Registration and Pergamon

So on Thursday I had my registration with Humboldt University. I took the opportunity to take some pictures around the area near the main building.
Here's a statue of Max Planck for all my science major friends. (6.626 x 10^-34 anyone?) This dude received the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on quantum theory. Planck taught at this University back when it was just known as Berlin University, and his graduate students included greats such as Max von Laue (1914 Nobel Prize in Physics winner).

Here's a statue of Frederick the Great on his horse. He was King of Prussia from 1740-1786 (Berlin was a part of Prussia back then). He chilled with Voltaire, had jam sessions with J.S. Bach, conquered places he wanted, and overall just ruled his kingdom like a boss. Check him out.

Here's the TV Tower again with the Berlin Cathedral below it, and in front of that is the German History Museum. This also shows that the Santa Barbara weather I brought with me here is wearing off...

One more picture from Humboldt... here's a quote that you see right when you walk into the main hall. Karl Marx actually studied at Berlin University. Think what you will about Marxism, but you have to admit this is a good quote. "The philosophers have only interpreted the world differently, but what matters is to change it." - Karl Marx

So after registration I decided to visit a museum that my tour guide had recommended, the Pergamon Museum. Pergamon was a city-state in ancient Greece, and this museum houses artifacts from there and other ancient civilizations. They have created an amazing panorama of Pergamon in 129 B.C. that you can view from a tower... it even switches between day and night. Pretty awesome to see what a city would have looked like back then. Unfortunately photography was forbidden there. But here are some pieces of old temples dedicated to Greek gods... check out the people for a size comparison. Some of these temples were absolutely massive. It was incredible to actually stand next to these giant architectural feats.

But the coolest part of the whole museum was definitely this: A reconstruction of the entire Pergamon Altar. They actually aren't entirely sure which God this altar was dedicated to. But sacrifices were made in a small fire here, possibly of animals, possibly only of wine, fruits, etc. Here's one photo I took:

 But here's a better one from Wikipedia so you can actually see the whole thing:

Oh and here's a gate that used to be an entrance to Babylon. nbd.

So I'd like to end this rather lengthy post with this. They had lots of pieces of broken statues in the museum. Here's an example and a bunch of pieces of bronze statues:

And what's that in the upper middle? That is a bronze scrotum.

I'm so mature.

Aloha from Berlin

So I realized I haven't posted any pictures from where I'm currently staying. I'm in a pretty nice hostel located next to some good cheap restaurants. Here's a view from my room:

And a view of my room. My bed is the top bunk closest to the camera on the left:

So I've been interested in finding a group here to play some music with. I don't have my trumpet with me, decided it was too valuable to risk losing. I do, however, have one of my ukuleles :)
Lo and behold, after a quick Google search, I found the Berlin section of the German Ukulele Club. They meet biweekly to sing, play ukulele, and drink beer :)
I decided to attend their meeting on Tuesday night. I saw this church on the way over. Not sure what it's called, but it's pretty, isn't it?

I was early so I stopped by a park to play a little beforehand.

Also saw these little blue flowers in the park.

So the time finally arrived to join the old kooky ukulele players at this little pub. All I can say is the whole thing was awesome... extremely friendly folks, excellent beer, and of course, lots of ukulele and singing. Great night.
My uke and beer :)

Ukuleles!

Here's some members of the group. That guy in left-center holding up his ukulele is Helmut... he speaks German at about 200mph haha. Good thing he's pretty fluent in English too. Very interesting guy, a music teacher and a good Ukulele player.

Cars

So today's theme is cars... and other things.

I saw this tiny little three-wheeled thing and thought it was far too awesome to not deserve a picture. It says "dentist" on the door, so I guess this must be what the dentist drives around for house calls.

And here's a Zebra/Safari themed Land Rover. Just parked in some little Berlin neighborhood. No big deal.

And here's an idea of what the owner of that beast is paying for gas. With the conversion from liters to gallons, and then from Euros to Dollars, the Super E10 (which I believe is like regular unleaded here) comes out to about $8.32 per gallon. No wonder there are always so many people on the S-Bahn.

I walked passed the Berlin Botanical Garden today. I decided not to go in because most of the plants are still missing their leaves and I didn't want to pay 6 EU to see a bunch of twigs. But once it's closer to summer and the leaves are back I'm planning on enjoying a nice day there. I saw this quote over the gate though and I loved it.
"Stand in awe before the plant. Everything lives through it."

