This last week was nuts...so busy! My dad showed up last Sunday with three laptops and an iPhone. Typical. As soon as he got here we went just outside of Berlin to Perwenitz where my grandpa was born. It was a really neat experience and an absolutely gorgeous day. There are still a lot of buildings that were around when my grandpa lived there. I felt like I was making a pilgrimage or something but my grandpa is still living so that's kind of weird.
Then, on Tuesday Steve came to visit! Steve is a friend from high school who has been studying in Barcelona this semester. He was such a trooper throughout his stay, letting me drag him to a taping of a German TV show right after he arrived. Yes...that's right, we are going to be German TV stars! My family friend works for one of the main German TV stations and every week they put on a travel program with foreign tourists exploring Germany. We went to exotic Rheinsberg, which is way in the boonies. We saw a castle that Frederick the Great built and got to play around in a ceramic factory. The whole day was pretty fun but whenever we'd say anything "funny" we'd have to repeat it if the lady didn't catch it. Now I understand why people say that "The Hills" is scripted. We were pretty cheesy. At one point I had to pretend to be a painter painting a mural on the ceiling of the palace. Steve also had to pretend to give me plastic roses. You get the picture. Anyway, Steve and I had a great time and I was grateful to have an excuse to be a tourist in Berlin. We saw Knut the polar bear, the famous Reichstag with the glass dome at the top and the Holocaust memorial. Plus Steve knows more about soccer than God so my host dad loved him.
After Steve came to visit I drove with about eight people to Amsterdam for the weekend I am sorry to report that I don't have any scandalous, not fit for print stories from the weekend but we all had a blast! We took the free walking tour in the city and really got our money's worth, or I guess made a knowledge profit because it was free. Our guide made it very clear that he was hungover and wanted us to be nice to him. He was super funny and really made the tour special...that sounds corny but it was true. After the tour we went to the Van Gogh Museum to check out some sick paintings. My purchases from Amsterdam included a headband with marijuana leaves on it for costume parties. I think it glows in the dark. I wore it on the ride home but ended up turning it inside out when a cashier gave me a funny look at a gas station.
Then on Saturday we took a trip to Brussels and Antwerp because we were really close. I absolutely loved Belgium save for the fact that I wish I spoke French! There was a scarecrow competition for charity in the central square in Brussels so we had a great time posing with several of the designs. Brussels and Antwerp were very different, although I only saw Antwerp at night. We managed to end up in a bar where we were the youngest people by about 30 years. The music was all old stuff so I was happy, especially when they played "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Thelma Houston. It's an old disco song that my dad and I like. I probably sang it a bit too loud because it attracted the attention of a 60 year old man. We had one of those singing moments where you point at each other and stuff. My friends thought it was ridiculous and I am glad they continued to sit by me afterwards.
Throughout the weekend we stayed with a friend of a friend's university housing. The guy was so generous and I am so glad we got to spend our weekend with him.
That's about it for now except for a quick note about Berlin. Charlton, Lily, and I went to an awesome bar last Monday that's in an old bombed out building and has graffiti from basement to roof. The bar is on the roof and it has a very edgy vibe. Our friend recommended it and I'm so glad we went. Also, Charlton and I went to Prenzlauer Berg this afternoon just to walk around and we sat at an Indian restaurant where the guy let it be happy hour about 5 hours too early just for us. Charlton tried to milk it by getting the most expensive cocktail which ended up being pretty nasty. I bet him that I could finish my drink and another one in the time he could finish his. I lost and that's how I ended up drunk at 4 in the afternoon. Low point? Probably not.
Ellen
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