So the Karnival der Kulturen was a bust. The music was bad, the food was overpriced and the one nigerian beer that I tried wasn't too great.

However there was an international beer booth advertising a selection of 131 beers, one of which was the ever popular Lone Star.


I'm kind of proud that of about 4 american beers there (budweiser, Mississippi Mud, and something else) they chose one brewed and available pretty exclusively only in Texas.

But I'm kind of pissed that they chose Lone Star.


Not much else going on here. Hilde's friends are visiting her so she fed me yesterday. It was nice to speak german for a couple of hours and eat free food. We're getting a summer student on Wednesday. That'll be weird though it'll be nice to live with another dude.

Ok so Bristol was very pretty but it rained all the time and the wind was ridiculous, especially around the Glastonbury Tor, which isn't a proper tor at all, but a hill with a tower. Silly Gaelic languages having words similar to German.

Also because HT and I had an argument about it (I don't remember why, we were both pretty cranky on Sunday) I didn't have fish and chips together, but I had chips. We went to this wonderful little pub in Bristol and the guy working there was really really nice. I forgot living in Berlin how sometimes the people serving you can actually be nice.

On Tuesday Linda, Nathan's girlfriend, came to visit with her friend. I asked them what they wanted to see and Linda said that she absolutely couldn't leave Berlin without seeing the new Jewish Museum that everyone has been talking about. So after a few phone calls to determine the location (I'm such a badass, I got people looking shit stuff up for me) we made our way over there despite freak rainstorms and the entirety of the U1 not running. I highly recommend visiting, you'd be surprised by how little you know about Jewish life in Europe, and at only 5 euor it's a bargain that is hard to beat. It's also kind of a refreshing to visit a place that isn't so preoccupied with Jewish death, which unfortunately pervades the city of Berlin like few others.

Afterwards I dropped off my bread at home and played tourguide for a while, it was fun. It's nice to know the history of a place like Berlin, mostly because there is so much of it.

Not much else ist passiert. I have to work on what was supposed to be a group project this weekend and will probably not make it out to the Karneval des Kulturs this weekend. It's a sad day. I'm going to email the professor tomorrow (or later tonight) and complain that in the entirety of my academic career I have never seen a professor condone two people ditching out on group work for any reason. We shall see how that turns out.

60 years part zwei

So after the dinner I made for myself, which we will never speak of again, I headed back over to the Brandenburger Tor to see how the festival had progressed. When I arrived I noticed that the number of people had increased rather dramatically. So much so that walking a distance of 20 feet took about 20 minutes. I really had to pee too, so it felt even longer. Afterward I went over to the south stage and saw Udo Jürgens perform. He's huge in Germany, like fans numbering in the millions and here he is performing for free. Pretty crazy.


Next up was Otto Waalkes, who is said to be the biggest comedian in Germany. Apparently being a comedian in Germany means you sing with a full band. They opened with the star trek theme. The rest of his set included such hits as:
A German version of We Didn't Start the Fire
Born to be Wild
We Are the Champions again in german
Highway to Hell (in german)

and many more that were apparently huge hits in Germany.

After his peformance the host asked Otto if he considered himself to be more like Mick Jagger or the White Obama (?) to which Otto enthusiastically replied, "Mick Jagger Mick Jagger!" He then launched into a really terrible (awesome) version of I Can't Get No (Satisfaction). All in all the performance was just bizaare and really words don't do it justice.

Next up was 17 hippies. They were an acoustic group that did Eastern European folk songs. Musically they were the best of what I'd seen so far, which of course meant that they had no kitsch value at all. They were fun though, unfortunately they were not allowed an encore, as the BossHoss were clearly more important.


The BossHoss, for those of you who don't know, are a group of Berliners who decided that Berlin didn't have enough country punk so they decided to fix that. The whole thing is rather hysterical to watch, mostly because they sell it really well. Though they're all Berlin natives, yet they adress the audience in exagerated country accents in English. They all wear cowboy hats and dance around lewdly to the enjoyment of pretty much everyone. On the surface level at least, their music is completely brainless and mostly a poor imitation of American country music. However that's sort of the point I guess. They did a country western version of Hey Ya by Outcast and a cover of Ça plane pour moi that was pretty exciting and very unexpected. Again words don't really do it justice, and unfortunately I was too far away and it was too dark to really get a lot of good pictures. I'll post what I have though.

That was the BRD's 60th birthday, it was incredibly peaceful and surprisingly easy to leave. Germans are just efficient about filing out I guess.


Bristol to come soon I promise

So as I mentioned earlier, yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the formation of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. For those of you unfamiliar with German history beyond the knowledge that Germany was divided in two for many years, the western half of the country was called the Bundesrepublik Deutschland (BRD) and the eastern half was called the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR). May 23rd marks the anniversary of the formation of the current German constitution, however not necessarily the current German state (the east is still part of the country, or it is now anyway).

