Vo ist das Regenmantel?

I have been faked out. My first three days in Berlin were beautiful. The sun shone, the weather was perfect for short sleeves and jeans, no jacket was required, and birds sang merrily as people sat on their balconies and drank lattes. As of yesterday, though, the weather fairies decided that I was adjusting too well and that I needed some stark Berlin reality. And the rains came down.

Yesterday, Bethany and I decided to go into Berlin and be touristy. We saw the Brandenburg gate, the Potsdamer Platz, the Sony Center, the American Embassy (in case I might have a criminal moment), Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall, Hotel Adlon, and the Jewish Historical Museum. It sounds like a lot, but we decided that since we were now residents of the city we would visit these places a lot with visitors and needed to know only the basics so we could explore them with friends and family when they arrive. We met for fruhstuk (breakfast) and started out the door when we realized it was raining lightly and decided to run back into our rooms for rain gear. Thanks to Katie Booth, I only brought one cheap travel umbrella which was damaged in travel. (Amazingly the few picture frames were intact…) I grabbed the umbrella and met B in the elevator where she was ready with a nice umbrella and a rain coat. We decided that an additional mission for the day would be to shop for a raincoat so I could survive as a Berliner. We set off for what would be a fun day of navigating public transportation and sightseeing.

(In this picture I'm at the Hotel Adlon actin' like a Michael Jackson fool

using my umbrella-ella-ella as the "baby prop.")

After visiting the formerly mentioned sites and a few clothing stores we decided that we would not be joining Charlotta and Graham for an outdoor concert and that we needed to get a hold of C before she drove into Kleinmachnow to pick us up at the hotel, unfortunately B couldn’t remember her cell phone password (because you have to have a password for everything and generally are not allowed to pick it in Germany) so she needed to book it back to the hotel. I, however, due to wonderful CNN, knew that the forecast predicted rain through Tuesday and had yet to even see a raincoat. So, we parted ways and I decided to head to Schlossestrasse in Steglitz, the main shopping drag near my future apartment. Kerstin, my relocation agent, told me that I could find everything I would ever need here. I decided to test her theory. I went into more that 12 stores and found nothing. Sheesh. Finally, I saw a store which seemed more for middle-aged women, but decided to give it a try. I explored the top floor and found nada. Right as I was heading for the exit, I saw an escalator. Down the escalator I went and found—a whole section of men’s raincoats. Luckily, tucked away behind the menswear was a rack of women’s jackets. I found three which were presentable and took them along with me to the dressing room. The first was to big, the second was too small, but, just like The Three Bears, the third was just right. I took it to the counter and smiled as I purchased my first official item in Berlin (food and transportation do not count!) I was victorious. Now, if I can only find a hair straightener; this weather is doing a number on my smooth brunette locks.

This morning I received a call from Erica at 10:15 asking if I wanted to join her family at church. I was thrilled because I have been trying to find a good church to attend (and by good, I mean with a service in English.) I told her I would be there and asked what time we would leave. She said, “The bus comes in 20 minutes, so we need to leave in 15.” Holy. Moly. I have never been able to get out the door in 15 minutes- even for the gym. I told her I would try to make it, but if I wasn’t in the lobby, to leave me behind. Miraculously, I made it to the lobby speedily, but since I didn’t look at my watch when she called, I had no idea of how long it had been. I decided to wait in the lobby in the rare case that I beat her 15 minute time limit. I realized that I must have been late when 15 minutes later she had not arrived. So, I went back to my room, changed clothes for a day in the rain and decided to head into the city again. Public transportation was managed without a misstep from Kleinmachnow all the way to the Kaiser Wilhelm Church (about 35 minutes.) I think I even managed to appear to be a bit German with my iPod in my ears and my nonchalant attitude, but maybe the New Balances gave me away. There must be some European gene which allows people to walk all day in uncomfy-looking shoes and not get blisters. Oh well, I am American, and if I appear that way, oh well. There are many people who address me in German, though. Yesterday while being tourists Bethany was always approached with German or Spanish (she is from Texas and her father is Hispanic) and I was addressed in English or German. I’ll have to spend some serious time with Rosetta Stone in the near future in order to really get around and stop feeling like a fool. My current favorite phrase is “Meine Deutsch ist nicht so gut.” It probably is grammatically wrong, but seems to get the point across. Maybe the incorrect grammar makes my point all by itself.
Chillin' at the Kaiser Wilhelm church in my awesome new raincoat. It's Clima tex...

