My first week of classes at university is officially over. So far, so good! German university classes take place just once per week and are generally only 90 minutes. After having to go into a classroom 2 or 3 times a week for 50-110 minutes for just one class at USC, it's a welcome change. I'll be taking a class on Berlin culture, a German language course, a policy analysis class, an introduction to the German government system, and a class on Germany's foreign policy. All in German, of course.
Here are some shots from my most recent extracirricular activities.
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| The Berlin Festival of Lights features big colorful projections on a variety of landmark buildings around town. Here is the Bibliothek (library), which has words of colors projected onto it rather than actual colors |
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| The U.S. Embassy |
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| People admiring the Brandenburg Gate |
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| The cathedral definitely looked the coolest |
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| The TV Tower was lit up too, although not Marienkirche |
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| I went on another bike ride with my host Dad and saw even more sights. Here's a good look at the Victory Column, built to commemorate the Prussian defeat of Denmark in 1864. Each ring represents a major victory. The column was lengthened by 25 feet and moved here (it previously was closer to the Reichstag) on Hitler's orders |
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| Bellevue Palace was built in the 1700s as the residence of the Prussian crown prince. Now it is the residence of the federal president (not Chancellor), Jaochim Gauck |
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| Spree River |
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| There is a huge park right in the middle of the city |
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| One can still see bullet holes and other marks from WWII. When this memorial was restored, the restorers purposely left the bullet holes uncovered |
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| This is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. After being bombed out in WWII, its ruins were left standing as a memorial to the destruction of Berlin |
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| My little host brother is crazy about football (soccer). I photographed him and his team one weekend for fun. I'm hoping I was just bad luck since they lost 7-0. I think I'll stay home next time |
And with that, this blog is now totally and completely up to date! I can't wait to write about the rest of my experiences, especially since I'll be doing so as they happen. Auf Wiedersehen!
