Things I Love About Berlin

You all must've known that the love songs to Berlin would begin in earnest soon, right? Today was a good day

Funny things to begin with. I navigated to and then communicated successfully auf Deutsch with two different sets of bank personnel to complete my eBay transaction and get a "Handy" (= cellphone). Very helpful lady at the Berliner Volksbank, lovely; contrary to what you would think, having a Citibank account in a country where there are Citibanks does not mean you have a Citibank account in that country. ?! But I then got completely, hilariously shot down by the guy I bought my lunch kebap from. I walked into this little shop and said "Ein Döner, bitte," and the guy said "Wie, bitte?" (= What?) and I repeated myself, and he said "Oh, a doner - lamb or chicken?" Apparently my ö - which sounds like a squished o-ee - wasn't quite right. I then messed up every other word, gave the wrong money, and so on. But, you know, suck it up - it was still a nice day, it's a funny story, and it's happened to everyone in my class. And hopefully I will have said Handy in my possession later this week.

Later on, walking through Alexanderplatz - which everyone slags as having soulless DDR socialist architecture, but does boast the Fernsehturm, and convenient shopping - I heard this song that sounded suspiciously like an Elvis impersonation. I rounded the corner to see an amp, a little piece of carpet, and yes, a red-clad Elvis impersonator. He was serious. He finished singing something like "My Love Won't Wait" and then said "Danke Schön" and broke immediately into English. He's Bobby Memphis, coming to you all the way from...Australia. Awesome. He then sang a swing-heavy version of "Hound-dog."

Having been a frightfully muggy day, it then cooled off abruptly, and I went for a run along the Spree. For the first time, I didn't take my watch, and ended up being out for a lot longer than usual. Today's run was through the new government center, near the Reichstag. Interesting architecture that is a combination of circles and squares, and also a very sobering memorial to people who died trying to cross the DDR-GDR border when the wall existed. They have left a double row of cobblestones throughout the whole city, indicating where the wall once was. It is weird to come upon it here and there - weird is a wimpy word - I am struck, every time.

I then made quark for the first time, which I can't quite explain - quark is like firm yogurt, or sour cream, but then also (shockingly) low-fat and really, really yummy. People say "lecker" here, which is a great sound for yummy. In the summertime, you mix it with herbs and eat it with potatoes, or mix it with sugar and eat it with fruit. I bought a little basil plant, chatted with my host ladies about the finer points of quark preparation, and had the best. dinner. ever. I am now going to make my strawberries for dessert...