31.01.2010 Staying for summer!

Survey says Raleigh's staying for summer!

Life couldn't be better, I'm in Berlin, I've a great year ahead here and in Morocco, my mom and her boyfriend are here to visit, and the sun was out today! That sneaky SOB.

The moment of truth arrived. My host mother had penciled my family in for brunch this morning (10:00 to 12:00). My phone wasn't working so at 9:45 my parents began to ring every doorbell in the flat complex (mm, making friends) until she found us. My parents arrived and pretended like I hadn't snuck them in the day before for a tour. Anna (the hosty) has gorgeous bouquets of tulips around the house in preparation for them, and had prepared a gorgeous feast. To prove her tight, pink, child-leash that she has on my barbaric etiquette she taught me how to serve bread (oh, the things I'm learning) to my parents. I deserve a cookie at the end of the semester is all I can say...
I've found that my default for conversation is politics. We had a hearty bout of conversation regarding the Turkish immigration issue and the building of mosques in democratic states. We then turned to planning what my parents are going to be up to whilst I write a paper today!

It's begun to feel as if I'm actually back at school. Which is good. Tomorrow's my birthday and I'm still figuring out how I want to spend it! My host mother is adorable and wants to give me a "traditional German birthday." Ee! Wednesday is when it'll be held because school interferes with the actual date. I told my friend Kristina that and she told me that a "traditional" German birthday meant that the birthday girl pays for the guests. My host mother was trying to trick me!! Then I realized that she earnestly did want to have some of my friends over for dinner. She's a sweetheart, she really is. Aside from idiosyncrasies, she has some great life philosophies. I apologize for the bad poetry which erupted from the previous line.

Speaking of bad poetry, one of the FU-Best assistants here is named Stephan. His accent is so flawless that he sounds like an American. Stephan, Kirk, Kristina, Danielle, Leon, and I ended up (don't ask me how) in Kreuzberg sledding with three Germans who spoke English at 4:30 the other morning because my friend Kirk's host brother arrived with a small sled. Stephan was complaining about a hole in his shoe after trudging up the hill. He said that he had a "hole in his sole," the German translation for which I don't remember, but sounds like "Locked in the Cellar." He said it in English and demanded a transliteration without a poetic nuance. He was disappointed and refused to believe that Americans just say "there's a hole in the bottom of my shoe." This is the man who also referred (with a great knowledge of what he was saying) to "sledding" as "slutting." He's a funny guy and was nice enough to walk me home because he lives nearby and after the U-Bahns no longer run on weeknights I had no idea where I was. Three hours of sleep then off to an excursion!

The next morning we had a tour of a Stasi prison complex and I went to a Salvador Dali exhibit featuring some series following: Isolde, Cervantes, Dante Alighieri, and what appeared to be something tantamount to Comedia dell'arte. It was one of the best, if not the best, galleries to which I've ever been.

Lange Nacht Die Museums was last night and I was able to go with my family! Over 100 museums are open until the wee hours of the morning for a single ticket purchase! The Deutsches Historisches Museum was one of my favorite although I unfortunately haven't made it to the Judisches Museum yet.

Well, I'm off to go perform my monthly exercisement of judgement and begin a paper!

Bis nachste Woche! I'm off tomorrow to go celebrate my twenty years of survival!

Raleigh