Anyway, nice day of walking and academic advising. I ended it with this:

Döner (aka gyros or shawarma, shown here about half eaten) and 0.5L of Erdinger Weißbier. 5 EU ($6.66) total. The food Gods have smiled upon me.

Sunday in Berlin

So today I ended up wandering aimlessly around the city.
Here's a picture of the famous "Ampelmann," telling me "You shall not pass!" This little guy was originally the crosswalk signal in only East Berlin, but since reunification he has also begun showing up in parts of former West Berlin. This stoplight is just outside of Alexanderplatz.

Something about this skyline struck me... just looks very German I guess. Decided to snap a picture of it as I was coming out of an S-Bahn station.

 The British Embassy.

 Saw this mural on the side of an apartment building near my hostel in East Berlin.

The reason I liked that mural so much is because it contrasts with what is depicted in this next picture. A lot of East Berlin looks like this. Big gray boxes speckled with little windows. Communism and architecture don't mix well.

And finally, my favorite picture of the day.

I'm here!

Woohoo first post!

So I am safe and happy in Berlin. Getting here was an absolute mess... missed flights, sleep deprivation, temporarily lost passport... but I am finally here and glad that I am :)

I arrived in Berlin around 3pm (Berlin time) on Friday, March 23rd. Unfortunately I missed the orientation meeting that I was trying so hard to make... It seems like everything is going to work out anyway though, and I might be able to attend a make-up orientation later in the week. My luggage did not arrive with me... I had to go to the Lufthansa lost & found and file a report. After doing some currency exchange, I bought my first public transportation pass, one-way, and took a bus to the nearest S-Bahn station. I got on the S-Bahn and rode it to a stop very close to my hostel (http://www.generatorhostels.com/en/berlin/). I got to my hostel, checked in and paid (only 119€ for a week, pretty good!). I went upstairs to an empty room and fell asleep at around 8pm.


Woke up at 6am Saturday morning (I am currently on an old man's sleep schedule). At around 7am a very nice young man from Greece named Kostas (not sure if that's how it's spelled) checked in and we chatted for a little while before I went downstairs to retrieve my luggage which had been delivered during the night (yay!). After bringing it upstairs I went back down to breakfast (I was told breakfast would cost €4.50, but I haven't been asked to pay so far and I've eaten it twice). Bread and nutella.... mmmmmmmmm


After breakfast I spent some time on the free WiFi here and then took the S-Bahn to the Brandenburg Gate. It was really only after coming out of the S-Bahn station and seeing this gorgeous landmark that it finally hit me: I'm in Berlin!

I had gone to the Gate to meet up for a free tour of the city. This was a walking tour that would end up lasting about 5 hours, including a 20-minute or so break. All I can say is that it was awesome... our guide was named Seb, a very informed dude that had lived in Spain, France, and Great Britain before moving to Berlin. He was very entertaining and somehow knew about Humboldt State University's (the CSU) reputation as a stoner school (I found this hilarious). You can find a list of all the places we visited about halfway down the page here: http://www.newberlintours.com/daily-tours/free-tour.html


Here are some pictures I took during the tour:


Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Das Konzerthaus in Gendarmen Market (in case you were wondering what das Konzerthaus translates to, it's the Concert house).

 Here I am in front of the main building of my new University, Humboldt University Berlin.

 One of my favorites, the TV Tower. Built by East Germany.

After the tour, our guide led us to a pub. I enjoyed some beer and currywurst there and met Alejandro from Mexico and Marlene from Oxnard, CA who had been on the tour with me. They told me they were going to the East Side Gallery (remaining section of the Berlin wall that has been painted by artists) and invited me to come along. Unfortunately it was their last day in Berlin, but I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the East Side Gallery with them. Thanks to Alejandro for this picture:

After this I went home and fell asleep at 8pm again. Woke up this morning to find that Lucas, a very nice 26 yr old from a town near Bangalore, India, had moved in over night. He is currently working for an information technology company in Hamburg and was visiting Berlin for the weekend. We chatted about the differences between Germany, California, and India over breakfast. He checked out after breakfast and now I am writing this!


I'll do my best to keep this updated, bye for now!