3 Favorites from Berlin

So, last week I wrote a short blurb about my time in Berlin - and even now, I believe it's impossible to give you my full impression of the city. There are many things I wish I could have done there, but I've decided to let you in on my favorite things in Berlin until I recover from jet lag!

1. The Flea Market (Flohmarkt) - specifically, the one on 17th June Street! This sprawling line of venders offering antiques, knickknacks and other finds cuts through Berlin's Tiergarten, a vast park connecting the Moabit and Charlottenberg districts. You can find clothes, some Bavarian costumes, old photographs, small appliances, swords, Russian nesting dolls, and pretty much anything you desire. And for a great price.

2. Kreuzberg - Just all of it. It's my favorite setting - Mexican food, Arabic food, Turkish, Greek, whatever you're in the mood for, it's there. My particularly favorite store was a small indie comic book shop, with humor merchandise, t-shirts, journals and other various things. In fact, speaking of things, we stumbled upon The Museum of Things - which unfortunately, we decided not to investigate due to fatigue. In this picture, we see a Gay Pride parade.

3. The Subway - Yes, I really, really love public transit. And Berlin's system seemed quaint and reminiscent of the 70s and 80s. Despite an encounter with a belligerent drunk woman, whom I briefly discussed in my article about Berlin, traveling via subway was really enjoyable!

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to visit museums or castles while I was there - primarily because of money and time restraints. But the three listed are small, amazing things that I enjoyed during my time in Berlin - far more than the touristic sites.

You can go to the Brandenburg tour, Checkpoint Charlie and the East Side Gallery, but it's the small, everyday places - the subway, restaurants, and so on - where you will really feel Berlin, not just see it.

Bis Bald! Goodbye Germany - For Now!

From up above, Marburg really is a beautiful city.

As some of you may know, my time here in Germany is coming to an end. To be specific - I leave this Thursday.  And I still can't completely believe it. For the past weeks, I've been treading through paperwork, packing, and saying my goodbyes. There's definitely a side of me who isn't ready to return, who wants another week, another month, maybe.

But I'm also ready to go home. It's time to start up my work again. And as much as I'll be glad to be in a familiar culture, speaking my native tongue, there will be things I miss.

A large part of my day is spent traveling, 30 minutes from my dorm to the city center. Everyday. But I'll miss the trains even more. Here it's so simple to travel long distances, and it'll be something I think about whenever I try to maneuver a trip from Knoxville to Memphis. The variety of Megabus-like services will  be stuck in my memory, too - as I've used both the Meinfernbus and Deinbus when traveling to Berlin and Munich. A loss of this vast public transit system is a loss of freedom.

There's also the food. I'll miss quick bites at the Lecker Ecke. I'll miss auflauf, curry wurst, schnitzel and döner. But I'm also excited to get back to inexpensive and more authentic Mexican and Chinese food.

Greek wine and a broken cork...but we
 found a solution!

The scenery in Knoxville is definitely a downgrade from Marburg. Don't get me wrong, Knoxville can be lovely. But it isn't a picturesque German city with a castle from the 11th century built on-top of a mountain. However, both cities require me to walk to school up hill both ways, so at least I'll get a work out back in the USA.

And of course, I'll miss the friends I've made here - both through my dorm and through my tandem program. :)  For those who don't know what a tandem is, it's a language exchange. You find a partner with the language you are learning, and for two hours you practice - one hour per language. I've really enjoyed my time with everyone here, and I only wish I could stay longer!

There is one major thing I've been missing throughout the experience - American higher education. This may sound strange, for the money Germans pay to the university, it isn't bad here. But it's very different.

First, attendance may not matter at all. There were some classmates I only saw twice - once mid semester, and once during exams. Second, none of my lecturers or professors graded homework, or even took it up. Sometimes nothing was assigned. Classes also went at a slower pace than those in the US. It was definitely more laid back, and although I liked not having to buy a textbook, I feel like I thrive better in a more regimented environment. And I remember more.

Three of seven dwarves outside of the
 Religious Collection building.

