Double Dose of Culture

Since it's been almost a week since my last post, my first comments today will be about time. I think time is finally starting to go a little faster now. When I first arrived there was just some much going on that after a few days I felt as if I'd done so much that I must have been here for weeks. Now I really have been here for weeks. It still feels as though every day is at least five--ever day at dinner I think back on what I did in class, and it's hard to believe it was only that morning! But I think soon enough I'll be thankful for what feels like extra time.

A few brief notes about this last week: Saturday I helped Marion cook an Indian chicken dish for lunch, and it was delicious. Saturday night my friends found a place to hang out where the furniture is nailed to the ceiling, which was pretty cool. I wish I had a picture but I'll take one next time. On Monday I spent an hour or two walking through a park near my house and then just along the streets, because it's such a beautiful neighborhood and the weather was gorgeous (as soon as my visitors left the rainclouds disappeared, of course). Then Tuesday I celebrated the weather some more by going for a run in the afternoon. It felt great to get out, and per my host dad's instruction I ran along a nearby canal, which had a great path and more nature than running through the streets.

I know I've already talked about some of our cultural excursions, but to explain a little more, every week during our language course we take one day off from class and have a [mandatory] field trip. I find it a wonderful break from the exhaustion that four hours of language class can bring. This week was a special week, because not only did we go to a museum on Wednesday but we also went to an opera tonight!

We visited the Gemäldegalerie yesterday, which is an art museum very close to Potsdamer Platz. I really enjoyed it, especially because we were led by someone who knew what they were talking about (a program professor for my group). After the art museum and lunch Emma and I went out to visit the East Side Galerie. The East Side Galerie is a section of the wall, 1.3 km long, that is still intact from DDR-days, with paintings (some haunting, some hopeful) all done by professional artists.

An example of one section

Emma and I in front of one of my favorite sections

The opera tonight was not quite as good as I hoped it would be. The singers were extremely talented and the orchestra sounded beautiful, but I didn't find the acting very emotional and it was just a little too modern for my taste. The scenery and lighting designs were making a lot of aesthetic and avant-garde statements and I realize that appeals to some people but it just wasn't quite my cup of tea. I definitely want to go back for a more traditional opera because the theater is impressive.

One last thing: don't forget, if you'd like to see more pictures, you can find the online album here! Bis später, tschüs!