Obamarama

Ready for this one? We are now in BERLIN! Long story short - Matthias left his job in Steinfeld and we decided to try our luck in the big city, where I would be able to speed up my efforts to learn German, and also hopefully take a course to become an English teacher - something I can do wherever we end up. Anyway, it's great to be in big city, where there are things to do, places to see, and, yes, yummy food to eat (more than a few people have commented about how I tend to focus on the food everywhere we visit. That, and how much things cost...which we'll get to later in the program.)

So, not that anyone needs to hear anything more about Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, but I was there, so I've got to add my voice to the coverage. When I arrived, I tried to think of another candidate's speech that drew so much attendance (and then I was ashamed to realize that this was the first speech that I've ever attended.) First, could it be the fact that THEY SERVE BEER and food? There was somewhat of a festive mood before the start of the speech, but I have to admit, once it began, everyone (a huge percentage of whom seemed to be American - or at least Canadian judging by the accents) stood up and payed attention. No one seemed to drink too much - including me...I only had a Radler (the name literally means "bike rider" and is a beer/lemonade mix presumably designed to make you feel like you're having a beer, but keeping you sober enough to ride your bike.) Which brings me to the second draw: I could ride my bike there! Anyway, as I'm sure everyone has heard, the event went off quite well, Senator Obama was well received (not a protester to be seen), and the press here can't seem to get over it. I've heard (from The Daily Show, of course) that the press at home can't get over it either. Click here for more photos from the event.

So, that was my excitement for the week. Now it's back to the business of finding an apartment and getting ready for classes. We had found an apartment through October, but it fell through, so we settled for a two-week rental while we look for something else. Apartments are extremely reasonably priced here - generally around $400 Euros per month for a one bedroom. Our trouble is we need to find something furnished for a fixed period (since we still don't really know what we're doing!) But so far, Berlin is great. And we're looking forward to visitors - hopefully we'll be able to find a place big enough for them!