Exams are one last thing about the education system that I really do prefer in the US. Here there are no tests until your final - at least in my department. It was difficult to study, because there was so much anxiety about the pressure to do well. When I go back, I think I'll be much more relaxed about exams, since I know in the US I have a grade buffer.

And a small tip for those studying abroad: I would suggest studying another language when you're abroad. I know that sounds insane, but it really made a difference for me. I took an optional course in Russian through the Language Center. Everything was in German, and it proved to be more useful than my Sprachkurs (Speaking course, in this case for German). In addition to that, I found studying Russian through German to be simpler, because of the similarities in grammar, such as the case system.

Studying in Germany never really matched my expectations, but it was definitely a great experience- good days and bad. I can't really tell if it's "changed me" - maybe that will come out when I'm back home. 

Nach Berlin mit Liebe

Hanging out with Marx and Engels! 

In June I finally had some relief from German bureaucracy. Since May I had been working to get all the documents for a German visa - not for myself, but for my boyfriend, Deb. Because I was inviting him, and I wasn't a German citizen, everything was more complicated - but nevertheless, I found myself waiting at the airport for his arrival. :-)

It being his first time abroad, everything was exciting - even my small town of Marburg!  But to be honest, we started sight-seeing two days later, in Berlin.

Berlin is like any other big city - at least, what I imagine big cities to look like. But it definitely has it's own quirks - the Ampelmännchen traffic lights, the retro subways, sometimes with wood-paneled interior, and hidden monuments. Seeing all of Berlin in two days is impossible, but we certainly saw a lot!

Our first full day in Berlin, we walked from 9:00 in the morning until 12:00 at night. We ventured into all the main sites - the Brandenburg Tor, Museum Insel, Checkpoint Charlie, the East Side Gallery, Podtzdammer Platz. As we traveled from the middle of the city to Kreuzberg, the hub for multicultural cuisine and indie shops (and my favorite district of Berlin), performers jumped from subway car to subway car playing music. This was much more enjoyable than the cursing drunkardette picking fights on our way back to our hotel, located in Moabit.

A gorgeous mosque in Kreuzberg,  located in-between a
Mexican and Korean Restaurant.

Both Moabit and Kreuzberg turned out to be where Deb and I enjoyed ourselves the most. While in Berlin, we both contracted a cold. The next day, after walking from Moabit to Charlottenburg - which is exhausting, and visited the flea-market on 17th June Street, we made a quick stop in Kreuzberg. As we began walking in Kreuzberg, it began to rain heavily, and we took shelter next to a Korean restaurant. Deb and I had hoped to try some Korean barbecue, but without a reservation, we would have had to sit "yoga style", and both of us were too exhausted for that!

So we ended up back in Moabit - which is a beautiful area, and I wish we would have seen more of it! After freshening up and walking around, we settled for a small Indian restaurant, where Deb taught me how to eat biryani, rogan josh, and naan properly. More than tasty, the food was delicious! A hot one, at that! The next day our colds had nearly vanished - and then we were off to Marburg again.

Sculpture of Shiva, from Marburg's
Religious Collection

Although I enjoyed our time in Berlin, we had a ton of fun in Marburg. We visited Elizabeth's Church, dedicated to Elizabeth of Hungary who became a cult figure in the middle ages. The Marburg Castle was not nearly as interesting, as it has been modernized and turned in a museum for fairytales - with some folk galleries. They are working on the bottom of the castle, I think to show off a preserved version of the castle. Regardless, Deb and I both enjoyed observing the artwork, the religious icons and the armor and weaponry exhibits.

It was on our way to the castle that we stumbled upon the university's religious collections, which at the time were closed. So on Monday we returned, and ended up being the only ones interested in seeing the artifacts, taken or bought by Rudolf Otto. So we had a kind of private showing that encompassed nearly all mainstream religion - Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Shinto, Buddhism and so forth. Deb was able to contribute more to the Hindu and Buddhism descriptions - not all of which were authentic or correct on his account. And when we found an image from a Bollywood movie in the Islamic exhibit, we couldn't help but laugh!

Eventually, though, Deb did have to return to India. And although I missed him the moment he left - and I miss him now, my upcoming exams didn't give me much time to do anything but study!

