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.