Crazy Dog!

I thought I had seen it all when I watched Rachel and Dave Edward's dachsund, Chaucer, bite his nails. Yes folks, he literally bites his nails. (He probably gets it from Rachel). Today, however, I was proven wrong. We arrived home late today and we stopped downstairs to chat with our landlady. I was petting and playing with Clara (the Maltese) while we talked. At one point, she decided she was excited enough to play back. So, she would lick my foot, then paw at my foot, then jump up onto my leg and stretch her whole body upwards so that I would continue to pet her. After a while, she must have decided that wasn't enough, because she started grabbing the hem of my skirt with her teeth and lifting it up. She wasn't really biting it, just lifting it up. It was hilarious! I wish I could have gotten that on film.

The snow did stick. An unusual Saturday morning in Berlin!

It's Snowing!!!

Our first day of snow in Berlin! Yay! Now, let's see if it sticks.

Berlin Zoo

As promised, we went to the other zoo in Berlin this last Saturday. I guess it is officially called the Berlin Zoo, while the other (as you may remember) is called the Tierpark. It was much smaller than the Tierpark. I love zoos generally, so I was not disappointed with the time we spent there. However, it was not as good as the Tierpark. Anyway, without further ado, here is a visual tour of some of the things we saw there.


I am not posting pictures of the pygmy hippopotamus because I didn't get a good one. It was a bad day for taking pictures for me. I tried to get a picture of him opening his mouth really wide and showing his teeth (I think he had something stuck in there that he was trying to get out), but I didn't get the camera out in time. :(

I also missed getting this hippopotamus with his mouth open wide. :(

We found this guy and one of his friends on the path (outside the Tierkinderzoo). I'm pretty sure they weren't supposed to be out.

They did have a lot of cool, exotic animals at the zoo. These kookaburras are some of them.

Another was the Coatis. I also missed a great shot of one of these guys. He saw me and climbed to the top of a short bush near me to see what I had. I was way too late getting the camera out for that. I've been kicking myself ever since. :(


Here's Knut...the one you've all been waiting for.


A digging warthog.


Me with Eeyore.


The wooing goats.


Penguins debating about whether or not they actually want to swim.



Playing sea lions. Again, I missed the best part. They were making quite a bit of noise, but I must have had bad luck that day.


A capybara.

This is a fossa. I believe it's some kind of feline...sure looks like it anyway.

This is a jaguarundi...also a feline.

These are dwarf mongoose. They were so cute huddled together like that. They must have been cold.

This panda was just chowing down on his eucalyptus leaves.

I know this picture is horrible, but this was the funniest thing. This spider monkey was playing with a little girl. You can see the other window in the background. Well, this little girl was running from one window to the other and he would follow her back and forth. It was so cute!

This seal was posing for everybody (while all the other seals swam around).

I got a little bit of this lion roaring, but not all of it. He did a lot more roaring than that.

And finally, the main entrance to the zoo…on the way out of course.

Das Krötchen

As I was walking home from my German class a couple weeks ago, I saw something moving across the sidewalk. It was kind of dark, so it was hard to see what it was. I was completely positive when I picked it up, but it sured moved like a frog. :) Sure enough, it was...or maybe a toad. So, I brought it home to show Stewart. He was pretty lethargic (probably from the cold), so he didn't put up much of a fight. Since I had him here, I thought I'd take a few pictures of him. Don't worry, I let him go in the garden after I had my fun. So, for your viewing pleasure: Das Krötchen! (Ignore my improper pronunciation of the German word for toad in the movie. I often make a fool of myself these days as I try to learn German).

Sanssouci (Potsdam, near Berlin)

This is what a Saturday afternoon in Oktober should be like:

A Calling Already?

Well, our bishop gave me a calling today. I wasn't totally surprised, being somewhat warned in advance. So...drum roll please...I am the assistant ward choir director. I'm excited, but I'm also frustrated after the first day. I can't really understand German and I can't speak it well either (yet). So, it makes it very difficult to give the choir director advice (because she wants it), and will certainly make it more difficult when I have to lead myself. Little does Stewart know that this will have to be a calling for both of us. He'll have to translate for me galore.

Deutschkurs

Well, German classes began on Monday. I went there with a little trepidation, but I have to say that I love it! I walked into the class when only 3 people were there and I sat down next to one of them. What are the chances that I would happen to sit by the only other person from the U.S.? There are 15 students in the class: 2 from the U.S., 1 from Italy, 2 from Japan, 3 from Spain, 3 from Poland, 1 from Venezuela, 1 from Tanzania, 1 from Tonga, and 1 from Bosnia. Most of us are between the ages of 23 and 38. However, there is a 15-year-old girl from Poland. Almost everybody speaks English, but the class is, of course, conducted entirely in German.

