didn't enjoy hers and I actually dropped the last of mine lol. The next day we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes, as she headed back to the States and I headed off to eastern Europe. The week was amazing and I had one of the best birthdays and a great anniversary. I couldn't have asked for more.
Court arrived on Saturday, the 15th of March. At this point in time, the BVG was on strike again so there was no direct route to get from my apartment to Tegel Airport. I first had to walk to an S-Bahn station, and take one of the alternative trains to the Hauptbahnhof (Main Railway Station) and from there they were running some buses to the airport. Although her flight arrived about 15 minutes, it took a quite a while for her to come out of the terminal (the must of been slow with the luggage). She made a German friend on the flight and the girl helped her with one of her bags until she found me. I had to laugh when I first saw her face because the expression just spelled, "UGH! My Life!" I knew she was tired and had a long long long flight, but I was happy as could be to see her and justed wanted to give her a great big hug and kiss her! So I did haha. I explained that we would have to take a round-about way to get home since the transportation systems were on strike and we proceeded to my apartment. We climbed the stairs and Court noted that she really had to pee and was wicked tired because she didn't get hardly any sleep on the plane. Little did she know, that she had a surprise waiting for her.
So we walked in the door and she saw an envelope with her name on it taped to my door. She put her bags down, but instead of making her way to the envelope she ran to empty her bladder. When she was finished she removed the envelope, I put her things in my room, and she discovered the surprise. For our one year anniversary (which actually wasn't until the 24th), I booked travel reservations for us to go to Vienna and Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany together. She was very surprised and loved it. I apologized to her for not being able to get much rest and eleveate the jet lag, but we were flying out Monday. She then presented me with books from my grandmother, some birthday cards from my little cousins, a card and some chocolate from her parents, and her birthday and anniversary gift to me. I loved everything! She bought me a brand new and top of the line digital camera! And also got us tickets to go see Country Fest this summer at Gillette Stadium. The gifts were perfect. The rest of the day we just chilled, had dinner, and hung out in my apartment. On Sunday, we met up with a couple of friends and checked out one of the biggest Flea Markets in town, then I took her to the best ice cream place in the city. We packed and got ready for our trip and luckily found out that the next day, the BVG was going off strike and we would easily be able to make it to the airport.
So to fast forward through our trip, we arrived back in Berlin Saturday afternoon (the 22nd). We made our way back to the apartment then went and picked up some food for dinner and unpacked. Court made me a delicious pre-birthday dinner. She made a yummy meatloaf all by herself. It was delicious. We didn't go out or anything the rest of the evening, but just rested. The next day was my birthday and we didn't have any special plans and most of my group was still gone. But I did want to show her around the city. So she made breakfast, then we headed out. The weather wasn't too bad, but kinda chilly. I took her to Potsdamer Platz where I showed her remnents of the former Berlin Wall and memorials where the wall used to lie. We then walked a little ways to the Sony Center and checked out the square there. We proceeded to walk along the Tiergarten to Mitte where I first showed her the world famous Brandenburg Gate. I showed and explained all the buildings in Pariser Platz in front of the Gate and there were some breakdancers there that we watched for a little while. After that we decided to get something warm to drink, so we walked to the end of the Platz and went into the Dunkin' Donuts. This was my first time having Dunkin since being in Berlin. It's quite a bit different from home, and frankly, I like the Dunkin' back home better.
The rest of the time, I just wanted to show her Mitte (the city center). I walked her to the government district and showed her the parliament buildings and the Reichstag. We walked down Unter Den Linden and I showed her some embassies, the Ferrari store, Humboldt University, and then the Neue Woche (fallen soldier memorial). We walked to Museum Island from there and saw some WWII ruins and the Chancellors residence. After looking at a bunch of the museums, I wanted to show her one more thing. I brought her to the square in front of Humboldt University where a memorial to the book burnings committed by the Nazis is located. After that we went home.
Later that day, we went to one of my favorite restaurants for my birthday dinner. We went to Hell oder Dunkel and the food was great and we had some nice long conversations. Before leaving I heard from a couple of friends who had returned back from their travels and we made plans to meet up later. Then, I asked for the check and something I've never seen before happened. The waitress brought the check over, but she also brought two free shots of Jager over as well. I couldn't understand why they gave us the shots, as they didn't know it was my birthday. The only conclusion I could come up with was that it was also Easter and this was to celebrate the holiday. After dinner, we went back to the apartment. Brian returned shortly after and then my friends showed up. We all went to a local bar, Slumberland, and they bought me a couple of drinks. We didn't stay out long, and all headed home. It was a great birthday.
The next day was mine and Courts 1 year anniversary. Unfortunately I had a pre-departure meeting at 11 with my group, since we were leaving for Hungary and Romania the next day. The meeting was kinda boring and lasted way too long. After the meeting a few of us went to pick some things up for our trip then Brian and I headed back to our apartment. I did some work I needed to get done before leaving then we made dinner. In the afternoon I took Court to the famous Palace here in Berlin - Schloss Charlottenburg. We walked all around the outside of the palace and through the gardens. Then I took her to a traditional German restaurant near by where we enjoyed a beer and some goulosh soup. After that, we both wanted some ice cream for dessert, so we went back to Potsdamer Platz for Gillatto. The ice cream was delicious, at least mine was haha. Court didn't enjoy hers and I actually dropped the last of mine lol. The next day we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes, as she headed back to the States and I headed off to eastern Europe. The week was amazing and I had one of the best birthdays and a great anniversary. I couldn't have asked for more.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Polska (Poland)
Tuesday evening I returned to Berlin from 5 day excursion to Krakow, Poland. Krakow is Poland's 3rd largest city and lies just near the eastern border of Poland, a little south of Berlin. It is normally about a 3 or 4 hour journey from Berlin, however it took far longer for us to reach. We traveled to Krakow from Berlin on regional trains (also took the same type of trains back to Berlin) to the journey lasted 10 hours. Although long, the train ride wasn't too too bad. I did some work on the train, as well as socialized and got some rest. We left Berlin just before 10:00 AM and arrived in Poland a little after 8:00PM.
The first thing we did, was walk about 15 minutes to the hostel we were staying at. We stayed at the hostel known as "Any Time." The hostel was very hospitable and perfect for our group. We had a total group size of 17 people......fairly large. They split us up into 4 rooms. All the girls stayed in one, and the guys split themselves up into the other three. I stayed with 5 other guys in one room. The rooms weren't too bad. They were actually somewhat cozy. There were individual bathrooms for the toilette and shower. There were both wicked tiny, but usable and clean. The only thing that I didn't like about our rooms were the beds and pillows. The beds felt like there was absolutely no padding whatsoever, and was just a box of springs. The pillows were wicked old and was basically just little clumps of padding. Other than that, our stay was really nice. The hostel served us complimentary breakfast every morning and allowed us to come and go as we pleased.
After quickly settling in, we heading for the nearest bank and ATM to withdraw some money. Although Poland is a European country and is a member of the European Union, it is not yet part of the Euro-Zone and has its own currency. The currency they have is known as the złoty (pronounced swaty). The exchange rate is about 4 złoty to one Euro. So needless to say, it is relatively cheap in Poland and the bills for restaurants and things looked really big. For 5 people or so, the bill was between 100 and 120 złoty.
After withdrawing some cashola, the group split up because we were just way to large to be able to get a table in one bar or restaurant. The group I went with ended up going to a little pizza place. The place was really nice and the pizza was excellent. The table we ended up getting happened to be in the basement, which turned out to be very common in Krakow. Most of the bars and restaurants in Poland all had their main seating and serving areas in the basements. We all filled up on pizza and a couple of us ended up having a deep political convo. It was a pretty good night. After that, it was about midnight so most of us headed back to the hostel to turn in. I went to bed, but a couple of people went next door to do some dancing.
The next morning we got up at about 8:30am and headed downstairs for some breakfast. We talked about our day and what was ahead while we ate. This particular day, Saturday, we were getting a tour of the center of Krakow from a local expert. I can't remember the name of the guide, because I couldn't really read his name or pronounce it. He was a great guide though. He knew everything about everything in Krakow. He was a bit intimidating and scary at first glance though. He was tall and wore dark clothing. He had buzzed gray hair and white wrinkly skin with yellowing teeth. He was mostly all black with dark blue jeans and a long black pea-coat. His voice was deep and he had a thick polish accent. Despite looking like a mofia boss from Moscow, he was quite funny and polite. We got to see a bunch of old churches and buildings. We toured the newly built town hall, the oldest cathedral, the largest town square, and many of the old side streets. He told us many old legends, gave us the historical background of Krakow, and explained a lot of the culture. Krakow is very very very old. Many of the buildings, churches, streets and squares are still remaining from the Medieval times. Streets in Krakow were much smaller and older looking. Krakow was also a lot smaller than Berlin and more central. The city is also EXTREMELY Catholic. Everywhere there were catholic churches and young nuns and priests walking around. At the end of our tour, our guide showed us the former city gates and fortress that used to be surrounded by a giant moat. He then recommend a traditional Polish restaurant and bid us farewell until the next day.
After the tour we went to the restaurant our guide suggested. It was really nice and actually appeared quite fancy, but wasn't too expensive. We ate downstairs as usual. The waitresses wore traditional Polish dress and the setting was very old. We sat on short wooden benches and ate on a short wooden table. I ordered the perogies. This is a traditional Polish dish, very similar to raviolli, with meat inside. It was very good and very filling. After that we walked around the massive square for a little while and checked out the shops. We then met up with the Program Director for the study abroad kids in Poland and the students. We all made our way over to a little historical cafe for coffee and cake. The cake was amazing and we learned a lot about Krakow, the cafe, and the other students. After that we checked out a bar we wanted to go to later in the night. That night our entire group and some of the Polish students ended up going to a bar called C.K. Browar. It was a half bar, half club. I just stayed with a few other people in the bar and we talked, watched some sports, and drank beer. The best part was the way the beer was served. Everyone gets a 3ml glass. We then choose one beer everyone wants, and they bring it out in a huge 5L glass tube with a tap attached. So we basically serve ourselves. Its amazing. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. We turned in at about 1 or so.
The next day, the same guide from the day before showed us around the quarter of Krakow that we were staying in. It was the Jewish quarter and is known as Kazimierz. We visited a bunch of synagogues, and some Jewish Cemeteries. Later in the day, we toured the old Castle and Cathedral that still remained. They were both enormous and fantastic. We were able to walk up to the top of the bell tower and look at the city from high above. After that some of us, including myself, went back to the hostel to take a nap. One of the students was having a birthday that day and we planned on going out. We went out to a bar just outside the main square. It too was underground and really cool. The walls were all stone and it looked like a cave......or the inside of a brick oven haha. I had only one drink, because I had a headache and wanted to make sure other people didn't over do it. I had a margarita. It was delicious, yet very weak haha. The bar also had a dance floor and some good music...they even played Cotton Eyed Joe. Overall it was a pretty fun night. The next day, we didn't have to get up as early, but we had a much longer day. On Monday we traveled to Auschwitz - the former and most famous Nazi Concentration Camp. There's a lot to tell about Auschwitz, so I'm going to write about that in a different post.
Berfor I finish up, I just wanted to make some observations about Poland. I noticed that almost every house and apartment had a satellite dish. Apparently they love them. I also learned that Poland and Hungary are pretty much the bestest of friends. The two countries have had good relations for centuries. The relationship is really hard to describe, and I can't think of any other countries who even compare. The language in Poland is very different too. The speak Polish of course, which is a slavic language. If you wanted to compare it, Polish would be to Russian, as English is to German. The Poles also spoke a good amount of English. They don't care for Russian or German, due to the shaky past and aggression of the both Russia and Germany with Poland.
So yea, overall it was an awesome trip and a great experience. I'm going to post a little later on about Auschwitz and I'll be putting pictures up on webshots so have a look.
Bis Spaeter.
The first thing we did, was walk about 15 minutes to the hostel we were staying at. We stayed at the hostel known as "Any Time." The hostel was very hospitable and perfect for our group. We had a total group size of 17 people......fairly large. They split us up into 4 rooms. All the girls stayed in one, and the guys split themselves up into the other three. I stayed with 5 other guys in one room. The rooms weren't too bad. They were actually somewhat cozy. There were individual bathrooms for the toilette and shower. There were both wicked tiny, but usable and clean. The only thing that I didn't like about our rooms were the beds and pillows. The beds felt like there was absolutely no padding whatsoever, and was just a box of springs. The pillows were wicked old and was basically just little clumps of padding. Other than that, our stay was really nice. The hostel served us complimentary breakfast every morning and allowed us to come and go as we pleased.
After quickly settling in, we heading for the nearest bank and ATM to withdraw some money. Although Poland is a European country and is a member of the European Union, it is not yet part of the Euro-Zone and has its own currency. The currency they have is known as the złoty (pronounced swaty). The exchange rate is about 4 złoty to one Euro. So needless to say, it is relatively cheap in Poland and the bills for restaurants and things looked really big. For 5 people or so, the bill was between 100 and 120 złoty.
