Well, really tomorrow is the last day, but I'll be flying out by 14.00, with a bus out of Aarhus at 6.45 in the morning, so tomorrow hardly feels like a day here. Today is largely focused on packing, cleaning, last minute errands. It wasn't easy to get up this morning knowing that it would be a bittersweet day. Tomorrow will be far more bitter than sweet, as I won't be home for 36 hours after I begin my first plane trip, not to mention the 6 hours spent on the bus, the ferry, the bus again and then in the airport before the four-flight marathon begins. I am happy to be coming home, but not as excited about the travel. I've been lucky enough to borrow some movies and books to make the time more relaxing, and I have power converters for time spent in Copenhagen and London airports, so I can plug in my computer and just sit.
Even though it will be here so soon, I can hardly imagine being home again. I have no idea if I'm different, and if so, how. I have no idea what I will want once I'm stateside again. People are always asking, "What's the first thing you're going to do when you get back?" I have no idea. I don't know if I'll want a turkey sandwhich or a diet Dr. Pepper or if I'll just want to sleep. I have no idea. It's so hard to look ahead when I'm still sitting here.
My Danish room is a skeleton now. Desk, table, naked bed. Some people say they're amazed at how much of their life fits back into that suitcase. I don't wonder at all. There are six trash bags full, sitting next to the door. I was able to take everything I wanted home, but there's a lot to leave here.
No, I haven't even looked through my Berlin photos yet. Yes, I will. The more I save to do on the airplane the better. Berlin was fabulous. We didn't end up seeing the concentration camp, but I suppose that leaves more for me to see on my next trip through Europe.
But for now I need to get back to cleaning up my room.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Ich bin in Berlin!
Yes, I am in Berlin for the week. The Internet is not available in our apartment, but we are visiting net cafes and such to stay connected. I'm here with four others who are doing their final projects here this week, acting as a trasnlator and mother, making dinners and finding what trains and busses to take. I also order the food and ask how much it costs to use the internet or where the closest ATM is. I knew six years of German would pay off someday.
We drove yesterday and mostly relaxed once we got here. The seven hour trip wasn't bad at all. We made sandwhiches and cookies and only needed a few bathroom breaks. We found a pizza place across the street from the apartment where a pizza big enough for two is five Euros. The conversion is 1 Euro to 1.2 Dollars, so most things are very reasonably priced. Berlin is much much cheaper than Denmark! It's not any warmer though. It's forecasted to rain until Thurday, but then it will be sunny and warm for the last few days.
The apartment we are renting is beautiful. We are in an area called Wedding, and we found this apartment through a Dane who owns it. He rents it out to tourists all year. There are five of us splitting the 4400 Dkr rental for the week. (That comes to about 120 US a person.) All together, with gas, the trip was only 200 a person. We all have beds and the bathroom is huge. The kitchen is completely furnished with anything we might need for cooking. Traveling like this is so much cheaper because we were able to cook breakfast and plan to cook other meals ourselves.
The stories coming out of berlin this week will cover Neo-Nazis, Prasites, Holocaust Memorials and Turkish refugees. I will only be filming and writing for fun, but I aim to possibly put together a small sidebar to my documentary aboutstreet art here in Berin, because the culture is huge here. During my feedback on the documentary at school, one advisor gave me the names of several galleries and streets to go look for art and artists. I think this will e the perfect end to my time here.
But today looks like Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and possibly the Zoo. Tomorrow I may be headed to a concentration camp with some of the other students. The longest standing piece of the Berlin Wall is near the street art museum, so perhaps that will be for Thursday. Pictures are soon to follow.
We drove yesterday and mostly relaxed once we got here. The seven hour trip wasn't bad at all. We made sandwhiches and cookies and only needed a few bathroom breaks. We found a pizza place across the street from the apartment where a pizza big enough for two is five Euros. The conversion is 1 Euro to 1.2 Dollars, so most things are very reasonably priced. Berlin is much much cheaper than Denmark! It's not any warmer though. It's forecasted to rain until Thurday, but then it will be sunny and warm for the last few days.
The apartment we are renting is beautiful. We are in an area called Wedding, and we found this apartment through a Dane who owns it. He rents it out to tourists all year. There are five of us splitting the 4400 Dkr rental for the week. (That comes to about 120 US a person.) All together, with gas, the trip was only 200 a person. We all have beds and the bathroom is huge. The kitchen is completely furnished with anything we might need for cooking. Traveling like this is so much cheaper because we were able to cook breakfast and plan to cook other meals ourselves.
The stories coming out of berlin this week will cover Neo-Nazis, Prasites, Holocaust Memorials and Turkish refugees. I will only be filming and writing for fun, but I aim to possibly put together a small sidebar to my documentary aboutstreet art here in Berin, because the culture is huge here. During my feedback on the documentary at school, one advisor gave me the names of several galleries and streets to go look for art and artists. I think this will e the perfect end to my time here.
But today looks like Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie and possibly the Zoo. Tomorrow I may be headed to a concentration camp with some of the other students. The longest standing piece of the Berlin Wall is near the street art museum, so perhaps that will be for Thursday. Pictures are soon to follow.
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