10K's, Exploration Ways, and Game Days

What do you call a 10 kilometer race through a park in Berlin at night with over 3,500 other people in 45 degree Fahrenheit weather? A rough experience? No, it's called my Friday night.

The Nike 10K "We Own The Night" race was certainly an experience, one I (nor my muscles) will never forget. Throughout the race, the German military gave us water and cheered us on. This was the first 10K, about 6.22 mile, race I have ever ran. And the fact that I ran it in Berlin, Germany, is definitely a cool thing to be able to say.

I am so happy to have been able to run it with 3 of my great friends, Sarah, Katie, and Meredith. Sarah even came in 6th place overall. UF doesn't pick just anyone to be on their track team, you know.

Despite the freezing cold weather and soreness from the race, I still found a casual walk through a nearby park with our teaching assistant Andrew and Katie enjoyable. We found cool architecture and got to climb to the top of an old German fortress. There was something about this night time walk that eased my mind. I'm not sure if it was the chill atmosphere, the beauty and stillness of the nature around us, or just simply it being a time to clear my thoughts, but that stroll made me feel much better.

The craziness and activity was not gone for long, however. One does not know crazy, in fact, until he or she watches the Champions League final match between 2 German teams in an Irish pub in Berlin. Yes, that is exactly what we did.

I was never really into soccer, but I was really into the environment of the pub, called Oscar Wilde, on this particular game day. People were comparing this match to the NFL SuperBowl. Me being a football fanatic, I could completely relate to the intensity and importance of this game. Being with about half our study abroad group and just enjoying watching others scream, yell, and cheer was a lot of fun. Oh, and Bayern won!

Wait what...isn't it summer?

This trip more than ever before has made me realize how many of those "of course" moments I have in my life. The biggest of these moments? I had thought about packing my leather jacket and boots, but after weighing my suitcase and reevaluating the situation, I decided against it. And now it's freezing cold, and those two items are the two items I wished I had not, in fact, left behind. Of course.

When I was told the temperature here in Berlin varies, I had anticipated some days of warm, shorts-wearing weather, and some days that would make Gainesville winters seem warm. What I was not told was that the definition of "temperature variation" is actually the range from mildly cold to freezing cold. Too bad I had packed mostly shorts. True Floridian problems.

Despite the bone-chilling winds and the cold air temperature that I was certainly not used to, I can't complain. Even though I do miss the beach, I think the irony of being cold in the summer time makes Berlin unique and I can appreciate that.

Another unique characteristic of Berlin is the graffiti on almost every wall, especially at the gallery known as Urban Spree. I'm not one for graffiti and street art, but I have grown to like it here. This weather, combined with the graffiti throughout the city, creates a certain atmosphere that makes Berlin, well, Berlin.

It amazes me that the government or city itself does not take measurements to try to stop or eliminate the graffiti that covers the walls of various buildings and signs. On another hand, however, it shows that the graffiti is seen as a form of art and expression and a creative addition to the cityscape. Apparently most people do not mind it, or at least mind it enough to try to stop it.

Once again I have encountered differences between Berlin and America, and yet again I am in awe of how much I can love both places. I am starting more and more each day to see the wonders of traveling and why it is so enjoyable. Being able to see the differences of cities away from home, yet still manage to appreciate them, is the true meaning of discovery.

Real men wear sparkles (and pink)

Acrobatic jumps, casual light up suits, and dancing in inches of water in the middle of the stage may seem like a scene out of a movie or a very vivid dream, but these indeed were all characteristics of the theater performance "Show Me," which we saw yesterday at the Friedrichstadt-Palast.

Most of the guys out there who think they are strong and tough, think this way because of the clothes they wear or how many times a day they go to the gym. They call themselves "real men." I, however, after seeing this performance have a new definition of "real men."

One scene in the performance was a group of men, wearing bright pink jumpsuits with sparkles on them, dancing, lifting each other up, and doing feats of incredible strengths, feats that no ordinary man without significant training could do. Whoever said real men wear pink wasn't joking.

Other male performers also had on sparkling outfits, but those rhinestones need not undermine their masculinity. They as well performed acts of intense strength throughout the show that could make even wrestlers seem weak.

 I really enjoyed the performance. Any day that we can dress up to go see an absolutely amazing play and watch insane acts of human ability, you can count me in.

Pictures, Pong, and People

     After only five days of being here in Berlin, I have come to realize that this city is nothing short of amazing in the party arena. Not to say that I have encountered any Great Gatsby gatherings as of yet, but I definitely get a good, young vibe from the environment here. One particular unique characteristic of this city is a small, casual bar called Dr. Pong's.