After withdrawing some cashola, the group split up because we were just way to large to be able to get a table in one bar or restaurant. The group I went with ended up going to a little pizza place. The place was really nice and the pizza was excellent. The table we ended up getting happened to be in the basement, which turned out to be very common in Krakow. Most of the bars and restaurants in Poland all had their main seating and serving areas in the basements. We all filled up on pizza and a couple of us ended up having a deep political convo. It was a pretty good night. After that, it was about midnight so most of us headed back to the hostel to turn in. I went to bed, but a couple of people went next door to do some dancing.
The next morning we got up at about 8:30am and headed downstairs for some breakfast. We talked about our day and what was ahead while we ate. This particular day, Saturday, we were getting a tour of the center of Krakow from a local expert. I can't remember the name of the guide, because I couldn't really read his name or pronounce it. He was a great guide though. He knew everything about everything in Krakow. He was a bit intimidating and scary at first glance though. He was tall and wore dark clothing. He had buzzed gray hair and white wrinkly skin with yellowing teeth. He was mostly all black with dark blue jeans and a long black pea-coat. His voice was deep and he had a thick polish accent. Despite looking like a mofia boss from Moscow, he was quite funny and polite. We got to see a bunch of old churches and buildings. We toured the newly built town hall, the oldest cathedral, the largest town square, and many of the old side streets. He told us many old legends, gave us the historical background of Krakow, and explained a lot of the culture. Krakow is very very very old. Many of the buildings, churches, streets and squares are still remaining from the Medieval times. Streets in Krakow were much smaller and older looking. Krakow was also a lot smaller than Berlin and more central. The city is also EXTREMELY Catholic. Everywhere there were catholic churches and young nuns and priests walking around. At the end of our tour, our guide showed us the former city gates and fortress that used to be surrounded by a giant moat. He then recommend a traditional Polish restaurant and bid us farewell until the next day.
After the tour we went to the restaurant our guide suggested. It was really nice and actually appeared quite fancy, but wasn't too expensive. We ate downstairs as usual. The waitresses wore traditional Polish dress and the setting was very old. We sat on short wooden benches and ate on a short wooden table. I ordered the perogies. This is a traditional Polish dish, very similar to raviolli, with meat inside. It was very good and very filling. After that we walked around the massive square for a little while and checked out the shops. We then met up with the Program Director for the study abroad kids in Poland and the students. We all made our way over to a little historical cafe for coffee and cake. The cake was amazing and we learned a lot about Krakow, the cafe, and the other students. After that we checked out a bar we wanted to go to later in the night. That night our entire group and some of the Polish students ended up going to a bar called C.K. Browar. It was a half bar, half club. I just stayed with a few other people in the bar and we talked, watched some sports, and drank beer. The best part was the way the beer was served. Everyone gets a 3ml glass. We then choose one beer everyone wants, and they bring it out in a huge 5L glass tube with a tap attached. So we basically serve ourselves. Its amazing. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. We turned in at about 1 or so.
The next day, the same guide from the day before showed us around the quarter of Krakow that we were staying in. It was the Jewish quarter and is known as Kazimierz. We visited a bunch of synagogues, and some Jewish Cemeteries. Later in the day, we toured the old Castle and Cathedral that still remained. They were both enormous and fantastic. We were able to walk up to the top of the bell tower and look at the city from high above. After that some of us, including myself, went back to the hostel to take a nap. One of the students was having a birthday that day and we planned on going out. We went out to a bar just outside the main square. It too was underground and really cool. The walls were all stone and it looked like a cave......or the inside of a brick oven haha. I had only one drink, because I had a headache and wanted to make sure other people didn't over do it. I had a margarita. It was delicious, yet very weak haha. The bar also had a dance floor and some good music...they even played Cotton Eyed Joe. Overall it was a pretty fun night. The next day, we didn't have to get up as early, but we had a much longer day. On Monday we traveled to Auschwitz - the former and most famous Nazi Concentration Camp. There's a lot to tell about Auschwitz, so I'm going to write about that in a different post.
Berfor I finish up, I just wanted to make some observations about Poland. I noticed that almost every house and apartment had a satellite dish. Apparently they love them. I also learned that Poland and Hungary are pretty much the bestest of friends. The two countries have had good relations for centuries. The relationship is really hard to describe, and I can't think of any other countries who even compare. The language in Poland is very different too. The speak Polish of course, which is a slavic language. If you wanted to compare it, Polish would be to Russian, as English is to German. The Poles also spoke a good amount of English. They don't care for Russian or German, due to the shaky past and aggression of the both Russia and Germany with Poland.
So yea, overall it was an awesome trip and a great experience. I'm going to post a little later on about Auschwitz and I'll be putting pictures up on webshots so have a look.
Bis Spaeter.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Vor Polen
So I thought I would write a little before I left for Poland. Yesterday, obviously wasn't a very good day. It started off not so bad. I woke up just after 9am and and it was snowing really hard. I got pretty excited about that so I decided to get up and maybe take some pictures. By the time I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and came it had stopped snowing. That left me with a pretty long morning...which was fine with me because I had a lot to do anyway. I got a bunch of things done, like emails, and research, and got caught up on the news. The first piece of bad news came when I learned that Mike Huckabee didn't win his primaries and had dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination. Now it's time for me to decided which of the three democratic candidates I like better.
More bad news for yesterday was that the BVG (the company that owns and operates the subways, the buses, and the trams for the city) went on an unlimited strike for at least until March 14. There is also what is known as the S-Bahns. This is another subway system that is owned by the State company Deutsche Bahn. These were running, but they have limited trains within the city, and sometimes just takes longer to get to their station then to walk where I need to go. It toook me about 40 minutes to walk to German class. I got to the building early to read the newspaper and get some work done. While reading the newspaper, I discovered the next piece of bad information. According the paper, the S-Bahn personnel are going on strike starting Monday next week. That means, that there will be absolutely NO public transportation next week, and it may affect our train for the return trip to Poland.
After reading that bad piece of info, I learned that Blake had a hockey accident and was in the hospital. This definitely topped it off. After talking to Chris and Mom, I experienced home sickness for the first time since arriving in Berlin. I have realized however, that it could be a lot worse and that there is really nothing I can do from here, nor can I go back home right now, so I'm just going to continue living and enjoy Poland as best I can.
Today was really cold, but we had an awesome tour in Treptower Park. There is a huge Soviet Memorial and had a very interesting story. I'm going to go back when it is nicer our and take pictures. Today was our last day of German class, and for our sake, we met in Treptow so that we wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the other side of the city for class. Our German teacher is amazing and she took us to a Museum, then we went out to a cafe and had some pretty good discussions. She wished us all the best of luck, and gave us all hugs and hoped that we stay in touch. It was a pretty long walk home. But now its time to pack and get a good nights sleep.
I'm still not sure if I will be able to communicate to the outside world while in Poland, but hopefully. If not, then I will talk to everyone when I get back. I will be sure to post on the blog, post my pictures, and call home. I wish my brother all the best in recovery and I will be thinking about him.
Tschuss
More bad news for yesterday was that the BVG (the company that owns and operates the subways, the buses, and the trams for the city) went on an unlimited strike for at least until March 14. There is also what is known as the S-Bahns. This is another subway system that is owned by the State company Deutsche Bahn. These were running, but they have limited trains within the city, and sometimes just takes longer to get to their station then to walk where I need to go. It toook me about 40 minutes to walk to German class. I got to the building early to read the newspaper and get some work done. While reading the newspaper, I discovered the next piece of bad information. According the paper, the S-Bahn personnel are going on strike starting Monday next week. That means, that there will be absolutely NO public transportation next week, and it may affect our train for the return trip to Poland.
After reading that bad piece of info, I learned that Blake had a hockey accident and was in the hospital. This definitely topped it off. After talking to Chris and Mom, I experienced home sickness for the first time since arriving in Berlin. I have realized however, that it could be a lot worse and that there is really nothing I can do from here, nor can I go back home right now, so I'm just going to continue living and enjoy Poland as best I can.
Today was really cold, but we had an awesome tour in Treptower Park. There is a huge Soviet Memorial and had a very interesting story. I'm going to go back when it is nicer our and take pictures. Today was our last day of German class, and for our sake, we met in Treptow so that we wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the other side of the city for class. Our German teacher is amazing and she took us to a Museum, then we went out to a cafe and had some pretty good discussions. She wished us all the best of luck, and gave us all hugs and hoped that we stay in touch. It was a pretty long walk home. But now its time to pack and get a good nights sleep.
I'm still not sure if I will be able to communicate to the outside world while in Poland, but hopefully. If not, then I will talk to everyone when I get back. I will be sure to post on the blog, post my pictures, and call home. I wish my brother all the best in recovery and I will be thinking about him.
Tschuss
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
HAMBURG and more
So yes, I know its been a little while since I've put a post up. But things have started to get pretty busy and I at least got to talk to some of you personally on the phone. This month will be even more difficult for me to post often. I'm only going to be in Berlin for about 1/2 the month of March. This Friday my group leaves for an excursion to Karkow, Poland. We will be there from Friday until next Tuesday. Then our Spring Break starts the 15th of March and ends on my birthday. Then my group leaves for another, but longer, excursion to Budapest, Hungary and Transylvania, Romania on March 25th. We won't return to Berlin from this excursion until April 3rd. So needless to say, I'll be MIA for most of March.
Moving on, I was able to travel to Hamburg this past Saturday with three of people in my program. This was just a fun little day trip that we planned. A group of 5 is able to travel anywhere in Germany on a train ticket known as the "Schöneswochenende Karte." This translates to "Happy Weekend Ticket." What it means is that its good on weekends, starting either on Friday night at midnight or Saturday night at midnight, and lasts until 3AM the next day. The ticket only costs 35 Euro. So since we had a group of 4 each of us only paid 8.75 euro for a round trip train ticket to Hamburg and back. This is a pretty sweet deal. Of course, we had to stay strictly to appropriate trains, and make sure that we had the right connections so as not to exceed the limitations of the ticket. So here was our day.
I went to bed fairly early Friday night and got up at 4am on Saturday morning. Our train left Hauptbahnhof at 5:23am. We made one connection in a town about 2 1/2 hours north of Berlin. The name slips my memory at the moment. We then rode our connecting train for about another hour and 1/2 and arrived in Hamburg at 9:30am. I got some sleep in on the train, but not much. The that day sucked too. It was cold, rainy, and windy. Only later did I find out why the weather was bad. I'll explain later. So in Hamburg we basically just picked out on a map that we got in the train station what sites we wanted to see and visit and then walked to then and checked everything out. We first walked to Rathaus Hamburg (the city hall) and stopped and took some pictures of a couple of churches and other things along the way. We went inside the Rathaus and looked around. The building was huge and really old and nice inside. You can see some of those pictures on my webshots. We then looked around the little square that the Rathaus was in. There was a WWI memorial and really nice shopping district located along the River Elbe. The river is one of the biggest in Germany and runs right through Hamburg. For this reason, Hamburg has a huge Maritime and fishing industry. After looking at the shopping district a little and the river, we walked towards on of the big churches. The church was one of Martin Luther's first churches and was called St. Michaels. From there we walked down to the water front to check out the Marina and also look at an old Schooner that had been turned into a museum. We checked out the Schooner and the exhibitions inside. They were really neat, and we were pretty much allowed to go anyway on the ship.
After that we sat down and ate lunch at a nice little bistro near the Marina. I had an AMAZING Fishsuppe (Fish soup). It was the first time I'd had seafood since arriving in Germany and it was amazing. We sat in the cafe for well over an over to eat, warm up, and plan out where to go next. We walked along the rest of the harbor to look for a fish market that was suppose to be there. The market happened to be closed that day, but we did see a neat tunnel that ran under the entire river from one bank to the other. Small cars and people could use the tunnel to cross the river. From there, we walked to Hamburg's famous "Reeperbahn" (red light district). WOW! The district was HUGE and just funny to see. It's totally mind boggling what the Europeans find appropriate and what American's would find revolting. German's strolled through the Red Light District like it was nothing and couldn't care less if every-other store has strip joint or porn shop. Really weird. From there we walked back down toward the shopping district and center of the city. We walked around some of the shopping district we didn't see before and looked for a place to sit and eat dinner. I found the best place ever! I found the Hofbräuhaus-Hamburg. This is a "sister" restaurant to the world famous brewery, restaurant, and beer garden in Munich - the Hofbräuhaus München. The restaurant was set up like and indoor biergarten (beer garden). The tables were like heavy sturdy picnic tables and were surrounded by other tables and trees. There was a huge skylight for the shine to shine in, although we had none that day, and a large projection screen for everyone to watch the Bavarian soccer team. This was probably my favorite part of the whole day. I ate the typical Bavarian dish of Weisswurst (white sausage) with sweet mustard and a pretzel. I washed down the dish with the world famous Hofbräuhaus-München Bier. This was a 1 litre beer! in the biggest beer mug I've ever seen. And it was absolutely delicious. Here is the site to visit and see some pictures.
