Today was my first day back to school. I had two classes, one lecture and one graduate class. It made it a little easier to get back into things for two reasons. One, we talked about Prussia in my lecture class. Two, the author of our book in my graduate class is Ira Berlin. I got to talk a lot about Berlin today, just not the right kind of Berlin.
So far, all is well. I don't have much to report on the home front. I can say that it is nice to have Sportscenter back. I never knew how much I actually enjoyed watching it until I was deprived of it for two months. And miraculously, it appears that ESPN is now covering soccer much more closely. Soccer is a regular installment on the scrolling bottom line. Hooray.
My apartment is still a mess. That is the mission for tonight. I'm going to put (and throw) things away, organize, and make things livable again. Not like I live in some kind of dump by any stretch of the imagination, but I decided to just drop my bags in my living room rather than put things away last night.
I've got to say that there are some day-to-day things that I miss about Berlin:
1. Coin money-- Yes, we have coin money in America. But the highest denomination is a quarter of a dollar. In Berlin, I had 2 Euro coins, 1 Euro coins, and 0.50 Euro coins that I used frequently. You know what is great about those? You can actually buy things with them. Every morning, I'd grab some combination of 1, .5, and .2 coins to pay for my breakfast that consisted of a 1E chocolate croissant and a .70E cup of coffee. I'd find myself buying cones of ice cream with coins, doner kebab with coins, beers with coins, etc, etc. You could do so much with two or three coins. In America, you've gotta have at least 4 to make a dollar. That'd don't get it.
2. Milchkaffee-- literally translated: milk coffee. Figuratively translated, warm delicious. I'd order a milchkaffee in under one of two circumstances: 1. after lunch, 2. reading at a cafe. The waiter/ess brings a big round mug of coffee with foam on top. I don't know if we've got an equivalent in America. It isn't a cappuccino, it isn't a latte macchiato, and I don't think it is a latte (I'm not a fancy coffee connoisseur--my standard morning cup of joe is black). When you get your little spoon and mix the coffee and the foam, it makes this creamy coffee concoction that goes great with a book, whether that book is German Harry Potter or American history.
3. Weather-- I haven't experienced anything awful in Kentucky or Alabama, and to be quite honest, the weather in Kentucky was wonderful before I left. But, Berlin's weather was spectacular. Nearly no humidity. Only got above 80 on occasion. Rained a good amount. The weather was priceless.
4. UBAHN-- You could probably guess that one. I don't like driving.
The whole vibe of the city was really great. The history, the people, the events, the places were all really inspiring. Being in such an important city is something that I will miss. I guess Tuscaloosa is pretty important. They've got some important football to play this weekend.
Deutsches Wort des Tages:
vermissen -- to miss
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