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.