Ugh so much going on in Berlin this weekend, here's a quick run down:

Christopher Street (Day?) pride parade, where all the cities gays and lesbians converge on Kudamm and have a dance party to end all dance parties ending up in Tiergarten

Bergmannstraßenfest: Very decent Jazz festival in Kreuzberg. Free acts all day plus they bring in semi-famous people (like some guy from ELO).

48 Stunden Neukölln: Finally something happening in my neighborhood! As soon as I finish reading this article and make lunch I'll head out to check the more artistic aspects of my neighborhood (I mean beyond people getting really drunk, smashing bottles and yelling Abbreche (Abortion) at 4 in the morning).

Plus later a bunch of people are going to explore an abandoned amusement park, Spreepark, in Treptower Park.


Monday I have to start writing and researching like a madman.

I don't like to think about this but...

in less than a month I will no longer be able to get döner whenever I want.
I will not be able to speak German with whomever I please
I won't be able to go wherever I want just by getting on a train and being patient
I will no longer be able to enjoy free Jazz on Wednesday nights (not that I do that regularly)
I will no longer be able to live in an apartment that is probably older than my parents.

I don't really want this to end, but I guess it has to sometime. America has a lot of stuff going for it to be sure, but I just really feel comfortable here. I'm getting to the point where I have enough confidence to talk about anything I want in German. I dunno, sometimes I don't feel like I took the full advantage of the German experience. I mean the rest of IES just got drunk a bunch which isn't really an authentic experience you know?


I think I'll miss Hilde the most, she's been the sweetest most understanding host I could have ever dreamed of.

On the other hand I really do miss my American friends and obviously my family.

IES is finally done with, not that that means that I'm done. Not by a long shot.


19 pages, plus research, left to do by July 14th. Also my Sprachkurs professor is apparently talkin jive behind my back. We're going to have a little talk about that on Thursday (don't worry Mom I'll keep it civil, or at least try to) and see if we can't stop that. I'm just really tired of that woman.

So it's been a while since a serious post, but it's been a while since a serious thing happened.



Things are (sadly) starting to wind down around here. Berlin is starting to pack itself up in preparation for my departure. It's just little things at this point you know, like that grocery store I never really go to and those winter beers it was time to throw out.


I've recently discovered a love of turkish tea, which pisses me off because of the missed opportunity.

I'll be making an attempt to go to Prague in the coming weeks, I have so much work to do though it might now happen (sad face).

One of my Grinnell professors is in town and we went for coffee today. It was really cool that Berlin and Grinnell can come together so nicely some times. He explained to me how to use the library at the Freie Universität Berlin, because Humboldt's is basically closed and I really need to start doing research.


The students are on strike this week, so I didn't go to class. Tomorrow there's supposed to be a huge demonstration, which I plan to attend and photograph. However I'm hoping it won't take too long because I have class at 2 (just kidding, that shit got cancelled) but I still have a lot of work to do.

not much else to report.

So remember how HT and I went to the Berlin Zoo?


Anyway the other day I found out Berlin has ANOTHER zoo of comparable size in the east called Tierpark Berlin. Next time I have a free afternoon I think I'll go check that out, bringing my camera with its superior zoom of course.