No, Jason. I haven't blogged lately.

Hi everyone. I'm alive. I'm married, employed and with a cat named Liesl. Life is good. Merry Christmas!

New Years resolutions are coming up soon. Time to begin making my short list.
<3

Musical Mania

Last April was so busy and a small part of the business stemmed from Musical Mania, a fun-filled eight day experience, where staff and students of BBIS prepare a serious quantity of musical pieces.

I love Mania. The singing, dancing, acting and teamwork of it all is amazing to consider. Each year I get to know the participants in new ways. These pictures are the highlights of the experience.

Marshmallow Peep Frog intimidates Alyssa.

Alyssa intimidates me during my nap break. Scary!

No pictures during my beautification, please.

We're too darn hot!

Dancing Queens

Vogue

The BBIS staff Musical Mania participants

Berlin after the holiday

After returning to Berlin from our holiday, I was tired, yet gleeful. We had so much to do, between sorting out wedding things like choosing invitations, getting engagement pictures, and spending time with one another. These were some of my favorite days of his trip because they were more like normal life. We had brunch, went to H&M (where Jason bought new pants and the shirt I suggested!), went to the top of the Reichstag, talked and went for walks. Here are some images of those last days of his trip.

Jason and the hat he tried on three times.

The happy couple in the Reichstag mirrors.

Jason had some interesting maneuvers to get the best "transparency in government" picture.

Just getting to be together. <3

I was desolate after he left. In fact, I wallowed by napping, eating the bulk of my Easter basket, and crying. Then I went for dessert with Alyssa and her parents. (Linus had his blanket. I have chocolate. Back off.)

Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich (From Jason)

Hey Y’all (Amanda and Katie, that’s for you). Upon Ashley’s request, I have undertaken the task of documenting our trip through the Alps and Bavaria for the blogosphere. I’m sure that I’ll be supplemented with Ashley’s comments and additions, but I’ll try to hit some of the highlights.

First, my new fiancé and I boarded a plane headed for Austria. Vienna, initially. This was a city that I was particularly excited to be visiting because; 1) of all the places Ashley has visited, Vienna, Austria wasn’t one of them, and 2) as a bit of a music geek (just a bit...), I had a strong interest in the Austrian capital. Added bonus: as a heavy tourism city, just about everyone spoke English, which meant that Ashley didn’t have to translate ALL of the menus for me! (Thanks for that though, sweetie!) We knew that we had to hurry somewhat, because we were only staying there for a night, so once we found the hotel, we headed right out into the city. Exiting the subway in the heart of the city, we headed immediately into the facade of St. Stephens Cathedral (Yes, before you ask, Mozart played there...) After gawking at the architecture and remaining artwork for a while, we walked on to the Vienna State Operahouse, the “Haus der musik,” and finally the Imperial Apartments. As I was taking a few pictures of the palace, Ashley sits in the grass and says: “Yeah, go ahead and take some pictures. I’ll just be sitting here in the grass. Surrounded by my palace... Blame my dad for me being a princess.” A nice (unintentional) romantic walk through Vienna (ok, really we got on the wrong bus...) concluded our night there. The next day we had a bit more walking time, and before getting on the train, visited a nice Australian grill for lunch. Next up: Salzburg.

Salzburg is picturesque Alps, plain and simple. This may be old hat for some of you world-travelers, but for someone who rarely leaves Ohio, the beauty of Salzburg really struck me as amazing. There was only one thing that was on our “schedule” for Salzburg, and so soon after arriving, we reserved our places on the “Sound of Music” tour. After viewing the sights from Ashley’s favorite movie, we took off once again to see what we could find. I can’t say that it didn’t please me to find site after site of either original or recreated Mozart buildings and artifacts. That evening, we decided to climb was seemed like a mountain (I’m not much of a walker...) to eat dinner at the Augustiner Monk beer hall. These were probably the best sausages we found, and add that to the one litre beers, and all was good at dinner-time that evening. Not in as much of a hurry in Salzburg staying for two nights, we just took it a little easier the whole time and enjoyed each others’ company. The next morning, I realized that we actually hadn’t climbed a mountain the night before... because we were going to this time, up towards the fortress at the top. The next day, we left to go back to Germany, but before heading back to Berlin, we had a two night engagement with the city of Munich.

