Parting is such sweet sorrow

Today I went souvenir shopping and had my last dinner with Jaap. Our dinner was a working dinner because we are academics and, well that's what I'm here for! We accomplished a lot and have a plan for the remainder of our work. We were at a German restaurant at my request and it was good. I even had Afri-cola which is the German counterpart to Coke. They have coke too but I had to try the German version since I'm here. The German food tastes a lot like what mom used to make... Hey mom, is grandma German?

On my way back from the dinner I took a walk along Under den Liden, the main road. I took a few pictures I'd like to share. This one is called, "Dude, you forgot your pants!"


I like to think his response is "I'm too sexy for my pants". They just don't make statues like that anymore :-)

And finally, the Spree River at dusk in Berlin...

My flight leaves tomorrow morning and I get back home tomorrow evening (thanks to the time difference). The next time I blog I'll be home! Kissing my kitty! Who hates it when I do that! Thanks for letting me share my experiences in Berlin, I've had fun and will miss many things here!

Dr. J

David Hasselhof is not big in Germany

So I had lunch with a graduate student today who actually is German. I had an interesting discussion with her about some of the things I’ve seen and some unanswered questions. She volunteered that, no matter what I’ve heard, David Hasselhof is not a big star in Germany. They don’t know how that rumor started, but it is a joke to the German’s that everyone thinks they love him. So, sorry big fella! Maybe you're still big in Japan?

You have buffalo in Europe!

So I had a Jackie moment I forgot to tell you about. The Italian restaurant I was at with Jaap on Friday did not have an English language menu. So Jaap had to read the menu to me. While he is reading I’m scanning along with him and I see the long German word that says buffalo something. I ask, does that say buffalo? He says “Yes, buffalo mozzarella, it’s more tender and delicate.” At which point, I declare “You have buffalo in Europe!” He looks at me calmly and says, “Yes.”

Who knew! To my defense, the only thing I know about buffalo is that the settlers used to shoot them out of the train window and the poor Native Americans starved because of this sport. It never occurred to me that no where in my history books did it say the settlers were AFRAID of these huge creatures! So this also has me thinking… buffalo cheese? Who was that man who one day declared to his wife, “Honey, I think I’ll go out and milk a buffalo today? And when I get home, we’ll make tender and delicate CHEESE out of it!” He either gets the award for worst job in the world OR Darwinism simply doesn’t work…

I had another interesting adventure today to share while waiting for my train. I had the distinct privilege of catching the attention of an old drunk, Boone’s Farm drinking German. Crazy ol’ bastard decided of all the places to wait out the train, sitting right next to me was his best choice. Now, I have my laptop so sitting down was pretty important as that big bulky thing is heavy (never buy a 17-inch laptop!). As soon as he sat down, I nearly got drunk smelling the crazy Boones Farm drinking man (we’ll call him BF for short)! He immediately started speaking German gibberish and laughing every now and then, which made the fumes even worse and made me think he sounded exactly like Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid in that scene where he gets drunk on his wedding anniversary. Anyways, eventually I realized BF was trying to talk to me. I think I can easily make this come to a halt with the “I only speak English” line, but alas! The German education system is better than I anticipated. BF speaks some English, enough to continue asking me random questions. By the time I got up and moved, BF thought I was a 25 year old doctor visiting Berlin to be with my friend, another doctor who loves me (I was not going to correct him and have him think I’m available for dinner tonight!!!) and that I live in New York City, Alabama. Why correct him? He won’t remember it in the morning!

Working and Sight-seeing

This weekend, I've been busy seeing the sights by day and working in the evenings. I've seen the Brandenburg Gate which was passed through by Hitler and even earlier, Napoleon!


Here's a picture of Humboldt Universities main building. This isn't the location I'm at, but it is what most people think of when you say Humboldt. This is common architecture in Berlin, old and detailed!


I've also went to the Jewish Museum today. They have interesting displays that help you understand how the German Jews felt. There was a "garden" of exile which was a series of columns at least 10 feet high. They were arranged on a grid that went up and down in slope. What that accomplishes is as you walk, your body gets disoriented and you start to fall into columns as you try to right yourself. I ended up with a bit of a stomach ache after only 30 seconds! It does a good job of making you feel strange and uncomfortable, which isn't even close to how the German Jews must have felt! I've included a picture of an artists rendition of the many souls lost. Those are unhappy faces made of metal at the bottom. You can walk across it and it sounds like dishes being slammed around.


I was at an ultra fancy mall and this is the "art" they had on display... I'm not sure, but I think those are smashed up cars. Gotta love art!


