Budapest and an AWESOME Wochenende

Thanks to a generous Stanford and BOSP Stanford in Germany Alum by the name of George Will, our program had a funded trip to Budapest, Hungary, during which we met with a pretty amazing professor, economist, and diplomat. I learned a lot about Hungary's history and it's place (or lack thereof?) in the European Union. I learned about why it still doesn't use the Euro (or isn't allowed to..) and popular mindsets of the Hungarian people, specifically the lack of confidence in government, the inability to grasp a stable political system, and the lasting effects of socialist and fascist rule on the people. It was a WHOLE LOT to absorb, but also pretty damn fascinating (during the parts I managed to stay awake during. We had to get up at 7AM every day, culminating with a 5AM breakfast the morning of our 7:30AM flight. Fun, I know). I took a dip in the Turkish baths, managed to sight see quite a bit, and went into this neat little place called the "Old Man's Pub" and tasted some interesting Hungarian beverages. Overall, a great trip; but at the end, I really just wanted to be back in Berlin: where the transportation is easy, the food is cheap, and the possibilities are endless.

We got back to Berlin early Saturday morning. After a tiny bit of work, and a WHOLE LOT of nap, I went out with Ellen to a place our handy dandy KKLQGTB (Kalani Kai Leifer's Quick Guide to Berlin) recommended by Schlesischer(s?) Tor. But the most fascinating part was Die Lange Nacht der Opern und Theatre: A 6 hour festival in which every Opera and Theatre and everything in between was open in the city, and every venue had it's own schedule for the evening with thirty minute intervals. We rushed from Opera to Theatre to Cabarett just to see a variety of different theatres and shows. It was absolutely ridiculous, how much culture I could just soak up and absorb in one night, merely by walking around and hopping on and off trains. That was a FANTASTIC evening.

Today I woke up for a morning Sunday brunch buffet. So damn tasty. Afterwards my friend Jiahui and I ran into a "International Children's Festival" where I managed to get a couple free things and admire lots of children running around, being happy, riding ponies, choo-choo trains, jumping in bounce houses, and other mindless fun. God those were the days. Now all I think about is how to become less and less ignorant.

Things are great. I love Berlin. I had a great conversation with my host brother tonight about his girlfriend and things are coming together. Hopefully I will meet my language partner for the first time tomorrow (I know, it's week 5 and I haven't met with one yet...).

So funny story:

I stored Ellen Cerf's Sprachpartner's number as my Sprachparterin's number. I was in contact with my Sprachpartner via email, but whenever I texted her I got a response as if she wasn't too keen on hanging out with me. I was confused by mixed responses. When I finally called the number, a very deep male voice picked up... and I had realized what I had done. For the past 4 days I had been texting the wrong person, asking someone who wasn't too excited to hang out with me... to, well, hang out with me. What an epic fail. But I'm finally meeting with her tomorrow, I hope, and things should work out!

I'm gonna go to bed so I can go on another run tomorrow morning. Today at breakfast we were discussing the reality of stretching stomachs, increasing hunger tolerance, and ways to prevent the stomach from stretching inelastically to the point where I will be perpetually hungry (and thus, perpetually obese). That would be the worst. And that is why I am frantically scrambling to get back into shape! Und... das ist alles!