4/28 - 5/5/13

Well, I have been absent from my blog for the past week... I am sorry to all of you who try and read it regularly. Simply put, life has been very busy and has left me little time to write. Also, I'm limited on my internet and so I was unable to log in long enough to update the blog...

So let me begin catching you all up... Last Sunday (the 28th), I was busy working on lessons for the week at Starbucks. Nothing very excited happened, but I did manage to get a lot done. Like Sunday, Monday was mostly a work day. The lessons seem to be going better each day, and after school Chelsea and I met up for dinner. Overall, the first half of the week was pretty uneventful. Some lessons go better, and I work on learning a bit more each day. So Tuesday, was spent similarly to the previous two days. 

Wednesday was May 1st. For those of you who don't know, the 1st of May is a holiday here in Germany. That meant NO SCHOOL! So Chelsea and I decided to have a bit of an adventure. Originally we had planned to go and see some of the museums but the weather was too beautiful to just stay inside. Instead we decided to find the begin park known as Teirgarten. 

A crane in the park as we were walking

It really is funny to think of Berlin as a city when you so easily stumble across these parks. They are pretty beautiful, and as you walk through the city you suddenly land in the midst of a forest or a huge park. It is so strange, but one of the nice things about the area. So back to the story, we caught the train down to the park and set off walking around. As we wandered we found a place were boats were docked. These were free row boats that all were welcome to take. So naturally we did what any person would do... We went out on the water. 

Though the sun was hiding at times behind the clouds, it was a beautiful day as we rowed out into what really was a small lack. Too big to be a pond, but too small to be a good lake. We soaked up a bit of sun and laughed as we tried to easily maneuver the boat.  I still remembered how to row, but it turns out it is harder to do with another person. We ended up doing some unintended circles but eventually figured it all out.

The little lake

Sitting in the row boat

Some of the water around the park

Out in the little lake together.

After we finished our time in the boats we headed back to shore and continued to walk through the park. We eventually made our way out and could hear some music being played and decided to follow it. On the 1st of May, it is a time when people are allowed to protest and while some of the rougher areas will see riots. We knew we were in the area where there wouldn't be riots but we wanted to see where the music was coming from. It turned out to be from a large collection of what seemed to be like fair booths. There were food, and people giving away free things. You could sign petitions and number of more political things, but over all it was a safe place to walk. 

We enjoyed walking around and had some currywurst and fries for lunch. Though the clouds had moved in we were able to see some more sights. We ended up after walking around it was time to head home. I had lesson planning to do and was tired out from the walking and the sun. 

Currywrust for lunch

Where the booths were set up.

Thursday and Friday were more like the first part of week. Full of lesson planning and time in school. As far as teaching went those two days both cooperating teachers were very pleased with the progress I was making! I got several complements even, and I am feeling better each day about my time here. My students are great, they are different from students I've worked with in the past but they are still great. I am more at home each day in the classroom here, and I think it will end up being sad to go when the time comes. 

After an uneventful Thursday and Friday, Chelsea and I decided to see more of the area on Saturday. I had (and still have) a cold, but it was a nice day and so I pushed through it. We began are day by catching the train to the east side of Berlin. We headed to the East Side Gallery. 

The Gallery is part of the Berlin wall that is still standing. From what we could tell it seems that every ten years people are allowed to change the paintings. This area (unlike the other section of the wall we saw) is when that people are not suppose to graffiti on... Sadly people still do add things and it took away from some of the very cool and beautiful murals. Overall, it was interesting to see and be allowed to touch a piece of history, but I was sad looking at it. It's one of those things where you realize how terrible the wall must have been in the past... 

Me in front of the Wall

One of the many paintings along the wall.

The East Side Gallery, this one image is really just graffiti at this point.

Enjoying so sunshine after looking at the wall..

So after we admired the wall we decided to head towards what has so far been my favorite stop... The Ritter Sport Chocolate store! This was an amazing chocolate store! Some of you may have had Ritter Sport chocolate at home (you can buy it in the states but it is really expensive), but did you know it was from Berlin originally? I don't have the words to express the fun this shop was... Simply put I was like a kid in a candy store, haha!

Not only was this a store you could buy chocolate in, it was also a store where you could create your own custom bars! Chelsea and I each made one and it was so much fun! While waiting for the chocolate to set we headed upstairs in the shop to the cafe they had! Oh yes, a full shop where you could buy so many chocolaty goodies (oh and lunch as well). I was able to order a smoked salmon wrap (the salmon was good, but not as good as what you can find in Dad's store), and Chelsea had a good salad. We finished our lunch and ordered dessert. I had chocolate soup and churros... By chocolate soup they meant a bowl of melted dark chocolate for you to dip the churros in! It was amazing!!! Chelsea ordered a little chocolate peppermint mouse, with raspberry toppings. All in all, a very sugar filled day!

Chelsea sitting next to the sign during lunch!

Part of the menu

My yummy dessert! It was so good!

Our lovely lunch! The wrap was pretty great.

By the time we finished up at the chocolate shop we decided to call it a day. It was still pretty warm out, and my cold made it so I was pretty tired out. We said our good byes and I headed home to curl up for the night.

Today (Sunday), has been a chill day. I spent the morning reading and getting some of my work together for the coming week. It will be a short week, Thursday is a holiday so we get the long weekend off. We are heading to Switzerland, but you will hear more about that later. Back to today, I meet up with Chelsea and we walked around Olympic stadium. It was about time when you consider I live right next door to it!

The stadium by my house!

The Olympic rings!

We are spending the rest of the day watching the Hobbit (which I so kind was given for Easter) and working on my lessons for tomorrow! I will try and post again tomorrow, but there are no promises. Some days I go home and end up crashing after I get my work done because I am so exhausted! I will try my best, but I am not sure if I'll have much to share before Thursday.

So I will end today by giving you a word of the day... schokoladig. It means chocolaty! A very useful word I think! Well good bye for now, have a great day!