And keeping with the theme of cars, I've included a picture of the smart car (on the right). So when they talk about small European cars, they aren't kidding! Donald says they have them in Detroit already. Look out America, here they come! I do need a new car...

Long Day in the Salt Mines

That's how I refer to work so I don't lose perspective. It reminds me that, no matter what the day at work brings, I have a pretty good job and occupation! I haven't posted because I've been working. Yesterday I got settled into my office at Humboldt but there was a computer program I needed that was not loaded on the provided computer; not to mention the computer was in German. I also got picked on a little because I had to have an air conditioned room. Yes, that's right, I was reminded again that air conditioning is not normal in these parts!

After a long day yesterday I had dinner with Jaap. For dinner we went to his favorite Italian restaurant. He once dated an Italian who introduced him to that restaurant as the closest to her food back home. So I like to think that I had REAL Italian pizza! Of course it was good so I'm happy. Oh, and Jaap isn't German, he's really Dutch so the accent I'm exposed to isn't a real German accent. Oh well, the only thing I think I've picked up in German is what sounds like "Links" means "Left" (thanks to my many rides on public transportation). Oh, another odd thing I've noticed, there are no bugs in Berlin. Seriously, I haven't seen one ant since I've been here AND I'VE LOOKED! No mosquitos, flies, nothing. Even Jaap said he's noticed that. Makes me worry there is something strange in the air or water... :-)

Today I was holed up in my room working so nothing to report. Tomorrow I meet with Jaap to go over what I've found and then I'll go from there. Only 1 week to go and I'll have a lot of work to do. I think I'll go to the Jewish Museum this weekend and wander around, maybe take a boat tour. I can't believe I've been here for 2 weeks! I can't say I haven't truly experienced Berlin!

A calm day

I didn't wake up until 12:30 today; I'm starting to think I won't recover from the jet lag, I'll just struggle through it. I'll probably be up all night tonight but oh well. I retrieved my laundry from the expensive cleaners today; hip hip hooray for clean underwear! In celebration, I found the largest bookstore in Berlin (with a tiny English section) and bought some books. I don't have any left and there is nothing English on TV except CNN, which loops every 45 minutes or so. After the bookstore, I had to go to Starbuck's because in my mind they are linked. There are Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds and Burger King everywhere. Those are the chains that are here. Oh, I saw a KFC somewhere but they are not as prevalent. And one of the more popular coffee drinks I've seen at most shops is the Latte Americano. Ha, deep down they really love us!

I also took a ride around East Berlin on a double-decker bus. That was interesting and a way to go sight-seeing. I stopped at nearly every souvenir shop as well. There are not many choices so I need a shout out from you all, what do you want? The choices are in three categories (1) Berlin Bears with the US bear painted like the Statue of Liberty, (2) a piece of the Berlin Wall, or (3) the cross walk dudes (stop and go; see below). If I hear nothing, you will get a postcard and that's it!



Oh and for my male readers, no pictures of hot chicks (or hot guys for my female readers). It's illegal to take pictures of people without their consent in Berlin. Good thing I didn't take a picture of this tall policeman I saw my first day here! That would have been fun to explain. Does the dumb blond thing work in foreign countries? What about the "burst into tears" trick?

Weathering the storm

Ok, I'll admit that I am my own storm but I made it through the rain! After an anxious night of not knowing what is going on, I woke up this morning with renewed resolve to make it work (did I just sound like George W?). First, I went shopping including buying some band-aids for my blisters... you can see the meat of my feet! Hot.

I also received an email from Jaap to meet at a coffee shop near his apartment because he's not fully mobile yet. We met and all is well. He has a great dataset that we are going to work on, I will have an office set up for me tomorrow, and I'm actually a little intimidated by him. He has been on the tenure track for 2 years now and has an article in press in a top journal (JPSP) and another under 2nd review there. I've been told here once before that it is very American to say "Have fun" but that seems to be how he approaches his research as do I. So, we should get a lot of work done and I'll be kept busy. I'll vacation and everything as best I can (promise), but I fall apart quickly with too much idle time. I'll be glad to get to work and see something productive come out of my time here.

Oh, and Europeans are not as keen on air conditioning as Americans. The coffee shop we met at had no air conditioning. Jaap said it's partly because it usually doesn't get hot enough here for it... well times are changing. It's going to be hot while I'm here. Oh, and they don't use ice much either. Can you imagine buying a coke from the vending machine only to find out it's warm... ewwww!

Now it gets interesting...

I have yet to adjust to the time change and didn't get going until noon today. First I had to find a laundry place. I'm spending 62 euros (I think that's what it was, it may be higher) to have my laundry done... thats about 100 dollars. Thanks Adrian, great idea on bringing less clothes and just washing my laundry here. It's so much cheaper (Nancy, you're dead to me!).

