Eins, Zwei, Drei BERLIN!

Everything is passing by so quickly now that school is coming to a end (which I cannot grasp for the life of me considering this time last year I was counting down the days to get here).

Last week for my birthday, one of my classes sang to me in French, English, and Arabic. It was hilarious because they started off singing/screaming and then when their teacher told them to calm down a little, they whispered. Once word got around that it was my birthday everyone came up to me asking how old I was...by far the best response was made by one of my CM1 girls: "Mais elle est jeune quand même!" Yes!! I am still young! Thank you :)

After a full day of classes, my friends and I went out to l'Epicerie for dinner. Later in the night we ended up at the Ayers Rock Boat where for the first time all year I was not asked for ID. Maybe at 23 I really look older?? I'd like to hope so but I'm pretty sure it was simply because it was a Tuesday night. Either way, we definitely got our dance on :)

The rest of the week went by quite smoothly. It was essentially my last week of teaching; this week I've been playing review games and next week we will be playing American sports (more on this in the next post).

On Friday I jetted off to Berlin, Germany for a continuation of birthday celebrations. I arrived late in the afternoon and had an hour to spare before I met up with my Couchsurfing hosts, Timo and Rauno. I followed their directions to take the bus to Alexanderplatz and on my way through the city I saw some very interesting, thought-provoking things. First, there is graffiti everywhere in Berlin; absolutely incredible with the colors, shapes, creativity, just everything. At one stop light I read this, "Better to be a lion for one day, than a sheep your whole life." Very interesting considering all of the history there. Plus a nice jolt of inspiration for people that pass it everyday on their way to work. At another stop light I looked down into a car and saw that both the driver and the passenger had beers in their cup holders. I knew at that moment that Berlin was going to be insane.

Alexanderplatz is a huge square in the middle of shops, markets, and little fast food joints. Considering that I didn't want to get myself into too much trouble by going shopping, I decided to walk back towards the center of city to check out the magnificent buildings I had caught a glimpse of on the way into town. I ran into the Neptune Fountain (Neptunbrunnen), the Television Tower (Fernsehturm), the Berliner Dom (their famous cathedral), and the Neues Museum. After laying in the sun for a bit, taking pictures of life passing by around me, I found Timo and Rauno and we were off to their company owned apartment. We immediately started talking, joking about what Finland has to offer to the world, exchanging stories about our jobs, and having fun getting lost in Berlin (it was Rauno's second day). We went out to dinner in Kreuzberg, the hip, more international side of town. I had sushi for the first time all year in Europe and it was amazing (cucumbers and all!) After we went to get a beer at a cool little cafe. While Lyon starts to head home for bed at midnight, Berlin is just getting started. I felt like a grandma going home after just one beer.

Neptune Fountain

TV tower

The original green man (on all the pedestrian lights in East Berlin)

Life just passing by

The Old Art Museum

Berliner Dom from behind (along with other behinds).

The next morning we headed over to the train station to pick up Katelyn, Kristen, Jason, and Brandon. I had seen a part of the Berlin Wall on the way over so we stopped there before heading to Timo's apartment to drop off their huge backpacks (they're traveling across 7 countries in 3 weeks). We tried to make the free New Europe walking tour but it started to downpour, so we headed off to grab some traditional German food instead. Now normally I hate sauerkraut. My Dad always insists on having it when we cook German food and the smell makes me want to hurl. Maybe the recipe was tweaked over the years, or maybe America can never really recreate the originals, but either way, I ate all of my sauerkraut in Berlin (another first in Europe)! After a wonderful meal we wondered around for a bit, found Jason and Brandon a hostel, and then went back to get ready for our night out together. We ended up heading to Kreuzberg again with the rest of the world. We got off the tram and I felt like I was leaving a Phillies game with all of the thousands of people spilling out of the exits. As we walked up the steps and onto the street we heard music and cheering. Someone had decided to set up a party at the exit of the metro station, DJ and all. Absolutely amazing. We wandered around, trying to follow whoever looked like they knew where to go, and ended up at Watergate. A whopping 12 euros to enter, but well worth it. You could go back out to get cheaper drinks elsewhere and walk back in to dance whenever you wanted. Plus there were 2 dance floors, 5 techno DJs, and later in the night a live band, Marbert Rocel. I have never seen techno live, I've never really listened to it unless someone else had it playing in their car, and I certainly have never known how to dance to it, but we all went crazy. At one point I turned to Katelyn and asked, "Is it me or is the sun really coming up already?" Sure enough it was because thirty minutes later black out curtains automatically closed the view onto the Spree river. After a fun night of dancing, we zombie walked back to the apartment for a quick nap. We woke up 3 hours later to head back into town for the 11 am tour.