Our first full day in Munich we left for just outside the city to the town of Dachau to walk through the infamous concentration camp. While I’m fascinated by WWII history, walking the grounds of a concentration camp are both eerie and humbling. For anyone needing a reality check, I recommend visiting a camp such as this one because it really helps one realize how good life is. Needing a bit of a upper activity following the camp, we headed to the center of Munich to the “New Town Hall” (you know, the one with the glockenspiel.) Being the day before Easter, the area was packed with people, which in turn brought out rally-goers and protesters of all sorts. The most interesting came late in the day when it seemed as though every Polizei in Munich was at the train station... not long later, we saw the National Socialist Party protesters headed directly for us. Needless to say, we walked quite a bit quicker back to the hotel to get out of the way of whatever was going to happen. After having a good experience with the “New Europe” tour of Berlin, we decided to take the same tour of Munich. Our guide (Jared, I think? (Ashley's note: Yeppers!)) was very knowledgeable and the tour was half history of Munich and half history of Munich’s role in the war. It was a good mix in my opinion. We had two separate trips to the “Hofbrauhaus” where Ashley had her “scrambled pancakes,” and insisted on getting her picture taken with a stranger... because he was wearing lederhosen. Easter Sunday got started on a rough note as we had to find an open Apotheke for a jaw issue that had one side of my face swollen, but Ashley’s maternal instincts kicked in and we got the thing taken care of. (Side note: never try to find an open doctor’s office in Germany on Easter Sunday... NOT easy!) Before we left to head back to Berlin, we took a walk through a park to eat some lunch. The most irony we found throughout the entire trip was at this point as we watched a GERMAN ‘Oom-Pah’ band playing ‘Don’t Cry for Me ARGENTINA’ inside a CHINESE Pagoda in the ENGLISH garden. Crazy, no? After this lunch, we started back towards the airport to get back to Ashley’s apartment in Berlin.

If you’re ever given the opportunity to see these parts of the world (for those of you who haven’t yet...) I certainly recommend doing so. If you choose to do it as we did, prepare yourself to be completely exhausted before all is said and done. It was well worth it though.

Back to you Sweetheart...

The engagement...

So, remember back in February when I told you all that big things were happening in my life? Then, I tried to play off the big things as my trip to London and AGIS? (Lame, I know.) Well, actually the big thing was that on Feb. 1st, Jason went to my parents and asked for their blessing. It was an especially super Superbowl Sunday.

Since then we've been planning, organizing, dreaming and decision-making about the wedding non-stop and even though I'm far from home (where the wedding will take place) I'm enjoying the process. (More on this at a later date. I know what you want... the big knee-dirty story!

When Jason arrived, I knew he would propose at some point during the trip. We had limited opportunities and had an appointment for engagement pictures scheduled for the Monday before he left. I predicted he wouldn't pop the question the day he arrived or the day afterward (too soon), but would before we left for our travels (so we could call people and tell them the good, yet already established news). Well, on Friday I opened my big mouth and said, "I bet you'll propose on the day you shave." At the time, I didn't know that he was planning to shave on Saturday and propose that day, but in his mind there was no connection between the two acts. Well, no connection until I pointed it out. As many of you know one of my childhood nicknames was Bossy Brooke. This personality quirk has remained with me and Jason is careful to not let me get away with bossing him around... so he decided to hold the proposal back a day

Saturday rolls around and J and I spend the day being touristy (while I anticipate the proposal). We had a great day, but when it ended... no ring.

On Sunday I woke up and thought, "Today is it! I'm going to bring him to all of the romantic places in Berlin. Are there romantic places in Berlin?" After some shower brainstorming I came up with a game plan. I was going to help set the stage for a beautiful moment.

First, we went to brunch at my second favorite brunch place. It is cozy, has a tasty buffet, and is intimate. What could be sweeter? My coffee even included a hint...

After brunch, we went to the Pergammon Museum. In this museum they reassembled an entire Greek temple. Just entering the main hall full of that ancient marble makes me swoon. The stories of Zeus and Athena, Hercules and the gang are so dramatic, just as we are. As we entered we were given headsets... not so romantic.

When we left the Pergammon, we decided to go to the Berliner Dom, a beautiful church and climb to the top for breath-taking views of Berlin. It was warm, we were (are) in love, the moment was right... although there were several loud Texan tourists asking (loudly) about the sights...

After the Berliner Dom crypt (no, thanks), I thought we might sit in the grassy at the Lustgarten, but Jason wanted a wurst in the worst way. (I couldn't help myself.) I live to please, so...

