Christmas Markets

In Germany they love Christmas. So scattered throughout the city are Christmas markets. They are so sweet and fun and all unique. My friend Gracie and I went to a few the other night and it was great.

This is lovely Gracie in front of a TWO-STORY CAROUSEL! It was so pretty we just needed a picture. One of the places one could sit was a giant pig. He was running and sticking his tongue out. It was so funny but it was also quite fast (as you can see) so no picture of the pig. Sorry.

This is a traditional German Christmas thing. I'm not sure what it's called but it's usually small and wooden. You can light a candle under it and it will spin. My friend Jan Payne has had one for years. This is obviously less small but no less charming. It even has a restaurant on one of the levels where people were eating! So cool.

So lovely. I really love Christmas. At these markets they have food, hot spiced wine (called Gluwein), gifts to buy, and lovely lights. They really are so fun. I think for the next few weeks I'll be going a lot.

Thanksgiving

Well it was just a normal Thursday for everyone here in Berlin, except for 20 of us! For the Americans it was an all day event! Mostly in our own tiny kitchens cooking something. But the Germans had a lovely evening as well!

These are my potatoes. I had about 20 pounds. It was a little crazy.

finished product. The sign of success is when Germans AND Americans like your food. Success!

I also made a pumpkin pie. With canned pumpkin. Not easy to find but oh so delicious.

This is my boss, John. He did the turkey. also not easy to find. I didn't know turkeys were indigenous to North America. Lucky you.

Here is the spread. Almost gone.

Here are some people! On the phone is Lukas and to his right is Gracie. Both wonderful. Also, next to them (left) is Bartek (from New Zealand), his girlfriend Annika, my friend Dennis, and Matteus Matteus Matteus (you HAVE to say it three times).

The girl on the right is my rommate Kaddy and next to her is my new friend Judith. Judith lives less than 2 minutes away (walking) which is so nice. And she and I will practice English and German together because she works for IJM (International Justice Mission) and we both need the practice. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We had a really nice time. John opened with a reading on thanksgiving from the Bible and we all had a lovely time talking and being thankful for our different friends from such different walks of life. It almost felt like home.

City tour

This was my first Berlin city tour! It was so fun because I got to go with a bunch of missionaries from all over Europe. They were so nice and we had a great time. It was rainy and a bit chilly but also loads of fun.

This is the old city municipal building type thing. It was burned almost to the ground before Hitler rose to power and he used the unrest of this event to start moving people to camps and elevating his position. Some people speculate that he burnt it down to cause unrest. Now the dome is glass. Most German architecture, especially city/national buildings, use lots of glass to signify an openness and show they aren't hiding anything anymore. They are transparent. Interesting, no?

There are memorials all over Berlin for different groups of people that died during the Holocaust. This one is for the gypsies who were placed in camps and who died.

This is Brandenburg Gate. It's really cool. On the other side are loads of embassies and a Starbucks. The gate was in between the two walls. Did you know there were two walls? And it wasn't a straight line. It was more of a circle encompassing West Berlin. Crazy. I'm not an expert though so...sorry if any of this is wrong.

This is a Jewish Holocaust memorial Under it is a museum. It's really interesting. It looks like graves on the edges but as you enter it they get taller. The ground sinks and rolls like small hills and valleys. It sort of creeps up on you. It's supposed to give a sense of isolation and unrest but other than that, one can translate the meaning. The designer wanted everyone to be able to create a meaning for themselves. Really interesting. Intimidating and dark. It's hard to explain but I think you should go there and see it. I'll definitely go back and check out the museum.

This is a parking lot. It's also a place where people bring their dogs to poop. Aaaaaaand....it's where Hitler killed himself in a bunker and they burned his body. Crazy right? It's just a parking lot now. There is a haphazard sign. That's it. Nothing else. So weird. It's such a huge part of history and they decided they didn't want to memorialize and therefore glorify him. So they didn't.

Here is part of the wall.