For how large the celebration is, it's easy to forget for that about half the country, and even the city of Berlin, it is not the 60th anniversary, and isn't necessarily something they like to celebrate. Walking around it was amazing and rather touching to see as many German flags as I saw. The celebration itself was genuine, and when Otto Waalkes jokingly performed "We are the Champions" in German it was kind of a reminder of how far Germany has come these past 60 years. From being antagonized both without and within to being able to finally talk openly about national pride. No, the celebration isn't necessarily representative of all of Germany's history, but it's still exciting all the same. I was privileged to have been there and I am sure that the events of yesterday will stay with me for a very long time.


I initially arrived at the festival at around 12:30 or so. There wasn't much going on, Brandburger Tor was dressed up and there were people walking around everywhere. There was a giant collage in front of the French Embassy with images of the past 60 years and words like "Demokratie" and "Einheit" displayed everywhere. I noticed on the big screen that there was an interview being conducted somewhere. I made my way to the other side of the Tor and found that both sides of the Tor had stages constructed around them. I watched the interview for a little bit. I took some pictures because I figured they were famous people. I heard the name Alice Schwarzer and my first reaction was, hey I read an interview she conducted just the other day. Then I noticed that the man accompanying her on stage had a very strong Russian accent. I shrugged it off and walked away when it suddenly hit me, that's Wladimir Kaminer isn't it! I ran back and snapped a couple of pictures before he walked off stage with the announcement that it was in fact him. For those of you who don't know, Wladimir Kaminer is a Russian born German writer who wrote one of my favorite books, Russendisko. Suffice it to say it was pretty cool to see him onstage.

I walked up and down Straße des 17. Juni and what I saw was pretty standard fare stuff. Overpriced food and beer (it all looked good but I promised myself I wouldn't spend any money) lined the streets, as well as numerous political booths and games for children. I made it all the way down to the Siegessäule where I watched a few minutes of some bad German pop music. I made my way back up to the tor when I thought, hey something must be happening at the Reichstag. I ran over, leaving behind a pretty standard swing band and a bunch of frustratingly non dancing Berliners, to find a huge crowd of people gathered on the front lawn. They were all staring intently at a giant screen, which was on a closed circuit to the Reichstag chamber. They were all awaiting the results of the Presidential election. After about half an hour or so of mindless gibbering (American and German television are pretty similar) they announced a winner, Horst Köhler. It was pretty exciting to be standing directly in front of the Reichstag while they elected a new president, even though it is only a (mostly) symbollic position. What was most amazing to me was how little security there was at the event, given how many important people were in one place. But oh well.

At this point I went home to make dinner, resolving to come back later. I did, but I'll make that another post to follow momentarily.

So the BRD's birthday was a hell of an experience. I'm going to update on it tomorrow, so that the enormity of the event can sink in. Suffice it to say that it won't be something I will forget anytime soon. I was at the Reichstag for the election of a new Bundespräsident, largely a symbolic position but still very exciting, and I saw many of Germany's biggest pop stars for free. It is an event that needs careful consideration and I think it best if I sleep on it for a night.

So yesterday I was at an Imbiss getting some Pommes when some woman walks up to the side window. What followed was an inaudible conversation between her and the proprietor which ended in the following exchange, translated for your benefit:

P: I don't SELL cigarettes!
W: Not officially!


He then goes into the back, pulls out a single cigarette from his jacket, hands it to the woman and in exchange receives about ,20 euro cents which he promptly puts in his pocket and not in the register.



I just want to say right now that I love my neighborhood.



Also tomorrow is Germany's (well the BRD's) 60th birthday. I intend to be there with a camera and a keen eye for detail, mostly because I would rather not be doing my homework.


Also I'll update about Bristol soon. Right now I have the hiccups and the whole thing just doesn't seem to immediate right now.

This has nothing really to do with Berlin but for the love of god go see Star Trek, you will not regret it.

Is it weird that despite my professed hatred of it, all I really want right now is to crack open a Lone Star and talk about Star Wars?


I mean not the Star Wars part, obviously.



Yesterday was Tag des Sieges, which is a big deal in the eastern part of Berlin and among the Russian population. Not so much for everyone else though, probably for good reason.

There was a small festival in Treptower Park which was rather uninspired, except for the bolshevist brass band (not there real name but I don't remember it right now) performing such hits as Berlin by Ideal, Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones and at least the first part of Dschingis Kahn's smash hit about Moscow.

It was pretty good times I suppose. Some guy tried to get me to sign a position and I said, "Nein!"

To which he replied, sullenly, "Warum nein?"

As promised here are my adventures in København:

After a particularly arduous and boring Sprachkurs, Kelsey and I immediately departed for Berlin Hauptbahnhof making two stops to pick up her luggage (which included our tickets) and döner because it was Dönerstag. From there we made our way to Berlin Hauptbahnhof and waited for 2 hours because both of us are very paranoid about not being on time for things (it's actually quite refreshing to finally meet someone who has no problems showing up an hour or two early for something just to make absolutey sure you're never late). From there it was a two hour train ride to Hamburg where we forced a man out of seats that we didn't actually reserve (sorry dude, I don't even know if you can understand this or are reading it). ICE trains are really nice, comfortable and fast. Highly recommend travelling by them.