It was nearly 3:45 and I was a bit exasperated at this point. Berlin is not a very romantic city. Historical? Yes. Fascinating? Yes. Multi-cultural? Yes. Romantic? No. Finding places which say, "Love me do," is not as simple as I'm making it appear on the blog. So, I asked Jason if he had something to do next in mind. He mentioned a walking tour my friend Katy had told us about, so we strolled down Unter den Linden to meet the group. When we got to the meeting spot at the Brandenburg Gate we discovered that the 4 pm tour was a myth. So, we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

As I mentioned, Berlin is not so romantic and this place could be on Letterman's Top Ten least romantic places in the world next to the Congo and the denk midget hole under the stairs at BHS. After pondering the meaning of the memorial, we decided to explore the museum under the monument. At this point the Indian food we'd had on Friday was upsetting me and I was in a serious search for a restroom. It was a good thing I was distracted because... the museum under the memorial had a metal detector. I went through the detector first and the clerk told Jason to empty his pockets. Little did I know, the ring was in his pocket. Jason had been carrying it all day, waiting for the perfect moment to pop the question. Later, he told me that he tried to conceal the ring under a chapstick. Very cool. :)

After touring the museum we took a walk through the Tiergarten, a beautiful, sprawling park near the main sites of Berlin. As we strolled hand-in-hand we chatted about nothing and everything. The day was sunny, we were grateful to be alive, and happy-in-love. Perfect, right? Then, Jason saw a golden domed statue in the distance and we decided to walk toward it. As we approached, we saw... Mozart and two of his cronies. Jason has a serious devotion to Wolfie and my heart started to pound. Did he look up this statue? Did he bring me here for a reason? Does he want to get his knee dirty in front of Amadeus? I just kept thinking, "not here not here not here not here not here." Jay must have heard my thoughts because after a series of photos we kept walking. It was near 6 pm at this point and we had dinner plans with Katy and her family, so we decided to go back to my apartment for a break and to clean-up.

We returned to my apartment where I checked my email to see a message from my Aunt Mary Ellen asking if Jason had proposed yet and asking what the ring looked like. I thought about pulling out my hair, but instead I announced that I was going to take a nap. Jason perched on the edge of my bed as I got under the covers and started to check his email. We were chatting and then he started to tease me. I announced that I was sleeping and pulled the covers over my head. Then he said, "Pull the covers down." I grumped, "no!" After repeating the previous phrase, he slowly pulled down the cover and I saw a sparkling diamond hanging over my head. I grinned and sat up as he held my hands. Then, J launched into a story about through the day he was looking and waiting for the perfect moment. Unfortunately, Berlin isn't our place and the only perfect place could be at my apartment because it is where "we" spend our time (online and on the phone albeit). He then spoke lovely, beautiful words to me (which I plan on keeping private) and finally got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said, "Yeah!"

Here we are on the subway heading out to dinner as an engaged couple. Notice the well-placed hand!

Jason's visit- Sunday

We got engaged!

Oh, you want the whole story? All in good time (provided that good time will follow Musical Mania). Until then, here are some engagement pictures.

If you see him, tell him I miss him.

Jason's visit- Saturday

On Saturday, Jason and I had a wandering kind of day.

After a leisurely breakfast (eggs and crepes) Jason and I went to meet Alyssa's boyfriend, the Winterfeldplatz Market and then dropped by Alyssa and Rachel's flat for a visit. Next we had lunch at an amazing Italian place and then spent some time at the Story of Berlin Museum and bomb shelter. After that, we went to the Kaiser Wilhelm church and for a ride on the Bus 200 (a public bus which passes most of the sites of Berlin). In the evening, we stopped by KaDeWe for a window shopping excursion and had dinner with Rachel and Alyssa at the Irish Pub.

Jason's visit-Friday

Friday-Jason was a trooper on his first day in Berlin. Since it was the last day on school before Spring Break, I had to go to school and he wanted to go with me. (Or was willing to go when I asked... After months apart, I wasn't too willing to let him out of my sight.) He played games with my students, sang during assembly, and met the many important people in my Berlin-life. After the school day, we took a walk and then headed to Oranienburger Str. for dinner. (We were pretty exhausted!)

Jason is a pretty simple eater, but I had plans to show him my life so I took him to an Indian place for dinner. It was a beautiful evening and since these are rare in Berlin, I wanted to sit outside. The front of house told us to wait inside for two minutes. About 3 minutes later, 2 women joined us in the waiting space. Nest the front of house came to seat us at a table they set-up for us. After we were seated abotu 4 men who worked at the restaurant started bickering and motioning to us. One man, then, motioned for us to leave the table and stand somewhere else as he tried to seat the other two women where we were. I got grumpy about the customer service and tried to encourage Jason to go somewhere else. While this was going on, another waiter moved the ladies and sat us back at our table. Harumph. The beer was tasty and Jason made a brave attempt with his butter chicken, but I have to admit that my chicken korma was tastier.