This is checkpoint charlie. Sorry it's blurry. This was one of the places that people could go from West Berlin to East (but obviously not vice versa). Our tour guide told us about one guy from the west that found a girlfriend also in the west and they got close. Then he took her passport and used it for his REAL girlfriend to get from the East to West! Ha! Poor west girlfriend. Tricked.

What's a blog without pictures of food? We went to dinner that night and this was my salad. It had TONS of bacon!!!!! It was great.

Aaaaand...this is my full rack of ribs. Yep. Bomb! So good. I finished them. Barely touched the fries. You can get fries anywhere. The ribs are where it's at. I turned to my semi-vegetarian friend and said "I like when you can tell it used to be an animal." Maybe not terribly sensitive but I thought it was funny.

Randoms

I jotted down some notes over the last couple weeks that I haven't written here so here is a hodge-podge of thoughts and memories with no pictures. You can skip this post if you think it's boring. It won't hurt my feelings. So one note I wrote was: "On Wednesday I had the most people smile back at me. It was great." I sometimes smile at people on the street. I know Germans don't love this and they think you're crazy if you look people in the eye or smile as you walk by someone you don't know, but I kind of don't care. I think some people just need a smile. I try to use discretion and not smile at everyone but sometimes I can't help it. I'm trying to temper it to a small smile. On this day though (whatever week that was) people smiled back. I've been encouraged to remember that the Light of Christ is in me and my job right now in this dark city is to just live and be a light. I trust God will do with that what He wills. So sometimes I smile. And sometimes people like it. And sometimes I feel at home. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The next note I wrote said "Donner Shop." That 'o' is supposed to have an umlaut (double dots) over it but I have an American keyboard so just picture it. Donner is a turkish food that is shaved meat(ish) inside bread with cabbage, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and sauce. It's really good. There are shops all over but I started going sometimes to one on my street just a short walk away. Now, when I walk by, I smile at the men who work there and sometimes I wave. They started waving and smiling back and I just love it. They recognize me every time now. It is another thing that makes me feel like this is home. Light. Just living here trying to be light. Hoping God uses that even when I don't see it. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The last thing is that I go to class Monday through Thursday (sometimes Fridays too) to learn German. It's really great even when it's tough. Our class is ten people plus the teacher and everyone kinda likes everyone else, which is great. The teacher is nice and funny. We laugh a lot. We lost one of our fellow students today. Her name is GoGo and she is Greek. She had to go back to Greece earlier than expected so today was her last day. She is so fun and full of life. She will be missed. There is a man who is from Syria and he is funny and so friendly. And there is another girl from Bulgaria who I ride the train with now because we take the same route. We were late today. There are so many different people and cultures here and I hope this becomes a source for friendships that grow deeper and stronger.

Brown paper packages tied up with string

I got a box. In the mail. It felt like it took ages to get here and there may or may not have been some tears when I thought it was lost for a day and a half, but it arrived and I was thrilled. It sat in my room for a few hours till my friend Jenny (who organized the whole thing) woke up so I could open it with her. Here is the most lovely box of things that make me so thankful that these friends know me SO well and love me so well.

This is Jenny. She is wonderful and thoughtful and loves me like I can't believe. I'm so thankful God has placed her in my life. This is the picture I have of Jenny on my wall and these are the things she gave me. Mac'n'cheese. Six whole boxes! Even got shells and white cheddar! She's a dream. You never know what you'll miss till you're gone. She also sent me salsa because It's my favorite snack and there is NOTHING spicy here. I opened the salsa right away. Didn't even finish opening the box first. There is also a box for making mummy cupcakes (despite the fact that it came a few days into November, I'm still VERY excited to make these...very soon). Also, she made my favorite thing from my favorite coffee shop: cashew butter (it's like peanut butter but with cashews and coconut oil). So nice!

These are my dear friends Chanelle and Kellyn (with Jared also pictured). They are hilarious, smart, beautiful, cool, and they love the Lord so well with their lives. I just want to be around them all the time whether we laugh or cry. I love them. And they love me. And know me SO well as evidenced by these three chocolate bars. One is banana peanut butter. Bomb. One is smoked stout caramel. Bomb. And the last is bacon chocolate. CRAZY BOMB! These were crazy delicious. The bacon was crispy even though it was inside chocolate!!!!! How is that even possible?? These girls are dear.

