Berlin!

Hey Everyone,

I'm sorry it took me so long to post, things have been crazy, and it took me a long time to sort through all the pictures from Berlin! I was talking with my roommate last Thursday night, and we decided we would love to take a weekend trip to Berlin. My roommate has a friend who lives in Berlin, so we made plans to see her. It took about 6 hours to get there, but it was worth it! Berlin is such a beautiful and interesting place! The first night we were tired, so we just checked into a hostel and went to sleep. 

In the morning, we met my roommate's friend for brunch, and then we went out and walked all over the city. We started by searching for Komischer Oper, one of the three major opera houses in Berlin, and we bought tickets to see Rigoletto that evening. When we left the building, we noticed that there were green manikins all over the place wearing old-fashioned clothes. We followed the signs that they were holding, and we discovered a store that sells old opera costumes and set pieces! It was such a wonderful store, it was 3 stories high and filled floor to ceiling with beautiful paintings, furniture, costumes, and more. 

After the opera shop we went to Gendarmenmarkt where we saw the Französicher Dom, the Deutscher Dom and the Konzerthaus Berlin. They are all incredibly beautiful, and in the center of the area is a lovely white fountain (you can see all of these in my pictures but I put in some wikipedia links if you'd like to learn more!) While we continued to walk, we stumbled across a small "fashion monument" erected temporarily outside of the tents that were set up for the Mercedes Benz Berlin fashion week. It was going on that weekend and we had no idea! I wish we could have seen it ourselves, but we did take pictures of the monument! 

We also went to the Berliner Dom, which was my favorite building- it is so breathtaking. You can see the charring on parts of the Dom due to bombings during the world wars, but the cathedral is intact. Inside we found out that concerts are held in the Dom frequently, as well as tours. Right next to the Dom was the Museuminsel, also known as the Museum Island. There are five large museums of art and history in one area in Berlin. I wanted to go inside and look around but unfortunately we only went for the weekend, so I'll have to go back to see them again! 

After sightseeing all day, my roommate and I changed our clothes and went to Rigoletto with my roommate's friend and her brother-in-law. We had a wonderful time, and afterwards went out for some food and drinks. The next morning, we went back to my roommate's friend's apartment for some breakfast, and then set out for more sightseeing with her brother-in-law. He showed us the large tower in Berlin. We went to the top and took lots of pictures of the city. Many large cities in Germany have similar tall towers that are popular tourist attractions. After the tower we went to see Nikolaikirche, the oldest church in Berlin. It was built between 1220 and 1230, and it was incredible. I love seeing buildings that have that much history, there aren't any buildings that old in the United States!

My roommate's friend and her husband met up with us that afternoon for more sightseeing. We all went together to see the Brandenburger Tor- it was so incredible. There were tons of people, including a variety of actors dressed up as everything from soldiers from different wars to chickens and gorillas, trying to have people pay to take pictures with them. They were very entertaining! Just behind the Tor was a marking of the old location of the Berlin Wall. Beyond this were some older and some modern, rebuilt government buildings- the home of the Chancellor, the building of the Parliament, and others. They were very beautiful. We also saw the Holocaust Memorial in Friedrichstadt. It consisted of many concrete slabs of various sizes, with small walkways in between. The architect designed the memorial in this way so that people viewing the memorial might feel the same feelings of instability and entrapment that Jews felt during the Holocaust. 

Finally, the trip had to come to an end, and my roommate and I returned home. We had such an amazing time! It was a wonderful experience, and I can't wait to go back again! Things have settled down back in Mannheim, though. I managed to get a residence permit, and I'm slowly figuring out how to find everything that I need. Every day is like a new adventure here :). I'm almost finished with my German course already! My exam is this week, and I'm starting to prepare for it. I'm excited for this class to end and for my university courses to begin! 

I'll post again soon about the trips I made this week to Speyer and Frankfurt! I love and miss you all so much!