Jason and his first Indian meal.

Jason's Visit- Arrival

Two weeks ago Jason and I were sitting at the Sony Center at Corroboree enjoying a romantic dinner together, well as romantic as a man who has just traveled for 20 hours with two plane changes can be. Now, he is one hour from landing in Washington after what has been two of the most wonderful weeks of my life. In an attempt to make it to the 3 hour mark without crying, I'm going to blog best as I can. Don't worry, though, Jason promised to email an entry to me and I'll post it too.

Since August, Jason and I have had a countdown to his European trip. Although at times I thought it might never arrive, no day was longer that April 2. On that Thursday I watched the clock all day (which created a lot of impromptu lessons on telling time for the kiddos in my class.) Thanks to Brent, Camille, and Erica (who encouraged me to ask) I was able to leave school early and hustle to Tegel to greet Jason as he disembarked the plane. So, there I was, peach roses in hand (the same flowers he gave me on closing night of H2$) hanging off of the metal barriers staring at each tall man to emerge from the hallway 300 meters away. Finally, when I saw him, my heart melted. I threw my hand up waving like a hungry man near a hotdog vendor at the Reds' field. He waved back with a broad smile and met me at the door. He looked tired, but wonderful. From there, I took him on his first subway ride to my apartment where he dropped his things and we set out for dinner. For Jason's first Deutschland treat, I popped the top off of a beer and we walked to the Sony Center for dinner. Along the way, Jason pondered Die Mauer.

After the scenic tour to dinner (past Checkpoint Charlie, the 3rd Reich Airforce Ministry, and the Platz der 17 Juli/propaganda mural) Jason chose to eat at the Australian place in Sony Center. (This was no hardship to me since I totally love it. Of course, I only gave his 3 options that I enjoy...) It was so nice to sit and listen to him tell me about his trip, hold his hand, and make plans for our holiday.

Technology, you constantly surprise me.

My favorite doner place has a website. In the past 24 hours, I've spent a lot of time talking with friends about what our loved ones should do when they're in Berlin. The list seems to go on and on, but one thing I believe all of my visitors should experience is a currywurst from Curry 36 and a Doner from Mustafas. I had 2 doners this weekend. They're that good.

P.S. Four days until my Jason arrives!!

I love Spring and IKEA

I think Spring has nearly arrived in Berlin, and not too soon. The moment I knew it was spring had nothing to do with the flowers rising from the ground, nor from hearing bird chirp during my commute. I knew if was spring when the bakery had a rhubarb pastry. It was such a relief, as the picture shows. The long dark days in Berlin affect my outlook on life far more than I anticipated when I first moved here. (This is one reason I'm a member Team Jacob. Bella has no real clue of SAD, IMHO.)


It's time I officially announce that my palindrome prediction is accurate. I'm moving back to the states at the end of June. This move is bittersweet, as I love my life here. I'm particularly fond of my Berlin friends and the feelings of independence and the ability to overcome challenges I encounter each day. I know I'll miss these aspects of life here, but there are more challenges and joys on the horizon in Ohio. Incidentally, if you want to help me find a job, I'd be happy for the help.


Today, I went to IKEA. (Please tell me you clicked on the link.) I love IKEA. Love. The only things I needed to purchase were for my classroom, but I spent 2 hours browsing the inexpensive and witty furnishings. My favorite part of the Templehof IKEA is the last section of the downstairs. First, you enter the candle area. I can spend hours smelling candles (ask Jordan) and so I sniffed until my sniffer was sniffed out. Then, you meander into the plant area and I promise the air is cleaner and more delicious than a greenhouse. I stood and breathed. I was not alone in my endeavor to get the awesome oxygen. Finally, grab a push cart and enter the chaotic "get your stuff area." It smells like sawdust. I like it.

Jason will be here in 12 days. I think it will be better than the Twelve Days of Christmas when he arrives. Can't wait, but he says I'll have to.

Leaving you with 2 St. Pat's Day pictures to enjoy...

Are the snakes really out of Ireland? All of them?

The ladies at the table next to our started copying our party tricks. One was capable of mine.

Schadenfreude

"Happiness at the misfortune of others? That is German!"

-Avenue Q

The Ossies are surely having a field day with this...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090226/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_cashier_1

A Few more London Photos

See all of my photos on Facebook...