A full 24 hours since the last post

I feel so much better after having a bit of sleep. My body clock is off, but I'm no longer on Ohio time. Now, I'm just on funky, unusual, unhelpful body time. It doesn't help that the geese outside of my window began quacking at 5:15 am. Some might consider it charming... but at the time- I DID NOT!

I chose an apartment today. It is cute and small, but it has character and is furnished (even if the furnishings are fairly ugly in the living room. (wohnzimmer) I should sign a contract this weekend at some point for a 6 month lease. This means that friends and family are welcome to come and crash (on what will hopefully be my own IKEA couch if I can convince the owner to remove the offensive furnishings.) Of all of the apartments, it was the best price and I had to choose creature comforts or traveling, but the apartment will be suitable. Oh, the neighborhood is darling. I will be 150 meters from the bus stop, and a 10 minute walk to two different subway lines. There is a church across the street from me and a park on the other side of it... The park is complete with tennis courts, Hill!) I'll post pictures when I move in and get my things arranged.

Today, I also made eine freunden (a friend). She is also a BBIS teacher, but she is from Texas via Luxembourg. We have discovered common affinities for stories, enjoying complications, teaching, net sports and football. She has Embassy contacts (yay!), so we're hoping to make friends with some of the local Marines so we can watch football on their tv. Mmm. I can now relax at the possibility of continuing to cheer for the Buckeyes and the Browns! Also, we ate at a Greek place nearish (10 minute walk) the hotel. The menu was entirely in Greek and translated into German. Not helpful. I ate something that has fleisch, kase, and pomme frites. It seemed like a good idea at the time because I knew the words for meat, cheese, and french fries. Now I wonder what type of meat was used. I must have a beer and bratwurst tomorrow... It is crazy that I haven't yet enjoyed a proper German meal. I'll also find some tort. After dinner, I met two men from New Zealand in the elevator who are here for a conference. It was wonderful to speak in English.

Tomorrow is pretty much a free day for me since Kerstin will be busy picking up and showing around another new teacher. I'm thinking about taking a walking tour and seeing Berlin. Perhaps I'll even make it to The Wall. Mainly, I'm excited that I dont have to listen to Rick Astley any longer. I swear Kerstin and I have been in her car long enough to hear that cd six times on repeat. Honestly, how many times can one hear, "I wanna dance with somebody. I wanna eel the heat with somebody. Yeah..." I used to like the song, but now I think I'll vomit if I hear it again. Ever.

Thank all of you whom have emailed me. I'm trying to respond as quickly as possible while still delivering quality emails.

Hmm, since I'm currently sitting in the hotel lobby ignoring the leers from a group of German teenagers I might need to head up to my room. Body language has become so necessary for communication since I don't know a word of what they just said to me, and I didn't appreciate their.... well, attitude.

I think I'll head up to my room and catch some more Zs. Schuss!

Arrived in one piece...

NOTE: I wrote this on Microsoft Word last night. I haven't read over it because I'm still pooped. Read with discretion.

As I sit in my hotel room at the lovely and fabulous NH Hoteles in Kleinmachnow enjoying my first meal in Germany (a Subway 6 inch Club sub) I can tell you that this adventure was clearly not for the faint of heart or body! It has currently been 30 hours since I left my house in Ohio and 35 hours since I was last asleep, and I’m pooped! Let me give you the quick run down so I don’t collapse.

Brunch- Had a farewell brunch at First Watch with my family. Amanda showed up to see me off. I was totally shocked that Amanda and my parents managed to pull it off with very minor suspicion.