We have only learned basic questions and answers thus far, but it's been fun. The first day I felt like I was right on line with most of the people in the class. However, there are a few people who are a bit more advanced. Yesterday I felt like the class was moving a bit too slow for me. There are a couple of students in the class who really struggle with pronunciation and remembering what we've learned. Stewart told me I need to be patient (which has always been a virtue with which I've struggled) because I have learned another language and I've taught both ESL and Spanish, so I have a better idea of what kinds of strategies to use in learning a language. That may be true, and I don't want to begrudge these people the opportunity to learn German, but I also want to get my money's worth.

So, for those of you who may speak or understand German, here I am to dazzle you with the pitiful (yet exciting) things I've learned:
Ich heiße Michelle. -or- Ich bin Michelle. -or- Mein Name ist Michelle.
Ich komme aus den USA, aus Utah oder New York (take your pick).
Ich wohne in Berlin (for now).
Ich bin dreißig Jahre alt.
Ich lerne Deutsch.
Ich spreche Englisch und Spanisch.
Mauro spricht Italienisch. Rebecca und Lola sprechen Englisch. Yuko und Nana sprechen Japanisch. Dominika, Marzena und Karolina sprechen Polnisch. Vanessa, Pablo, David y Carlota sprechen Spanisch. Jasmina spricht Bosnisch. Reziky spricht Kisuaheli.
Wie heißen Sie? -or- Wie ist Ihr Name?
Woher kommen Sie?
Wo wohnen Sie?
Wie alt sind Sie?
Was machen Sie hier?
Was sprechen Sie?

I also know other random bits of vocabulary and verbs, but I won't bore you any further. Unfortunately, I don't yet know the possessive for "du", so I can't write the questions informally. However, please do feel free to answer my questions above. :)

What I Love About Europe...

I've made a list of the some of the things I love about Europe. This is, by no means, a complete list, nor is it in any particular order. So, in case you needed some reasons to come to Europe, here are just a few.

1. Walking. People walk everywhere! I love going outside and walking. Not only do we have a nice forested area nearby in which to walk, but we walk pretty much everywhere. It is not uncommon to see people of all ages walking places. Yes, there are plenty of cars as well, but when gas is between $8 and $10 a gallon, you probably don't feel as inclined to drive. Also, the cars are generally small. If people aren't walking, they're riding a bike. I've never seen so many people riding bikes as I have here in Germany. (It wasn't like that in Spain). Our landlady thought it was strange that we're not avid bike-riders.

2. Public Transportation. I wish we had this in the States. Yes, we have public transportation, but it's not nearly as good as it is in Europe. If we're not walking, we're taking the bus or the "underground" as they like to call it here. I keep calling it the metro, because that's what it is in Spain. However, it's technically the bahn--either the U-bahn or the S-bahn--and yes, you have to be specific.

3. Bakeries. I could eat breakfast at the bakery every day! Mmmm! Just the smell wafting from the bakery makes my mouth water. It doesn't matter whether you're in Germany, Spain, or France, the pastries and other things you buy at the bakery are so much better than anything we have in the States. So, one has to walk to work off all the extra weight one gains from the bakeries.

4. Candy. Again, the candy in Europe is so much better than the States. I used to be a big candy fiend growing up, but it's worn off quite a bit over the years. Fortunately, I'm living in Germany and I like the "chuches" in Spain better than what they have here, so I won't eat quite as much.

5. Chocolate. Need I say more? Stewart will argue that German chocolate is the best in the world. He loves the Milkas, which you can buy in the States, but the selection here is much better. I, personally, like the Ritter Sports. Yes, you can buy those in the States also, but again, the selection is better here. Unfortunately for me, I am unable to find my favorite Ritter Sport (Butter Biscuit) in any of the stores here. I have looked and looked. I found it in the mini bars that come in packs, but that's it. Oddly, that's one you can find in the States. Also, they are not cheaper here than in the States. They cost just as much.

6. Ham. Whether it's jamón serrano, jamón ibérico, jambon cru, Schwarzwälder Schinken, or some other name, this kind of ham is the best! It is definitely my favorite lunch meat! The only think I can compare it to is prosciutto. That's about as close as you can get to it in the States (unless I'm mistaken).

Well, those are the 6 that first came to mind. Although, the federdecke (is that spelled correctly?) is quickly making its way to the list. As the weather gets colder, those feather blankets are nice and cozy...even if it is ridiculously small.