My attempt to be artsy at the Tate Modern.

Those red phone booths seem to now be trash bins... Stupid handies (handys?).

Donuts, donuts, donuts. You ask for it, you got it, Toyota.

This made me think if Jason.

Big Ben and White Hat Ashley. (And the runner between us.)

How do we encourage people to be kind to one another?

Hm. Maybe we could make passive-aggressive posters for the subway of stereotypical people promising not to commit social faux-pas.

Yes. Great idea.

Third Big Thing: London Trip

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. -Mark Twain


I just got back from a lovely week in London. I understood (nearly) everything people said, bought magazines for reasonable prices, and ate decent Mexican food. Oh yeah, and I toured 8 museums (Tate Modern, Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tower of London, Science Museum & Victoria and Albert Museum) saw 2 shows (Avenue Q and The Sound of Music) and 2 churches (St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey). It was a good trip and now I need a nap.

At Trafalgar Square with the Lions. I couldn't resist. OBIC

Outside of Buck House (Buckingham Palace).
Mom said she compared her life to Princess Di's because they got married around the same time and had their first children at the same time. She even told me once she imagined I would marry Prince William and perhaps live here.
Sorry to disappoint you, Mom, but not gonna happen.

I stayed with Laura for the first three nights, and knowing my bad sense of direction, when I went to explore her neighborhood I took pictures as my bread crumbs.
They came in handy later.

My beefeater tourguide. Excellent. Hilarious. British.

Outside of the Tower of London. Notice that my neck is well protected.

Second Piece of Big News

Today I attended the Berlin Film Festival for the first time. Yes, I know that film is one of those interests listed in the ever popular "Bible of White People Stuff" and I decided I must attempt to gain interest in this habit as well.

I just returned from seeing Rage at the Friedrichstadt Palast. Hm... It begins as a school project from a kid with a highly developed sense of ironic/witty humor. Each take consisted of a character talking to the camera as though a part of a documentary. After about 30 minutes, I felt like a total loser with no knowledge of film. It certainly seemed arty enough, but I didn't get it. Then, I noticed the scores of people leaving (note: Slight exaggeration, but as Lisa said this weekend, "You gotta make the story good.") and watched Rachel do the head bob thing. Clearly, I was not the only person who was wishing the screen was a bit brighter to do some reading or darker so I could do some sleeping. As the film shown on, more and more people left and at one point the end was made evident by the words "Last Day." At this point, a man in fron of me raised his arms like Blaze, the American Gladiator and I began applauding. Now, looking back, I'm ashamed at my impropriety. But the movie was really, really bad.

We're going to see something else on Wednesday. Wish me luck!

Here are some pictures from AGIS...

Big News

It seems that I've gotten some people all in a tizzy predicting my "big news." Well, since Rachel and Alyssa's apartment was broken into I didn't want to open mine up to an invasion while I was away at AGIS this weekend. The conference was exciting and fun and I performed with some BBIS staff. Lots of fun.

100 Random Things

There's big stuff going on in my life right now, but I can't talk about it yet. I promise, I'll share soon. To focus on something else, here's a list of 100 random things that I got from Alyssa's Blog...and she got it from someone else...etc. I like this better than the 25 Random Things going around on Facebook right now. The ones that are highlighted are the ones I've done. Enjoy!

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars (on the trampoline)
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyland (why would one go here when there is Disney World?)
8. climbed a mountain (in a gondola)
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped1
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea (on a cruise ship... not so fun!)
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. seen in person the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch-hiked
23. taken a sick day when you're not ill (Mental health day, my dear)
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping (I love the fountain!)
27. run a marathon... hahahahahahahahahaha
28. ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or a sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language (does German count)
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michaelangelo's David
41. sung karaoke (in a group, never alone)
42. seen the Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. received a prestigious award
48. gone deep sea fishing (see 27)
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie (WBCS, sugah!)
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business (I ran a carnival...)
58. taken a martial arts class5
9. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. got flowers for no reason
64. donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check (Not officially since my bank protected me...)
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the Everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guards in London
77. broken a bone (toe?)
78. been on a speeding motorcycle (deathcycle, you mean)
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book (in Writer's Workshop, you bet!)
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire Bible
86. visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating (right...)
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone's life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club (I'm in 2 right now, looking to join a third!)
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. been involved in a law suit (I was summonsed to testify in a custody case...)
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee
100. learned to play an instrument (piano, french horn, trumpet... I'm not proficient at any of these, but I can read music.)