-Bekah

Settling In

         So, I've been in Germany for exactly one week, and I'm slowly getting used to it. I love my apartment- it's clean and quiet, and I have one great roommate so far and another who will arrive next week. I just started an intensive German course, called Winterakademie. It's, well, intense, but I'm learning so much! There are about 15 people in my class, and all of us have studied German for at least a few semesters. There are students from all over the world! In my small class alone there are people from Norway, Georgia, America, Peru, Mexico, Malaysia, Italy, Bolivia, Brazil, and China. The more I learn, the easier it becomes to approach German people and talk to them, so I'm really glad that this is the first class that I'm taking! I've been walking around the city a lot- I live very close to the University and to the Hauptbahnhof, the train station, and there are a lot of shops and restaurants within walking distance. I also managed to open a bank account and get a cell phone this week- it wasn't easy! :p At the end of this post I will list my mailing address and my cell phone number.
          There is a coffee shop less than a block away from my apartment, and it has become my favorite place to go and relax. The first few days that I was here, I had no internet, so I would go to the coffee shop once or twice a day! I've tried several restaurants so far. The first thing that I tried at a restaurant is a turkish sandwich called a Döner Kebab- it's so delicious! There is a large Turkish population throughout Germany, and many of them run restaurants that serve the Kebabs. In Mannheim, there is a district of the city that is called a, "Little Istanbul" because so many Turkish people live there. Here is a picture of a D
öner Kebab:

 I've also found an excellent pizza place, and a great restaurant called Cafe Vienna- it has a great college atmosphere, and amazing, inexpensive pasta dishes! I've also been to a couple of pubs and bars. On Monday, I went to a bar called Stars- all of the cocktails were named after famous movie stars, it was very interesting! I met lots of Norwegian students there as well as a few German students. 
         The weather so far has been pretty cold, and it has rained frequently, but it hasn't kept me indoors! I'm hoping that it will snow soon, I'm jealous of everyone at home who has been enjoying it! The people in the city walk down the streets in all kinds of weather- I see so many couples walking strollers down the street, even on rainy days. Many people use the buses and trams in the city, or just ride bikes or walk. One morning, I saw tons of children, even young ones, riding the trams to school in the morning- I don't think that they have school buses here. I've seen a lot of mothers and fathers riding bikes in the streets with their children biking behind them. Also, in almost every store, if you don't bring a bag with you, you have to buy one to hold your purchases. And you have to put your items into bags yourself. For these reasons, and also because most people have to walk or take public transportation, most purchases are small. :P I'm hoping to find a book store that sells books in English, and I'd also like to find and buy some DVD's that are in English- I miss it! Even in the movie theater, American films are played in German. I found a movie theater and saw that the posters for the American movies had titles in German- I was so surprised that I had to take a picture:

Anyways, I have many more pictures that I will put into a slide show that you can find on my blog home page! I hope that you enjoy them. I miss you all so much. I hope that you're having a safe, happy time! I'll add my skype username to the contact info. that I put at the end of my post- I would love to talk! :) 


Tchluss!


Bekah


Skype Username: chicaitaliana89
Email: rlbray@uncg.edu
German Cellphone Number: 01731353943 (this is without the country code- if you make an international call you will need it! Germany's is +49)
German Address: Rebekah Bray
                             L2, 2-4 Zi. 41
                             68161 Mannheim, Germany

Germany or Bust!

Hey Everyone,

I landed safely yesterday morning. Things are very different here! The buildings are very beautiful, and so far people have been friendly but haven't spoken much English. I am in a very nice and cute apartment literally across the street from the school, which is very nice. Inevitably, there have been some challenges- all of the electrical outlets here are different! All of my electrical appliances are dead, and I need to buy an adapter. I went out this morning and walked around and discovered that because it is a german holiday today, many shops are closed, including every computer store that I have been able to find. However, I should be able to find one tomorrow. I am at an internet cafe at the moment- there was a very nice man working who listened to  my broken German and helped me to operate the computer. I've been praying a lot, and it has given me a lot of peace, I know that God is guiding me as I navigate this unfamiliar territory. I'm thinking of all of my friends and family, and missing you all very much! As soon as I find an adapter I will put up another post with pictures from the airport and of the city!! I am praying for you all! Thanks for all of your kind thoughts and prayers, I know that I am not alone here. I received a beautiful book from my family the night before I flew out that was filled with words of kindness and wisdom. It was such a blessing to read their messages, it helped me to be brave during my first transatlantic flight! Anyways, I will be posting pictures very soon, I hope all is well!

-Bekah