Was für eine Woche!

What a week!

Last Sunday night I got back from my mini bike tour of Southern Germany. 110km total, two small towns, and a lot of beautiful scenery. It was definitely a trip I wouldn't be able to do when I'm old and frail, so in that regard I am happy I did it. I ate a lot of tasty Southern German food and bonded with Becca. We started in Würzburg, where there is this AMAZING Palace/Castle thing and another ridiculously cool Fortress. Only during this trip did I truly realize the greatness and ridiculous level which the Germans have achieved in their incredibly long history. It's times like this when I wish that I had paid attention in European history.

One of the highlights of the trip was actually on my way back: we used mitfahrgelegenheit, this carpool matching service similar to Stanford's ZimRide. We paid 25 euros per person to be taken back to Berlin from Würzburg by some random couple, but... one of the couple ended up being a Chinese major and was finishing up her thesis. Her Chinese was PHENOMENAL and we talked in Chinese, English, and a little bit of German. It's little times like these that make me happy that I decided to take so many damn language units--however, it's also tough because... well, I also had a lot of free time on the trip. I read Randy Pausch's THE LAST LECTURE and found some good life lessons, perfect timing for me in this recurring life crisis I have.

I just need to do what I love, spend time with who I love most, and not worry. But... as Ben Harper said it well, it's so hard to do but so easy to say.

This week has been UBER ART week. I went to the Opera and watched Macbeth on Tuesday. On Tuesday I went to this place called the "Weinerei," where you pay 1 euro to drink as much wine as you want... and at the end of the night, you pay how much you think it was worth. Pretty cool concept, an awesome venue, and a sweet crowd. Unfortunately, I didn't really jive with any of the language partners I met there... so currently I'm still looking for a Sprachpartner.

On Wednesday I went to the Staatsoper (National Opera) for Macbeth, on Thursday I went to see Frühlings Erwachen (Spring Awakening) about the repression of sexual education by parents... and how shitty that is, and yesterday I went to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp where... well, everything was super intense. Last night, I hung out with one of my Loyola friends who goes to Brown but is currently studying in Berlin until the end of July. Needless to say I had a LOT OF FUN hanging out with these people. I think we got along pretty well, and I was just... very comfortable with them, moreso than most (but not all) of the Stanford students here. We went to some international party where I met a bunch of students studying at the FU, and we talked about the view of America by certain types of European, and all of that. I met this one girl from Scottland who talked to me about Americans finally trying to reach out and understand the world instead of being so ... America-centric, and another girl from Poland who could speak superb English and was studying Political Science.

My classes are going well. German is pretty intense, but in a good way. I'm learning a lot of grammar and vocab, and my class is friendly. I spend a decent amount of time learning it.. since, well, while I'm here, I might as well try my best. The environmental class is very chill. We still haven't gotten our books to do our reading, so it's been mostly just talking about the environmental stuff in general. I've been learning about how the EU works, in terms of Chancellors and who actually does what... though I've got to admit, I'm still pretty lost.

Speaking of being lost, I had this huge crisis this week when I realized that I DON'T REALLY KNOW ANYTHING. I mean, that's what school and learning is all for, but honestly I realize that I am way more ignorant about a lot more than I would like. About the EU, German History, German language, politics, anything interesting (for me) to talk about. I really just want to spend like, an entire day inside... just reading and enlightening myself on things that are happening so I can be more interesting in conversations and... well, less ignorant. I realized that that is the last thing I want to be when I grow up. That and not being able to socialize.

For whatever reason, it's been really tough for me to socialize here. I'm not in my "element" and I wish things were just more comfortable. I am trying my best, and I think last night hanging out with my high school friend and his friends was a ton of fun and not too awkward at all, but aside from that time, I haven't been found myself being super excited, happy, with a group of people here yet.

I hope I find security and confidence and more good times sometime soon. Probably starting tonight at the Berlin Philharmonic..!

Much love,
Charlton