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Showing posts from June, 2015

Last day of Improv

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I know, the picture is the blurry side effect of remembering that today is my last day of improv, and thus grabbing the nearest human to snap a picture. But I don't care, because my smile shines right on through. And every Monday since October, I have smiled, playing around with this group of wonderful people. They put up with me back when I could only spout out one word (on a good day), up until the end. Now I can proudly say I have developed the ability to make actual audiences of Germans laugh actual laughs...this basically means that I am capable of anything, and deserve a bucket of medals accordingly. Nochmal DANKE! Ich kann es kaum glauben, das meine Zeit mit euch schon vorbei ist. Ich werde Impro Montag nie vergessen! Mach's gut!

Dwindling Days and Nutty Tides

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Well, guess I am going to be back in the USA in less than a week (this is the part where I suppress all the feelings!) Of course, I am still bumbling around, unable to fully comprehend that fact. So for the time being, let's embrace that unawareness and move right along (all that emotion is being avoided for another blog post. A storms a comin'.)   OK LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BEACH! Last Thursday, I went with my host family to the Nordsee, which is a place where all the Germans go if they can't book a flight to Mallorca, or have had enough of the Ostsee.   At first, everything looks perfectly normal. You got your water, your sand, your sunburned Grannies. But soon, one can't help but notice that all of the water has suddenly disappeared, leaving a Sahara-like hopelessness in its wake. One accepts that they have gone mad. But do not fret! The Northsee is just being its fussy self, drastically rotati...

Bremen and Butterkuchen!

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Bremen is sort of seen as an "oh, YEAH, ok, ok. That rings a bell" city to Americans, but the Germans know Bremen for what it really is: an adorable, historical,hectic little city. I ventured out yesterday with my friend Maria (from Portugal) to meet up with our buddy Nane, who lives in Bremen part time. We started out by the Schnoorviertel: basically a glorified alleyway, which appears to be tossed together by toddlers with an eye for color. There were points it was so crowded, even a jaded New Yorker would let out a "Woah", but I was nevertheless smitten. We continued our wander to the Altstadt, the charred and beautiful center of the city. As you do, we got our daily dose of luck from the golden hoof of the Stadtmuskianten statue, and spent the rest of the day admiring the winds and curves of Bremen. Oh, and we finished it all off with Butterkuchen (literally translated as "butter cake"...nobody is hiding anything her...

End of Stay Part 2

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The most powerful woman in the world. The Chancellor of Germany. Merk-Dawg. You get the subject of this post, we all get the subject of this post: Angela Merkel. A pant-suited force of nature, who was nice enough to carve 30 minutes out of her day to come greet a bunch of  bright, driven, American nerds. I have never fangirled in such a politically conscious manner.    Normally kids in my program don't get to experience this, but because the US Congress has chosen to make drastic cuts on the program, Angela decided she better cheer us on, encouraging us to show our politicians why forging American-German relationships through open-minded youths is worth funding. And when Angela Merkel tells you that you're on the right track, well, you just keep chugging along.

End of Stay Part 1

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  I will only get up at 4:30 A.M for two reasons: #1) Andy Warhol came back from the dead, and needs honest advice on his hair.   #2) A full tour of the German-American Embassy and German Bundestag, finished off with a pep-talk from Angela Merkel. And free food. This past week at my Berlin "End-of-Stay" camp, I got to experience the latter with the rest of my CBYX peeps (or, "ambassadors" if you want to get all official about it). We started out our week visiting (or should I say, completely taking over) the German-American Embassy. Sleep deprived and jacked on Berlin vibes, we were greeted bright and early with imported American delicacies; Root-Beer, Munchkins, and water with actual ice-cubes . It was clear we were in good hands.  As we sucked every last bit of caffeine out of our soda-cans, we listened to the life-stories of our world-weathered government offici...

June in Berlin: Street Weddings and Rain

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Marco Polo in Germany!

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Yesterday evening my theater group and I celebrated the success of our summer musical about the adventures of Marco Polo, which we put on last weekend. Although I helped out with costuming in our Christmas production, I was actually on stage this time around, dancing and singing with my big old German theater family. I cannot really imagine my year without having rehearsals every Saturday morning, and getting to know wonderful people of all ages in my community. You know what, I actually can imagine my year, and lot less smiling is involved. I am so happy to have found so much love, support, and fellow Mama Mia!  appreciators in this little nook of the world. So really, this is just a big DANKE!  Joa, fuer meine Freunde bei Bischu: Ohne Bischu und Marco Polo kann ich mir mein Auslandsjahr gar nicht vorstellen. Ihr habt mich total akzeptiert, genau wie ich bin, und das finde ich ganz toll von euch. Von Bischu hab ich unheimlich viele gute Erinner...

Wind-Surfing on the Ostsee!

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"In the future, you will be proud to receive a German wind-surfing license"......sure, this sounds like a vision coming from a sleep-deprived fortune-teller. However, it has somehow morphed into my reality, and after my school trip to the Ostsee, I am indeed a certified wind-surfer!  It all looks so smooth and effortless from afar. One could imagine Frank Sinatra really getting the hang of it. But wind-surfing, if you tend to be me, is very, very difficult.You basically have to haul yourself onto a stupid,wiggling surf-board, haul up a wiggling mast by a stupid rope, and have it all just haul you across stretches of water, while you, your stupid self, is also wiggling. Let me just say, the beloved German word " Scheiße",  rang strong across the Ostsee shore.   But somehow, after being the last one to finish and even getting an honorable mention for my heroic/pathetic ef...