From there we headed back to the train station to catch our 7:05 PM train back to Berlin. On the way back, we actually had 3 other connections, so the train riders weren't very long and made it difficult to fall asleep. We ended up getting back into Berlin a little after midnight and I got back to my apartment at 12:45. Overall, despite the weather, it was a really fun experience and worth the long day. I'm glad I got to do it and you all can look at my pictures on webshots to see everything I got to see.
Now, for the weather aspect....apparently on Saturday and Sunday there was a storm system known as Emma over Germany and other countries in Europe. I wasn't aware of this until I read the news Sunday and Monday, but trust me, I felt the effects. It was really wind, rainy, and cold. On Monday, I saw in the paper and online just how bad the storm had been. A total of 14 people in Europe died, 6 in Germany, and travel was difficult. This is a video of a Lufthansa flight attempting to land at the Hamburg airport.
On a better note of weather, I it snowed in Berlin for the first time since I've been here. It was weird weather today actually. It rained this morning, then the sun came out, then it snowed this afternoon haha. No snow accumulated but it was at least exciting to see some. I also got to see a presentation by a representative from BP about the Future of Energy and Oil in Europe. It was really interesting and I learned a quite bit of new things. I think thats about it for now. I'll try and let you know what I've done the rest of this week before I leave for Poland. If not, I'll be sure to post my adventures of Poland when I get back.
Bis Dann!
Moving on, I was able to travel to Hamburg this past Saturday with three of people in my program. This was just a fun little day trip that we planned. A group of 5 is able to travel anywhere in Germany on a train ticket known as the "Schöneswochenende Karte." This translates to "Happy Weekend Ticket." What it means is that its good on weekends, starting either on Friday night at midnight or Saturday night at midnight, and lasts until 3AM the next day. The ticket only costs 35 Euro. So since we had a group of 4 each of us only paid 8.75 euro for a round trip train ticket to Hamburg and back. This is a pretty sweet deal. Of course, we had to stay strictly to appropriate trains, and make sure that we had the right connections so as not to exceed the limitations of the ticket. So here was our day.
I went to bed fairly early Friday night and got up at 4am on Saturday morning. Our train left Hauptbahnhof at 5:23am. We made one connection in a town about 2 1/2 hours north of Berlin. The name slips my memory at the moment. We then rode our connecting train for about another hour and 1/2 and arrived in Hamburg at 9:30am. I got some sleep in on the train, but not much. The that day sucked too. It was cold, rainy, and windy. Only later did I find out why the weather was bad. I'll explain later. So in Hamburg we basically just picked out on a map that we got in the train station what sites we wanted to see and visit and then walked to then and checked everything out. We first walked to Rathaus Hamburg (the city hall) and stopped and took some pictures of a couple of churches and other things along the way. We went inside the Rathaus and looked around. The building was huge and really old and nice inside. You can see some of those pictures on my webshots. We then looked around the little square that the Rathaus was in. There was a WWI memorial and really nice shopping district located along the River Elbe. The river is one of the biggest in Germany and runs right through Hamburg. For this reason, Hamburg has a huge Maritime and fishing industry. After looking at the shopping district a little and the river, we walked towards on of the big churches. The church was one of Martin Luther's first churches and was called St. Michaels. From there we walked down to the water front to check out the Marina and also look at an old Schooner that had been turned into a museum. We checked out the Schooner and the exhibitions inside. They were really neat, and we were pretty much allowed to go anyway on the ship.
After that we sat down and ate lunch at a nice little bistro near the Marina. I had an AMAZING Fishsuppe (Fish soup). It was the first time I'd had seafood since arriving in Germany and it was amazing. We sat in the cafe for well over an over to eat, warm up, and plan out where to go next. We walked along the rest of the harbor to look for a fish market that was suppose to be there. The market happened to be closed that day, but we did see a neat tunnel that ran under the entire river from one bank to the other. Small cars and people could use the tunnel to cross the river. From there, we walked to Hamburg's famous "Reeperbahn" (red light district). WOW! The district was HUGE and just funny to see. It's totally mind boggling what the Europeans find appropriate and what American's would find revolting. German's strolled through the Red Light District like it was nothing and couldn't care less if every-other store has strip joint or porn shop. Really weird. From there we walked back down toward the shopping district and center of the city. We walked around some of the shopping district we didn't see before and looked for a place to sit and eat dinner. I found the best place ever! I found the Hofbräuhaus-Hamburg. This is a "sister" restaurant to the world famous brewery, restaurant, and beer garden in Munich - the Hofbräuhaus München. The restaurant was set up like and indoor biergarten (beer garden). The tables were like heavy sturdy picnic tables and were surrounded by other tables and trees. There was a huge skylight for the shine to shine in, although we had none that day, and a large projection screen for everyone to watch the Bavarian soccer team. This was probably my favorite part of the whole day. I ate the typical Bavarian dish of Weisswurst (white sausage) with sweet mustard and a pretzel. I washed down the dish with the world famous Hofbräuhaus-München Bier. This was a 1 litre beer! in the biggest beer mug I've ever seen. And it was absolutely delicious. Here is the site to visit and see some pictures.
From there we headed back to the train station to catch our 7:05 PM train back to Berlin. On the way back, we actually had 3 other connections, so the train riders weren't very long and made it difficult to fall asleep. We ended up getting back into Berlin a little after midnight and I got back to my apartment at 12:45. Overall, despite the weather, it was a really fun experience and worth the long day. I'm glad I got to do it and you all can look at my pictures on webshots to see everything I got to see.
Now, for the weather aspect....apparently on Saturday and Sunday there was a storm system known as Emma over Germany and other countries in Europe. I wasn't aware of this until I read the news Sunday and Monday, but trust me, I felt the effects. It was really wind, rainy, and cold. On Monday, I saw in the paper and online just how bad the storm had been. A total of 14 people in Europe died, 6 in Germany, and travel was difficult. This is a video of a Lufthansa flight attempting to land at the Hamburg airport.
On a better note of weather, I it snowed in Berlin for the first time since I've been here. It was weird weather today actually. It rained this morning, then the sun came out, then it snowed this afternoon haha. No snow accumulated but it was at least exciting to see some. I also got to see a presentation by a representative from BP about the Future of Energy and Oil in Europe. It was really interesting and I learned a quite bit of new things. I think thats about it for now. I'll try and let you know what I've done the rest of this week before I leave for Poland. If not, I'll be sure to post my adventures of Poland when I get back.
Bis Dann!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Brass Appeal
I can't remember if I mentioned in any of my earlier posts or not, about a jazz band I got to see during Lange Nacht in Museen. While we were waiting in line to get into the laser show at the planetarium late that night, a local jazz band performed for us and they were AMAZING. I found them on youtube and you should check out the video. They put on a pretty good performance and they are a really good jazz band. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1WVzI5pdL8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1WVzI5pdL8
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Sonntag 24 Februar 2008
Howdy Howdy Howdy. I'm just checking in. I don't really have anything specific to say, so this will probably be pretty random. I just finished putting some more albums on webshots. We had an excursion to Sachsenhausen today. It's a former concentration camp about an hour north of Berlin. It was the first German concentration camp that was used for work slave labor and extermination. It was pretty ieerie, but it was also almost hard to imagine what life was like there. The soviet did a number on it, and there's really not that much left. Most of the bunkers were gone. There is a really ugly monument in the middle of where the barracks used to bed that the soviets errected. We did see some barracks, as well as the crematorium, and a medical examiners building. We'll be visiting Auschwitz when we go to Poland. Thats about all I did today.
Yesterday was a really productive day. I got a lot done. I went to a bookstore I've been wanting to visit. The bookstore was big. And! It had the book I've been looking for, Das Märchen von Gebruder Grimm (The Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales). I also picked up a couple of souvenirs and some postcards I needed at the bookstore. Then I made my way through Mitte towards the Tiergarten. The Tiergarten is a giant park in the middle of Berlin that I needed to go visit to take some photos for my class....and I wanted to check it out to see if it would make a good place to run. On the way to the park, I stopped at a large souvenir shop and got lots more souvenirs for people back home. Then I walked around and took pictures in the Tiergarten for almost 3 hours. I took pictures of places and people in the park, as well as the Soviet WWII memorial in the park, and the Victory Tower in the center of the Park. From there, I walked down one of the large boulevards and caught a train back home (it was only one stop over, but my feet hurt and I didn't feel like walking anymore). I decided the park will be great for running and I can't wait till it gets warmer.
Friday, I didn't have class till 2:30 so I went and visited the Allied Museum in the Dahlem District of Berlin. My professor recommended it too me because I mentioned I was a Ronald Reagan fan and there was supposed to be a Reagan exhibit taking place. So I slept in a little, made breakfast, then headed to Dahlem. The museum was really nice, but a little smaller than I expected. I put pictures up on webshots. The Reagan exhibit wasn't there anymore, and instead they were working on erecting an exhibit for Elvis Presley. Don't Ask.
Anyways, its been a good week. This is the last week in February! Wow. I leave for Poland in less than two weeks! Court will be here in less than a month! Time is just flying. I miss everyone back home. Don't worry, I've still been keeping up with the news and everything. I hope Gram and Gramp are enjoying their vacation. Ok yeah, thats good for now. Ciao!
Yesterday was a really productive day. I got a lot done. I went to a bookstore I've been wanting to visit. The bookstore was big. And! It had the book I've been looking for, Das Märchen von Gebruder Grimm (The Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales). I also picked up a couple of souvenirs and some postcards I needed at the bookstore. Then I made my way through Mitte towards the Tiergarten. The Tiergarten is a giant park in the middle of Berlin that I needed to go visit to take some photos for my class....and I wanted to check it out to see if it would make a good place to run. On the way to the park, I stopped at a large souvenir shop and got lots more souvenirs for people back home. Then I walked around and took pictures in the Tiergarten for almost 3 hours. I took pictures of places and people in the park, as well as the Soviet WWII memorial in the park, and the Victory Tower in the center of the Park. From there, I walked down one of the large boulevards and caught a train back home (it was only one stop over, but my feet hurt and I didn't feel like walking anymore). I decided the park will be great for running and I can't wait till it gets warmer.
Friday, I didn't have class till 2:30 so I went and visited the Allied Museum in the Dahlem District of Berlin. My professor recommended it too me because I mentioned I was a Ronald Reagan fan and there was supposed to be a Reagan exhibit taking place. So I slept in a little, made breakfast, then headed to Dahlem. The museum was really nice, but a little smaller than I expected. I put pictures up on webshots. The Reagan exhibit wasn't there anymore, and instead they were working on erecting an exhibit for Elvis Presley. Don't Ask.
Anyways, its been a good week. This is the last week in February! Wow. I leave for Poland in less than two weeks! Court will be here in less than a month! Time is just flying. I miss everyone back home. Don't worry, I've still been keeping up with the news and everything. I hope Gram and Gramp are enjoying their vacation. Ok yeah, thats good for now. Ciao!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Webshots is HERE!
Hello all! I've uploaded most all of my pictures onto an online photo album available for everyone to see. I've had most of my pictures up on facebook, but I know most people don't have Facebook and can't access it. So! You can now see my pictures. Theres I alot, I do apologize in advance.....and it is only the first month haha. Here is the link and let me know if it doesn't work. Ciao!
http://community.webshots.com/user/minib05?vhost=community
http://community.webshots.com/user/minib05?vhost=community
Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin
As I said before, I would soon be putting my reviews and information about the Berlinale on my blog. I have linked the official Berlinale website to this post and you should be able to access by clicking on the title of this post.
So to begin, let me just briefly describe the Berlinale. The Berlinale is an International Film Festival that is hosted here in Berlin annually. This year was the 58th running of the festival. The Berlinale kicked off with the unveiling of the red carpet on Thursday, February 7. The festival lasted until yesterday, Sunday, February 17th. The festival had several categories of screening and took place in several cinemas and theatres all across Berlin. The most well known category is the Competition Category (Wettbewerb). This is the category where films are judged and receive awards at the end of the festival. Other categories included Panorama, Forum, Berlinale Special, Berlinale Shorts, Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Generation, Wiederholungnen, Retrospective, and Forum Expanded. Hundreds of films were shown, some German premiers, some European premiers, and I even got to see a couple of World Premiers. The Forum and the Forum expanded was the category of films that I was able to see. I got to see 12 screenings of films in 8 days. I was quite exciting, although some of the films weren't that good haha. So yeah, I'm gonna lists each film I saw with the description the program listed (because otherwise you might be thoroughly confused), and then post my review. I also rated each film with stars (*) on a 5 star scale. Enjoy!
