A triptych

I said a few weeks ago, when I posted about food, that I needed a complete post to talk about one of my most favorite parts about Berlin--

Beer.

Well, that time has come. But I realized that I can't do justice to my love for German brews by just describing tastes. So I bring to you:

Will's Poetry Corner.

I bring to you three different poems united by their similarities--

a haiku

golden majesty--

Crisp on a warm Berlin day.

Hops, barley, Heaven.

When in Germany

I like to drink beer while I'm out.

Don't care if it's light or a stout.

If it's from Berlin

I think it's a sin

to say no to a drink from the spout!

and lastly...

Ode to gold in a glass

Oh beer

Sometimes you are not clear

but I don't shed a tear

for that means you are brewed from wheat

and I think that's pretty sweet

You are so delicious;

no one should be suspicious

or feel malicious

because I drink you.

Simply put, you are a tasty brew.

Don't worry, friends. I don't have any sort of problem. I just really think that the beer here in Germany tastes delicious. I've also included a photographic tribute to beer.

Additionally and on a completely different note, did I tell you all that I was bitten by an emu last week? You betcha I was! At the Berlin Zoo. I was taking a picture of the emus, and one curiously poked its head through the cage. I didn't think much of it, and really I thought, "Cool! I can take a closer picture." And by closer picture, I mean have my finger bitten. No worries. The emu didn't have teeth. But honestly, who gets bitten by an emu!? See the two pictures here. It was actually a pretty funny incident. I laughed a lot.

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

lecker -- delicious

No more class

Well, I am finished with class. Today was the last day of instruction. While I still have a test to take on Wednesday and Thursday, things are officially coming to a close.

We had a nice reception after class today. I'll see some of my classmates at the exam over the next couple of days, but it was good to have some last words with others and exchange emails. Of course every class has some sour spots and some tension, everyone seemed to be pretty happy. It was, for the most part, a great class. It was very diverse with lots of different opinions and world views, and that made class a lot more interesting.

As far as my German, I can honestly say that it is so much better. I can function quite comfortably in Germany with the language that I have. Some things pass me by, but for the most part, I can understand and function. I feel like I've accomplished something that I can use in the future. I definitely have developed my German to pave the way for other opportunities that come my way. Certainly, German will be helpful for my research that I will engage in the future. I believe that now no sentence is untranslatable for me. Before, I would come across sentences, have absolutely no idea what it said and further, no idea how to go about translating it. I thought I knew what to do, how the sentence was structured, etc., but when the translation came out, the sentence was meaningless. Now, I do not believe that that will happen. I built upon my skills that I learned in college, fine tuned them, and added to them. I'm really satisfied with the progress I made.

The big question that faces me now is how I can keep up the progress that I made. How can I keep building on what I've done and not lose the progress that I've made? Thanks to my mother, I am a fan of "The Biggest Loser," and for the contestants, it is always just as important to lose weight and maintain their lifestyle after the television show. Well, I'm now in the same boat. How do I keep that up? The biggest issue will be with speaking. Here, I speak German every day. I have to. I have to to talk with classmates, I have to to order food, I have to to function. Naturally in America, I don't have to do that. I could waltz down to Edelweiss German bakery in Tuscaloosa and try my hand at German there, but I could just as easily order pretzel rolls in English.

For reading and hearing, the internet is a valuable tool. I can access German newspapers, keep tabs on German Harry Potter, and work on my own research. That not only keeps my grammar sharp but simultaneously expands my vocabulary (it took me a while to think of that word in English). I can also find German videos easily on the internet. Many times, German news websites have videos, and there are countless other resources that I can use. I'm really looking forward to taking advantage of these things and keeping up with my German.

I think this a good challenge for me. Looking for new ways to use my German and finding ways to work it in and keep it sharp will be a good challenge. It would be a shame to lose the progress that I have made here, because it is considerable. I'm pretty proud of what I've done, and I won't let it go to waste.

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

das Ende -- end

Alright, that's it...

I apologize to everyone. It is official--I'm not coming home.

You might be asking, "But Will?! Why!? Why are you not coming home?" One answer--beer gardens.

It is like an amusement park for adults. It is the most wonderful thing that someone could imagine. What do they have at beer gardens? Beer and trees and food. What a combination! The food is good hearty Germany food like bratwurst and potato salad and various mini-steaks, and giant pretzels. The beer, most of the time, doesn't come in weenie glasses but great looking mugs with thick walls and sturdy handles. Mugs that are built for slamming against other mugs, spilling beer all over the place and yelling, "PROST!"