The ginormous Berlin train station

The Berlin Wall

The Death Strip (area between the two parts of the wall where over 100 people were shot while trying to escape from East Berlin)

Just riding a bike in the pouring rain drinking beer at 3 pm. NBD

My delicious beer (which measured to be bigger than my head).

Sausage and sauerkraut.

Inside the Berliner Dom

Fancier than I expected for the Germans

Our tour guide was absolutely amazing. Here's some of what I learned during our tour:

The top of the Brandenberg Gate

Adion Hotel

• On top of the Brandenberg Gates is the famous chariot carrying the goddess of Peace, Eirene. Napoleon fell in love with her when he invaded in 1806, stole her, and put her in the Louvre. The Germans took her back after Napoleon's defeat in 1814, renamed her Victory (for the Roman goddess of Victory), and changed her position so that she now looks down in the direction of the French Embassy. Smiling. Take that France.
• Michael Jackson dangled his baby from one of the balconies at the Adion Hotel (which sits on the Pariser Platz.)  It's also known to be the most expensive hotel, over 1,800 euros for the royal suite (which includes flowers, a limousine ride around Berlin, and champagne, but nooooo, not breakfast). 
• The Reichstag (government building) has a dome which overlooks the meetings rooms so that when the politicians look up they see who they are working for, the people (and maybe a tourist or two).
• The Memorial to the Murdered Jews was designed by Peter Eisenman. It cost around 25 million to build, which is very controversial in Berlin. Our tour guide informed us that the other option to choose from was to create a bus route to the concentration camp just north of Berlin. However, Berlin decided to create this memorial instead so that everyone is reminded every day of what happened as they walk towards the Pariser Platz. Plus, the bus routes would force you in a sense to confront the Holocaust, whereas this memorial is more of what you make of it. Consisting of 2,711 slabs of concrete, everyone experiences a different wave of emotions. Some see it as a bar graph of Nazism (and its popularity), others see prisoners lined up, and still others see the cold buildings of a concentration camp.
• On the way to the site of Hitler's old bunker, we made our way through what used to be the most expensive apartments in East Berlin (inhabited by the top Communist officials).
• It was creepy to stand in the same area where Hitler took his life. There's no evidence of the bunker, but just the thought that he bit down on cyanide and shot himself in the head right where I was standing, was mind blowing (pun intended). Furthermore, to learn that the German soldiers wrapped him up, tried to burn his body (as requested in his suicide letter), stopped halfway through afraid that the Soviets would come at any second, and then buried him to hide any evidence that he was indeed dead was so ironic. As the tour guide put it, we have a 25 million euro memorial to celebrate all of innocent lives taken, and then we have a parking lot, built on top of where Hitler died.
• The Gendarmenmarkt houses three magnificent buildings: the music concert hall, Konzerhaus de Schinkel and two cathedrals, one French, one German (Deutscher und Französicher Dom). Another nice joke towards the French: the cathedrals are identical with the exception of three additional feet on the top of the German Cathedral.
• Bebelplatz is another large square in Berlin and more famously known as the site of the Nazi book burning ceremony held in the evening of May 10, 1933 by members of the SA ("brownshirts"), SS, Nazi students and Hitler Youth groups. They burned around 20,000 books. Today, Berlin locals sell books around the square to promote education (and discourage the niave of the Nazis). 
• On the book burning memorial, there is a quotation by Heinrich Heine. It states, "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen" ("Where they burn books, they ultimately burn people"). Interestingly enough this was written 100 years prior to Hitler. The memorial holds several empty bookcases, which could fit the forever missing 20,000 books.

The French Cathedral (before the rain hit us)

The Holocaust Memorial

The site of Hitler's bunker

Now IRS building, then Nazi and later Soviet quarters. Very cold building with windows that grow smaller as they go up giving you a lovely sense of inferiority.

Checkpoint Charlie (where USSR and USA boundaries met). The US soldier looks out to the USSR territory of Berlin, and on the other side, the USSR soldier looks onto US territory. Oh the Cold War!

I'll leave you all with that for now; there's just too many wonderful stories to recount. I will however suggest this brilliant movie if you want some more food for though: Goodbye Lenin!

Grown Unknown and Wild

Nine months later and my life is starting to feel normal; I don't feel like a long-term tourist anymore.

While daily life seems like a mundane subject to write about, there are quite a lot of little things that make each day worth living. Like being asked if I know Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then getting this letter as a result.

Katie, I don't know how to thank you if you bring Buffy to France. Thank you?

Or being told (by a very serious, proud CE1 boy) that "mouche" is fly in English after teaching animals to his class.

Or getting coffee with local Couchsurfers to practice my French and correct their English.

Or starting my own little rose garden on our balcony.

Or walking from one end of the Rhône to the other on a sunny day, knowing that it used to be a huge parking lot but now is a magnificent bike path full of playgrounds, lounge chairs, and cafes.