1. MY WINNIPEG - By Guy Maddin (2.08.2008, 19:00) Canada, English:
Description - Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg. "We Winnipegers are so stuperfied with Nostalgia." Their stupefication turns them into sleepwalkers. There are so many of them that they made a law: If, you due to the power of their deep spiritual kinship, they turn up at night in their old homes, the new inhabitants must take them in. My Winnipeg is a sleepwalking dream: While working on this autobiography, which is like the biography of every snowed-in place in the Canadian province of Manitoba ("a city just 4 years older than my grandmother"), Maddin found himself once again in this childhood home. Actors pose as brothers, sisters, and the family dog in the living room. In the background is the mother like aliving picture. The current inhabitant, an elderly woman, doesn't move from her armchair. If you travel into the past in Winnipeg, you can't shake the aged present. We know the passive-aggressive mother already from "Bran upon the Brain!" In that film she exerted her control using a giant telescope, here she gazes (in king-size) scrutinizingly into the window of the Canadian railway, as Winnipeg is the crosspoint. Guy Maddin's new film solidifies the idea that, looking at the totality of his work, we can speak of a Maddinesque genre: profound, unsettling, and as such primally cinematic.
My Review - Live narration was very nice, different style documentary, good film and archive footage, the shorts of Green Porno before was a good lead. I liked the mix of history and family life. Interesting, but confusing at times. ***
2. MY BROTHER'S WEDDING - By Charles Burnett (2.09.2008, 12:30) USA, English:
Description - Pierce, a young black man in Los Angeles, is caught in a moral dilemma: his successful older brother is getting married, and he's asked Pierce to be his best man. On the same day as the wedding, however, his best friend's funeral is also taking place, a criminals who was brutally murdered shortly after being released from prison. Which ceremony should Pierce attend? Last year Charles Burnett's 1977 directorial debut Killer of Sheep, one of the most important works of African-American cinema, was re-introduced at the Forum. Following this, Burnett was able to make a director's cut of hi second film. My Brother's Wedding, made in 1983, is also set in original locations, and here as well what is foregrounded is not a classical story, but an attitude to life. Pierce works in his parents' small dry cleaners, there aren't many customers, their clothes are worn to threads. The camera follows him on his way through the run-down black neighborhood of South Central. It seems like the streets have been swept empty, the people seem to have barricaded themselves into their homes, most of them have a gun in a drawer somewhere. The sound on the street is still blues and soul, and not yet hip-hop, and nobody's wearing gold chains yet, or carrying automatic weapons. Still, My Brother's Wedding can be seen as a kind of forerunner of the African-American ghetto and gangsta film.
My Review - 20 years old, but still with good film quality. The problem presented in the film goes along with the plot, but the actual storyline wasn't that good. The excitement and problem only came at the end of the film. Reminded me of Seinfeld, as a movie about nothing, only no where near as funny or amusing. Scene transitions were rather harsh. Actors were surprisingly good for ameaturs. **
3. TRIBU - By Jim Libiran (2.11.2008, 22:30) Philippinen, Tagalog:
Description - In Tondo, the gloomiest area of Manila, youth gangs dominate the street scene. Their lives consist of criminality, drugs, and hip-hop music. In the twilight of the underworld, 10-year-old Ebet observes the members of enemy gangs, whose meeting becomes inescapable and which finally leads to an explosion of raw violence. Jim Libiran is the first director in 30 years who has been able to film in Manila's notorious Tondo district. The majority of his actors were recruited from among the inhabitants of the slum, most of them members of enemy street gangs, whose enthusiasm for their acting is catching. During the shooting of the film deadly hostilities gradually turned into friendships. Tribu is not only a film, but also a social project - but mos of all a rare cinematic event, spilling over with energy. Sex and violence are here not merely the surface, but they function as a vehicle for the realistic illustration of this ignored parallel world. The authentic rap soundtrack was collectively composed by the four main actors. Tribu is fragile, edgy, and real - an independent production that is one of the best from a stong year in Philippine film
My Reveiw - Plot was ok, slow at times, fight scene very fake, but a good story and it was a believable youth lifestyle. I didn't like the camera quality, but I enjoyed the rap and soundtrack music. I liked the role of Ebet, yet was confused by it sometimes. Nice post-screening discussion with the director. ***
4. THE EXILES - By Kent Mackenzie (2.12.2008, 21:30) USA, English:
Description - Like many others of her generation of Native Americans, Yvonne grew up in a reservation before moving to Los Angeles. She shares a two-room apartment with her husband Homer and five other young Indians. Since Yvonne got pregnant, her thoughts have been constantly revolving around the future, her own and that of her baby. The men, on the other hand, live from the fleeting kicks that they find in the restless nights on the streets of downtown and in the main street bars. After researching in the native American community in Los Angeles for years, Kent Mackenzie began working with his protagonists on The Exiles in 1957. the film, which was completed three years later, is one of the first - and still very few - films about young Indians in the big city. For his empathetic observations, Mackenzie found poetic forms far from any kind of romanticizing. His graphic sense for nocturnal Los Angeles, the use of interviews with the actors as the inner monologues of the protagonists, and the soundtrack of the rock 'n' roll band "The Revels" from radios and jukeboxes make The Exiles a masterpiece of great beauty and integrity. Its restoration closes another gap in the history of independent cinema.
My Review - Slow plot and boring to whatch, no real story, bad choice for a Berlinale film, bad actors, filmography was good and the movement of scenes and the shots were nice, great restoration, but the dubbing was bad. *
5. NIRVANA - By Igor Voloshin (2.13.2008, 12:30) Russia, Russian:
Description - Fed up with her life in Moscow, nurse Alisa moves to St. Petersburg. Her roomates in the collective flat are two junkies, Valera and her boyfriend Dead Man. First they fight, but soon the two women form a tender and substantial friendship. Together they even go after the Petersburg underworld when Dead Man is abducted because he can't pay his debts. Life is hard and confusing and you have to act hard and cool if you want to get by. This attitude toward life in Nirvana doesn't serve as a sociological frame, but as an aesthetic challenge to be met. When it comes to soundtrack, location, and above all the actors, Voloshin gives proof of his sense of style and detail. The extravagant make-up and elaborate costumes in which some of the protagonists perform, the exquisite exterior shots of Petersburg, and the lavish interiors are reminiscent of a pop opera, or of Brecht reborn as a punk, once again inventing the alienation effect. And every once a while you think you spot hidden allusions in all the visual laivshness. Is it because there is a common film canon each generation shares, or does it reveal an exceptional talen? Simply both.
My Review - Best so far, good character development, good cinematography and good music. The plot development reminded me of Fight Club. The make-up and costumes reminded me of Queen Amidala from Star Wars. I didn't understand the costumes and make-up, but I liked the changing of the story and the characters. It also had a good political point of view of post-Soviet Russia. ****
6. SEAVIEW - By Paul Rowley (2.13.2008, 21:30) Ireland, English:
Description - In the postwar period, exactly 60 years ago, the seaside holiday camp Monsey was founded in Ireland to give families a temporary refuge from their everyday life. Today the place is used for another kind of place of refuge: as a home for asylum seekers, most of whom remain there for several years. "Passages are houses or walkways that have no outside - like a dream." says Walter Benjamin in the "Passagenwerk." Inside the low grey buildings is a completely equipped world of entertainment. The camera wanders dreamily through the abandoned dance hall, an empty swimming pool, through dining halls, children's play areas, along the slot machines, colorful plastic decorations, neon signs touting fish & chips. Each time before it once again stops in front of a door maked "Push Bar to Open," other spaces open up: mattrasses and bedding stacked up to the ceiling, second hand shopping clothes and shopping turn the dream into a nightmare, without transition and in unchanged pastel tones. "The new business," is how one employee refers to the change from tourism to directing a refugee camp with a seaview. At least the children have the possibility of getting education and a creative shape to their everyday life. but the stories of their parents, who came from Nigeria, Somalia, Russia, or Croatia with quite different expectations, thwart the smooth pans again and again.
My Review - Very good, great imagery and cinematography. Great interviews and stories. The were well composed with pictures and videos and music. I liked the metaphor with the seagull. Very interesting people. Great perspective coming from the idea of American immigration problems. A little too long for a documentary. Very nice. World premier? ****
7. EL CAMINO - By Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez (2.14.2008, 12:30) Costa Rica and France, Spanish:
Description - 12-year-old Saslaya and her younger brother Dario have been living with their grandfather in Nicaragua since their mother went to Costa Rica to look for work eight years ago. Saslaya, who has to work in the rubbish dumps after school and gets called to her grandfather's hammock at night, runs away with her brother. On the journey to Costa Rica they meet many different people: a street kid that they befriend of the short time that they're in the city, an older man who runs a pupper theater, immigrant who are looking for work in Costa Rica as well. With its partly documentary view, El camino no only follows the search for the mother - a search that is a reality for many children in Nicaragua - it also makes it possible to look deep into the region that the protagonists are crossing. The director Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez has conducted years of research on the children left behind by immigrants. She chose actors with a similar fate to the one her characters have experienced. It is an impressive and moving film debut that tells much more than just the story of a brother and sister's journey.
My Review - I didn't really enjoy this film. It started off nice, and the message was good, although sometimes hard to define. Cinematography wasn't the greatest. Needed more dialogue and a plot. The two men and the table were all that kept me entertained. Acting was ok. **
8. BALIKBAYAN BOX - By Mes De Guzman (2.15.2008, 19:45) Philippinen, Tagalog:
Description - Three boys grow up together in a small village. Their favorite place to spend time is the "Betamax House," an improvised cinema, located in a modest apartment block, where the owner shows pirated copies of popular Hollywood movies. But the country idyll is clouded by social problems. The poverty of the area leads not only to petty theft and emigration, but in the end it sets off a series of crimes. The title of the film refers to a social phenomenon that takes on an important function in this independently produced film: Philippnie immigrants regularly send care packages, Balikbayan boxes, back home to help out their families. Patiently and intensely, the camera observes what goes on in the village, getting a feel for everyday life, here manifest as a struggle for survival. In the process, images and gestures take on more significance than speech. the special quality of this film is seen in its mise-en-scene, as understated as it is profound. Sensitively and almost as if by chance, director de Guzman conveys the existential cares and needs of his protagonists without overtly drawing attention to them. Balikbayan Box is told in a deliberately quiet way, laying bare its characters' humanity in a way that leaves a lasting impression.
My Review - This film was also not very enjoyable and unbearingly long. It had no conceivable plot or story that could be derived from just viewing the film without reading the description. The cinematography was well done, with some nice images and shots. This film could have also used a lot more dialogue. **
9. SOUTH MAIN - By Kelly Parker (2.16.2008, 20:00) USA, English:
Description - In order to contain violence on the streets and rampant gang crime, city authorities decided in December 2004 to clear out and tear down one complete apartment block in South Central Los Angeles. The inhabitants, living below the poverty line and dependent on state support, received compensation and had to move on short notice. The film follows three African-American women, all of the single mothers, in their lives at their new homes. Latisha relates how her fiance was killed on his way home in a random shooting shortly before the move. The film gives her a full ten minutes to describe the inconceivable. It is a scene of great intensity that brings the filmmaker's attitude to a point: being there, listening, noticeably letting the time go by. No lurid wallowing in myths of the ghetto, no conjuring up of the "social powder-kep" no social kitsch, but instead a participatory, exact view, concentrating on the women themselves. Precise, strictly framed images result from this, which neither accuse us nor appeal to us but that simply show. Images from the underclass, telling of poverty and the precarious living conditions on the social periphery. Images from America at the beginning of the 21st century.
My Review - A great portrayal of a low class American life-style. The undertone was very liberal however. The way the film was shot was unique, I felt. It appeared like the audience was the interviewer, instead of simply viewing an interview in a documentary. The subjects in the film worked well for the message. It was apparent, as the director stated afterwards, taht the intial message was different from the outcome. The director seemed very amateur for a well done film. The Q & A session wasn't as good as I had hoped...she struggled a bit. ***
10. YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE - By John Torres (2.16.2008, 22:30) Philippines:
Description - Years When I was a Child Outside (Family Multi-Channel) is, at once, a mediation. It is a meta-film that unravels into the journey of the son of best-selling self-help author Rodolfo Torres, who had pioneered the sale of instructional books and tapes to "help raise brighter children" in the Philippines during the early 1980s. Upon learning that his father bore illegitimate children, the narrator decides to run away. The film is not only a chronicle of stories through foreign regions, but also a probing letter from outside circles, an honest account of illegitimate views form uneven terrain, and a narrative-driven exploration of the nooks and peripheries of the body, geography, and weather. As the journey progresses, the film increasingly traverses the countries of revelation, film, and heart - to where all journeys are meant to end with.
