Mondays, StaBi days, and Brownie days

Berlin in the snow, Dudenstrasse, and our kitchen in a messy, well-loved state...

My Mondays simply start late. The best thing about my week is that it doesn't officially begin until 4pm (or 16:00) on Monday afternoons. So today, I woke up at around 9:30 to my charming cell-phone ring, pulled my laptop onto my lap, and then, warm and cozy in my bed I wrote a three-page assignment for my German class about how the world heating up would not exactly be a good thing. I could have checked the grammar a bit better (as I learned later when it was corrected), but the sun was shining and it was time for my midday breakfast. The milk that I poured into my cornflakes-muesli-banana bowl was unfortunately, well, curdling, something that I noticed while pouring myself a glass after eating my breakfast (whoops, my stomach sang songs all day as a result). And the sun this morning - I hesitate in stating this for fear that it will be gone as quickly as it came - was bright and wonderful. 

So now I am in bed after attending my four-hour German class at the FU and making a dill-potato soup, that I am saving for tomorrow (somehow I was not that hungry for a 10pm dinner tonight). I am thinking about the process of writing these blogs. As compared to EB's and Jenni's blogs, I have been writing more thematically, rather than daily. That means, for one thing, that certain themes require a lot more thoughts then others. Therefore I tend to overlook the daily stuff in exchange for mammoth entries about, say, humor in Berlin (after five months I still don't understand that one), or spontaneous trips to the Baltic. And the big one, that I've been putting off until, well, let's face it I'm still putting it off, is actually getting around to talking about SCHOOL. As in classes, as in German, as in what I am doing each and every day and how I structure my seemingly abstract time here in Berlin. It will come soon, I promise. Although probably not in a timely fashion... 

Since Morgan, Aileen and Robert left (both Morgan and Aileen had various delays and difficulties due to the five-or-so centimeters of snow on the ground in Berlin) last Monday I have been steadily moving towards the road to academic accomplishment. By that I mean that I have managed to write no less than three papers in the past week, two for my Ethnology class and one for my German class. Getting practice writing "academically" in German is the most important part; topically I am not really pushing the thought-provoking frontiers of Ethnology quite yet. 

And not to worry, the StaBi has not yet consumed my soul. It did suck 25-euros out of my wallet (that's 25-euros less in my highly cherished funds, since the DAAD gives me my scholarship money in monthly increments and I am running a bit dry for January already!). And even with that I can't even take books out from there until I bring them my passport to prove that I'll be sticking around for a while. Man, these libraries are a piece of work. One would never expect the amount of work involved simply to GET to a place where one can get to work. 

I shall explain. In the StaBi (again, that's the nickname for Berlin's public library), which is an unquestionably gorgeous and regal building, with the words "Preussische Stadtbibliotek" engraved into its imposing gray stone, the first challenge is to enter the building. This may sound quite simple, but there are three unmarked entrances and the doors look so old and large that one would not expect that the strength of man could open them. The first two that I tried of course were incorrect, both "staff" entrances and closed to the public. After making it in, one is immediately overwhelmed by the complicated menu of what's on what floor. Once I got fed up, I just walked straight ahead. I was very tempted to walk up the beautiful wide staircase to the floors that I presumed held books and workspaces in some organized arrangement... but first the jacket, the bag, the purse, everything on you pretty much just has to go. There is a coat check just for this purpose (which is thankfully free, and usually has the only friendly staff member in the entire library). Then I needed to dig deep into my wallet/purse in order to find a one-euro coin, so that I could put my bagpack into a locker, that is inevitably barely large enough for a Berlin rat. 

But why, you may ask, can one not bring a bagpack into a place where one is planning on doing work? Very good question. I think the fear is stealing - either that or they think it's just fun to over-monitor everything that goes on in their libraries. One is given a plastic bag at the coatcheck, since, thankfully, one is allowed to bring other books into this prestigious building of books. Heaven help anyone who even thinks of stealing an 1800 bound theological text or something of that nature (they don't have new books in this library)... they'll just see it right through that clear plastic bag of yours. 