Incidentally, starting Monday, I will have the opportunity to see how my ESL students felt. I begin my German classes and I suspect they will be taught in German. Let the frustration begin...bring it on!

Tierpark

So, we went to the Tierpark yesterday and the weather cooperated beautifully! I really enjoyed it! Stewart, on the other hand, was probably not as excited as I was to walk through a gigantic zoo all day long. He did say he enjoyed it, but you'll have to ask him if that's true or not. At any rate, I have decided to take you on a visual tour of our day at the Tierpark. Enjoy!


(t) - The Tierpark entrance. (b) - This European Red Deer was definitely the alpha male. He chased all the other deer out of the building and made as much noise as possible. Here he was raising his head and making whatever noise they make. It wasn't until too late that I thought of filming.


This stork was hissing at us. It was very strange. Since the animals decided that it was a great day to be vocal, I tried to get some of them on film.

(t) - This little mouse, so young that its eyes weren't even open yet, had no idea that he was lunch. Fortunately, the snake did not seem very hungry at the time...or is it unfortunate to prolong his fate? (b) - This Yemen chameleon was possibly the coolest thing we saw at the Tierpark. His colors were so vibrant. Look at his funky feet!

(l) - I think this was some sort of pheasant, but I can't remember anymore. His colors were very beautiful and he even turned his head to pose for the picture. (r) - This is a wolverine! I've never seen a wolverine before. He just sat there with his large claws looking out at everyone. There was another hiding near the back. This zoo likes to keep pairs of animals. I think they are encouraging reproduction. It seems to work, because they had a ton of baby animals.

(l) - Sloths are some of my favorite animals. They are just so cute! The sloth at the Hogle Zoo in Utah is always sleeping (which stands to reason because they are nocturnal), so I've never seen him moving. However, this sloth was climbing from one side of the cage to the other (on the ceiling of course). It was feeding time, so I guess that took presidence over sleeping. (r) - This sloth did not feel the same as the other. He took the food from the zookeeper and went back to sleep. I did think it was pretty cool that his claws were hanging out of the cage though. Oh...and as you can see, these are two-toed sloths.

They had three baby elephants that were just adorable! I'm not sure I've ever seen a baby elephant in real life. So, we filmed them playing. Please ignore my stupid comment at the end. I thought Stewart said "tusks" not "trunks".

There was an adorable baby hyena at the Tierpark. The video is not that exceptional, but I accidentally filmed instead of taking a picture.

(t) - They had an area filled with different kinds of vultures, buzzards, some other birds, and even one kind of eagle. This guy was spreading his wings out...I don't know why. Maybe he just wanted his picture taken. (b) - Although there were several lions outside, there was also one male lion inside. At one point he was roaring like crazy! Unfortunately, I arrived too late to film it. I was hoping he would start up again while we were there, but he decided it was nap time.

Bats are another of my favorite animals, so I was very excited to find out that you could actually go into the area with the bats. The Hogle Zoo used to have flying foxes, but we learned this summer that they are no longer there. The flying foxes at the Tierpark were flying from one tree to another, so I tried to film them flying. Unfortunately, this was my first time filming with our camera, so it is really bad footage. However, I thought I would include it because the whole idea of bats flying over you in the daylight is pretty cool. Fortunately, the bats did not pee on us like they did on some of the other people.

(t) - The polar bears (or ice bears as they are called in German) were probably thinking it was way too hot for them. This guy looked up once, but quickly resumed his sprawling. (b) - I just threw this one in because anybody who knows me knows I love frogs! In the kinderzoo (children's zoo), they had a garbage can shaped like a frog. :)

(t) - I love this picture! Near the llamas there were these fluffy weed/reed things. The sun hit them perfectly (if you weren't looking at the sun). (b) - There were a ton of pelicans at the Tierpark. Some of them had black feathers on their backs, and some were pinkish. These guys had funky hairdos.

So, that was our adventure at the Tierpark. Many of the animals were very close. My brother Philip would have loved this place! (Especially the cheetah, Phil. He came right up to the edge of the fence, and you could see everywhere in the enclosure.) If any of you come to Berlin, you should definitely think about visiting the Tierpark.

The sun DOES shine on Berlin!