Here's how I came to this realization--Today was actually shaping up to be a less than remarkable afternoon. Like usual, I dallied too long at lunch with my classmates, and that cut my "me time" this afternoon a bit short. (It was kinda worth it, though, because our Japanese classmate took us to this restaurant that she had found, and I ate some killer sushi.) When I got back to my place, I had to prepare my talk for tomorrow. Yes, I'm giving my speech on the last day of class. At least I'm giving one--that's more than some of our classmates can say. So, seeing that I got back to my room at about 4:30 and I had to prepare my speech, I thought this afternoon wasn't going to be too hot. I thought I'd take a few hours to prepare my talk, walk down to Kaiser's, pick up some ham and some rolls, make a sandwich, and watch the Liverpool v. Aston Villa match on my computer. Boooy was I wrong.

I managed to get my speech done reasonably quickly, and I picked out a new part of town to visit--Dahlem. I had aims to visit an old church there. I didn't find it until about 8pm (I went the wrong way out of the UBahn station. It was actually about a 4 minute walk from the Dahlem-Dorf station). Dahlem is lovely. It is an older part of town, and all of the houses are giant and old with ivy growing all over them. They look like they're all traditional German houses with peculiarly shaped roofs and dark brown frames against white stuccoed walls. It really is quite a site to see. Among these houses, I found the Alter Krug.

Around the time I found the Alter Krug, it was about time for dinner. I was thinking to myself, "Ohh, a beer garden! That'd be nice if I had other people with me." So I passed. In doing so, I found the old church I was looking for, but it was too dark to take pictures. I also thought, "Will, you're going to eat alone anyway. Who cares if it is a beer garden or not?" Good thought, me! I turned around, and marched up to the bar and said, "Könnte ich ein mal Berliner Pils mit Bratwurst und Kartoffelsalat bestellen?" Before I knew it, I was enjoying my beer, wurst, and potato salad. Here's a lovely shot of the Alter Krug:

The beer was good, the food was delicious, the weather was incredible, the atmosphere was beautiful. It was smaller than the other beer gardens I had visited and tucked away a little more. It was a little more secluded than the ones that I have been to in Tiergarten and Prenzlauerberg. I don't want to go on about how it is "untouristy" because I certainly heard some American English, but I do think it was a little bit more off the beaten path. I just got a really good vibe. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the beer or the food or the name (the old mug), but I couldn't complain one bit--except I wish that you all could've been there with me. I'm glad I went. It was a lovely place to experience, but to make the night perfect, the Alter Krug needed good family and good friends.

So ultimately, I'm kidding. I'm actually coming home. I will be back on Friday. I must say this though, if graduate school doesn't work out, I will seriously consider my hand at being a German beer schlepper in Dahlem. I don't have to know about any fancy-pants cocktails. All I've gotta do is take money and dish out beer and wine. So America, I have a request. Can we get a few more places like the Alter Krug before I come back? Thanks

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

der Biergarten -- heaven

The newspaper lady

Yesterday I had an incident. Nothing extremely major, but it certainly weighed on my mind a little bit.

Senior year, I took a class about poverty and homelessness. I learned a lot about trends, legislation, psychology, and theology/philosophy relating to this topic. I didn't just read about it in books, but I stayed in a homeless shelter in Louisville as well. Ever since this class, I've had a heightened awareness for the topic and even started to shift my research interest a bit, focusing on welfare issues.

So that being said, I tend to think about issues regarding poverty and homelessness often. This is the first time that I have been confronted with such visible homelessness so regularly. I am 100% aware that there is a homeless population in Murray, Danville, and Tuscaloosa, but it isn't as visible as in Berlin. There are beggars on street corners, street performers, and newspaper salespeople.

My focus today is on the newspaper salespeople. I have a lot of respect for the newspaper salespeople. First of all, they are not selling the Berliner Morgenpost, the Tagesspiegel, or any other widely circulated German newspaper. They write their own paper with themes specific to homelessness and poverty. The salespeople will board UBahn or SBahn trains and give a small sales pitch that usually includes their name, how long they have been homeless, and information about the paper. Then, they walk up and down the train looking for interested buyers. When the train arrives at its station, they will get off, switch trains, and continue on their way.

Well, Friday night on the way home from Inglorious Basterds, I decided to give money to a newspaper saleswoman. It was about 11:30 at night, and I had some extra change in my pocket. She boarded the train, gave her pitch, and walked my way. I handed her my 1.5o Euro, but when she handed me my newspaper, I didn't take it. She said something like, "Are you sure," and I said, "Yes, thank you." She said, "Thank you" and went on her way into the night with her backpack full of newspapers. It is quite possible that she didn't give the exchange a second thought, but I did. I then gave it a third, a fourth, a fifth, etc, etc.