My Review - Yet another Philippine movie....must be a fascination of Mark's. I liked the style of the film, and the unique and new technological approach. The live band was a perfect touch to the new viewing style of muliple projections, however I felt like they should have been used more. The movie was also far too long and the message was not clear and very boring to the point where it was stomach turning. It was such a disappointment for a new style of film presentation. *
11. IF ONE THING MATTERS - By Heiko Kalmbach (2.17.2008, 13:00) Germany, German:
Description - Wolfgang Tillmans became known during the nineties for his photos of parties and club life. His pictures had the effect of having been taken at random. Today he is one of the best-known photographers in the world. For four years, filmmaker Heiko Kalmbach followed him around with a video camera, observing his private as well as his professional life. If One Thing Matters. It is Tillmans's voice speaking and not that of any expert. In its presumed casualness, the film stays right with its protagonist, whether Tillmans is lovingly wiping the dust off his houseplants or, equally precisely and meticulously, he's putting up one of his exhibitions with the patience of Job. Of particular interest are glimpses into Tillmans's video debut for the pop band Pet Shop Boys, which make it clear that his inner readiness to fail is also what makes his success possible. Whether he's portraying dazzling stars or grey mice, Tillmans's artistic greatness is in the catching unexpected moment, for, as Tillmans says, "stuff that's thought-up will always just be thought-up stuff." by consolidating the banal and the glamourous at the same level, always catching the unexpected moment, Kalmbach successful emulates his subject.
My Review - Great film, very interesting. The documentary was well done, with great cinematography and a wonderful story line. The main subject, Wolfgang, was an entertaining character to watch and see grow. His works and messages were also brilliant. The image and sound quality of the film were also well done. It was at some point a little repetative and I got a little lost in the time-line and where he was exactly, but still a very good film. ****
12. CORROBOREE - By Ben Hackworth (2.17.2008, 19:00) Australia, English:
Description - Conor a young actor, leaves for an acting job in the countryside. Following precise instructions, he and his fellow actresses are supposed to re-enact scenes from the life of Joe, a terminally ill director. Yet the setting is more spring-like than morbid and Conor makes himself familiar not only with Joe's life but with the place, a sort of spiritual hotel. The film's title refers to an Australian Aboriginal dance ritual, and Conor comes across as an invited guest at a ritual who initially has only a vague idea of its meaning. It is the strict emphasis on form that is immanent to both, ritual and film. Hackworth fortunately refrains from conventional narrative tricks and psychohlogically one-dimensional and predictable characters. His narrative movements are circular instead of following a straight line. And the gap that is layed out in the constant double role play offers to deliberate narrative story-telling as such. The excellent ensemble makes sure that this is not a mere intellectual pleasure. Insofar as Friedrich Schiller's concept of the "Spieltrieb" (the play drive) defines playing as a link between sensual and intellectual perception, Corroboree displays a very playful director. Let's hope, he'll never grow up.
My Review - Really weird! It was almost as if I was thrown into the middle of a movie. I didn't have any sense of the story, or plot, or what was actually going on. There was good cinematography and filming as well as good actors. The character development was present, but sometimes confusing. The story even ended abruptly without explaining what was happening. Good technically, but bad writing. ***
So there ya go. Those were all the films I viewed at the Berlinale. I hope you enjoy the reviews and comment if you have any questions. I also want to tell you that the Berlinale intro to every screening was made very well and I always looked forward to seeing it for every film. There is a video sample of it on the Berlinale site.
So to begin, let me just briefly describe the Berlinale. The Berlinale is an International Film Festival that is hosted here in Berlin annually. This year was the 58th running of the festival. The Berlinale kicked off with the unveiling of the red carpet on Thursday, February 7. The festival lasted until yesterday, Sunday, February 17th. The festival had several categories of screening and took place in several cinemas and theatres all across Berlin. The most well known category is the Competition Category (Wettbewerb). This is the category where films are judged and receive awards at the end of the festival. Other categories included Panorama, Forum, Berlinale Special, Berlinale Shorts, Perspektive Deutsches Kino, Generation, Wiederholungnen, Retrospective, and Forum Expanded. Hundreds of films were shown, some German premiers, some European premiers, and I even got to see a couple of World Premiers. The Forum and the Forum expanded was the category of films that I was able to see. I got to see 12 screenings of films in 8 days. I was quite exciting, although some of the films weren't that good haha. So yeah, I'm gonna lists each film I saw with the description the program listed (because otherwise you might be thoroughly confused), and then post my review. I also rated each film with stars (*) on a 5 star scale. Enjoy!
1. MY WINNIPEG - By Guy Maddin (2.08.2008, 19:00) Canada, English:
Description - Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg. "We Winnipegers are so stuperfied with Nostalgia." Their stupefication turns them into sleepwalkers. There are so many of them that they made a law: If, you due to the power of their deep spiritual kinship, they turn up at night in their old homes, the new inhabitants must take them in. My Winnipeg is a sleepwalking dream: While working on this autobiography, which is like the biography of every snowed-in place in the Canadian province of Manitoba ("a city just 4 years older than my grandmother"), Maddin found himself once again in this childhood home. Actors pose as brothers, sisters, and the family dog in the living room. In the background is the mother like aliving picture. The current inhabitant, an elderly woman, doesn't move from her armchair. If you travel into the past in Winnipeg, you can't shake the aged present. We know the passive-aggressive mother already from "Bran upon the Brain!" In that film she exerted her control using a giant telescope, here she gazes (in king-size) scrutinizingly into the window of the Canadian railway, as Winnipeg is the crosspoint. Guy Maddin's new film solidifies the idea that, looking at the totality of his work, we can speak of a Maddinesque genre: profound, unsettling, and as such primally cinematic.
My Review - Live narration was very nice, different style documentary, good film and archive footage, the shorts of Green Porno before was a good lead. I liked the mix of history and family life. Interesting, but confusing at times. ***
2. MY BROTHER'S WEDDING - By Charles Burnett (2.09.2008, 12:30) USA, English:
Description - Pierce, a young black man in Los Angeles, is caught in a moral dilemma: his successful older brother is getting married, and he's asked Pierce to be his best man. On the same day as the wedding, however, his best friend's funeral is also taking place, a criminals who was brutally murdered shortly after being released from prison. Which ceremony should Pierce attend? Last year Charles Burnett's 1977 directorial debut Killer of Sheep, one of the most important works of African-American cinema, was re-introduced at the Forum. Following this, Burnett was able to make a director's cut of hi second film. My Brother's Wedding, made in 1983, is also set in original locations, and here as well what is foregrounded is not a classical story, but an attitude to life. Pierce works in his parents' small dry cleaners, there aren't many customers, their clothes are worn to threads. The camera follows him on his way through the run-down black neighborhood of South Central. It seems like the streets have been swept empty, the people seem to have barricaded themselves into their homes, most of them have a gun in a drawer somewhere. The sound on the street is still blues and soul, and not yet hip-hop, and nobody's wearing gold chains yet, or carrying automatic weapons. Still, My Brother's Wedding can be seen as a kind of forerunner of the African-American ghetto and gangsta film.
My Review - 20 years old, but still with good film quality. The problem presented in the film goes along with the plot, but the actual storyline wasn't that good. The excitement and problem only came at the end of the film. Reminded me of Seinfeld, as a movie about nothing, only no where near as funny or amusing. Scene transitions were rather harsh. Actors were surprisingly good for ameaturs. **
3. TRIBU - By Jim Libiran (2.11.2008, 22:30) Philippinen, Tagalog:
Description - In Tondo, the gloomiest area of Manila, youth gangs dominate the street scene. Their lives consist of criminality, drugs, and hip-hop music. In the twilight of the underworld, 10-year-old Ebet observes the members of enemy gangs, whose meeting becomes inescapable and which finally leads to an explosion of raw violence. Jim Libiran is the first director in 30 years who has been able to film in Manila's notorious Tondo district. The majority of his actors were recruited from among the inhabitants of the slum, most of them members of enemy street gangs, whose enthusiasm for their acting is catching. During the shooting of the film deadly hostilities gradually turned into friendships. Tribu is not only a film, but also a social project - but mos of all a rare cinematic event, spilling over with energy. Sex and violence are here not merely the surface, but they function as a vehicle for the realistic illustration of this ignored parallel world. The authentic rap soundtrack was collectively composed by the four main actors. Tribu is fragile, edgy, and real - an independent production that is one of the best from a stong year in Philippine film
My Reveiw - Plot was ok, slow at times, fight scene very fake, but a good story and it was a believable youth lifestyle. I didn't like the camera quality, but I enjoyed the rap and soundtrack music. I liked the role of Ebet, yet was confused by it sometimes. Nice post-screening discussion with the director. ***
4. THE EXILES - By Kent Mackenzie (2.12.2008, 21:30) USA, English:
Description - Like many others of her generation of Native Americans, Yvonne grew up in a reservation before moving to Los Angeles. She shares a two-room apartment with her husband Homer and five other young Indians. Since Yvonne got pregnant, her thoughts have been constantly revolving around the future, her own and that of her baby. The men, on the other hand, live from the fleeting kicks that they find in the restless nights on the streets of downtown and in the main street bars. After researching in the native American community in Los Angeles for years, Kent Mackenzie began working with his protagonists on The Exiles in 1957. the film, which was completed three years later, is one of the first - and still very few - films about young Indians in the big city. For his empathetic observations, Mackenzie found poetic forms far from any kind of romanticizing. His graphic sense for nocturnal Los Angeles, the use of interviews with the actors as the inner monologues of the protagonists, and the soundtrack of the rock 'n' roll band "The Revels" from radios and jukeboxes make The Exiles a masterpiece of great beauty and integrity. Its restoration closes another gap in the history of independent cinema.
My Review - Slow plot and boring to whatch, no real story, bad choice for a Berlinale film, bad actors, filmography was good and the movement of scenes and the shots were nice, great restoration, but the dubbing was bad. *
5. NIRVANA - By Igor Voloshin (2.13.2008, 12:30) Russia, Russian:
Description - Fed up with her life in Moscow, nurse Alisa moves to St. Petersburg. Her roomates in the collective flat are two junkies, Valera and her boyfriend Dead Man. First they fight, but soon the two women form a tender and substantial friendship. Together they even go after the Petersburg underworld when Dead Man is abducted because he can't pay his debts. Life is hard and confusing and you have to act hard and cool if you want to get by. This attitude toward life in Nirvana doesn't serve as a sociological frame, but as an aesthetic challenge to be met. When it comes to soundtrack, location, and above all the actors, Voloshin gives proof of his sense of style and detail. The extravagant make-up and elaborate costumes in which some of the protagonists perform, the exquisite exterior shots of Petersburg, and the lavish interiors are reminiscent of a pop opera, or of Brecht reborn as a punk, once again inventing the alienation effect. And every once a while you think you spot hidden allusions in all the visual laivshness. Is it because there is a common film canon each generation shares, or does it reveal an exceptional talen? Simply both.
My Review - Best so far, good character development, good cinematography and good music. The plot development reminded me of Fight Club. The make-up and costumes reminded me of Queen Amidala from Star Wars. I didn't understand the costumes and make-up, but I liked the changing of the story and the characters. It also had a good political point of view of post-Soviet Russia. ****
6. SEAVIEW - By Paul Rowley (2.13.2008, 21:30) Ireland, English:
Description - In the postwar period, exactly 60 years ago, the seaside holiday camp Monsey was founded in Ireland to give families a temporary refuge from their everyday life. Today the place is used for another kind of place of refuge: as a home for asylum seekers, most of whom remain there for several years. "Passages are houses or walkways that have no outside - like a dream." says Walter Benjamin in the "Passagenwerk." Inside the low grey buildings is a completely equipped world of entertainment. The camera wanders dreamily through the abandoned dance hall, an empty swimming pool, through dining halls, children's play areas, along the slot machines, colorful plastic decorations, neon signs touting fish & chips. Each time before it once again stops in front of a door maked "Push Bar to Open," other spaces open up: mattrasses and bedding stacked up to the ceiling, second hand shopping clothes and shopping turn the dream into a nightmare, without transition and in unchanged pastel tones. "The new business," is how one employee refers to the change from tourism to directing a refugee camp with a seaview. At least the children have the possibility of getting education and a creative shape to their everyday life. but the stories of their parents, who came from Nigeria, Somalia, Russia, or Croatia with quite different expectations, thwart the smooth pans again and again.
