Born in the USA

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! I really missed G-unit's cottage and the Evart 4th of July parade. Although the 4th is just any old day here in Germany, we tried to make it memorable and fun. In the morning, some of us went to a little cafe down the street and had an awesome brunch buffet. It's hard to find good breakfast food here (they eat like turkey sandwiches for breakfast), so that meal was heaven-sent. Then we decided to spend our free day in Berlin on Museum Island, and got a pass for all the museums on the island with our 50% student discount. Our first stop was the Neues Museum, where we saw the original Bust of Nefertti and walked around for a couple hours. Then we headed to the Altes Museum to see the floor of sculptures.

Kevin hanging out in the Altes Museum

Just those two museums alone brought us to 5pm, when we had to head back for our 4th of July BBQ on the roof of our apartment building! We rented the top terrace, which has a grilling area that overlooks the entire city of Berlin. The buildings aren't very tall here, so you can see for miles up there. The airport is only a couple of miles away, so I watched all the planes land and take off. One of the best views of Berlin I've seen. The boys acted all manly and grilled everyone cheeseburgers and hot dogs, while we blasted God Bless America and Born in the USA from Ian's iPod speakers.

Some of the boys on the roof of our apartment


View of Alexanderplatz from the top of our building


Zach and Chris grillin' up our burgers

Self-timed group pic at our 4th of July BBQ on the roof

We ended up hanging out up there most of the night. It wasn't the same as sitting around the camp fire with my grandparents and family up north, but we made the best of what we had.

Monday morning was another early morning and, sadly, our last German class. For our last day, we sang German World Cup songs with our teacher Katalin and watched a couple of German films. German class has been one of my favorite parts of the program, so it was a bittersweet end-- mostly because it meant we had 7 hours of computer programming for the rest of the week instead. UGH!

The advanced German class with Katalin (far right)

Then on Monday night, Aylin invited me to come over to her house to dinner and meet the rest of her family. Around 6pm, I met her at a central subway station and she took me to her neighborhood, which is in the South of Berlin. The area was much more suburban, with family homes, little corner stores, and tons of parks. After about a half mile walk, Aylin pointed out the house that her family's apartment is in. As soon as I walked through the door of the top floor apartment, I was greeted by her dad and mom, who, in broken English, but smiling from ear to ear, said "Welcome to my home!" A few minutes later, Aylin's little sister Salene, came bouncing out of her room. Aylin had told me that Salene had been taking English lessons, so I should try to get her to talk in English, but she was too shy. I tried to open her up by making her laugh with my bad German, "Wie alt bist du?" (How old are you?), "Spechst du English?" (Do you speak English), and "Du hast sehr shöne blaue Augen." (You have really pretty blue eyes!). After the initial introductions, we set the table and sat down for dinner. The food was delicious! Her mom made a feast and I could have eaten it all! We had steak bits with peppers, homemade rice pilaf, Turkish salad, and pan seared potatoes and carrots. After dinner, I told her it was "das beste Essen in ganz Deutschland!" (or the best food in all of Germany). I was in desperate need of a home cooked meal. My stomach is grumbling just thinking about it.

Me and Aylin at her house

Amazing dinner cooked by her Mom


Aylin and her 8 year old sister Salene

After dinner, Aylin, her mom, little sister, and I drove to a little ice cream cafe a few miles away. Her little sister had warmed up to me a lot throughout the night and was trying to talk to me in English. She told me all about her English class and sang "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" with me.

Me and Salene


Me, Salene, and Aylin's Mom at the ice cream cafe

Before I left, Aylin's family had offered to let me stay the night, come back whenever I wanted, money if I ever was in trouble, and invited me to Turkey with them next summer. Even a pretty big language barrier could not mask their innate hospitality and kindness. Just being around a family again made me really miss my own. We're around other students 24/7, so it was nice to see Aylin's dad make her little sister giggle, or to see how her mom took care of everyone in the house. I think that was one of my favorite nights here so far.

Tuesday was spent in the computer lab and then doing more homework after. I went down to my apartment's beer garden with a couple of people and just hung out watching the Netherlands/Uraguay World Cup Game. Wednesday was the big Germany/Spain game, so after school, we all headed downtown to stake our stop at the Fan Mile. It was about 25 degrees less this time, so the Fan Mile was much more manageable and we didn't miss any German goals this time! But that's only because there weren't any. Spain ended up winning 1-0 and about a million pouty Germans flooded out of the park. I wish they could have pulled it through to the Finals, Germany would have just gone nuts!

Lindsay, me, & Tom at the Fan Mile for the semi-finals

Right after Spain scored.. dead silence

Lindsay, me, and Ben at the empty Fan Mile afterwards

Secretly though, the fact that Spain won kind of works out better for us. As much as I would have loved for Germany to win, 6 of us had planned a trip to Spain weeks ago for this upcoming weekend. Tomorrow, we are leaving for Malaga, Spain and staying until Monday morning. We would have switched our flight if Germany won, but now we get to be in Spain for the World Cup Finals between the Netherlands and Spain. I am so excited! What I am most looking forward to though is the beach, and the beach, and more of the beach. Malaga is located right on the Mediterranean and although some are "clothing optional", Malaga's beaches are supposed to be beautiful.

Leaving for Malaga, Spain tomorrow!

I can't believe how fast this trip is going by! We already finished our classes today. This weekend we are going to Spain. Next week is filled with planned program excursions because it is the last official week. Then, Lindsay and I leave for our train trip across Italy. And finally, my Mom, Bill, and Casey are here for a week, and I'm home before you know it! I'm excited for what's ahead, and keeping busy until I can get back to see everyone. I love you all, and miss you tons! Have a good weekend! Today it is: Adios!