I felt bad. I will tell you why, and you can agree with me or disagree with me. By selling newspapers, she was doing more than sitting on the street asking for donations. She was using her power and abilities to reestablish a functional position in society in which she offered a product or a service and received compensation for that. Just like I offer a service to the University of Alabama or you perform your daily jobs at work, so did she. But when I gave her the 1.50 Euro and refused the newspaper, I broke that relationship that she was trying to establish between us. I was essentially saying, "No, I refuse your service, and I am giving you a donation." And that isn't what she wanted.

I could be reading too much into this. I keep telling myself that my heart was in the right place. I gave her money because I respected and admired what she was doing. But I don't just give money to people who check me out at Wal-Mart. I don't just give money to store owners because I like that they're offering me a service. By just giving her money, I was treating her differently than I would a regular salesperson, when I feel the whole reason she sells newspapers is to be treated as a regularly functioning salesperson.

Like I said, she may have not given it a second thought. It might happen to her all the time. I probably see more people refuse newspapers than actually take them, but for me personally, that doesn't make it okay. I look at programs like these newspapers as a step out of poverty. It helps initiate lifestyle changes, and I feel like I'm undermining that process when I give a donation and refuse the service.

What have I learned from this experience? Take the newspaper.

Thoughts? Agree? Disagree?

See you all again on Monday. One more week! Who can believe it?

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

die Zeitung -- newspaper

Postponed

Blog nation,

I apologize, but I am postponing today's post until tomorrow. I do have something good to discuss, but I need time to process a little bit. I actually have two good things to talk about, so don't fret. You will have a special Saturday edition tomorrow, and we will resume with standard operating procedure on Monday. Sorry, faithful followers.

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

aufschieben -- to postpone

19.19

Back to Olympiastadion tonight. I don't have a lot to say other than this:

Usain Bolt isn't a human being.

World record. Incredible.

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

schnell -- fast

All about da keedz!

Today, we have some special guests with us. I'd like to thank Canaan, Tyler, Mason, and Kelly from my mom's class for their excellent questions about Germany. Today I'll take some time to answer them and hopefully give everyone a better glimpse of Germany.

Question 1 comes from Kelly:

How big is the Castle Church?

As some of you might remember the Castle Church stands in Wittenberg. It was at this church that Martin Luther nailed up his 95 Theses to begin the Protestant Revolution. Kelly, it is quite a sizable church. In terms of square feet, I cannot say how large. The sanctuary was probably one of the largest that I have visited. It has a balcony that can accommodate a few hundred people. The church also has a large tower. I did a bit of research and found out that this tower is 300 feet tall. To get a good sense of how tall that is: take a football field, and stand it up on one end zone. That is 300 feet tall. Visitors could walk up to the observation deck which was just over halfway up, 170ft high. The pictures that look out over Wittenberg are from this deck. To get to the deck, visitors must walk up 289 steps. 289! Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got to the top. And the staircases are spiral, so I was a bit dizzy as well.

Question number 2 comes from Mason:

Is it true that Berlin is big?

Yes, Mason. Berlin is big. In terms of people, Berlin is home to nearly 3,5000,000 people. Murray, on the other hand, has approximately 15,000 people. With regard to land, Berlin is about 35 times larger than Murray. Berlin is the largest city, in terms of population, in germany. Hamburg is second with just over 1.5M people. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Berlin is the largest city that I've lived in. I wish I could more accurately describe its size, but it certainly dwarfs Murray. I don't know if it is even fair to compare the two.

Question number 3 comes from Tyler:

Is it true that Germans are very nice?

From my experiences, Germans have been very nice. Many believe that Germans can be cold and a bit short when they talk to people. Some say that Germans are direct and don't care much for chit-chat. I, on the other hand, have found things to be quite different. Many of you may remember the Berliners that I met on the way home from the Arsenal match. They were very welcoming and very interested in talking to me. It could have had something to do with the certain soccer team that we both supported, but not necessarily. I spoke with a group of men and a son and a father. Looking back on it, these people had very strong relationships with one another and by no means had to open up their respective circles to an outsider American like myself. But they did, and there was no problem whatsoever. I've had other good experiences with people in the UBahn, in cafes, in bars, and many other places. People here in Berlin seem to be very open and very willing to talk with me and help me.

Finally, question number 4 comes from Canaan:

Are the Germans bad like on the Indiana Jones movies?

No, not at all. The bad guys from the Indiana Jones movies were Germans, but they in no way represent the broader population of Germany. They come from a small group of Germans that took power in the 1930s, but they spoke for only a radical minority of Germans. These Germans were only in power for about 12 years, and now Germany and the world condemns their actions. Germans are very nice and helpful people, as noted in question 3. The bad guys in Indiana Jones represent only a historical image of a group of people that identified with a terrible world view. They do not represent Germany or the German people.

I hope these answers help some of you, and I thank you for your questions. Keep them coming in, and I look forward to hearing from you all soon. Take care,

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

die Frage -- question