Airport- Managed to get all four of my bags on the plane for a mere $100. That was the bonus of the century! Hung out and visited with Dad, Mom, Jordan, and Amanda until Dad got worried that I might get delayed by security and miss my flight. I then said a quick good-bye to hold back tears. (It’s like ripping off a Band-aid. In my case a quick sting is better than the slow torture .)

Columbus to Chicago- Uneventful. Crying baby on the plane, but we were not even in the air for one hour.

Chicago to Dublin- At first I sat next to a chatty high school graduate who was meeting his girlfriend in Dublin. Then, we realized that both of the seats in front of us were empty and I bade him farewell to sit in front of me so I could catch some Z’s. I followed my normal plane sleep protocol, but couldn’t sleep. Crazy! I did, however, get to enjoy some Irish Alternative music via the plane radio station.

Dublin airport- Squeaked onto the plane right as they were closing the door due to super slow security and people who kept cutting in line.

Dublin-Berlin- Slept. Slept like a dead log on the ground until it was time to put the tray table up and prepare for landing. Then, I saw my first glance of my new city. It looked green and full of lakes. Poor picture to follow…

Berlin airport- I arrived in the airport expecting to be reunited with my luggage, but unfortunately all of the luggage came and went except for mine and a pair of Americans who were also moving to the city. We decided to simply sit there and wait for more baggage to arrive since there was no one at the missing luggage counter. I knew that with my three huge and one medium-sized pieces of luggage I would definitely need a cart. Unfortunately, I gave all of my American change (except for a lucky 2007 penny) to the Aer Lingus Unicef envelope. (That’s right, philanthropy even in the skies.) I also only had Euro bills and no coins to release a cart. Sheesh! That’s when I decided that I would move my stuff the old fashioned way- by hauling two suitcases ten feet and returning to the other two and hauling them twenty feet. It felt like a totally messed up game of leap frog. Two German security agents watched and chuckled openly at me, but finally the man came over and helped. I walked through the gate to see a whole bunch of signs, but none for me. I pulled my bags to a post and started to sit and wait when I woman holding a sign that said, “Welcome Ashley to BBIS.” I smiled and she kissed my cheeks. (Which I'm not a huge fan of...) Then, I passed on the two heaviest suitcases to her and we packed them in her car and got coffee to talk about the schedule.

Kerstin (pronounced Cay-ah-steen?) and I went on a ton of errands. We saw four apartments, went to the Rathaus, got passport photos taken, toured the school (where a jackhammer was being used in my sealed off future classroom) and went three times to another BBIS teacher’s apartment to met her. The apartments were a whole range of goodies from, “Absolutely no way,” to “Ooh, I think I could live here.” More on them later after I see three more tomorrow morning.

I hope this will be coherent when I read it tomorrow morning.

Up Up and Away!

Today is the day- I'm moving to not only a new city, a new country and a new continent. I've been waiting for a long time for this move, and feel sufficiently prepared. Why not feel prepared? I'm leaving regardless of preparation, so I might as well feel good about it. I'll be sure to updat more once I arrive. Airports are always full of drama, and drama makes for an entertaining blog...
Schuss!

Hooah! (I think that's what Adam told me to say...)

Yay! There is another happily-ever-after couple in the world. The Browne's wedding was lovely. Amanda was glowing (but not in the yucky horses sweat, men perspire kind of way.) Mom said she has never seen a bride as happy to simply be at her wedding. Adam was also lovely... ahem, I mean handsome. His uniform made him look brave and dashing. In fact, I had themes of "Will You Marry Me, Bill?" running through my head. Perhaps that is due to the inordinate amount of episodes of Designing Women I have enjoyed. Being a bridesmaid was a ton of fun. Jenny, Jamie, Em, and I had a blast wearing our sunglasses, watching YouTube, and playing with the Playskool kitchen set. Oh yes, and we got to witness one of the most important days in Adam and Amanda's lives. The only minor meltdown occurred when Amanda couldn't find her special-for-the-wedding-dress bra, and sent her mother home to get it. I was left to the task of dressing her once the aforementioned bra was located in the bottom of her garment bag. I still haven't seen the pictures, but I imagine that at that moment I was glowing, and not in that attractive-angel-halo kind of way.