My Review - Very good, great imagery and cinematography. Great interviews and stories. The were well composed with pictures and videos and music. I liked the metaphor with the seagull. Very interesting people. Great perspective coming from the idea of American immigration problems. A little too long for a documentary. Very nice. World premier? ****
7. EL CAMINO - By Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez (2.14.2008, 12:30) Costa Rica and France, Spanish:
Description - 12-year-old Saslaya and her younger brother Dario have been living with their grandfather in Nicaragua since their mother went to Costa Rica to look for work eight years ago. Saslaya, who has to work in the rubbish dumps after school and gets called to her grandfather's hammock at night, runs away with her brother. On the journey to Costa Rica they meet many different people: a street kid that they befriend of the short time that they're in the city, an older man who runs a pupper theater, immigrant who are looking for work in Costa Rica as well. With its partly documentary view, El camino no only follows the search for the mother - a search that is a reality for many children in Nicaragua - it also makes it possible to look deep into the region that the protagonists are crossing. The director Ishtar Yasin Gutierrez has conducted years of research on the children left behind by immigrants. She chose actors with a similar fate to the one her characters have experienced. It is an impressive and moving film debut that tells much more than just the story of a brother and sister's journey.
My Review - I didn't really enjoy this film. It started off nice, and the message was good, although sometimes hard to define. Cinematography wasn't the greatest. Needed more dialogue and a plot. The two men and the table were all that kept me entertained. Acting was ok. **
8. BALIKBAYAN BOX - By Mes De Guzman (2.15.2008, 19:45) Philippinen, Tagalog:
Description - Three boys grow up together in a small village. Their favorite place to spend time is the "Betamax House," an improvised cinema, located in a modest apartment block, where the owner shows pirated copies of popular Hollywood movies. But the country idyll is clouded by social problems. The poverty of the area leads not only to petty theft and emigration, but in the end it sets off a series of crimes. The title of the film refers to a social phenomenon that takes on an important function in this independently produced film: Philippnie immigrants regularly send care packages, Balikbayan boxes, back home to help out their families. Patiently and intensely, the camera observes what goes on in the village, getting a feel for everyday life, here manifest as a struggle for survival. In the process, images and gestures take on more significance than speech. the special quality of this film is seen in its mise-en-scene, as understated as it is profound. Sensitively and almost as if by chance, director de Guzman conveys the existential cares and needs of his protagonists without overtly drawing attention to them. Balikbayan Box is told in a deliberately quiet way, laying bare its characters' humanity in a way that leaves a lasting impression.
My Review - This film was also not very enjoyable and unbearingly long. It had no conceivable plot or story that could be derived from just viewing the film without reading the description. The cinematography was well done, with some nice images and shots. This film could have also used a lot more dialogue. **
9. SOUTH MAIN - By Kelly Parker (2.16.2008, 20:00) USA, English:
Description - In order to contain violence on the streets and rampant gang crime, city authorities decided in December 2004 to clear out and tear down one complete apartment block in South Central Los Angeles. The inhabitants, living below the poverty line and dependent on state support, received compensation and had to move on short notice. The film follows three African-American women, all of the single mothers, in their lives at their new homes. Latisha relates how her fiance was killed on his way home in a random shooting shortly before the move. The film gives her a full ten minutes to describe the inconceivable. It is a scene of great intensity that brings the filmmaker's attitude to a point: being there, listening, noticeably letting the time go by. No lurid wallowing in myths of the ghetto, no conjuring up of the "social powder-kep" no social kitsch, but instead a participatory, exact view, concentrating on the women themselves. Precise, strictly framed images result from this, which neither accuse us nor appeal to us but that simply show. Images from the underclass, telling of poverty and the precarious living conditions on the social periphery. Images from America at the beginning of the 21st century.
My Review - A great portrayal of a low class American life-style. The undertone was very liberal however. The way the film was shot was unique, I felt. It appeared like the audience was the interviewer, instead of simply viewing an interview in a documentary. The subjects in the film worked well for the message. It was apparent, as the director stated afterwards, taht the intial message was different from the outcome. The director seemed very amateur for a well done film. The Q & A session wasn't as good as I had hoped...she struggled a bit. ***
10. YEARS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OUTSIDE - By John Torres (2.16.2008, 22:30) Philippines:
Description - Years When I was a Child Outside (Family Multi-Channel) is, at once, a mediation. It is a meta-film that unravels into the journey of the son of best-selling self-help author Rodolfo Torres, who had pioneered the sale of instructional books and tapes to "help raise brighter children" in the Philippines during the early 1980s. Upon learning that his father bore illegitimate children, the narrator decides to run away. The film is not only a chronicle of stories through foreign regions, but also a probing letter from outside circles, an honest account of illegitimate views form uneven terrain, and a narrative-driven exploration of the nooks and peripheries of the body, geography, and weather. As the journey progresses, the film increasingly traverses the countries of revelation, film, and heart - to where all journeys are meant to end with.
My Review - Yet another Philippine movie....must be a fascination of Mark's. I liked the style of the film, and the unique and new technological approach. The live band was a perfect touch to the new viewing style of muliple projections, however I felt like they should have been used more. The movie was also far too long and the message was not clear and very boring to the point where it was stomach turning. It was such a disappointment for a new style of film presentation. *
11. IF ONE THING MATTERS - By Heiko Kalmbach (2.17.2008, 13:00) Germany, German:
Description - Wolfgang Tillmans became known during the nineties for his photos of parties and club life. His pictures had the effect of having been taken at random. Today he is one of the best-known photographers in the world. For four years, filmmaker Heiko Kalmbach followed him around with a video camera, observing his private as well as his professional life. If One Thing Matters. It is Tillmans's voice speaking and not that of any expert. In its presumed casualness, the film stays right with its protagonist, whether Tillmans is lovingly wiping the dust off his houseplants or, equally precisely and meticulously, he's putting up one of his exhibitions with the patience of Job. Of particular interest are glimpses into Tillmans's video debut for the pop band Pet Shop Boys, which make it clear that his inner readiness to fail is also what makes his success possible. Whether he's portraying dazzling stars or grey mice, Tillmans's artistic greatness is in the catching unexpected moment, for, as Tillmans says, "stuff that's thought-up will always just be thought-up stuff." by consolidating the banal and the glamourous at the same level, always catching the unexpected moment, Kalmbach successful emulates his subject.
My Review - Great film, very interesting. The documentary was well done, with great cinematography and a wonderful story line. The main subject, Wolfgang, was an entertaining character to watch and see grow. His works and messages were also brilliant. The image and sound quality of the film were also well done. It was at some point a little repetative and I got a little lost in the time-line and where he was exactly, but still a very good film. ****
12. CORROBOREE - By Ben Hackworth (2.17.2008, 19:00) Australia, English:
Description - Conor a young actor, leaves for an acting job in the countryside. Following precise instructions, he and his fellow actresses are supposed to re-enact scenes from the life of Joe, a terminally ill director. Yet the setting is more spring-like than morbid and Conor makes himself familiar not only with Joe's life but with the place, a sort of spiritual hotel. The film's title refers to an Australian Aboriginal dance ritual, and Conor comes across as an invited guest at a ritual who initially has only a vague idea of its meaning. It is the strict emphasis on form that is immanent to both, ritual and film. Hackworth fortunately refrains from conventional narrative tricks and psychohlogically one-dimensional and predictable characters. His narrative movements are circular instead of following a straight line. And the gap that is layed out in the constant double role play offers to deliberate narrative story-telling as such. The excellent ensemble makes sure that this is not a mere intellectual pleasure. Insofar as Friedrich Schiller's concept of the "Spieltrieb" (the play drive) defines playing as a link between sensual and intellectual perception, Corroboree displays a very playful director. Let's hope, he'll never grow up.
My Review - Really weird! It was almost as if I was thrown into the middle of a movie. I didn't have any sense of the story, or plot, or what was actually going on. There was good cinematography and filming as well as good actors. The character development was present, but sometimes confusing. The story even ended abruptly without explaining what was happening. Good technically, but bad writing. ***
So there ya go. Those were all the films I viewed at the Berlinale. I hope you enjoy the reviews and comment if you have any questions. I also want to tell you that the Berlinale intro to every screening was made very well and I always looked forward to seeing it for every film. There is a video sample of it on the Berlinale site.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Last Few Days
Again, its been a few days since I last posted. But! I'm getting better and better. This week has been pretty fun and unique. I've had my mornings free to get breakfast and do some work, then get some lunch or see a film, then have some German, then go to more screenings. I've been getting back pretty late too, because some of the screenings have been till 10:30 at night or so. Some have been good, and some not so good. I've already seen one screening today, and I have another one in a few hours. That will be the last of the films and the Berlinale. The awards for the competition films, the Bären, took place last night. I didn't get to see any of the competition films and I'm not sure what the results were. I'll have my reviews and everything up for the Berlinale after my last film and will post it probably tomorrow or Tuesday.
To get on with things though, Thursday was a pretty busy day. I got up early to get some work done and do a little shopping at the store around the corner. Then we had a screening of a film that afternoon at 12:30. Thinking back now, I can't quite remember what film it was we saw on that afternoon. If I recall, it wasn't very good. After the film we had to quickly rush across town to make it to our 2:30 German class. We got there a little late but Dagmar (the professor) was more than understanding and was excited to hear from us how the film was......in German of course. After class, I had a meeting with my allergist to talk about getting my shots at 6:00PM. That went ok. He said he would have to talk to Dr. Musmand back in Maine and I actually had to wait in the office for quite a while. Then I just had to go down the street for another class at 7:30. This class was with a Dutch professor, yet he has spent more time in the States than I have, and it was quite interesting. We watched a short documentary and discussed "Mauer im Kopf." This is the idea of unification and the lack of a Wall and how Germans coped with two cultures - East and West. After that, we had our invitations to a Berlinale Party for the Forum Films. This was a lot of fun. Many of the actors and directors were there, although I didn't really recognize much of them and the ones I did recognize, I didn't want to tell them that their film sucked. But it was fun with my friends and our program director actually showed up and we got to hang out with her for most of the night too. It went way too late for my liking though. We didn't get there till about 11 because our class ran till 10PM. And the subways here stopped at 1AM and began again at 4AM. So we either had to leave the party really early, or stay really late. We ended staying really late and took the first UBahn train home.
Friday morning I got up about the same time to do some work then I had to pick up some more tickets for films during the weekend before another movie at 12:30. After this movie, we again had to rush to German class where we watched a classic movie in class called "Good Bye Lenin." We discussed the film afterwards in German and got some homework. After that we went back to Potsdamer Platz to see another film. We were supposed to see two, but myself and another kid could only get tickets to the first one. So we called it an early night.
On Saturday I had to go back to Potsdamer Platz in the morning to get more tickets for Sunday films. I met another kid there to pick them up then we didn't really have anything to do till later in the afternoon. So, to make a boring story short, we went back to his place, had nutella sandwiches, watched some BBC, then went to a cafe to meet up with some other students, then we all went to the Olympia Stadion to see a Fußball (soccer) game. We had tickets to see the local Berlin team play, Hertha - BSC. They played a team called Bielefeld. It was quite the experience. European football doesn't really compare to any sport in the States. The Berlin team ended up winning the game 1:0 with a goal in stoppage time. The crowd went nuts and the fans and subways were crazy for the next couple of hours. After getting some dinner, we went and saw to more screenings in Potsdamer Platz.
This morning, I got up fairly early. I wanted to get some things done and wanted to go out for some breakfast. I went to a local cafe down the street where I'd been once before. The owner was really nice and I had told him that I would be back. So, I went there (it was actually one of the only places open too) and had a wicked good breakfast and got some work and reading done in the cafe. The owner even gave me my glass of OJ for free on the house. I'll definately be going back there again. I went to another screening at 1:00PM today with two other kids and this was a good screening. Now I'm back in the apartment, doing some writing, some reading, some catching up.....you know. My final screening is tonight at 7:00PM. So when I'm done this I'm gonna do a little more reading, then go grab some dinner and see my final movie.
So on that note. I'll be getting back to you all with my thoughts and writings about the Berlinale.
P.S. - My roomate Brain is pretty into photography and has his own website. You should check it out. Heres the link.
http://www.thewanderingarchitect.com/index.html
To get on with things though, Thursday was a pretty busy day. I got up early to get some work done and do a little shopping at the store around the corner. Then we had a screening of a film that afternoon at 12:30. Thinking back now, I can't quite remember what film it was we saw on that afternoon. If I recall, it wasn't very good. After the film we had to quickly rush across town to make it to our 2:30 German class. We got there a little late but Dagmar (the professor) was more than understanding and was excited to hear from us how the film was......in German of course. After class, I had a meeting with my allergist to talk about getting my shots at 6:00PM. That went ok. He said he would have to talk to Dr. Musmand back in Maine and I actually had to wait in the office for quite a while. Then I just had to go down the street for another class at 7:30. This class was with a Dutch professor, yet he has spent more time in the States than I have, and it was quite interesting. We watched a short documentary and discussed "Mauer im Kopf." This is the idea of unification and the lack of a Wall and how Germans coped with two cultures - East and West. After that, we had our invitations to a Berlinale Party for the Forum Films. This was a lot of fun. Many of the actors and directors were there, although I didn't really recognize much of them and the ones I did recognize, I didn't want to tell them that their film sucked. But it was fun with my friends and our program director actually showed up and we got to hang out with her for most of the night too. It went way too late for my liking though. We didn't get there till about 11 because our class ran till 10PM. And the subways here stopped at 1AM and began again at 4AM. So we either had to leave the party really early, or stay really late. We ended staying really late and took the first UBahn train home.