Sonntag shopping

And we wonder why unemployment is so high in Berlin...
http://www.reason.com/news/show/129278.html

Something new

After living here for 18 months, most of my life has become predictable. Today though, I saw a brand new sbahn car set-up. This may not seem like a big deal but... well, here is the math:

I've worked 180+90 full school days not including days without the kinder. We'll round it up to 300 days I've commuted from Berlin to Kleinmachnow. Assuming I only travel to school and home (rare) for 55 minutes each way I spend 110 minutes each day on public transport.
300 days * 110 minutes each day = 33000 minutes or 550 hours or ~23 days of my life have been spent on public transport excluding all social events.

In all of that time I have never seen an sbahn car with the set up of a booth backed by 2 center facing seats. Revelation.

P.S. A film crew is coming to my school tomorrow. Yeah, we're that awesome.

Back to Life... Back to Berlinity

So, I haven't been at home all of this time. Actually, I've been writing 14 reports with such intensity that I could not bear to write here. It was as though I ran out of words to say. Luckily, I kept a post-it note about stories I wanted to tell.

Twilight
One of my Christmas gifts was a copy of Twilight. I've purposefully avoided the book due to my highly suggestable personality (I get hooked on things easily), but once the book was a gift I had to read it. Overall, I liked it (especially for passing the school commute time) but I would catch myself in awe at the teen angst/love scenarios. Here was a personal favorite, "I inched closer, stretched out my whole hand now to trace the contours of his forearm with my fingertips. I saw that my fingers trembled, and knew it wouldn't escape his notice." And another, "He didn't answer at first; he simply bent his face to mine, and brushed his lips slowly along my jaw, from my ear to my chin, back and forth. I trembled." I could go on and on, but I'll stop in the hopes that the other Twilight readers will comment their favorite overdone teen moment at the bottom of this entry.

After reading Twilight, naturally I had to go see it at the Sony Center, so when Alyssa suggested going to the special girls day showing (complete with autographed card) I knew I had to make it to the special event.

When we walked into the theatre it was as though Hot Topic and Limited Too were having a joint massive sale because everywhere I looked were teen and pre-teen girls. Rachel was able to use 2 hands to count the men in the room, but she was the only one of us who could get that high. The movie started and I have to say that it was totally made for the audience. About 30 minutes in, I had to stop watching. The three girls behind up swooned when Edward was shown in the sun (by this point, I was watching my fellow movie-goers, they were the true show!) I partly did that so I could keep control on myself because I kept getting the giggles about the incredibly overdone romantic moments. I couldn't help myself. Really, I was biting my scarf to hold in the peels of laughter while Edward and Bella were on her bed and he flew back against the wall. TOO MUCH!
Note: I'm sorry Emily. I still adore you, just not your favorite book. I would suggest we watch it when you're 26, but maybe it will be to you what Titanic is to me...

Income Gap
I missed my class while I was away. They're my Berlin family, but I have to keep in mind that we lead very different lifestyles. Case in point: At Morning Meeting a child in my class was sharing about his holiday skiing in die Schweitz. It sounded like tons of fun. When he was finished the kids raised their hands to ask questions about it, and the first kid he called on said, "Was your hotel a 4 or 5 star?"

The previous evening I had spent some time browsing London hostels with rooms for 15 Euros per night. Hm. P.S. The boy reassured his classmates that it was a 5 Star resort.

Cheese Lady
Setting: Just an ordinary Saturday morning; Plus (grocery story)
Scene: Ashley and her fellow shoppers buying groceries to last until Monday
FYI: Italics are internal monologue

Ashley: Hm. Do I need any bread? Ooh, that olive ciabatta looks tasty. It's soft too. I wonder if I could...

Cheese Lady: Schmeh schmeh schmeh (German) kase datem?

Ashley: Date of the cheese, let me look.... nachste mittwoch. Yes, I'm awesome at German. I'm so glad this is the question old ladies ask when they hold out produce to me.

Cheese Lady: Grumble Grumble schmeh vehmeh doodlely doo fett?

Ashley: Okay, where does it tell the fat content. Turn over the mozzarella package. Ah yes, there it is. How in the world do I say this? Um, maybe... Eins und halbe.

Cheese Lady: Nay! Schmoodly schent blah blet schemeh schmeegin!

Ashley: Oh dear. I'm done. She has exhausted my deepest German language reserves and I have nothing left to give. Plus, she's yelling at me. I was trying to be helpful. Crone! At least I can always fall back on this... Das tut mir leid. Ich hab keine Deutsch.