This is Jill. She looks like me sometimes. And she knows me. I miss her loads more than she knows. I miss being known by her. I miss having a companion by my side for all things. I miss going places with her. She is my first pick for all the museums and monuments I want to see here. This is my forgotten Nalgene water bottle. Needed this like you wouldn't believe. Inside it, along with a giant plastic bag, is a TON of green tea. So good. It's a staple for life. I am going to live forever. There is also chili pepper flakes. Like I said, nothing is spicy here. Not pictured is a pair of athletic shorts. Who knew I would have missed these even when it's 30 degrees outside? But I did. She is wonderful. And pretty. (Get it? Cause we look alike.)

This is Aly. She is beautiful, smart, thoughtful, honest, caring, and wise. She has been a lovely friend and is such an encouragement to me. She also knows me enough to know I love bacon. So here is bacon salt. It says low sodium but she warned me it has MSG. We both agreed it was worth it. And MSG adds so much good flavor, right Jill?

This is Jason (with Jared who snuck his way into this story even though he sent me nothing. He's the worst! Just kidding. He's great.) Jason sent me BBQ sauce (which was one of the first things I wanted when I got here. Maybe because I knew I couldn't get it anymore!). He also sent chili powder, goldfish, and more pictures of people I love. He is kind and thoughtful and a great friend to me.

And this is the part that made me cry a little. This is Tommy. I really love him. He is silly, fun, motivated, honest, caring, and giving. He sent me coloring books which he loves, and we did together sometimes. And he sent Monopoly Deal. It's his favorite card game. But he didn't go buy me one. He sent his. He told me to use it to make friends. I am so thankful for these wonderful, selfless, thoughtful friends. I can't believe what a wonderful support system I have at home. This is just a few of the wonderful people I know and love. Thanks dummies! You're wonderful!

Tiergarten

Tiergarten means "animal garden" or "zoo." It's in the center of Berlin and it's huge. I was so jazzed because I love zoos and I love big zoos even more. Here is my map of Berlin (so helpful). That big green area middle (left a smidge) is the Tiergarten and that big green circle at the bottom is the Tempelhofer park (old airport). The Tiergarten is huge, right?

Wrong. Turns out Tiergarten is a park. There is a zoo in it somewhere but that wasn't all zoo. Bummer. I thought I could go on a safari there! But the bonus is that it is a beautiful park full of fall trees and cool statues. My friend Gracie and I just walked around and talked for a few hours. Here is a picture of the German Victory Column in the center-ish of the Tiergarten. It was Designed by Heinrich Strack after 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War and was inaugurated on 2 September 1873. It was moved here by the Nazis during WWII and would have been destroyed had it not been transported to this new location. Thanks Wikipedia.

This is the base of the Column. It has some damage on it--holes and pieces missing. Gracie said this damage is from WWII. What?! This is my first time getting a history lesson IN Berlin. I can't wait for more next week.

Here is the filter I added to the whole thing. Not bad for a phone, eh?

Later I met up with John and Steph (bosses) for some more research. We had a warm beer (that cooled in our hands as we stood there!) and talked and counted. Then went back to their house and talked some more. Great meeting.

We used the front-facing camera. Can you tell?

Walking Adventure

We tried to go to church Sunday. Notice "tried." We were looking for the Village Church but the people that knew where it was didn't come with us. So we wandered around.

This alley got a lot of attention. Church still wasn't on it. But we were. A lot. Here is a house we passed (these pictures are cheap substitutes--it was really a lovely street).

Then we saw this statue (on the right--look closely). These are my friends Gracie (left), Lukas, and Ari. Two Germans and an American (Gracie). Lukas explained this statue of Wilhelm the First who freed bohemians (from Bohemia---WHAT?!?! That's a place? Not just a thing in that movie with Ewan McGregor?). They gave him a statue. There is bird poop on it. Bohemians...Psh....

