Big and Cold

Last time I went to Berlin was in Chicago. =) If you are from Chicago you'll know what I'm talking about.

The city was big and the weather is cold. The city is bigger than most cities we've visited so it was harder to wander around especially in the cold weather!

Anyway, I think any city that comes after Amsterdam won't even compare. =) I think we should have done more research on the Berlin nightlife because it was "bleh." Unfortunately I don't think we hit the "hot spots" of Berlin. We drank a lot of beer as usual. And we did see a lot and learned a lot. Especially about the wall. What was interesting is that there are parts of the wall that still stand in the city. And in some streets, bricks embedded on the road would trace out where it use to be.

What thing I did notice was this picture:



I remember this picture while watching the Amazing Race! (Which happens to start tonight in the States!) This is the Berlin Sculpture which represents the reunification of East and West Berlin. Underneath it is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. If you look closely only part of it exists. It was damaged during World War II bombings, and it serves as a symbol of the destruction of war.

The Checkpoint Charlie museum was very interesting as it revealed how many different way people tried to escape East Berlin. People would hide in suitcases, speakers, take hot balloons, dig tunnels, etc. to get to the West Berlin side!

Why was the Berlin wall built?

Its estimated that over more than 2.6 mil East Germans escaped to West Berlin or West Germany from 1949 to 1961. Many people had to suffer under repressions of the Communist system and they wanted to live a better life in the West. The East German government saw no other way to prevent from escaping to the West via Berlin than closing the border between East and West Berlin on August 13, 1961.

And if you wanted to know why East and West Berlin were divided in the first place, then google it because you should know your history. =)

Scammed
I was watching a guy on the street move a little ball under these three boxes. I had to pick out which box the ball was under. Before I knew it I lost 50 Euros. That was really dumb on my part. Story is better told face to face. =/

Berlin!

Off to Berlin this weekend so it should be a blast. But I think it will be pretty cold. I think it will be interesting to see the differences between East and West Berlin now that the wall is gone. We're actually going to be staying where Check Point Charlie use to be.

The last time I was in Germany was a while back about a year after University. A bunch of us visited Frankfurt and I remember distinctly ending up at a bar that was owned by Filipinos! We ended up drinking these tall glasses of beer and singing karaoke all night. It was so much fun!

London Soundtrack
Another addtion to the soundtrack: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Gimmie Some Salt.

I thought the whole time the band was singing "Gimmie Some Sun!" and I thought to myself, oh perfect, this is how I feel sometimes living here. But then I was wrong and looked at my ipod and saw the song title! doh! Great song and the CD has really grown on me!

That was fast..

I had my last class of yoga yesterday. Unbelievable. 6 weeks just like that. Well, I did miss one for a steak dinner. =) We performed more complicated moves without a lot of guidence. There was about a half hour of constant motion and we were all shadowing the teacher and all you can hear is breathing! It was pretty intense. Despite the bare feet, the "oops" and being the only guy, I think I'm going to do another 6 weeks!

Snow?
It kinda snowed the other day. Actually I think it was hail because it hurt my head coming down. =/

Another online dating comment..
So you look through all these profiles and its like hard work. So you find someone interesting and you decide to send them a message. Especially the ones where they specify: "Any" for "Type of Relationship" So you figure what the heck? The funny thing is, you'll send a message, and you'll get this notification that they read it. Normally, if they've "read" it, they should write back right? Yeah, still waiting for that part.. at least I get rejected online than face to face! Too bad I can't give them a link to my blog to reveal my brilliant writing ability. =)

Ambassador and accents

Nothing like hitting a pub and meeting new Brits. A coworker and I were sitting and enjoying our pints after a long week. We kept to ourselves and discussed the week that was.

There was a large group next to us and well, let's just one of them interrupted our conversation. This worked out quite well since it gave us reason to join their group!

The thing about meeting new Brits is the views they have on America. There are a few main themes that seem to be consistent with most of my interactions with the Brits. (And I like to reserve the fact that these themes are only my opinion.)

1. For some odd reason, every Brit I've met thinks I'm Republican and asks me why I voted for Bush. (This usually results on a discussion about the electoral college.)

2. I've been asked if I own a gun. (This then results on the debate about gun control.)

3. America is such an insular country. (This I usually agree with and isn't much of a debate)

4. And of course, the ever so popular, America has everything. Why are you here?

Sometimes I feel like an ambassador since I feel like I have to defend America and remind people that there are America is not just about guns and oil and that there are Americans who have an open mind to other cultures!

Anyway, I'd like to briefly focus on the last two since they are so much related. I've read somewhere that there is only 34% of Americans over 18 that have a passport. Why is that? What is that figure so low? I assume it has to deal with the last theme I mentioned: America has everything, so why go anywhere else!

I find it quite sad that only about a third of Americans have passports. Perhaps its due to American culture to travel only within the country. Perhaps is the limited amount of vacation days Americans have. Maybe some Americans don't have the opportunity nor the money. I respect it all. But I think visiting other parts of the world opens a person's mind to new cultures and the experiences can even be life changing!

I'll admit, America does have its conveniences and offers great opportunity. One of things I do miss is the convenience factor. Things seem bigger and better. But I think experiencing/visiting other countries can only help open one's mind to human nature, its diversity and ultimately to increase knowledge and decrease ignorance.
So if you ever have the opportunity to visit countries outside of America and see a foreign land, do it! Even if its Canada, eh? =)

Ultimate compliment
So despite all the debate with some of the Brits, and after a few pints, I decided to bust out my wannabe British accent. The thing with my British accent is that I can't do it on the spot or when I'm around all Americans. I need to be around other Brits so I can listen and imitate. Its like a singer or a choir that need a harmonica before singing. So feeling quite confident, I started saying a few phrases in my accent to these two girls. They complimented me! One said:

"Wow, that's quite good!"

while the other agreed saying:

"That IS quite good!"

I'll never forget that. It made my night. I wonder if there's a "How to speak with a British Accent" class because I would sign up in a heartbeat.

Random Thoughts

I love the milk that's left over after I eat a bowl of cereal. But sometimes there's too much milk left and I put more cereal in the bowl. But the milk tastes so good at the end.

I heard a song this morning and it’s by an artist named "Chico." I believe the chorus went something along the lines of "Don't take life too serious, or else you will become delirious." Maybe I'll add that to my London soundtrack.

A new friend is in town so I have the responsibility of acting like a tour guide this weekend. The problem is if someone visiting asks me: "So what's that building?" or "When was the Great London fire?" or "Who was Guy Fawke?" I'll have to have a more thoughtful answer than: "I don't know." The problem is I don't have google in front of me. But I guess I'm slowly learning. By the way, the Great London Fire was in 1666. And well, I've blogged about Guy Fawke.

This online dating stuff can be addicting. Not so much of the actually dating part, but just viewing profiles of all these women. Its like online shopping. The difference between online shopping and online dating is that if I put something I like in my shopping cart and even buy it, I know I'll get it delivered to my door. With online dating, I can express interest, even consider making a date out of it, but you don't get that guaranteed front door service where she just shows up at your door. If it were only that easy. But I guess that where mail order brides come in. =o Not that there's anything wrong with that. =)