By Houston Miller
It is bittersweet, this feeling of the end. I am excited and saddened by the prospect of going home. But, I will get to that after I talk about what I did today. We first had breakfast at the hostel and it was tasty. They had this yogurt that tasted like chocolate cake and had chocolate chips in it. It made me happy :D
Once we finished breakfast, we headed to a museum that contained the history of Germany, goind all the way back to Roman occupation of the area. The statue here is of Charlemagne, which was pretty cool. They went all the way up to pretty much the present, with the last exhibit being the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was all really interesting. By far, the largest single exhibit in the place was the section on WWII and Nazism. I personally preferred the earlier parts, like with armor and weapons like swords and stuff. I did get some pictures of that but, with my current internet connection, it is really slow to put up pictures. We had about 2 hours to explore the museum at our leisure, but it would have taken at least 6 to see everything, so I had to kind of rush through it.
After our shopping, we decided to get back to the hostel because it was going on 4:00 and the girls wanted to get ready for dinner at 6:00. I personally think they took more time than they needed, but whatever. I'm not gonna argue about getting out of the cold weather. We came to the conclusion that winter in Germany is like getting punched in the face by Jack Frost. It's a good allegory, I know ;) So, 6:00 rolls around, everyone is here this time, and we go on down the street to a very nice restaurant. The prices were kinda high, but it was fine because the Docs paid for dinner for us. So, I got a thing called 'Flammekucher 'Gyros' ' which was basically a flat piece of dough that was very crispy and had gyro meat and feta cheese and red onions on it. It was extremely good, but it was really huge, like at least a square foot and a half of food, not exaggerating. I wasn't really hungry anyway from having a huge sandwich at lunch, but I finished the whole thing. I got some dessert afterward, and I ordered the 'Falmmekucher with Bilberries.' I had a pretty good idea what this was gonna be. I figured, flat crispy dough with Bilberries on it (no idea what a bilberry was, turned out to be blueberries) and surely, it wont be as large as that meal I just had. Well, I was wrong on the size part. It was just as big as what I had just eaten. I had Patrick help me eat it, because I never would have by myself. It was quite good, just big, and I have a feeling I wont want to eat breakfast.
We left dinner and made our way back to the hostel, enjoying the refreshingly cool air, considering how hot it got in the restaurant. We had a short meeting in the hostel when we got back, informing us to be ready to go at 7:30 in the morning, meaning we have to get up at about 6:30 to be ready in time. Ugh. Anyway, we were left to our own devices and that is where you see (er.. read) me now.
So before I retire for the evening, I would like to give a small conclusion of my time in Germany and any small insights or revelations I have gained. I started out this trip very anxious and unsure. I was traveling out of the country with a group of people I barely knew. New experiences and new opportunities were bound to be knocking on my door. Now, having traveled across Germany, and seeing only a minuscule fraction of what is here, I wouldn't have traded this opportunity for the world. I have made new friends and new memories.
One thing that really struck me when I was on the train to Leipzig, where I had to stand the whole time, was this. As I was standing there, going into former East Germany, a man across from me, standing as well, was reading the book 1984. It occurred to me that at the time I was born, that very act would have been illegal in the place we were in. It was just an overwhelming thought, and I feel it important to say that East Germany only recently escaped the oppressive government that was ruling it. That is prevalent in Berlin. There is construction going on everywhere, fixing the mistakes of the past.
Restaurants in Germany are all really tiny, as is most of everything else, except the food portions. Meals are huge and I never was hungry on this trip, and for that I am thankful.
American music is all over the place here. As well as a couple of other really odd forms of music. But, I have heard a giant range of music here, from oldies this morning to Shakira last week. There is a very broad taste in music, just like the people here.
In the museum this morning, looking at the WWI exhibit, I had a strange feeling of being split. I felt a sense of being German and American at the same time. It was just really odd to look at the war from a German perspective, but being American and realizing that the place I was in lost that war.
I think the biggest realization I got out of this trip was the fact that there is a whole other world outside of Knoxville, TN. Germany isn't just a place you hear about in your history book, it is a real place with a rich history and people that are just people. Sure, there was some crappy stuff that happened, and the German people accept that and have tried to move on from it, as should the rest of the world. Still, I find it kind of difficult to fathom the fact that I am even in another country, but the constant language barrier (it's getting smaller, I learned some German here!) reminds me.
I hope you have all enjoyed traveling through Germany with me as much as I have enjoyed leading you all on this virtual tour. Germany is an amazing country (I'm really loving Berlin!), and I hope that someday I can return to visit this wonderful place (preferably in a season that 'suits my clothes' [grats to you if you get the reference]). And, in honor of the awesome hostel that I have stayed in for my duration here in Berlin, So long, and thanks for all the fish.