Friday morning I got up about the same time to do some work then I had to pick up some more tickets for films during the weekend before another movie at 12:30. After this movie, we again had to rush to German class where we watched a classic movie in class called "Good Bye Lenin." We discussed the film afterwards in German and got some homework. After that we went back to Potsdamer Platz to see another film. We were supposed to see two, but myself and another kid could only get tickets to the first one. So we called it an early night.
On Saturday I had to go back to Potsdamer Platz in the morning to get more tickets for Sunday films. I met another kid there to pick them up then we didn't really have anything to do till later in the afternoon. So, to make a boring story short, we went back to his place, had nutella sandwiches, watched some BBC, then went to a cafe to meet up with some other students, then we all went to the Olympia Stadion to see a Fußball (soccer) game. We had tickets to see the local Berlin team play, Hertha - BSC. They played a team called Bielefeld. It was quite the experience. European football doesn't really compare to any sport in the States. The Berlin team ended up winning the game 1:0 with a goal in stoppage time. The crowd went nuts and the fans and subways were crazy for the next couple of hours. After getting some dinner, we went and saw to more screenings in Potsdamer Platz.
This morning, I got up fairly early. I wanted to get some things done and wanted to go out for some breakfast. I went to a local cafe down the street where I'd been once before. The owner was really nice and I had told him that I would be back. So, I went there (it was actually one of the only places open too) and had a wicked good breakfast and got some work and reading done in the cafe. The owner even gave me my glass of OJ for free on the house. I'll definately be going back there again. I went to another screening at 1:00PM today with two other kids and this was a good screening. Now I'm back in the apartment, doing some writing, some reading, some catching up.....you know. My final screening is tonight at 7:00PM. So when I'm done this I'm gonna do a little more reading, then go grab some dinner and see my final movie.
So on that note. I'll be getting back to you all with my thoughts and writings about the Berlinale.
P.S. - My roomate Brain is pretty into photography and has his own website. You should check it out. Heres the link.
http://www.thewanderingarchitect.com/index.html
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Kitchens and Monsey
I've seen quite a few apartments now in Germany, and I've seen pictures of kitchens from other places around Europe and I've gotta say.....they all look the same! Not in the sense of the layout, but whats in them. There are several important "kitchen items" in a European kitchen that you just don't see in the States. For starters, every one has a juicer. Not an electric one either, a hand one. Everyone has a magnetic strip on the wall, about a foot long, where they keep all the different cooking knives. I've found this very handy. Everyone keeps there cutting board and bread knife out all the time and in a very accessible area. Everyone has a coffee maker, but they're not like coffee makers back in the States either. They're pressure coffee makers (I think this is why the coffee tastes so good) and they're either electric or stove top. More kitchens here have gas stoves than electric stoves. Ummm, yeah so thats what I think about that.
I also wanted to say something about the film I saw last night. It was called Seaview and is one of the best films I've seen so far. Both the films I had to see yesterday were the best so far. Last nights film was a documentary in the traditional sense about an asylum and refugee seeker center. It used to be a former vacation center called Seaview in Ireland, but now is the home of about 800 persons seeking asylum in Ireland and was renamed Monsey. Anyways, just wanted to note on that. I'll be putting my reviews up in a few days. You could google or youtube the films I've seen to read descriptions, see samples, or whatever when I've got the names up.
Bis Später
I also wanted to say something about the film I saw last night. It was called Seaview and is one of the best films I've seen so far. Both the films I had to see yesterday were the best so far. Last nights film was a documentary in the traditional sense about an asylum and refugee seeker center. It used to be a former vacation center called Seaview in Ireland, but now is the home of about 800 persons seeking asylum in Ireland and was renamed Monsey. Anyways, just wanted to note on that. I'll be putting my reviews up in a few days. You could google or youtube the films I've seen to read descriptions, see samples, or whatever when I've got the names up.
Bis Später
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Good So Far
It's been a good week so far. We haven't have any morning classes at all this week since we're attending the Berlinale. All the films I had to see were at night and my German class doesn't start till 2:30 so It's been nice just sleeping in or getting some work done in the morning. Today is our earliest screening so far. It starts at 12:30 and is called Nirvana. Its a Russian film and looks pretty interesting. Yesterday a bunch of us got together and made breakfast before German class. Class has been pretty fun. We're learning what we want to learn, and then she teach us the necessary grammar and vocab for our level as we go along. I like the combination. It got a lot colder this week than than this past weekend. It's been kinda overcast too.
It was nice to hear that CPAC 2008 was a blast and to hear from CR's back home. Its been a different kind of busy over hear. No meetings or discussions or lots of emails to right....almost feels like vacation over here haha.
Tomorrow night we've all been invited to a special Berlinale Forum Party. That starts at 10:30, so looking forward to that. Good thing I won't have to get up early Friday morning. Oh, and along the way we've had to take notes of the films we've viewed and I've been doing mine in "movie review" style. I'll post the films I've seen and my review once the Berlinale is finished. We're supposed to go see a fussball game (soccer) Saturday too as long as we don't have any more films to see. Hopefully not haha. Well, till next time.
Ciao!
It was nice to hear that CPAC 2008 was a blast and to hear from CR's back home. Its been a different kind of busy over hear. No meetings or discussions or lots of emails to right....almost feels like vacation over here haha.
Tomorrow night we've all been invited to a special Berlinale Forum Party. That starts at 10:30, so looking forward to that. Good thing I won't have to get up early Friday morning. Oh, and along the way we've had to take notes of the films we've viewed and I've been doing mine in "movie review" style. I'll post the films I've seen and my review once the Berlinale is finished. We're supposed to go see a fussball game (soccer) Saturday too as long as we don't have any more films to see. Hopefully not haha. Well, till next time.
Ciao!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Stuff I Forgot
The last post had so much in it, yet I still forgot a few things I had noted that I wanted to mention.
I wanted to mention that I find the "dog culture" of Berlin very different than that of the States. We've done a ton of walking in Germany so far and everywhere we go we seem to see dogs. I taken a few pictures of some I like. But anyways, what I find interesting is the lack of "dog laws" and the unbelievable obedience of dogs here. Most everyone who is walking around with their dogs, whether its in the busy districts or the community neighborhoods, doesn't have their dogs on leashes. However, I have yet to see a dog wonder from its owner or bother anyone else. They stick to the side of the owner or follow close behind. They're so well trained its amazing. The dogs here are absolutely beautiful too. The only thing I don't like, is that the dogs are allowed to just shit anyway on the sidewalks. Kinda gross and makes you watch where you're walking all the time.
I also wanted to note that I've decided I want to save this summer for a really nice camera. I'm loving this photography stuff and would love an upgrade. So I guess that means that I'll be the photo guy from now on at all family functions haha. Maybe even a class next semester.....we'll see.
......Das ist alles
I wanted to mention that I find the "dog culture" of Berlin very different than that of the States. We've done a ton of walking in Germany so far and everywhere we go we seem to see dogs. I taken a few pictures of some I like. But anyways, what I find interesting is the lack of "dog laws" and the unbelievable obedience of dogs here. Most everyone who is walking around with their dogs, whether its in the busy districts or the community neighborhoods, doesn't have their dogs on leashes. However, I have yet to see a dog wonder from its owner or bother anyone else. They stick to the side of the owner or follow close behind. They're so well trained its amazing. The dogs here are absolutely beautiful too. The only thing I don't like, is that the dogs are allowed to just shit anyway on the sidewalks. Kinda gross and makes you watch where you're walking all the time.
I also wanted to note that I've decided I want to save this summer for a really nice camera. I'm loving this photography stuff and would love an upgrade. So I guess that means that I'll be the photo guy from now on at all family functions haha. Maybe even a class next semester.....we'll see.
......Das ist alles
Ein Ganz Woch
Jetzt! Heute habe ich Freizeit ins Blog zuschreiben. I've finally got some time now to do some writing in my blog. I always find that when I actually get time to go online I never have enough to update the blog so I don't even bother. So be prepared for a long read. This post is going to be chucker-block full of things I did this whole week. I'll probably start with Monday, since thats where I left off.
So! We started our German classes this week and finally had, for the most part, a set schedule. Everyday this week, Monday through Friday, I had German class from 2:30 to 5:45. It's not too too hard and actually its quite fun. We're learning the basics, but also we made a list of topics to talk about and learn and we've actually stuck to it. There are only 4 other people in my class. I'm in the intermediate class. All the other students in the program are in the beginners level program since they've never had any German. My favorite part of the class is our "Kaffepause" - coffee break.
We've only had one other class during the day this week and they didn't start till 10:00 AM so thats pretty nice. Monday and Tuesday morning we had History class from 10-12. These classes are held at the Freie Universitaet and taught by a German professor. Hes pretty funny and WICKED smart. He's published over 30 books and is a well respected professor in Germany. His name is Wolfgang Wippermann. There are sometimes only 3 people in the class with as many as 5, depending on what the 2 visual culture students have for class. Wednesday and Thursday I had an Art History seminar from 10-12. This class has 5 students in it also, us 3 area studies students and the 2 visual cultures. Our classes are held at various art museums and is quite interesting. The classes are so small that its almost like private tutoring and the setting is so unique. Having classes in a museum is really remarkable. I've taken an Art History class at RWU, but nothing compares to this. Instead of looking at slides of famous art and architecture, we're actually staring face-to-face with the actual original pieces of art and architecture and analysing them in the perfect museum setting. We examined them out on the floor of the museums but we've also done so in special rooms. Tuesday we looked at original sketches done by several artists about WWI and the impact it had on Germans. It reminded me of the scene from Dan Brown's book "Angels and Demons" when they're analyzing texts in the sealed rooms for the Vatican Archives.
Friday morning we didn't have any classes until 12:30. We had our photography class then of course German. We had a photo project due Friday. It was a Photo Essay of our neighborhoods and/or living space and mine came out quite good. The professor, Mark Simon, was impressed with my work for never having any photography lessons or training. I actually even had one photo, it was my favorite too, that tricked him. The way I had shot it made it look like a black and white, which he thought it was, but it was actually in color. Mark also set us up and explained to us the upcoming Berlinale Festival and what movies we were going to watch that night and the weekend.
When I wasn't in class that during the week, I was either catching lunch in Potsdamer Platz or a cafe with some of the students or spending some time at the mall because we had to get our photos printed. Friday morning I went to the 1Euro store near my apartment and picked some things up, made some, lunch, then headed to a cafe to get some work done before class at 12:30.
The first film we saw for the Berlinale was My Winnipeg. This was a documentary done about Winnipeg, Canada. It was surprisingly good. It was a rather unorthodox documentary; mixing the traditional filming style of documentaries with movie style filming. It was also narrated live by the director, which I really liked, and was the European premier. We also witnessed the a "teaser" of the European premier of Green Porno. These were shorts about insect reproductions made by Isabella Rosellini.
Saturday we were supposed to see two Films. I got up around 10 or so and made it to the theatre and got tickets with the other students to see our film at 12:30. We viewed a film made in the 80's called "My Brother's Wedding." This film was rather boring, with no plot and the problem only appearing until the last 20 minutes of the film, but it also had some decent acting for amateaurs and I liked the aspect of viewing a really old film. Later that night, at 20:00 we were supposed to see a film called Leo. This was a Swedish film but we didn't get to see but because it was widely popular and sold out really fast. Instead, myself and some of the other kids met up with my roomate and another student, Meredith at a bar in our neighborhood called Slumberland. This was a pretty cool bar with very good beer. It was a rege bar (spelling), with good music and the floor was all beach sand - pretty cool huh. After that we called it a pretty early night at mitnacht (midnight).
Todayyyyy was a really good day. The sun was out in almost full force and it was really warm. It was about 11 degrees celcius (low 50's F). I slept till about 11:00, made some eggs for breakfast, which I had been craving then grabbed my camera and some things and headed out. I had decided earlier that if it was going to be nice out I wanted to go roaming and taking pictures. Ever since this photography class started I've been pretty interested in taking pictures and getting good at photography. Soooo I went out and just walked around my neighborhood and Potsdamer Platz snapping pictures. I also stopped at a cafe to get a Tassee Kaffee and do some people watching for another assignment. I got some great pictures I think and it was a lot of fun. I did want to do some laundry today too, but I needed to get detergent and NO stores were open so that fell through. Hardly anything is open on Sunday, except for the stores in the business and tourist districts.
So I'm getting pretty hungry now and I know this is long and I have some other things to do, sooo I'm going to wrap it up. We have another movie to see tonight at 20:00 so I gotta get ready for that too. I'll try and update more often. So check back later or just send me an email. Miss everyone.
