the thing about books

today was my first day of language school at university (real classes don't start til april). in a way, it was like the first day of high school all over again: i was up at 6 am, in the tram by 6:45; i made awkward conversation with a bunch of other friendless kiddos. but in most ways, it was not like high school. we'll see how the rest of the course is; tomorrow is the real start of classes since today we did little else but drink delicious milchcafe in the mensa (cafeteria) and take a wicked placement test.

but that was not the point of this post. my metro ride is an hour each way, so it is very necessary to have a little bit of entertainment prepared for the ride. and so, the best most wonderful smile-inducing part of the day was my discovery of saint george's english bookstore. it is only a 10 minute walk from my apartment and its shelves, which stretch to the tippy top of the store's high ceilings, are chock full of english titles. UGH, I KNOW I SHOULD BE READING IN GERMAN. but here's the thing: reading in german is so tiring. i like to tear into books ferociously and that means i want to read them in english. i bought the poisonwood bible which i have been dying to read for years, practically. now must go; have to wake up at 7:15 people. this is almost unacceptable; except, i think it might be fun. let's see, shall we.

night

Sehnsucht

oh man, berlin.

let's talk about Sehnsucht, which is my favorite German word. it is also untranslatable. if you're in the mood to be really bored by my boringness, ask me someday about german vocabulary and how i really believe certain words just do not have english equivalents. for example: Sehnsucht. just go read the wikipedia article, it explains better than i do.

i have been having sehnsucht feelings for a bit now, but they are feelings of missing people that are comfortable because they are natural to have. while i was on my mini break to leipzig and dresden, i also experienced sehnsucht but not just for those certain people: for berlin as a city. i loved spending time in leipzig and dresden (more to come eventually, maybe, if i have time) but the trip made me realize something i didn't know before: i love berlin. i could live here forever.

i never used to think i was the kind of person who needed to live in a specific place, that i would follow the people or the person who means more to me than the place. that is still true to some extent, but let's just say that i hope that i will be doing the leading someday; and i hope the destination will be berlin.

i'll label this post extreme kitsch schmalz, and we'll call it even.

miss you guys; just come see me, ok? i guarantee you'll love it here.

kiez

kiez means "hood."

yesterday, i walked a lot; for two and a half hours i explored my new kiez. the best thing about not having school is that my days are unfettered by responsibility and so if i want to walk miles and miles, there is nothing to stop me. except, maybe the cold: my toes were a tiny bit frozen yesterday. unavoidable in this kind of cold is the hue that skin left uncovered takes on. super cute, let me tell you. i look like a little mountain child all the time with flaming red cheeks.

during my stroll, i walked past the jewish graveyard which is only seven blocks from my apartment; eintritt "entrance" is free and so i decided to go in. the grave stones which i could read (aka the ones that weren't in hebrew) were from around the mid-19th century, and the inside exhibit explains that many stones in the graveyard were found throughout the city of berlin and brought to the graveyard, because they had been re-appropriated over the years to be used as building material. so strange. the graveyard itself was eerily beautiful: many stones were covered with ivy and the snow made it look entirely ancient. i've been to the jewish graveyard in prague, but this one was different as there seemed to be more space for each individual grave. i think i'll go back when the snow melts to walk through it again.

there was a great quote on the wall in the small exhibit accompanying the graveyard which i will attempt to (clumsily) translate:

• if you want to understand the character of a land, a people, a city, you must visit its graveyards. the way that people celebrate the lives of the dead, the traditions surrounding death, reflect the wish that future generations will continue to go back and honor the pasts of those now gone.

-Georg Jacob Wolf (1928)

i also spent a great amount of time on my walk around the really famous part of pberg, eberswalderstrasse. i peeked into the most wonderful vintage store ever in the world, but everything was vastly overpriced. in my depression over my inability to afford used clothing (ugh, irony), i wallowed in the berlin specialty of currywurst. the first time i tried currywurst (when i was in berlin as an 18 year old), i did not like it. but i think that was because i bought it at a crappy imbiss. so this time i went to a famous currywurst place in pberg and UM, DELICIOUS. i felt like i was going to die afterwards, though, because i usually don't eat french fries so there was a mini food coma post-currywurst. anyways, this is a shout out to any future visitors: on top of dönner, we will also be eating currywurst. after all, it will only cost you a cool 1,5 Euro.

last night, i went with a german friend of mine to this amazing indoor pool thing called the "velodrom," and swam major laps. it was fun, but my arms hurt a lot now. i must go back soon since it is right in my kiez, a 10 minute public transit ride away. afterwards, i "cooked" us salad and my favorite--eggplant pizza. we hung out with two of my roommates and several of their friends. a comfortably busy day.

bis bald, meine lieben

PS. IT IS SUNNY HERE. whichever one of you sent me my california sun, i love you and want to marry you. seriously, i am so happy. chüssi

immanuelkirch (immanuel church), the place where graffiti meets religion. very much like the city of Berlin itself.



beautifully restored buildings in pberg