Anyway Hamburg Hbf isn't nearly as large or impressive as Berlin but I guess there's really no reason for it to be. The only highlights were a crazy old man collecting bottles and a beer can shoved in the ceiling that had clearly been there for a while (like decades). I took some pictures thinking eh I have an 8 gig card why not.

The most exciting thing about the train up to København, other than the prospect of having to battle with a large turkish family for our seats, was the fact that the whole fucking train ended up on a ferry across the Ostsea. Kelsey and I were understandably excited about this. I mean how often do trains get ferried, or how often is it necessary to ferry them even. In any case that alone may have been worth the money.

We arrived in København around 10 that night. Will had a bitching hat and only 30 kroner to his name. Naturally he bought a beer (dude and I have so much in common, I have on several occasions spent my last couple of euro on beer) and we were off.

Will lives in Hellerød which isn't quite København proper, rather a suburb that is disturbingly much like an american one. The whole trip took about 45 minutes by train plus another 10 minute ride by bus. Danish trains are strange in that they are clean and have enough seats to accomodate most people. They also have "silence zones" which aren't very well marked and are a really confusing concept to most people (even other Europeans). For whatever reason, it's a 500 kroner fee to put your feet up on the seats but you can drink beer on them. I don't quite get it but whatever.

After arriving at the Højskole where Will lives (it's basically like a college with no grades where yo also live) we pretty much shot the breeze. I let Will in on some Grinnell gossip I been catching and we split some raspberry shnapps that I smuggled across the border. Kelsey probably talked a bunch too, though most of it didn't really apply to her. She didn't like the schnapps and kept insulting me and it at every opportunity.

After waking up the next day at around 10:30? Kelsey used Will's shower, which ordinarly wouldn't be a big deal except that Will's shower is basically a drain in his bathroom and afterwards you have to squeegee the floor. It's pretty hilarious as well as making showering fun and exciting. I didn't bring anything to shower with but whatever.

Friday we mostly just chilled around Hillerød, looking for cheap food and a place to exchange money. Will showed us this castle he's never bothered to tour but which we all agreed was at least gorgeous from the outside. Danish schwarma is good, but not as good as döner. Nothing really is though.

Afterwards we found this really cool forest to wander around in and get pollen up our noses. Will and I continued to share Grinnell stories much to Kelsey's amusement. (because my parents read this we won't go into what those stories are) Afterward Will showed us a traditional Danish grocery store because he was completely out of food. I marvelled at how expensive everything was and bought a cheap brand of coke to use as a mixer. Will bought what I guess is the danish equivalent of a 30 rack (it's only like 20 or so beers) and we partied. Dinner was a muted affair because all the Danes were out at some huge May Day party that we didn't go to because Will had no money and no real desire to be stuck in København till the next day (getting in and out of the CPH is a big pain we would find). Afterwards Will and I mostly drank and laughed and watched stuff on big screens. Kelsey didn't seem to have a problem with this, which was good.

Saturday was the big day, the day we would finally go to København proper and see all the sights, and then return to a huge højskole party to end all parties.


Eh.


København is beautiful to be sure, and Kelsey and I were really impressed by the architecture, but there just ain't much to do there. Getting around is really easy though, because everyone speaks English which is helpful. Will later explained that yeah, København is pretty much a one day city. That was fine with me because it meant that Kelsey and I had seen everything and weren't bad tourists.

On the trainride back to Hillerød we ran into a real live Larper, but Will said I couldn't stare because it's really rude to stare in Dänemark. Oh well.

Dinner at the Højskole was interesting, because we had to sit at a big long table. They had lamb and everything. It was all good, though there wasn't nearly enough to satisfy. At this point Will and I had been filling our stomachs with beer though, so it wasn't too bad I guess.

After that the party happened, again because my parents read this I won't go into too much detail. Suffice it to say that the Danes really love them some James Brown and Teknotronic or whatever it was called. Also I think I heard Poker Face, but that's everywhere in Europe. The party actually wasn't all that great but whatever.


The morning after Will suggested I drink a lot of water and eat a McDonald's cheesburger or two. It was good advice.


So that was København.


My next adventure is coming up next week, when I go to Bristol to see HT and visit a place where they pretty much only speak english. It's kind of lame actually but I'm still going to have a good time.

No matter how bad I'm feeling about my german, I can always spend about 30 minutes just talking to my host and she's so sweet about correcting me that I don't even notice.

It's astounding how far I've come considering I hear and speak about as much English as I do German, but never English to German people!


Chili tomorrow, sehr begeistert.



Also Køpenhavn soon I promise! I already posted the pictures, so now I have to narrate

There is a beer here called Desperados that is flavored with tequila.



It is most definitely the worst beer there is.




Køpenhavn updates to follow after I finish this book/paper I might have to write?