Biss Spaeter
So! We started our German classes this week and finally had, for the most part, a set schedule. Everyday this week, Monday through Friday, I had German class from 2:30 to 5:45. It's not too too hard and actually its quite fun. We're learning the basics, but also we made a list of topics to talk about and learn and we've actually stuck to it. There are only 4 other people in my class. I'm in the intermediate class. All the other students in the program are in the beginners level program since they've never had any German. My favorite part of the class is our "Kaffepause" - coffee break.
We've only had one other class during the day this week and they didn't start till 10:00 AM so thats pretty nice. Monday and Tuesday morning we had History class from 10-12. These classes are held at the Freie Universitaet and taught by a German professor. Hes pretty funny and WICKED smart. He's published over 30 books and is a well respected professor in Germany. His name is Wolfgang Wippermann. There are sometimes only 3 people in the class with as many as 5, depending on what the 2 visual culture students have for class. Wednesday and Thursday I had an Art History seminar from 10-12. This class has 5 students in it also, us 3 area studies students and the 2 visual cultures. Our classes are held at various art museums and is quite interesting. The classes are so small that its almost like private tutoring and the setting is so unique. Having classes in a museum is really remarkable. I've taken an Art History class at RWU, but nothing compares to this. Instead of looking at slides of famous art and architecture, we're actually staring face-to-face with the actual original pieces of art and architecture and analysing them in the perfect museum setting. We examined them out on the floor of the museums but we've also done so in special rooms. Tuesday we looked at original sketches done by several artists about WWI and the impact it had on Germans. It reminded me of the scene from Dan Brown's book "Angels and Demons" when they're analyzing texts in the sealed rooms for the Vatican Archives.
Friday morning we didn't have any classes until 12:30. We had our photography class then of course German. We had a photo project due Friday. It was a Photo Essay of our neighborhoods and/or living space and mine came out quite good. The professor, Mark Simon, was impressed with my work for never having any photography lessons or training. I actually even had one photo, it was my favorite too, that tricked him. The way I had shot it made it look like a black and white, which he thought it was, but it was actually in color. Mark also set us up and explained to us the upcoming Berlinale Festival and what movies we were going to watch that night and the weekend.
When I wasn't in class that during the week, I was either catching lunch in Potsdamer Platz or a cafe with some of the students or spending some time at the mall because we had to get our photos printed. Friday morning I went to the 1Euro store near my apartment and picked some things up, made some, lunch, then headed to a cafe to get some work done before class at 12:30.
The first film we saw for the Berlinale was My Winnipeg. This was a documentary done about Winnipeg, Canada. It was surprisingly good. It was a rather unorthodox documentary; mixing the traditional filming style of documentaries with movie style filming. It was also narrated live by the director, which I really liked, and was the European premier. We also witnessed the a "teaser" of the European premier of Green Porno. These were shorts about insect reproductions made by Isabella Rosellini.
Saturday we were supposed to see two Films. I got up around 10 or so and made it to the theatre and got tickets with the other students to see our film at 12:30. We viewed a film made in the 80's called "My Brother's Wedding." This film was rather boring, with no plot and the problem only appearing until the last 20 minutes of the film, but it also had some decent acting for amateaurs and I liked the aspect of viewing a really old film. Later that night, at 20:00 we were supposed to see a film called Leo. This was a Swedish film but we didn't get to see but because it was widely popular and sold out really fast. Instead, myself and some of the other kids met up with my roomate and another student, Meredith at a bar in our neighborhood called Slumberland. This was a pretty cool bar with very good beer. It was a rege bar (spelling), with good music and the floor was all beach sand - pretty cool huh. After that we called it a pretty early night at mitnacht (midnight).
Todayyyyy was a really good day. The sun was out in almost full force and it was really warm. It was about 11 degrees celcius (low 50's F). I slept till about 11:00, made some eggs for breakfast, which I had been craving then grabbed my camera and some things and headed out. I had decided earlier that if it was going to be nice out I wanted to go roaming and taking pictures. Ever since this photography class started I've been pretty interested in taking pictures and getting good at photography. Soooo I went out and just walked around my neighborhood and Potsdamer Platz snapping pictures. I also stopped at a cafe to get a Tassee Kaffee and do some people watching for another assignment. I got some great pictures I think and it was a lot of fun. I did want to do some laundry today too, but I needed to get detergent and NO stores were open so that fell through. Hardly anything is open on Sunday, except for the stores in the business and tourist districts.
So I'm getting pretty hungry now and I know this is long and I have some other things to do, sooo I'm going to wrap it up. We have another movie to see tonight at 20:00 so I gotta get ready for that too. I'll try and update more often. So check back later or just send me an email. Miss everyone.
Biss Spaeter
Friday, February 8, 2008
The Berlinale
Hallo Jeder. I know that I'm not keeping up to date very well with my daily doings, but I promise I'll let you know of everything that happened this past week. I did want to hit on one important event that started in Berlin tonight. It is called the Berlinale and is an International Film Festival hosted in Berlin every year. Stars like M. Scorsese, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Rober DiNerio are in town right now. Lucky enough, I'm getting a chance to participate in this extremely talked about event, not only in Berlin but around the world, as part of my photography class. We were issued passes and will be seeing screenings of many different films starting tomorrow and lasting everyday until next Friday. Its going to be an amazing time and I'll try to post a little critic of every film I saw on the blog. I've placed a link in this post to a news article that you can read if you want describing the festival. So, Bis Morgen!
ps - Romney dropped out, interesting
ps - Romney dropped out, interesting
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Catching Up
So I'm not really sure where I had left of telling you about the things I had been doing the past couple of days. I think its been about a week but I honestly can't remember. I haven't had that much time to get caught up on sharing what I've done during the day so I'm going to try and cover it all now while I have a little time. It's 11:03 PM (or 23.03 as the Germans would say) and I have some homework to do but this needs to get done.
Sooo, I'll begin with last Friday, the 1st. This was still considered part of our orientation week and we didn't have classes or anything that day and instead had a tour scheduled for Dessau. We had to leave rather early, meeting at the train station at 8.30 AM since Dessau is about and hour and a half south of Berlin. However, and I stress the however part, we were informed of a huge dilemma the night before. The subways and buses that run for public transportation around the entire city weren't going to be running on Friday because of a planned strike. They called this a "warning strike" to show the BVG company that the workers mean business and to set an example of what the city would be like if they went on a real strike for several days. Anyways, the strike was set to begin at Midnight on Thursday and last until 3PM on Saturday. This meant that we would all have to walk to the train station that morning and get up even earlier. "Eww" is what I said. It was about a 35 minute walk and rather cold but we made it. The train ride was really nice and I enjoyed reading an American newspaper I bought and listening to my ipod for most of the trip there. The city was beautiful; very suburban and quiet. There we had two things to do: 1. Tour the Bauhaus and 2. Visit the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to look at the architecture of the building. Both were astounding and very neat. I took lots of pictures and will show everyone when I return. The turned out pretty nice too as the sun started to peak out from behind the clouds and we enjoyed a very nice lunch in the Kantine of the Ministry. All and all it was really fun and enjoyable, even I was beginning to get tired of tours. The ride back was nice, slept most of the way and took it pretty easy that night.
On Saturday, we finally had a day off. Good thing too because it would be rather hard to do anything when the public transportation wasn't going to be running for half the day. I slept in till about 10 or so then my roomate, and our friends Kate and Teddy went to a cafe to get some breakfast and coffee. We came back and just did some homework then decided to find a pool that our program director had been talking about because it was suppose to be close and was an alternative to showering. We found the pool, had to walk of course, and got to stay there for 2hours for 4 euro. Pretty good deal That gave us access to the hot tubs, the pool, the sauna, and the salt bath. It was a good experience but wicked crowded probably because of it being a weekend day and the hot tubs were freezing compared to American hot tubs. They were more like hot baths instead of steaming boiling water that I like. That night Brian and I cooked dinner with a couple other students in the Architecture program (Bobby, Leehan, and Meredith). We made home made pizza and bread with some fine wine. It was delicious! We went to bed really early that night because we had to get again for another tour the very next day.
On Sunday, we had another tour and this time it was in Potsdam. Potsdam is just outside of the city, only about 25 minutes. It, like Dessau, is a former Soviet city of East Germany. Only this city was really nice and very typical of the German stereotypical town. It was mostly Dutch Architecture and very grid and with not a lot of tall buildings. Many of the buildings were made of brick are over 300 years old. I liked it alot and it reminded me of downtown Newport. It was also the city of the former Prussian Emperors and many of the old palaces and kings buildings and gardens are still there and very beautiful. This was a very long day, starting at 10AM and we didn't leave till 5PM. After getting back from Potsdam we all took naps for about 4 hours so that we could stay up late to watch the superbowl. The superbowl here didn't start until 24.00 PM and lasted until 4AM. It was all in German and on a German tv station. The weirdest part was that they aired zero commercials. Every time there should have been a commercial, the simply showed a picture of the field. Not a bad halftime show either. So anyways, didn't get to bed till 5.15AM that morning and slept for 3 hours. Although my 4 hour nap helped before that.
So yeah, theres those three days. It is already thursday here and I still have some German homework to do so I will continue writing about my past few days tomorrow hopefully.....or when I get to it ha. But yea, if you ever have any questions about things I've done or you're just not clear about what I've done don't be afraid to post a comment or email. I look forward to them. Bis Dann, Tschuss!
Sooo, I'll begin with last Friday, the 1st. This was still considered part of our orientation week and we didn't have classes or anything that day and instead had a tour scheduled for Dessau. We had to leave rather early, meeting at the train station at 8.30 AM since Dessau is about and hour and a half south of Berlin. However, and I stress the however part, we were informed of a huge dilemma the night before. The subways and buses that run for public transportation around the entire city weren't going to be running on Friday because of a planned strike. They called this a "warning strike" to show the BVG company that the workers mean business and to set an example of what the city would be like if they went on a real strike for several days. Anyways, the strike was set to begin at Midnight on Thursday and last until 3PM on Saturday. This meant that we would all have to walk to the train station that morning and get up even earlier. "Eww" is what I said. It was about a 35 minute walk and rather cold but we made it. The train ride was really nice and I enjoyed reading an American newspaper I bought and listening to my ipod for most of the trip there. The city was beautiful; very suburban and quiet. There we had two things to do: 1. Tour the Bauhaus and 2. Visit the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to look at the architecture of the building. Both were astounding and very neat. I took lots of pictures and will show everyone when I return. The turned out pretty nice too as the sun started to peak out from behind the clouds and we enjoyed a very nice lunch in the Kantine of the Ministry. All and all it was really fun and enjoyable, even I was beginning to get tired of tours. The ride back was nice, slept most of the way and took it pretty easy that night.
On Saturday, we finally had a day off. Good thing too because it would be rather hard to do anything when the public transportation wasn't going to be running for half the day. I slept in till about 10 or so then my roomate, and our friends Kate and Teddy went to a cafe to get some breakfast and coffee. We came back and just did some homework then decided to find a pool that our program director had been talking about because it was suppose to be close and was an alternative to showering. We found the pool, had to walk of course, and got to stay there for 2hours for 4 euro. Pretty good deal That gave us access to the hot tubs, the pool, the sauna, and the salt bath. It was a good experience but wicked crowded probably because of it being a weekend day and the hot tubs were freezing compared to American hot tubs. They were more like hot baths instead of steaming boiling water that I like. That night Brian and I cooked dinner with a couple other students in the Architecture program (Bobby, Leehan, and Meredith). We made home made pizza and bread with some fine wine. It was delicious! We went to bed really early that night because we had to get again for another tour the very next day.
On Sunday, we had another tour and this time it was in Potsdam. Potsdam is just outside of the city, only about 25 minutes. It, like Dessau, is a former Soviet city of East Germany. Only this city was really nice and very typical of the German stereotypical town. It was mostly Dutch Architecture and very grid and with not a lot of tall buildings. Many of the buildings were made of brick are over 300 years old. I liked it alot and it reminded me of downtown Newport. It was also the city of the former Prussian Emperors and many of the old palaces and kings buildings and gardens are still there and very beautiful. This was a very long day, starting at 10AM and we didn't leave till 5PM. After getting back from Potsdam we all took naps for about 4 hours so that we could stay up late to watch the superbowl. The superbowl here didn't start until 24.00 PM and lasted until 4AM. It was all in German and on a German tv station. The weirdest part was that they aired zero commercials. Every time there should have been a commercial, the simply showed a picture of the field. Not a bad halftime show either. So anyways, didn't get to bed till 5.15AM that morning and slept for 3 hours. Although my 4 hour nap helped before that.
So yeah, theres those three days. It is already thursday here and I still have some German homework to do so I will continue writing about my past few days tomorrow hopefully.....or when I get to it ha. But yea, if you ever have any questions about things I've done or you're just not clear about what I've done don't be afraid to post a comment or email. I look forward to them. Bis Dann, Tschuss!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