It is bittersweet, this feeling of the end. I am excited and saddened by the prospect of going home. But, I will get to that after I talk about what I did today. We first had breakfast at the hostel and it was tasty. They had this yogurt that tasted like chocolate cake and had chocolate chips in it. It made me happy :D
Once we finished breakfast, we headed to a museum that contained the history of Germany, goind all the way back to Roman occupation of the area. The statue here is of Charlemagne, which was pretty cool. They went all the way up to pretty much the present, with the last exhibit being the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was all really interesting. By far, the largest single exhibit in the place was the section on WWII and Nazism. I personally preferred the earlier parts, like with armor and weapons like swords and stuff. I did get some pictures of that but, with my current internet connection, it is really slow to put up pictures. We had about 2 hours to explore the museum at our leisure, but it would have taken at least 6 to see everything, so I had to kind of rush through it.
After we got through the museum, we met up to leave for lunch. We met Dan, who is Dr. Sofer's friend that I am now sure of his name. He led us to a part of Berlin that has tons of food and shopping. We (Patrick, Adelle, Shannon, Jennifer, [blond] Laura, and I) found a place that was called 'From am to pm' and it had really good food. I ordered a club sandwich and I found a cultural difference there. They like eggs and cucumber on their club sandwiches, as well as some other things I can't name. It was a unique taste, and it was good, considering I hate cucumbers, but these were sweet and watery and very good. So that was a good lunch, and then we went shopping for a while and we found some really neat stores. One had absolutely random things in it and it was by far the coolest I saw today.
After our shopping, we decided to get back to the hostel because it was going on 4:00 and the girls wanted to get ready for dinner at 6:00. I personally think they took more time than they needed, but whatever. I'm not gonna argue about getting out of the cold weather. We came to the conclusion that winter in Germany is like getting punched in the face by Jack Frost. It's a good allegory, I know ;) So, 6:00 rolls around, everyone is here this time, and we go on down the street to a very nice restaurant. The prices were kinda high, but it was fine because the Docs paid for dinner for us. So, I got a thing called 'Flammekucher 'Gyros' ' which was basically a flat piece of dough that was very crispy and had gyro meat and feta cheese and red onions on it. It was extremely good, but it was really huge, like at least a square foot and a half of food, not exaggerating. I wasn't really hungry anyway from having a huge sandwich at lunch, but I finished the whole thing. I got some dessert afterward, and I ordered the 'Falmmekucher with Bilberries.' I had a pretty good idea what this was gonna be. I figured, flat crispy dough with Bilberries on it (no idea what a bilberry was, turned out to be blueberries) and surely, it wont be as large as that meal I just had. Well, I was wrong on the size part. It was just as big as what I had just eaten. I had Patrick help me eat it, because I never would have by myself. It was quite good, just big, and I have a feeling I wont want to eat breakfast.
We left dinner and made our way back to the hostel, enjoying the refreshingly cool air, considering how hot it got in the restaurant. We had a short meeting in the hostel when we got back, informing us to be ready to go at 7:30 in the morning, meaning we have to get up at about 6:30 to be ready in time. Ugh. Anyway, we were left to our own devices and that is where you see (er.. read) me now.
So before I retire for the evening, I would like to give a small conclusion of my time in Germany and any small insights or revelations I have gained. I started out this trip very anxious and unsure. I was traveling out of the country with a group of people I barely knew. New experiences and new opportunities were bound to be knocking on my door. Now, having traveled across Germany, and seeing only a minuscule fraction of what is here, I wouldn't have traded this opportunity for the world. I have made new friends and new memories.
One thing that really struck me when I was on the train to Leipzig, where I had to stand the whole time, was this. As I was standing there, going into former East Germany, a man across from me, standing as well, was reading the book 1984. It occurred to me that at the time I was born, that very act would have been illegal in the place we were in. It was just an overwhelming thought, and I feel it important to say that East Germany only recently escaped the oppressive government that was ruling it. That is prevalent in Berlin. There is construction going on everywhere, fixing the mistakes of the past.
Restaurants in Germany are all really tiny, as is most of everything else, except the food portions. Meals are huge and I never was hungry on this trip, and for that I am thankful.
American music is all over the place here. As well as a couple of other really odd forms of music. But, I have heard a giant range of music here, from oldies this morning to Shakira last week. There is a very broad taste in music, just like the people here.
In the museum this morning, looking at the WWI exhibit, I had a strange feeling of being split. I felt a sense of being German and American at the same time. It was just really odd to look at the war from a German perspective, but being American and realizing that the place I was in lost that war.
I think the biggest realization I got out of this trip was the fact that there is a whole other world outside of Knoxville, TN. Germany isn't just a place you hear about in your history book, it is a real place with a rich history and people that are just people. Sure, there was some crappy stuff that happened, and the German people accept that and have tried to move on from it, as should the rest of the world. Still, I find it kind of difficult to fathom the fact that I am even in another country, but the constant language barrier (it's getting smaller, I learned some German here!) reminds me.
I hope you have all enjoyed traveling through Germany with me as much as I have enjoyed leading you all on this virtual tour. Germany is an amazing country (I'm really loving Berlin!), and I hope that someday I can return to visit this wonderful place (preferably in a season that 'suits my clothes' [grats to you if you get the reference]). And, in honor of the awesome hostel that I have stayed in for my duration here in Berlin, So long, and thanks for all the fish.