Okay, now I was ready to go in. But no, first I was indicated to exit the building entirely (going to where it is cold, also known as outside), and then go in a different entrance. Then the man waiting at the little useless reception desk (they don't perform usual "reception" functions here, so needless to say, to get my library membership I had to go to a different place) gave me a bookmark for every book that I brought in which he would later count when I left again. I also got a piece of paper saying that he authorized my entry for the acquirement of a pass. I asked where I could get a pass, and he said just follow the signs. Oh good. As if that would be easy. I followed, I followed, and followed, up the grand staircase, down a long hallway that smelled of hospital, into a computer room (asked at the desk there, thought i'd found it... but that would have been too easy), up another skinnier flight of stairs into a musky-smelling reading room with wood shelves and tables, contemplated just sitting and taking a break, then through two sets of doors and tadum! Anmeldung. Registration. Four more flights higher than I would have expected it to be. A desk for the purpose of taking out books and getting library passes. 

The lacking my passport thing was the only obstacle from there (and the reception guy forgot to give me a bookmark for my dictionary, which he actually apologized for on my way out). After spending a bit of time in there I was finally able to appreciate the atmosphere, and I even got a substantial amount of reading done. But unfortunately, as there was no food or water allowed in the library itself (this is another of my raging frustrations with German libraries), my gurgling tummy got the best of me. I went on the hunt for snacks. Oh how I dearly miss Ex-Libris, and the practice of bringing multiple mugs of tea as well as a fresh supply of fruit in the Reg in Chicago! To my surprise and delight there was a small cafeteria room in the basement, where I found a wonderfully cheap coffee machine. Fancy coffee. A fancy espresso-spitting vending machine for the soul purpose of appeasing people who were pissed at the over-complicated library systems. Or at least that is how that vending machine and I became friends - I vented, and it fed me warm drinks. I mean, it had three different options for the hot chocolate: with milk, with water, with cream. So the 25-euros and the maze of stairs and the coat checking and the reception guy is in some ways, worthwhile.

That was my adventure on Wednesday, after two students in my Ethnology class pointed out where the public library was on their way to the cafeteria at the Humboldt. What I am finding difficult, now that I have been here for a while and the surprise and interest of me as an American exchange student has sort of worn off, is to follow up on these friendships. I have met great people in my classes, really cool, people studying Finnish and who spent a year after high school working in meat markets in Australia and the like. People who dress well, and dress down and make it look good. People who make incredible comments in class, comments that make me think twice about what I read the night before (if I managed to understand the reading, that is). And although I did have lunch with two really nice girls at the Humboldt before break, and although I have good passing conversations with a couple of people before and after class, and although I have a couple of emails of students that I've met at the Freie Uni who study English and think it's cool that I'm American, how can I actually convey to them that I want them to become my friend? How can you turn an email from someone working on a presentation with you to a totally casual hanging-out or getting coffee on the weekends? Part of me wants to just email and say, I'm not new here anymore, but I am still an international student, and I'm here to get to know Germans, so can you let me know if you know of any parties and then can you invite me to one? Okay, now I'm venting a bit. And I'm answering my own question: I guess it does take a dose of intentionality at first. It's not such a crime to be incredibly honest and say, I'd like to meet people, please help. 

What's great about having a German class with Erasmus students (that's the big exchange-student network for people in Universities in the European Union), is that they appreciate the difficulty in making friends. One girl, an Italian named Chiara, was telling me how surprised she was at how little Germans reach out to exchange students. She sort of expected that it worked like at her University in Bologna, where people hang out for at least half an hour after class just chatting and finding out when they could all meet up again next. It's refreshing to learn that I'm not alone here. And I assume that those same problems apply for german students too, particularly those who did not grow up in Berlin or wherever town their school is in. People stay friends with their high school friends in such a way that it is not necessary to make new friends in University. It takes a while to meet people in such a huge school in such a huge city; it's not easy to find good roommates, or to find the right club or team. 