I was beginning to have my doubts. However, yesterday was so nice, I almost didn't need a jacket! Today promises to be even nicer. I hope that's true, because we're going to the Tierpark (literally, animal park). It is not quite the zoo...there is a Berlin Zoo also. The difference is that the Berlin Zoo is in west Berlin and the Tierpark is in east Berlin. Edel told us that the Tierpark is better because you have more interaction with the animals. I'm ridiculously excited! Don't worry though...we will be going to the Berlin Zoo next month, and the aquarium probably the month after. Then, when we get to Frankfurt, we can go to the Frankfurt Zoo!

My New Friends

Merlin the cat likes to come upstairs and visit us. He usually comes up each evening to say hello. Apparently, he likes to sit on the white IKEA chair, but I haven't seen him do it yet. The first day he came up, he was just interested in who we were and what new things there were to sniff.

When I took his picture, he didn't seem to like it very much. He tried to hide from me. I guess he's a little camera shy. He is 12 years old after all.

After the first day, he decided we could stay and that he would like to be pet. If I wiggle my fingers in his direction, he comes for petting. Well, two days ago he came upstairs and hid under the bed. I got down on my knees and tapped my fingers on the floor. He came right out to be pet. After he was done, he decided it was time to leave, but I wanted to try and hold him. So, I picked him up before he could run out the door. Oh--my--goodness! He did NOT like that. He was snarling and hissing at me like crazy! Therefore, it has been established that Merlin does not like to be picked up. He didn't come to visit us yesterday. I wonder if I've scared him away for good. He's probably still grumbling about it downstairs somewhere.

Our landlady also owns a little Maltese named Clara. She is so small and she always seems so afraid of everyone. However, she seems to like me. On Sunday, we ate dinner with Lisa (our landlady), her two sons Florian and Patrick, and Edel (her roommate). Clara sat by me the whole time so that I could pet her. After dinner, we went for a walk in the forest and around the lake with Lisa, Edel, and Clara. At one point Edel stopped to talk to some friends, so the rest of us kept going thinking that she would catch up. When she didn't, we turned back. We split up on part of the trail to look for her. When we came back together, Clara was so excited to see me that she started barking at me. (She does that when she's excited to see people).

Today I had a pleasant surprise. Clara came upstairs to see me! She's never done that before. Unfortunately, it has been raining since about 5am. (I know because I've been up since 4:30am...unfortunately. This is a new experience for me because I usually sleep so well). So, when Clara came in, she was soaking wet. She wanted to be pet for a while. She followed me around while I went to get the camera. Then she sat at my feet for about 30 mins. before going back downstairs. I wonder if she was avoiding her shower.

A Bad Start to our Trip

I'm very happy to be in Germany, but this has been a horrendous couple of days. Let me tell you why...

We love our landlady dearly, but we were shocked at how small the apartment is, especially for the price. Even for Europe, it seems a bit steep (a lot of it probably has to do with the area, which is one of the nicest spots in Berlin). I'm shrugging this one off, but it still irks me a little.

Then, we found out that our power converter doesn't work anymore. Not a problem for our laptop AC adapters, which can handle up to 240 v. But Michelle's hair dryer and straightener won't work without the converter. No problem, I say; we'll go and buy one here in Germany. But we can't find one. When we finally do, it costs more than 200 euros. That's about $300! So we had to buy some new European small appliances...

Yesterday, I learned that I should have brought all my diplomas with me, from high school on, to register at the university. This, in addition to official transcripts, my passport, 2 new passport pictures, my residency registration, a letter from the Fulbright commission, my first-born child, and the bathroom sink (clearly, the kitchen sink is too easy to pull out; anyone could do that!). Why do they NEED my high school diploma?! So, now I've had to set my Mom scrambling to gather these things.

And I had to call her back to find yet more papers for me. I got a nasty email from the university that I never filled out my FAFSA and a New York financial aid document called the "TAP." I could have sworn that I did this last spring, but they have no record of it. They'll give me a few days to file, but now I need last year's tax documents. And the computer we filed them on went kaputt about two days after we filed with the IRS. Who knows where the back-up disks are. Now my mom (and/or my sister-in-law) is going to have to find the folder with our returns and W2s. Sorry about this, mom. Again, notice that this is unnecessary stress. Why should I have to file a FAFSA? I have zero chance of getting any aid, based on Michelle's income last year.