After looking for church for half an hour it was too late even if we did find it. So we decided to look for a secret garden park that they had heard of. Unrivaled beauty, supposedly. We didn't find it. But we found this:

And there was a nice enough garden here with well-behaved dogs and a small evergreen. After we couldn't find the secret garden we decided to go to the Tempelhofer Park. It used to be an airport and now it's a park!!!! You can walk/jog/rollerblade/bike on the runway! It's beautiful. Lots of kites. Lots of kids. Lots of hipsters. Lots of fun. So we just walked. Here is a picture of Ari and Gracie (on the runway!).

And this is our last glance before a bakery run and goodbyes to Ari (back to Stuttgart). She invited us to come visit her and stay in her flat. So nice. This was my best German-speaking day so... it's a small victory. Great Sunday (even though it didn't go as planned).

Frozen

Today I woke up at 6:30. I got out of bed at 6:40 and no one in the U.S. gets to judge today because this is how cold it was:

I had work this morning. What that looks like is research. Coffee research. We needed some numbers in the neighborhood where we are opening a cafe. How many people in this area are taking to-go cups with them on their commute? I got to do this. Outside. For an hour and a half. I knew the job would fall on me anyway so I volunteered. I think my bosses are PREEEEETTY impressed.

This is a pair of exercise pants under jeans, socks, boots, a shirt, a pullover, an exercise jacket, a ski jacket, my warmest scarf (thanks Meg-pie), a hat, gloves, and two mugs of tea (jasmine green and peppermint). Yes, for now I have to take pictures of myself because I have very few friends (and NONE that would have been up that early, let alone go OUT!) I stood on a corner and counted. Numbers weren't great--17 to go cups. But I see that as a good sign. Looks like this are is REALLY desperate for a cool coffee shop (optimist). I stood listening to music and people watched the whole time. I got my first surge of real love for Berlin during this watch. It was while I was still relatively warm and my tea was still hot (it got way worse later). I saw a man walking down the street. He was old and had trouble walking. And I just wanted healing for a broken city. I usually see people and have pity, compassion, and a plethora of cheap feelings desiring comfort, friendship, belonging, etc. But when I saw this man today, I just wanted this broken and fallen world to be righted. I didn't want him to be loved and accepted as much as I wanted him to be Loved and Accepted by the God of the universe that offers that in abundance and perfection. So, I cried a few tears for a broken world and city, and grew a bit closer to having Berlin and it's people permanently etched on my heart. I've been wondering where that was.

Later, when it warmed up to a beautiful 45, I put a proper face on and a different scarf that my friend Jenny made me for this trip. Yes I took this of myself. I was just going to send it to her but then I thought I'd give a shout out publicly so everyone can know how great she is.

Yeah...they were adults.

Tonight on the train some people were speaking in German. One of the guys was wearing a shirt with the periodic table on it and they discussed it in length...saying different numbers and properties. It took everything in me not to shout "NERDS!"

Burritos and Quark

Let's start with another picture from my balcony...because it's fall and it's kind of amazing that I have my own balcony!

If you don't know me very well, this may come as a surprise, but I LOVE food. I LOVE it! So today I share my experience with you via pictures of food. There are only a couple. So first, I come from California. This offers me some benefits in Berlin as well as some challenges. The benefits come from living in an area where many nations and cultures are represented. It is a blessing because living in a big city, I'm surrounded by many different people from all over the world, and it's not a surprise to me. It actually provides some comfort. It feels like home. My neighborhood has lots of people from Turkey and it's been fun to walk around and smile at the ladies wearing traditional clothing or the babies with (often) massive amounts of hair on top of their heads sleeping under piles of blankets fast asleep in a bustling train. It feels like home. The challenge of coming from California is that I LOVE spicy food and I REALLY LOVE (all caps shows how much I mean it) Mexican food. I knew there wouldn't be Mexican food here and I could try to make my own but it may be a cheap substitute. Well, SURPRISE! I got Mexican food yesterday. And it was BOMB! And it was SPICY! And I was happy. Here is a picture of my second day leftovers. (The place was sort of like Chipotle. So good. Bonus: it's right next to my German Language school so...they'll be seeing a lot of me. )

