Laundry Lists

Below are some of the things I did last week as I attempted to shrug off my jet-lag. Made a promise to myself to try and do at least one thing productive today as I settled into this city and get my bearings:

-Signed up for German lessons at the Hartnackschule Berlin. For whatever reason today, I can’t upload this picture today, but a brief overview of these schools. Hartnakschule sounds a bit like like “Hard Knocks”, so there are all these phrases that pop up in my head whenever I say it’s name. Cause German is a crazy language to learn! It can be very intimidating and honestly, I think the only thing that gets you past the intimidation of it is simply the desire to make sense of it all.

There are many Hartnakschules placed in the many neighborhoods that make up Berlin. It’s much more affordable than the Goethe Institut, even though the same teachers teach at both. While a private school, it’s officially recognized by governmental and universities here as a reputable place to learn German and English. So in the classes, you basically find people from all over the world who NEED to learn German because they are living and need to work in Berlin. It’s also an interesting school because they offer “Integration Classes”. These are classes for people who are applying for German citizenship status, often after one has married a German national, and need to take a class to prove that they are knowledgeable about various facets of German history and culture, and basically have assimilated into German life and culture, before they receive their citizenship status.

-Took a friend’s hip-hop class and not only was it fun to move and dance again, it was also cool to see such a huge diverse turn out for it. Observing how cross-cultural exchanges and learning happen on a day-to-day basis.  The class is based in the neighborhood of Schöneberg, which is the Berlin equivalent of Chelsea in New York or West Hollywood in LA.

There is  SO much to explore in that neighborhood it’s kind of crazy! Amazing antiques shops there for furniture, a restaurant and bar on every block serving good food, and bakeries. And it’s also just a beautiful place to walk around in.  The class was also a learning experience for me because it was taught mostly in German. So little things I’m used to, like the count-down to begin a sequence, instead of sounding like, “five. six. five, six, seven, eight!” it sounded like, “fünf. sechs. fünf, sechs, sieben, acht!”

– After the class, met up with friends and friends of friends to go to a screening of “Dracula” with Phillip Glassman and the Kronos Quartet playing live music to the film.

Dracula

It was outside in the middle of the courtyard of this building called the Citadel, which is an old castle, in the outskirts of Berlin.

Line to get in, watch films, drink bier, eat crepes and sausage, and be merry.

The public transpo travel time felt like the equivalent of traveling from say, 125th street to Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn, or  Los Feliz to Westwood. Speaking of public transportation, there were a few station stops near there that were BEAUTIFUL! Like, the station decked out in mosaics of different colors and designs. The train station we got off on was also interesting for the huge paintings it had of German historical figures from like the 18th, 16th centuries. It also had some interesting things going on with geometric shapes and colors there. I need to go back and take more pictures when I’m not walking, because these blurry ones don’t capture the awesomeness of it.

Someone from History. Painting was on the other side of the tracks, so I could not see his name.

It was like going to a Central Park Summer Stage or a Hollywood Bowl event, but in the middle of a castle surrounded by a moat.

One Side of the moat

Walking to the castle, we saw a rabbit happily trotting by us with a baby rabbit in it’s mouth. Nature here seems more live and in full effect than I have experienced in any other city. The pictures below are blurry, but hopefully you’ll get a sense of the space.

Rabbit in a fox's mouth.

Most importantly and beautifully of all, I got to hang with my friend Justin’s friends and see who his Berlin homies are as he celebrates his 2nd year of moving to this city.  In the spirit of the film, we dressed up to the theme of Goth….and apparently were the only ones who thought to do so! Lots of black and dramatic make-up, and lots of fun.