So, not being one to sit around and wait, I decided to find Prof. Jaap on my own. To this point I haven't heard from him. This was much easier said than done. Apparently there is some work being done to the rails I needed to be on. It took me 3 hours to maneuver the S-Bahn because they kept giving directions on what to do next in German only and it was taking a significant amount of time to wait for the next train. I eventually got to my destination even with the 90 degree weather, hot sun, and blister's on my feet; I'm feeling a bit neglected at this point. Not to mention, did you know your KNEE CAPS can sweat? They can, I'm living proof!

So, I walk the remaining 10 minutes to the psychology building. By now it's about 3:30 or so and its a sunny walk. I get there to find Jaap's office deserted as well as the whole building. Hmmm, at this point I'm not just feeling forgotten, I officially am! I wander aimlessly looking for anyone who may be there and may be able to speak English. Finally I stumble upon a secretary of sorts who speaks a little English. After a few phone calls, it seems Jaap has broken his leg and is at home. No one has his number, of course, so the only way to reach him is via email. After looking through an English language description of the faculty, I inquire about another faculty member with interesting research to see if he may be available. He's on vacation until September 26th.

Hmmm, now what you ask? Well, I fumble along trying to maneuver through the maze of the messy public transportation system and get back to my hotel. Someone told me the S-bahn will work normally tomorrow but who knows if I'll need it. I'm going to email Jaap and, because I won't have clean clothes until Wednesday, I'll probably work from the hotel tomorrow. If Jaap is out for the remainder of my time and isn't creative at finding something for me to do, I'm not sure what will happen. I'll probably create my own university tour to all the other Berlin schools but other than that, who knows? I'm starting to think the karma Gods are pissed at me, but what did I do?

The cowboy, playboy, and alter boy

This is what the Germans really think of our US presidents! I found this graffiti on the S-bahn on my way to my second hotel. My second hotel room is smaller but cooler and in a great area. I’ve gone from West Berlin to East Berlin; so I’ve included a picture of a piece of the wall placed where the wall used to be. Can you see Boris representing the West side?



Boris was an excellent tour guide but my need to see the sights hasn’t been satiated. I continued my sight-seeing on Friday with Itsie who is from Spain. It was an interesting day spent on the land that once was the headquarters of the Gestapo. We went to the Topography of Terror walking tour which describes the events of the war and the terror techniques through the remaining documents and photos. It was a sobering experience which left me wondering if I wanted to spend the rest of my sight-seeing learning more about the dark past of Germany. As someone who is not a history buff, I’ve been able to see the Berlin as a relatively new city. There are very few pre-WWII buildings in the city. Everything is new, the city is diverse, and there are plenty of green areas or parks. This has helped me see Berlin as a city unlike many others in many great ways. But by learning more about the atrocities and having them become real through pictures and histories of the individuals involved, well, it’s simply depressing. This is even more so as the lessons that needed to be learned by every “group” and/or society haven’t been learned. So, to deal with all these heavy thoughts, Saturday I went to the zoo with a new friend from the Ukraine (Natalia). The zoo was nice but there were no otters or groundhogs ;-)

I haven’t heard anything from Humboldt but I’ll plan on showing up on Monday. I’ve looked up how to get there from the internet (yay for having the internet back!). I also need to find somewhere to do some laundry!

I guess there is something special about some random Bear statues around Berlin. In support of the Berlin bear fascination, I’ve taken a picture with one and yes, that is the face I make when I’m concentrating on how to use the camera!

Today I've been wandering around my new area. I finally made it up in time to have my free breakfast which was great... except for the accidental choice of liverwurst. I did have a currywurst today and it was actually pretty good. Mainly it was sausage with curry sprinkled on top and doused in ketchup. I’m going to take it easy tonight by working, reading, and relaxing. The only English-speaking TV channels are CNN International and some similar news channel. I did see WWE on last night dubbed in German. Sad, just sad!

I'm alive and well

I'm alive and well, just no access to the internet for the last few days. I'm using a German keyboard right now so I'll be making this short. Oh, and I'm surfing in a very hot Dunkin Donuts right now :)

My hotel is nice but no phone in the room and right now, the internet is down. I need clean clothes and I haven't heard from Humbolt yet. It's Sunday afternoon and I don't even know where to go for tomorrow! Nothing like the last minute! One thing I've noticed about European's is they are pretty touchy feely. I've been cheek to cheek kissed more than I'd like!

Next blog will have pictures from my sight seeing and more details on what I've been up to, until then, I'm safe and sound!