Since then I my life has revolved around cleaning, packing and saying good-bye to friends and family. In fact, yesterday I got to hang out with Chris, Sara, Ellie, Ryan, and Katie. They are so cute and sweet. I really regret not being closer to them physically so that I could witness more of them growing up. Ellie is going to be in kindergarten--crazy! I also got to have lunch with Kristin and Margaret. They're both such good friends. Thankfully, MySpace will connect us just as much as we have been due to our diverse lives. Today was also pretty sad because I had to say good-bye to Jenny W. It was also sad because while we were enjoying our coffee and gossip my car (aka Mom's car) was towed. I suppose I should have read the itsy-bitsy red sticker on the meter, but instead I naively ignored it and happily inserted 20 dimes and trotted off to visit. On my hunt to find the car I met an extremely friendly valet, a taxi driver named Mohammad Muhammad, a customer with a mullet, a cashier with a fem-mullet (I think they're getting married next Valentine's Day) and a voice from above (parking lot loudspeaker) who refused to give back the $2 in change that I gave the meter. Come on now folks, I paid the $150 fine.towing.storage fee; couldn't you give me back my dimes?

A Darker Shade of Ivory

That's right. For the first time ever I am actually neither white as a ghost, red as a tomato, nor peeling like a snake. Last Tuesday, I encountered the wonders of the solar shower. No, not a meteor showerlike event where people sit out on blankets and watch the stars streak through the sky; a shower where I got in a shower stall inside of a closet inside of my video store and allowed myself to be covered in an aerosole-type beige dye. My stomach is somewhat leopard spotted. I suppose I should have rubbed it in. Also, when I look in a mirror my face looks dirty. I suppose I was just never meant to be a tan person. Expect zero pictures.

Hot Times in the City

So, I feel like I can't keep up with my own blog. Perhaps once I arrive in Berlin and get settled there I will have time to update more regularly. (Yes, mom, I know that I promised I would keep it up-to-date. And I will. Try.)

Whirlwind Update

Lakeside- Divine, haven, family time. I think some high points include swimming in Lake Erie (brrr!), watching Aunt Joy sing "Pharoah, Pharoah," playing cards with my cousins and Amanda, and the chameleon(sp) circus. You had to be there.
Bridal Showers- Cooked, ate, and told stories in a vain attempt to gain the acceptance of Adam's family. Also watched Amanda open presents and held on to the bows so she can have a fake bouquet to throw at the wedding. I think her mom was trying to sabotage me by decorating gifts with bows big enough to engulf Maggie. Fun was had by all.

Wicked- Wonderful. I call it "Wonderful." Saw the musical in Columbus with Mom, Dad, Jordan, Aunt Joni, Uncle Jon, Julia, Nattie Boo, Katy, and Amanda. Bought my new favorite sweatshirt and cried at least three times during the show. Sigh.

Amanda's bachelorette party- Began the evening by primping in her apartment. One aspect of college I really miss is primping with my friends before the parties, so I was glad we were able to reinact those moments. You don't really know your friends until you are all brushing your teeth and trying to spit in the sink in the same 30 second span. We then went to Paparazzi. I wasn't totally in favor of hitting Paparazzi b/c I had been there the previous night with Ben, Seth, and Brooke and we deemed it below our low low standards. (We like Cadillac Ranch, after all.) Basically, I was creeped out by the videocameras and flashing lights... BUT- for the bachelorette party it was fun. Yay Amanda and Adam!

Lee's Shoes- Dad is begin so nice to me about working this summer except for this week. Sheryl is on vacation, so he needs me to work all week. Helping people try on shoes just reminds me of how lucky I am to have a profession I adore. I hope everyone is as lucky as I am about finding a job they love.

Amanda's wedding is the 14th and I move the 24th. This is creating a long list of chores for me to accomplish, so I suppose I better go get busy. Out.