Or performing in a dance recital for the first time in over 10 years, belly out and all.

Or going to the Musée D'art Contemporain for the first time on a rainy day and being blown away by  Indian artwork. (I highly recommend Indian Highway IV for all you in town!).

Mumbai: a mixture of the rich, the poor, and the religious

A lot of artwork had to do with the skeletal aspect of things in India; when the chaos is stripped away.

Incense

My favorite piece by N.S. Harsha

A five panel piece exploring the wonders of the internet and how it connects people around the world (and throughout decades; we found Shakespeare and Gandhi in there!)

Amazing depiction of time in cities around the world.

 Or cooking three new recipes and recreating an old one (Nawel's tajine) on my own.

My first try at curry :)

Moroccan vegetable soup

Mexican pineapple and pork dish

Last night's dinner :)

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Last Tuesday we held a strike against the ever growing student population in our classrooms (2011-2012 will start with at least 28 students in each classroom, with the possibility of new students as late as March or April). Since the Education Department is cutting jobs, this poses a huge threat to the efficiency of schools, especially ours. Unlike the USA, we don't have specific programs for different children. The disabled are in the same class as everyone else, which may help them feel more integrated, but at the same time, this causes a lot of interruptions. For example, there is one particularly smart little boy who has a bad case of ADD. He screams when he can't leave the classroom when he wants to and has tried to escape multiple times from the school. To say the least, classes become chaotic when you have to deal with this every day. Interestingly enough, I heard a commercial the other day on the radio asking for people to sign up to be teachers.

Furthermore, there have been continuous gray clouds looming above our heads here in Lyon. As a result of the rain, the English Field Day I planned was pushed back a few weeks and I can't seem to get rid of this ridiculous ballet flat tan line from April.

My final current frustration is my ongoing, tedious job search that never seems to move along despite hours spent searching, writing, and applying to company after company. I have to wait until possibly September to know if this job is renewed and every other response thus far has been thanks but no thanks.

But if I've learned anything from the French lifestyle, it's to make relaxation a priority in life (and of course I add in the American smile for kicks). I look at the little things and stay happy. Even if they're gone in one bite.

Strawberry macaroon and raspberry tart, oh my!

The best moments last week occurred when one of my most difficult CM2 classes let go of their pre-adolescent attitude and danced and sang along with me to this goofy song. I also did the Hokey Pokey with a 2nd grade class; absolutely hilarious. I will definitely miss the little monsters. A few of my CM2 kids came up to me proudly proclaiming that they bought English-French dictionaries. It's something so simple, but it really makes me think that yes I am making a difference and yes I love each and very one of the little snotty nosed kids who fight over whether my name is really Kate, Katie, or Katy (said Kah-teeeee).

Tomorrow I will be even more ancient than they imagine. It's funny to think about time when you're younger. It seems to pass by so slowly; you want to rush through everything and grow up. You ask anyone over 18 if they're married and have kids. You don't reflect back and hope you did more, you just look forward to what you want to do. So here's to the future, wherever it may take me.

Itza Me, Mario!

Last week I took Thursday and Friday off to have a long weekend with my cousins in Florence, Italy. Unfortunately, my luck with traveling never changes and I missed my train from Rome to Florence, making my trip an extra three hours long (although my cousin Matt definitely has me beat with his story). After catching up with Allison and her roommates, I braced myself for what Italy is so well-known for...it's food. We went to Acqua Al 2 to eat their infamous Blueberry steak. Yes, fruit and steak together on one amazing dish. The most bizarre, yet delicious combination I've had yet (I'm too much of a wuss to try brains here in France). While the picture I took does not do justice (since it looks like a ball of black goo), you can probably tell from the dessert sampler how happy my belly was that night. 

Italy :)

Tiramisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Cake, and Cheesecake= <3

Friday morning Allison took me to her favorite church in Florence, the Basilica di Santa Croce. The best part? Paying five euros and then proceeding to be told I needed to buy a poncho to cover my legs (since I was wearing shorts). Once I got the thing out of the vending machine, I was told by someone else that I had not put it on correctly (despite the fact that the ticket man said I could just wrap it around my legs). Who was I offending anyways? There was no mass, no priests, no nuns, no one praying, just tourists! After fifteen minutes of hysterical laughter and discussion about my offensive outfit, we calmed down a bit and I went around snapping shots of the famous Italians buried inside the cathedral.

Front of Basilica di Santa Croce

Everyone dies, true; however, it was insanely bizarre to think that beneath those huge slabs of marble were the decomposed parts of brilliant artists, writers, and scientists who changed the world. Another question for you all: Why would Galileo be allowed to rest there for the rest of time when the Catholic Church banned and cursed him for his blasphemous ideas and only "forgave" him a short while back? Between the covering of my legs, hefty fees to get in, and seeing the ironic placing of Galileo's tomb, I was extremely confused with the Italians only a few hours in Firenze.