Firealarms and Obama Drama

We had a fire alarm go off at 6:30 in the morning at the hotel. That was a bit early for a fashion show of pajamas from around the world... though really pjs look the same everywhere. I didn't get back into my room in time to get ready and make the 8am sessions so I opted for more sleep ;-) This made me a little late for my tour with Boris but we had fun nonetheless.

Boris and I went to Potsdamm and saw the Brandenburg Gate Bridge (I may have these spellings wrong because I don't have time to google stuff; I have to make a session in 15 minutes). But we did see where Obama will be giving his speech tonight and there were media already set up and the police were already in full force. It was a beautiful day for a stroll in Berlin. Oh, and we walked along where the wall used to be. I had fun and will give more details later!

By popular demand, a picture

Here is a picture of the YSPers that went to dinner tonight. We went to nice restaurant in Alexanderplatz which is the area I'll be staying at in the next two weeks. It was a much more lively part of Berlin. I had a great time at dinner and met some nice people. I look forward to more fun tomorrow with some presentations, another tour with Boris, and a pre-scheduled YSP night out. Oh, and I'll have more pictures during the two weeks I'm at Humboldt. Plus, those will be pictures of real Germans not conference attendees!

P.S. Mom, I will not be attending Obama's speech tomorrow. The papers here suggest people show up 3 hours before and there are a number of restrictions (no cameras, etc). Oh well, I didn't come to Germany to see an American anyways!

Beer really does grow on trees in Berlin

This afternoon I went to a beer garden with Boris. It is an outdoor area with picnic tables on the river with trees and shade everywhere. They serve beer and pizza and it's very large and pretty busy. I had a beer that is mixed with sprite which actually tasted good! I really dislike beer and finding one in Germany that I could tolerate is a bit of a shocker. I also took a mini-tour of Berlin with Boris. I think we are going to take another one tomorrow. Today we saw a bombed out church in the middle of the city shopping area that serves as a memorial of WWII. The jewelled angels had very austere facial expressions... Boris and I decided it must have been a Catholic church (hee hee)!

I met some senior psychologists this morning. It was interesting and I really enjoyed it. I could really identify with what my assigned senior scholar was saying and it was insightful. I also saw another big name researcher give a talk and it was awfully boring. I nearly fell asleep, which is not good when you are in the front of the room in front of the speaker ;-) Some people should stick to writing, not speaking.

In 20 minutes I'm going to dinner with the other YSP members. Some of them I really like, some are standoffish and seem very exclusionary with others. Oh well, I'll just stick with the good ones cuz the inclusive ones tend to be and have the most fun!

Fireworks and Schnitzel

As most of you know, I turn into a 12 year old child at the sight of fireworks. Well, last night I had the pleasant surprise of watching fireworks across the river from my hotel room window (I tried to take pictures but all I ended up with was my own reflection). They were awesome with red heart shaped fireworks and some neat ones where each flare looked a bit like a dragon fly. It was a nice way to celebrate my reunion with my suitcase!

I finally got to attend the conference with hair and make-up as well as dress clothes. I'm convinced I received a few appreciative glances, but they could have just as easily been thinking "she's obviously a horribly dressed American". Compared to everyone else at the conference, I'm dressed up as there are a lot of jeans and casual clothes at this conference. I've also noticed that German's like jeans. They're everywhere and never plain, always with a few pieces of flare!

I went to dinner tonight at the restaurant hotel with one of the YSPs. I got pork schnitzel from the buffet line. It's a German dish that I liked, but then again, breaded and fried pork has never been a dish I'd turn away! Yummy! Hooray for schnitzel! Now, before you go and think I'm going to gain outrageous amounts of weight and not be able to fit in my own clothes in the next few weeks, let me say that I've had my fair share of nutrition bars for breakfast and lunch. I've only had time for 1 actual meal a day. Funny thing happened in the buffet line though, an older woman came up to me and said something in German. Now, I'm convinced she must have said "What beautiful hair you have my dear!" but she MAY have said "hey, fat American quit hogging the buffet line!" Now, I don't know about you but I'm going with option #1. Isn't it nice that I don't speak the language? It's been quite a boost to my self-esteem!

And one final anecdote. I went to a talk where I swear the speaker was the spiting image of Einstein. He was from a German university and he kept raking his hands through his wild hair and flinging his arms around dramatically. He also had to talk forever and constantly repeat himself. Funny thing was, ole Einstein was fixated on a research "problem" for the last 20 years of his career that had been dealt with 50 years ago. It took every ounce of strength I had not to state the obvious "solution" to his 50 year old question. Thankfully someone in the back row burst his bubble. Best thing was, she started out with "I don't really know this research area but it seems to me that...". That's what you get for talking too long and constantly repeating yourself in the academic world, someone will take you down!