This story is an old one. Here is a picture of my breakfast. German breakfast is great because it's not all sugar and syrup. It's hearty. You can have bread, cheese, pretzels, and coffee. It's wonderful and savory and so perfect for my taste. This is my favorite bread here so far (besides pretzels which I also love). It's dark and dense and has pumpkin seeds all over and in it. On the left is a piece with Quark (kvark). It has dill and green onions in it. It's such an interesting dip and I really enjoy it. Drizzled on top is really wonderfully thick and sweet balsamic vinegar. MMM. On the right is quark (plain) that tastes like plain Greek yoghurt. On top of it is strawberry jam. This is a traditional German thing (the bread and the quark). I really enjoyed it and I liked it a double dose because in my German class in high school, whenever we signed up to bring something for our Oktoberfest/Christmas/endofschool parties, our teacher would always ask us who was bringing the quark? We always poo pooed her but now I see she was right (about so many things). What a wise lady. What other pearls of wisdom did I miss from Frau Koeller?

Best Day

Today has been my best day in Berlin so far. It started slowly. This morning I just wanted to get out. I don't always feel like going out because it can be tiring. I don't feel confident speaking German and I know if there is a problem, I probably can't fix it. If I get lost I may not find my way back and I don't have a way to call anyone yet. But today I wanted to go. It was lovely and sunny today. A warm 66 degrees. I went to go pay for school and stumbled upon a farmer's market. This was by far the most at home in Berlin I've felt the whole time. There were venders selling fruits, vegetables, cheese, honey, meat...It was wonderful. I loved it.

Here is what I bought (well...I actually bought three apples but I ate one on the UBahn):

After this I found a lovely park below the UBahn station I switch trains in. So I hopped off and walked over to it. I love that I get fall!

This park was paradise today. I felt like I was in the forest which is just where I wanted to be for a bit. You could easily forget that you are in the middle of Berlin here were it not for the occasional plane above, the graffiti on ALL benches, and the rumble of the earth as a train passes beneath where you stand. It was so nice. I think I'll go back there. When I was walking from my train to my house I saw a record store. It is a tiny shop with hundreds of record all along the wall. I went in and quickly made a friend (Willy) who played a dozen songs on different records for me. He told me all about the shows he has been to and the best club in the world (besten Club im ganzem Weld) where the beatles and the who played. He was so nice and was the first person to really speak slowly for me. We spoke mostly in German and he helped me a lot. I think I'll buy a record player for myself so I can get some good music from him. At every moment today I felt like "this is my favorite part of today" but now I can't tell. I really loved each part and am so grateful for these experiences that make me feel at home here. (sorry I don't have a picture of Willy or his store. It's a gem. I'll have to get some next time.

Food

I've had a few great food adventures. Here are some: My first full day I was taken to get German food. It was ok. It looks like this:

It tasted good but German food is not my favorite. Not a lot of flavor. Luckily, almost no one eats German food here so that's nice for me. There also is a lot of Turkish food here and they sell Doner which is like Gyros. It's delicious and cheap. They put sauces and cabbage and onions and tomatoes and whatever you want. So good!

Yesterday I had Thai food. Mine was good but my friend Gracie's coconut green curry was WAY better! I'll get that next time. On my pad Thai (because I was unsure what German Thai food might taste like--better safe than sorry) there was cilantro and it was just like home!!!! Explanation: In CA cilantro tastes delicious. There is nothing like it. On the east coast they have no idea what I'm talking about because theirs tastes like nothing. I'm assuming they add it to things for color only. I anticipated IF they had cilantro here, that it would be bland and only for color. Well IT'S NOT!!! It is so good and I can't wait to buy some at the store and make my own salsa! What a victory.

ps-this is one of my many new awesome possessions. I love this mug. It's my favorite.