And then, the worst thing in the world happened last night. Short of, I dunno, somebody dying or my committing a crime, or my fellowship being revoked (or a combination of the three), this was absolutely the worst (or close to it): I spilled a full, steaming mug of hot chocolate all over our new laptop. The power shorted out instantly. We ran it to the kitchen (which, thankfully, isn't very far) and paper-towelled every nook and cranny we could see. I don't dare to turn it back on; that could be the end of the whole computer. Then we called my brother-in-law, who helped us buy the thing and does a lot of business with Dell. We do have a pretty good warranty, and he's looking into whether we have accidental coverage (the language in the contract isn't clear). But even if they can fix it (and I have many doubts about this), I've just created a gigantic headache. We haven't taken the time to set up any kind of auto-backup yet, though I know we should have, and I don't remember the last time we saved our files. If the computer doesn't turn back on, we may have lost a lot information, as well as many of our pictures. If it does, it may never work the same, and it's all my fault. Grrr.

If you would like to leave some good news in the reply section below, I'd be thrilled. Right now, just about anything counts as good news in my book, from the abolition of country music down to the re-introduction of Fanta red cream soda. Whatever I can get.

Why Germany, you ask?

Michelle tells me that there have been lots of people asking why we are in Germany for the next 10 months. I guess that means it is now my responsibility to tell all of you.

I'm a graduate student at Binghamton University in upstate New York. I study modern European history, specifically post-1945 German history. I finished all of my exams and courses last spring, and now I'm starting to work on my dissertation. To do that, I needed to come to Germany to conduct research.

What is my dissertation about, you might ask? Here's the short version (If you ever talk to me in person, you may want to avoid bringing up my work. I'll talk your ear off once I get going): I'm looking at the way television programs affected (and reflected) East and West German morality, ethics, and religion in the 1950s and 1960s. To do that, I'm looking at archival documents at the major television archives, located in Berlin and Frankfurt. There, that's as short as I can make it.

By the way, don't expect very many posts from me. I won't have a lot of free time while we're here. Poor Michelle looks to have WAY too much time on her hands, though, so be sure to comment away on what she writes. :)

First Impressions in Germany

Well, here it is. We finally started the blog. I will probably have time to write every day, which is new for me. However, feel free to only read as often as you like. There's no pressure to keep up with every little thing we're doing. I guess I should start with our trip to Germany. Our flight out of Salt Lake was delayed about an hour because of the remnants of Hurricane Ike in Chicago. Unfortunately, because we left so late, we missed our connecting flight to Frankfurt in Chicago. So, we were sent through London, and then to Frankfurt. We missed all of the festivities associated with the conference that first day (Monday, September 15) because we arrived at our hotel at 9pm. I was pretty disappointed. They went on a walking tour of Göttingen and out to dinner. We missed both of those events. Fortunately for Stewart, we did not miss any of the informational pieces of the Fulbright orientation. However, three out of our four suitcases did not arrive in Frankfurt with us. We didn't receive them until the following day. British Airways was kind enough to give us some toiletry bags to help us out.

Here are some pictures of Göttingen, where we stayed during the orientation.

This is the train station in Frankfurt.

This is a common sight in Europe...especially at train stations. In German, it's called die Taube.

The Best Western Hotel where we stayed in Göttingen.

One of the many churches we saw in Göttingen. It was pretty cool, but it was getting dark, so it’s hard to see it.

The theater.

The train station. (Don't let those palm trees fool you. It was pretty chilly there).

Here are a couple of pictures from the train ride to Berlin. (I apologize for the poor quality).
After arriving in Berlin, we dropped our luggage off at our landlady's pharmacy and went to get döners for lunch/dinner. We took a couple pictures at a church/cemetery nearby.
I should also comment on our apartment. We live on the top floor of a townhouse. I expected it to be small, so I'm not too surprised at how small it is, but I was a little shocked to walk in and find a bathroom, a tiny kitchen (with a toaster oven/hot plate, tiny fridge, and tiny sink), and a living room/bedroom (with an IKEA-type couch that sort of turns into a bed). Surprisingly, I slept pretty well on that couch. I guess we'll see how it goes for 5 months. It requires setup and takedown every evening and morning. This ought to be fun. Anyway, here are a few pictures of our tiny "apartment"?.

The bed during the day.

The couch during the night.

The living room/bedroom. This is a wood stove for the winter.

The IKEA chair and our "dresser".

The hall from the living room/bedroom to the bathroom.

The narrow stairs that spiral down two (maybe three) floors.

Our tiny kitchen table. (It’s kind of cute, but I wouldn’t want it in a permanent home).

Our tiny fridge, and the shelves for our dishes. We have no pantry or place to put food. We may have to do some rearranging.

Our sink and toaster oven/hot plate.

Our closet (across from the kitchen, next to the bathroom, down the hall from the living room/bedroom).

The bathroom.

Our tiny shower.

Yes, it’s just a toilet.

The hallway from the bathroom to the living room/bedroom.