My suitcase is coming, my suitcase is coming!

So, apparently the snooze button on my alarm clock doesn't work... I woke up accidentally at 8:45 and, because I didn't have all that girly stuff to worry about (hair, makeup, what to wear, etc.) I was only a little late for my two simultaneous posters. I even met some interesting people at both posters in those fleeting minutes I spent at each one. The good news is I wasn't the only one in jeans and it is pretty common, according to those I talked to, for the airlines to lose your luggage for a few days when traveling Internationally.

I also had lunch with some fellow Young Scientist Program (YSP) attendees. The lunch place at the conference had a fine collection of bread, and more bread. So we opted for a nearby Italian place which was very good... but water "without gas" was 6.50 euros for a large bottle (that's a little over $10). And yes, you do have to ask for water "without gas". They must have decided that if gas makes cars go, it MUST be good for people!

Guess what? Word on the street is that my luggage has just arrived 15 minutes ago at the airport! They will drive it over sometime in the next 2-4 hours. I've never been so excited to use hair gel and smell the refreshing scent of clean clothes! It's 61 degrees here so it's too cold for me to go outside without my new jacket. So, I'm currently spending quality time with my few remaining hours of internet access in my hotel room. Not much longer and I'll be free to explore in clean clothes and fresh hair! I may even take a picture with my new camera that is in my suitcase (I hope it still is...).

I made it...

but my luggage did not. You know what that means? That means that at 9am tomorrow I stand next to my professional poster presenting my dissertation research wearing a pair of jeans, sneakers, a WIFE BEATER, and a green short-sleeved hoodie top. All of this accentuated with dirty hair and dirty "under clothing"... jealous? Do I do you proud America? What about you sweet home Alabama!?

What I wouldn't do for some hair gel right about now. And nothing like a first impression :-( I had such adorable clothes to wear too! Now I'm going to be that stinky weird girl who has hay for hair! I am hoping that my luggage arrives tomorrow. I also hope my new, only used 2 times camera and never before worn skirts are all there as well.

On the funny side, when I was on the bus to go to my next terminal in Stockholm, Sweden I was enjoying the nature. My first thought was "huh, they have dandelions in Stockholm too!". Like I thought they grew teletubbies or something! Then, when I got to my hotel in Berlin, I was a teeny bit shocked that the TV shows were spoken in GERMAN! Really, you ask, could she be that naive? Yup, I am. The best part is the TV shows are US shows dubbed in German. I keep wishing that German guy would shut up so I can hear the original English-version!

Well, gotta go get some rest. I'll let you know how it goes!

Leavin' on a jet plane

I leave tomorrow for a 10 hour flight with a connection for an additional 2 hour flight. It's overnight so that should be tolerable. I can't even imagine what it is going to be like trying to function in a country not my own and not knowing any of that countries foreign language! I feel unprepared because of the language issue, but it's not like I can learn German in a few weeks much less a few days!

Speaking of unprepared and here's the fun part... I HAVEN'T PACKED YET! I get on a shuttle to go to Atlanta around 2pm tomorrow for my evening flight. I'm ready for the professional conference (poster's done, printed, and my dressy clothes are dry cleaned) but beyond that, I'm hoping it all falls into place. The weather is going to be cold to me there compared to here in the south so I'm not even sure what to bring clothes-wise. As long as the professional stuff is in check though, I can buy anything else I need (close your eyes on that one D!)

I'll let you know how the flight goes when I get there... THE NEXT TIME I BLOG I'LL BE IN BERLIN!!! Fancy that ;-)

2 weeks and counting!

I have 2 weeks (and 2 days) to go before I leave for Berlin. I finally have my hotel assignment. One week at the Hotel Senator Berlin for the first week of the conference. I'll be staying there with the other Young Scholars from around the globe... thankfully they all speak English! For the week I'm at Humboldt University Berlin, I'll be staying at the Motel One - Alexanderplatz. I'm getting a little nervous about how do I get from airport to hotel? Do I really have to eat a currywurst? Will I starve from German food? Will I get lost in Berlin? Stay tuned, we'll find out soon enough!

One Month to Go!!!

So, in one month I leave for Berlin. I haven't given it much thought and assume I'll be ready when I need to be. For now, I'm just trying to protect a bit of my time to enjoy the summer. It is slipping by so quickly!

Welcome to my Travel Blog!

I've created this blog so I can keep people up-to-date on what I'm doing in Berlin. Plus, it may be nice to have a "diary" to reflect upon when I get back!