So much cake

It seems like there has been a birthday every week I've been here in Berlin. First my sister Julia turned 23, then my brother Johannes turned 19, this past thursday was my host dad's birthday and friday was my host mom's birthday. wow.
My host parents threw a big party friday night because they turned 50 this year. They rented a room on the lake Muggelsee and invited about 50 friends and family members to celebrate. The room was beach themed with actual sand inside, an open bar, a buffet, and a live band.
The night started off pretty overwhelming for me because I was meeting so many new people and I'm still feeling pretty lost in translation. After a while though the party started to become more fun for me once the band started to play and I started drinking some wine with Julia. The party ended at about 4 am. German's know how to party, that's for sure.
Earlier in the week I started my German language course. I have five Italians (four guys and one girl) and one Brazilian guy in my class. It's pretty funny because the Italians have very thick accents when they speak German, but it's not so bad when they speak English. Plus they keep speaking Italian during class and all I can think is "one language at a time please! I don't speak Italian!". The class is taught mainly in German except when things get really complicated, then the teacher speaks English. It's very small and personal and I like that.
The best news I received all week was that I am going to start my internship in early October instead of January. :) Other than that things are pretty slow. This means I only have two weeks of school left. And that really is exciting.
Below are pictures from friday. I didn't take a lot of pictures during the main part of the party but I got some nice pictures of the band, the sunset, the pre-party, oh and one of four cakes we had that day with coffee.

Learning in Berlin

How long have I been here? Three weeks in Berlin, Seven weeks in Bonn. Almost three months? Half of me feels like it's been forever since I was home and then the other half can't figure out how all this time went by so quickly without me noticing. hmm...
I've been in school for two weeks now and I honestly haven't learned that much. I have learned however that I was wrong in one of my older blogs. So, time for some corrections: Nudity is not popular now-a-days. Only among the older population every now and then will you see it or with children. But nudity is not big in Berlin (not like I expected it to be). I do know there is a nude beach up in north Germany (so, don't be too disappointed). :p
I start German language class again tomorrow, so I'm excited for that. It should last about 10 weeks and by the end I know I'll be golden. Plus, I'm forcing my family to speak to me in German (unless it's really important).
Other than learning a few new phases or words, I don't have too much to report. Things are slowing down for sure, but I'll keep you updated none the less. The funny thing is, now that I have time to blog, I have nothing to blog about. hah oh well.

BTW: The picture above is of Hector, T-mac, and myself. Hector is the Hero, T-mac it the evil villain, and I am the damsel in distress. Even in a museum the three of us clown around. :)

A new Chapter in Berlin

 

I've been in Berlin for 15 days now and I can't express how amazing it is. It's huge and I know it will take all year (hell it'll take 5 years) to explore the entire city. I'm going to school now, but it's only to meet people my age and I will only go there for about 3 months. School is hard because it's all in German but I get by and since grades don't matter, I try not to worry about it. :)

My family here is great. My host parents are doctors. My mom is a general practitioner and my dad is an ENT. My sister Julia is totally sweet and cool (she's 23) and she's studying medicine in Poland. My brother Johannes (Joe) is 19 and he's cool. He seems confused a lot but, that's okay. I think it's just the look on his face.Then there's Amar and Bilal. They're Canadian and both studying medicine in Poland with Julia. Amar and Julia have been dating for quite a while and they're practically part of the family, so I consider them my brothers as well. They're great. 

My family is really amazing. They're almost as amazing as my biological family. They make amazing healthy food, but also have plenty of cake. We drink coffee and play table tennis and take bike rides along the lake near our house. They treat me like an adult but more importantly they treat me like part of the family and I really feel like they love me. I've missed the feeling of having a family so long that it's just an overwhelming feeling. 

Anyway, I've made a few new friends through Joe and at school. But it's too soon to go into great detail about that. I can just say that two girls Irma (she's from Russia) and Marija (sounds like Maria) are very sweet and we've already become really good friends. They're great shopping buddies. ;) And they are both so beautiful, in personality and looks. 

Lastly, Hector, T-mac and I have slowly been exploring this huge city. We've seen so many things and you'll see in the pictures. Like I said it's going to take a while and I'll try to keep you updated on my adventures.

Tiergarten: It's huge and beautiful.

Hector loves this car.
Above is my piano :) and me sitting in front of the Reichstag the site of the Lower House of German Parliament. Below is Hector and me in front of the Siegessaeule (Victory Column in English) and a church that was destroyed during the war and only partly repaired to show the damage that was done as a reminder of how terrible the war was.  



I'm not really sure what Hector and I are doing in the pics above. Below is a picture from inside the top of the Reichstag. And below that is one of the most expensive cars in the world. 1.5 million Euro. 


Above is a memorial for all the victims that died in the Holocaust. And below is the TV tower and the clock from Alexanderplatz.



The Wall (aka the East Side Gallery). There are thousands of paintings along the wall now but these two are my favorite so far.