And speaking of roommates! Mine is coming back MANANA, tomorrow, from her epic month-long trip to Columbia, where she spent Christmas with Diego's family and friends. Anna was supposed to arrive on Friday, but a major snowstorm in Madrid caused her flight to be cancelled. That's crazy, right? Snow in Madrid? Then I heard that starting Sunday the plane company, Iberia I believe (?), decided to go on strike. So at least that sounds more normal for Spain than weather-related delays. But Anna has been stranded in Caracas, Venezuela for the weekend and has been trying to call her nearly frantic parents (who live in Freiburg, south-west Germany, near Heidelberg) whenever possible. Her Mom then calls me and tells me the news. The most recent update is that she's left Caracas and will be spending the night in a Hotel in Madrid, before finally flying to Berlin in the morning. I will have to juggle my time a bit to be home to let her in, but I cannot wait to see her and have another person to cook with at night again. I will have to yell at her at some point for being gone for so long, because, although it's been quiet, I am just about done with having this apartment entirely to myself. 

So the rest of the week went as follows:

Wednesday: class and library troubles at the StaBi.

Thursday: skipping my optional class (come on, I'm not getting credit for it anyways) to have tea with Gerd (my former employer? see "Rennfieber" entry from December) and Jenni (who is taking over my job in which I was supposed to get discovered by Hollywood). That was followed by similar library struggles, except this time at the Freie Universitat library. How can they possibly expect me to know my password, when they never gave it to me in the first place? Oh well. Kate, Jenni and I then met up late that night to go to the small Yorckstrasse movie-theater, where we saw the oddly exciting film Jerichow with an incredibly good-looking actor (robert, forgive me) named Benno Fuermann. The moon was full, and the walk home in the cold was quiet and peaceful. 

Friday: a non-optional class, and then a coincidental run-in with Nancy's son's girlfriend Julia, who recognized me in the small cafeteria under the Law building. Oh how proud I was to be recognized among so many on that campus! It was great to spend time chatting with her, and still a bit unbelievable that we both happened to be in that cafeteria at the same time. I then SUCCEEDED at taking out five books on Johann Gottfried Herder for my Intellectual History in Berlin class, all of which may be somewhat helpful for my research paper. That night Jenni, Kate and I met up again and ate pizza at a great (and tiny) Italian restaurant. We then went out for some cocktails (I had a... Polar Bear?) and turkish cookies around the Kottbusser Tor area. 

Saturday: Meryl King is in town! Who needs to attend Chicago when Chicago comes to visit you? She is doing a month-long German program at, surprise surprise, the exact same Uni that I am at, the Freie Universitat. We met by her U-Bahn station in the town of Charlottenburg, where she is staying with a German host. I am really glad to be able to pass along some surviving-in-Berlin wisdom to Meryl, who is steadily getting her German back from our time in Dagmar's class freshman year. Our big accomplishments were getting a month-transportation pass and then buying a sim-card for her Turkish/European cell-phone, which we celebrated with tasty breakfasts at the Kant Cafe. We then did a big walking tour all along the Kudamm and then from Potsdamer Platz to the Gates and down Unter den Linden, where we made a side-stop at the Komisch Oper's annual costume sale to check out the crazy costumes and old wooden furniture (see picture). A quiet night of resting my feet and defrosting with tea ensued.

Sunday: Skyping day, chilling day, day of finishing "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" (what a great christmas gift), movie-watching day ("Little Miss Sunshine", also a great christmas gift), a SLEDDING day, or at least a day for enjoying the frigid sunshine and taking pictures while watching kids in big puffy coats climb onto wooden sleds on the Kreuzberg, and finally, a day for dinner parties and brownie baking. Meryl came over (didn't even get lost!) to help with the brownies, and we went together to Jenni's apartment (which is not far, a walk) for a seriously gourmet feast. Pork tenderloins with delicious things stuffed inside, Quinoa-and-Fennel-Pilaf, lots of good wine, an impressive assortment of cheese, home-made caramel corn (to die for), and last but certainly not least fudgy, slightly undercooked, sweet, made-from-a-mix, real American-style Brownies.

Monday: Well, Monday is almost over. Actually it ended two hours ago. I'd like to think that I recovered quickly from the jetlag, what with the beer-tasting and fun of having Morgan here... but like I said, my Mondays simply start late. 

(By the way, I promise that I won't go day-to-day in my entries from now on. It was just a fun new experiment, and a nice divergence from typing in German)