Meine Lieblingsstädte in Deutschland

Lion's Castle in Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Kassel

I know, it's been a while! As you might have expected, life goes fast when you're abroad - especially when you're studying and traveling. There will be a few more of these posts before I leave Germany, since I have a lot to catch up on!

It's been a while, but in May I visited Kassel - a city one hour north of Marburg, and home to the Brother's Grimm. Yes, the Brother's Grimm stayed in Marburg, too, but only to study law. The Grimm Museum, conveniently in the house the Grimm brothers grew up in, has two parts - the storybook exhibit (at least for right now), and an exhibit about the Grimm family. It's a fun side trip - the best part was looking at the various versions of the Grimm fairytales, and how they were adapted for different languages and cultures. The other amusing thing - seeing old paintings of Marburg in the exhibition.

A view of Heidelberg and the Neckar River from the castle.

Although I love storytelling and fairytales, I enjoyed seeing the Bergpark the second time I visited Kassel. The Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, or "Mountain Park Wilhelmshöhe", is a vast slope of green-space, with numerous monuments - the most well-known being the Hercules monument. It takes more than a day to see them all (and I wasn't able to), although my personal favorites were the Lion's Castle and the Roman Aqueduct. 

Visiting this park will be one of my fondest memories in Germany for several reasons - going was inexpensive, there were no lines to wait in, the scenery was gorgeous, and overall, it was a nice, relaxed outing (even if climbing the Hercules monument was difficult).

It wasn't long until another trip was planned - this time, to Heidelberg. I had been to Heidelberg before in 2008, and I was eager to visit it again. I actually visited it twice - once with some friends, and once with my boyfriend (which deserves a whole blogpost on its own). 

Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg lies on the Neckar river, and the castle, seemingly carved into the side of a mountain has survived since the 1100s. Although it lies in semi-ruin, it has been an important figure in the history of the 30 years war and in the rise of nazism. On a lighter note - it contains the largest wine barrel in the world. And depending on your tour guide, you will either get intense narratives of the political role of the castle, or romantic shorts about Elector Palatine Frederick V and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart. Every tour guide, however, will mention the commodes above your head, or the "vomiting pit", used by guests so that they could be polite and stuff their face all evening at parties. 

These two places in Hessen are also my favorite overall in Germany - although I have a lot to say next time about Berlin!

Was soll man belegen?

Germany, where have you been all my academic life?

A month has already snuck by, but my schedule is only now solidifying. When I was signing up for classes, the advice I normally received was, "just show up and see if you like it". Then decide. So after a week and a half of that, I pretty much have my classes picked out, but even with an additional Russian course at the language center, the schedule looks pretty bare.

But this leaves time for other things - travel, exploration, tandem language partners, food shopping. Be aware, if you do decide to buy perishables, you better use them quickly - things spoil within a few days, and the lukewarm fridges are most likely the culprit. And that travel and exploration - planning takes up half of the time. Is it cheaper if I use this airport? How much does it cost to get to X. etc. Don't forget the bus rides to and from your train station.

Use it before you lose it.

If anything my organizing skills will have a boost by the time I get back to the states. But here's the lowdown on where to shop:

For food:

Aldi if you want the cheapest source. I spent 8 € there for 8-9 packages of vegetables and other non-perishables.

ReWe or Tegut will have whatever Aldi doesn't - but go to Tegut first. Both stores are higher end, but Tegut has more "in-between" options than ReWe. Both of these stores also carry paper goods and personal care items, among kitchen utensils and groceries.

For other things:

Kik or Woolsworth.

Don't buy that 8 € spatula at Tegut when you could buy it for 1€. Especially if you're only here for a short amount of time. They also have clothes, shoes, furnishings, etc. Woolsworth even has some snacks. And I'm pretty sure the cashier is sick of seeing me - I've been there almost everyday as I slowly collect cooking equipment.

Near the Kaufmarkt stop.

Dollar stores are amazing, no matter where you are. And going to these places saves money for more important things - travel. Luckily with the semester ticket, I can get to everywhere in Hessen for free. But that's why there's Flixbus and Ryanair - if it's not free, it can be cheap.

I still have only ideas of where to go next - but with a holiday next Thursday, I'll definitely be going somewhere.