A Brief History

Well, that took longer than expected. But good news! I FINALLY have internet in my apartment. (At least, I do for a week. Then my free trial period expires and I have to figure out how to enter the prepaid code...yadda yadda yadda...I'll think about that tomorrow!) Two weeks is much too much to discuss in one post, but hopefully a few pictures will summarize what has been an exhausting, fast, wonderful first two weeks in Berlin.

I'm pretty sure my bed still looks like this, minus the suitcase. Ditto for my desk.

 Then I got to the airport and bid my family farewell. A travel tip: if you want to avoid those pesky x-ray scanners, look young and teary-eyed and slightly overwhelmed at the security checkpoint. They'll let you through without any problems!

 And then, of course, we got a wicked thunderstorm. Luckily, it cleared up before we hit the skies.

There's not much to say about the flight, except that I took Benedryll and bought a neck pillow and even listened to soothing music and still couldn't sleep. I partly blame the Polish man (? he sounded Eastern European) beside me who kept his light on the ENTIRE NIGHT and then asked me if I slept well. Bastard.

Also, my uncle was right: Charles de Gaulle is the most confusing airport in the world. The signs to my gate kept pointing me toward the baggage claim. I actually had to walk through the exit, completely jet-lagged at five in the morning, to get to my gate. I think I walked a mile. At least it was pretty, and French men are attractive.

And, apparently, a meditation area. The French do think of everything.

From there I had a two hour flight to Berlin-Tegel, the larger of two airports in Berlin. I slept the whole way, except when they woke me up with a croissant. I finally arrived, walked through customs...and didn't even have to show my passport. What the hell? This doesn't bode well for Germany's international safety if they can't even guard their borders. What's more, I wanted a passport stamp. Hmph. At least I get a visa.

At that point, I doubt if I had the presence of mind to call a taxi, let alone speak any German to the driver. Thank god my CIEE coordinator, Ben Lorch, met me and a few others and escorted us to our hotel. He's a great guy, and I'm sure you'll be hearing more about him here. The rest of the day was meeting the other CIEE students (there are 15 of us in total) and going over the rules and regs with Ben. Dinner in a very nice biergarten, which you'll also be hearing about later, and then I collapsed from exhaustion. Some people went out the first night, and all I can say is, they must be stronger people than I am, because I was dead.

The next day we gathered at FU-Best, our school's study center, for another basic info session and our transfers to our apartments or homestays. I moved myself into the flat that will be my home for the next four months, and I somehow found a grocery store and made myself a very basic dinner of tortellini in tomato sauce. The store was crap and the food was bad, but I was proud of myself--I went shopping in a foreign country! I successfully procured food! I felt like a caveman discovering fire. You're laughing at me right now. I can tell.

The next few days included getting to know the people I'm here with, filling out yet more paperwork at yet more information sessions, and some sightseeing. So, overall, a packed week, but not a particularly exciting one to write about. And then classes started the following week, so you can see why it's taken me so long to write anything here. Rest assured, I'm settled now, and I'll be posting more regularly. Right now, though, it's about time to find some lunch and do some reading for my next class: "Berlin: History, Memory, Literature."