Machiavelli

Dante

Michelangelo

Galileo

Napoleon's sister. Funny fact: the tomb is in French, not Italian.

Beautiful frescoes in one of the side chapels

After the Basilica, we wandered around Florence for a bit, checking out jewelry, eating gelato, and sweating our buns off in the sweltering sun. After a quick rest, I crossed over the Arno River to see the Palazzo Pitti, where the Medici family once lived.

Palazzo Pitti

On Saturday morning, Matt and I woke up super early to get into the front of the line for the Duomo and the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. Much to our despise, it actually opened at 10 (not 8) so we walked over to the Piazza della Signoria where all of the famous sculptures sit outside (including a copy of the David). We also crossed over the Ponte Vecchio to check out more jewelry stores (although most were just opening when we arrived). We made it back to the line just in time and decided to pay another hefty price to get a tour of the cathedral, terraces, and top of the Duomo. Hands down, the best 12 euros I spent on this trip. Within five minutes I had transferred back to my AP European History class in high school, examining Dante and the Divine Comedy, learning about construction changes, and looking out across the red roofs of Florence, listening to tourist guide explain how the city formed. One fun fact for you all: The sides and the front of the Cathedral are completely different. The front wasn't finished until the late 19th century. The front used to be plain so that it could be decorated according to who was in town or what event was happening in Florence at the time. A contest was held for the current design (which goes quite well with the rest of the building despite the time lapse).

The fake David (I was not paying 8 euros just to see the real one, sorry Florence).

Hercules holding Medusa's head.

Ponte Vecchio

Closed gold jewelry shops. I saw one man open his shop by unscrewing and taking off each of the wooden hinge doors.

Heaven

Dante and the Divine Comedy

Giotto's Campanile (bell tower) and the Piazza del Duomo

Amazing marble floors from the terrace

The line at 11 am to get into the Basilica/Duomo

One of the statues that used to be outside the Basilica on the top levels. It's made of plaster and still standing after five centuries!

The infamous artwork on the Duomo's ceiling; Vasari started the fresco in 1572, but it was completed by Federico Zuccaro.

Heaven and Hell; the one monster is eating five people at the same time. I'd be convinced back then if this was my church.

The Gates of Paradise, by Lorenzo Ghiberti on the Baptistery

The Baptistery

Matt and I sat up on the top of the Duomo for a while just thinking about how fortunate we were to be able to say, "Hey let's go over to Florence for the weekend and visit Allison." Furthermore, our general time here in Europe. We just sat there smiling, looking out at this view, loving life. Loving the decision we made to come out here despite other people's critiques and disapproval. We may not be well off but we could care less; we're happy.

Firenze from the top of the Duomo

We had an amazing lunch near the markets, consisting of octopus and tomato salad, pesto pasta, and spaghetti with shrimp. We then headed up the hill to the Piazza Michelangelo to get another view of the city. On our way back down we stopped for Nutella and almond gelato.

Firenze from afar

We also stopped in the Chiesa di Ognissanti on the way back to Allison's apartment. This one was free (shocking) and actually a lot prettier inside than a lot of the others I had to pay to get into that weekend. Again, another surprise for me. Giotto's Croce Dipinta rests inside one of the side chapels. Five points for me for stumbling upon it (and then minus 1 point for being such a history/art nerd).
After a long nap, everyone headed out to a small family run restaurant and then out to check out Florence's night life.

Giotto's Croce Dipinta, 1310

  On Sunday I headed to the Medici Chapel before my trains, planes, and buses back to Lyon. I was unsure of paying six euros on Saturday, but since I didn't wake up in time to get into the Uffizi before the lines started, I decided to go back to the family's chapel. Once inside, I felt an overwhelming sense of inferiority. In the first room there were five enormous marble tombs as well as a fresco explaining multiple Biblical stories. I turned around in circles multiple times (probably with my mouth wide open in shock). Holy Moley were these people rich. I remember studying how they owned this and that, but you don't really understand the definition of wealth until you see how people bury their family. Oh and to add to it all, Michelangelo designed the second room for the family as well as a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus for the top of one of the tombs (he died before he could finish this room). Can you imagine? Between their palace and this chapel, I can only imagine the rest of their intricately designed homes and vacation spots.

The frescoes on the ceiling.

The two rooms; only two of the five statues remain on top of the tombs in the first room.

Although this was probably one of the more expensive trips thus far, it was well worth the money.  Although I didn't see the Jersey Shore cast, I can still sleep tight being able to now say that I've been to Florence.

Ciao everyone! Prego for listening!