Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Greetings from Berlin!

Hi everyone,

I am keeping this blog as a sort of a diary to myself and a way for me to communicate my experiences here. I have made a resolution with myself to document each and every one of my experiences here, for future reflection. *cross fingers* on keeping that resolution.

So I left Dallas on Sunday, Jan. 4th for Frankfurt by Lufthansa airlines. I really enjoyed my flight because of the food and the very handsome service. The very tall, blonde, and beautiful steward that kept offering me tea and alcohol made my trip quite pleasant. I also sat next to a very pretty Israeli girl whose name means happy in Hebrew. I don't quite remember it though. When we got to Frankfurt, our plane was directed to a secondary terminal, and we had to take a bus to the main terminal. I would have thought it a hassle for sure if not for the snow. Snow, snow, everywhere! I had never seen so much snow before in my whole life. I loved getting snow in my hair and having to shake it out when I got inside. Anyway, my new Israeli friend was late for a flight, and I offered to go with her to make sure she found her gate okay. Wrong move. Frankfurt International Airport is an absolute hell. It is so spread out, and there are passport and security checkpoints at random parts in the airport as one moves from one terminal to another. With an empty stomach and a full bladder, I ran with her to her gate, which ended up being one of the very last gates in the entire place. So much pain!!!

After bidding her farewell, I moseyed back to my gate and took my time looking around. I exchanged some USD for some euros and was totally raped by the horrific exchange rate and added fee. Of course, right after I exchanged some money at the bank, I found a Deutsche Bank ATM. UGH. I felt royally pissed after being gypped, but all my anger was soon cleared away when I found a restroom! I love how green Germans are. I loved the little contraptions they have for wiping hands-- using fabric instead of tissue. I got to my gate and tried to look inconspicuous, but then the gate was changed. But it was fortunate! I ended up standing around and looking for the other Stanford students I was supposed to meet up with. It was so awkward trying to make contact with people and communicating that I am a Stanford student without being weird. I ended up finding Margot, and as soon as we started speaking English in a very boisterous and annoying American way, I'm sure, other Stanford students noticed. That was when I met Tim and Arty. Our flight from Frankfurt to Berlin was delayed by about an hour, but I had fun playing Puzzle Fighter and reading about Rome, so time passed pretty quickly. On the plane, I awkwardly made eye contact with another stranger, who ended up being Amie!

We all had a lot of fun roaming around Tegel airport trying to find Mechelle who came in a bit before us (no luck) and finding a van taxi big enough to take all of us to the Stanford Center. OMG the Stanford Center is so nice. It is located in Dahlem, one of the nicest parts of Berlin with huge houses. So the Stanford Center is at Pacelliallee 18-20, right across the street from the house that one of the popes stayed at when he was counseling the 3rd Reich or something like that. I love it, the buildling is beautiful. If I become affluent enough, I definitely want to buy a house in Berlin. German architecture is so different from American architecture. I'm sure the snow makes it look prettier, but the houses look like buildings from story books--quaint, rustic, old yet modern, and always in good taste. Anyway, no more gushing. Wow, writing this at 2in the morning is really hard on my brain. I will stop here and continue another day. I do have 2 classes tomorrow.

Good night!



Pic of Stanford students at airport. Yay for luggage carousels being right outside the gate ramp.

Stanford Center. Pic from across the street

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