Here, drinking and epic multi-player ping pong matches at the bar's sole ping pong table are not only allowed, but encouraged. What I found interesting was the talent of some of the players as they played ping-pong successfully while either drinking a beer or rolling a cigarette. I, of course, never made it very far in the tournament. Game, set, match.

Despite my sub-par ping pong abilities, I did have a few successes these past few days. Very few feelings compare to that awesome feeling of accomplishment, and I was lucky enough to have that feeling today; I found my subject for our photojournalism project!

He is a young, talented musician in a local band. He also served as my translator while speaking to other band members. He showed me the acoustic guitar and the base guitar and even performed a few numbers. If only I could find even one musical gene in my body...

Same Earth, Different World

Coming to Germany I did not know what to expect. I wasn't sure if society would be similar to the United States or if anything anyone had told me to expect was going to be accurate. The biggest disappointment, I have found when traveling, is not keeping an open mind. Since I am traveling with fellow students from UF, there is a diverse set of interests and a varied group of personalities, so I find it important to experience it all.
    
We started the trip with a Fat Tire bike tour of the city of Berlin, which of course was kept interesting with the fact that I have not ridden a bike in quite some time and still had to master the art of taking photos while riding. The tour was great; between the sights to see, our awesome tour guide, and even the freezing cold rain that made us realize that German weather doesn't kid around, I found our adventure enjoyable.

As one of my friends on the trip stated upon return from the tour, "well that was fun...I didn't know arctic swimming was included in this tour." Regardless, I really took a liking to the bikes, which were called cruisers, and decided that I am investing in one upon my return to the US.

Yesterday we went on a walking tour of the city and got to see other sights that we did not see on the bike tour. It certainly was easier to take photographs while walking than it was to do so while biking.

These tours have made me realize how different Germany is from the US. Here, people casually walk by on the streets holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other and don't have to worry about open container laws or (as long as you look old enough) getting ID'ed. Also, people are just expected to do the right thing, and people generally do. Paying .50 euros to use the bathroom, however, was not my forte.

I feel that the way German society operates, with everyone relatively trusting each other to follow the rules, is why the laws here are different and in most cases, less strict. As opposed to Germany, you would not even be able to come near alcohol, let alone have it on the streets while walking the daily commute, without a proper ID. People are certainly not trusted to behave and do the right thing back in the US, which is rather an accurate feeling since many people indeed do not follow the rules.

It interests me to see the difference between these two countries. They share the same planet, and are only a mere few thousand miles apart, but yet have such different characteristics. It makes me ponder whether it be due to history, or the way the laws were established from the beginning, or simply the variation in attitudes of the different cultures.

Nonetheless, I think we will be easily identified as "the Americans" here in Berlin for quite some time, and will for a while longer have to give a confused gaze when being spoken to in German. But for now, however, I don't think it will be too difficult to fall in love with this country to prevent me from getting too homesick.

 

Doing is Believing

I knew I loved traveling and going on adventures, but I was never actually sure why. Whether it be because I could make my friends jealous by posting neat pictures of exotic places or because I could stop being jealous myself from seeing my friends doing the same, I could not quite say before. Now, however, I have come to realize exactly what drives this passion for exploration and motivation for diversity- a new perspective.

As a child I always thought America was the only country in the world and that all the seemingly flawless pictures of various foreign places (yes, those images that put postcard pictures to shame) were made up to give American society a global perspective, even if it is was a pseudo-perspective.

At this point you are probably questioning my knowledge of simple world geography (well probably my knowledge of life in general), but this essentially shows the generalized American self-centered consciousness. I mean, it is not at all a typical American move to believe that America is the only country in the world. (Can you sense my sarcasm?) It is certainly one thing to believe without evidence, but it is another to become fully realized of your belief after obtaining evidence. Yes that sounded scientific, but it really is simple- doing, not simply seeing, is believing.

It is difficult to believe (or more realistically, fully realize) that the Berlin Wall, and other diverse worldly artifacts, actually exists sometimes, as the naive child me did. A simple photograph taken by some photographer that eventually found its way onto the Internet or book and was probably photoshopped and severely edited is not very convincing to a starry-eyed wanderer dying to explore the world. However, going to the Berlin Wall itself as we did on our first day in the city of Berlin was when it truly hit me that all the history I pulled all-nighters reading back in high school was indeed a real application to the world and that it did indeed occur.

One does not truly understand or realize how magnificent or real something is until he or she is there doing and seeing it in the moment. Once it fully occurs that all that textbook information and all those postcard pictures are certainly what they are made out to be, a new way of thinking forms. It's called a global perspective. And it is, in fact, the reason I love traveling.