Caught the Concert Missed the Bus . . .

Today went to the Berliner Philarmoniker and listened to the works of Johannes Brahms. It was played by Rainer Sonne playing the violin, Dietmar Schwalke playing the cello and Hendrik Heilman playing the piano. It was beautiful. Then we went to the post office and sent a few letters. Then I got on the S-bahn and went to Humana which is a thrift store that my mom likes. Then we went to the station Gesundbrunnen and missed the bus so we decided to walk home.

What Has Happened Since Last Time Somebody Wrote Anything

Today we went to Winterfeldt Platz, ate tiramisu and stuffed eggplant, drank freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, and bought a weeks worth of food. Now we're going to go meet some friends for Mexican in Kreuzberg. Yesterday we ate Dolores Burritos before looking into shoe, clothing and vintage second hand stores. We then ate the most amazing frozen yogurt ever (unless you think that strawberry yogurt with strawberries, chocolate brownie sauce and pistacio sauce isn't good). This may seem like a highly unusually fun weekend, but it's really not that different than any others since we have been here. Our free days are packed with museums, galleries, music, bike rides and delicious food.
Of course we also have school, which for me goes all day (8-4). This prevents us from doing all the fun things that I wish I could do, because by the time I get home its already very late and I have to do homework. School is going well though. I have made many friends and I'm (trying) to learn German. I have nine 45 minute periods on Monday-Thursday, not including Break. On Friday I get out at one, so I only have six periods. My favorite class is probably Art, but I like most of them. It's fun, but when Fall Break came (2 weeks), I was ready to have a rest from long school days
During the break, Elena and I flew by ourselves to Hotchkiss to see everybody. We really enjoyed seeing our family and friends in the beautiful Colorado fall weather. When we were there, my Grandparents had their annual garlic planting/cider pressing party. A lot of people came to see us there, and we had a lot of fun.Berlin has been very fun, and we can't wait for someone to come visit!We miss you!

My New School

My school is called the John F. Kennedy school.It has one thousand eight hundred children in it.It has four third grade classes and two are for German children and the other two are for English children.It is a huge building too.I am in class 3D with Mrs Geary.My science teacher is Mrs Brock.My partner tongue teacher is Frau Strahler-Praetorius.

culture weekend

This weekend I had a total culture fest.My mom wanted to do something cultural so we did.We spent hours looking at catalogs and brochures.We decided we would go to a circus that day called BERLIN LACHT!!It was cool.We watched a beat boxer whose name was MCxander.It was awesome!He could make sounds with only his voice and a microphone.Then we walked to a neighborhood that we liked.There we ate at a place called the fresh eatery.It was good.The next night we went to a museum and watched tango music.

Heroes, Freaks and Super Rabbis

We've been having so much fun on our new bikes that yesterday we decided to ride downtown to see some music. The ride took us about 45 minutes, and was really fun. We followed the old wall path , which was really interesting, and did some sightseeing when we rode past the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate. The free concert was in the Jewish Museum, out in the gardens, which were lovely, and we sat and ate our picnic under a huge arbor. We arrived late, so saw a little jazz before deciding to take a look at " Heroes, Freaks and Super-rabbis: The Jewish Dimension of comic art", since it was the last day of this special exhibit. The show was fascinating, explaining secrets hidden inside of comics, telling of their history, and reveling that many of the creators were Jewish immigrants. The creators of Superman, Hulk, X-Men, Batman, The Fantastic Four and more were Jewish. The special exhibit showed short films, displayed original comics and gave biographies on the creators, Although I'm not exactly interested in comics, I was quite amazed at this exhibit. After finding that we all enjoyed the special exhibit, we decided to move on to the permanent exhibits. These were in a very cool building, designed by the same architect as the Denver Museum of modern art. When we first walked in there was a tree, and it was requested that you write a wish on a paper pomegranate before hanging it up on the tree. We each did this, before moving on to see old artifacts, Jewish prayer books and more. The museum was full of fun things to as well, like using a computer to translate your name into Hebrew, sitting in little nooks in the wall and watching films, or putting donation coins down this crazy shoot. We soon finished the first floor, and while Elena and I begged to go on, we had to go see an apartment. My mom reminded us that we lived here, and we could come back anytime. So we hoped on our bikes and headed back home. We retraced our steps all the way back to the canal that runs behind our flat, and goes on for miles and miles. There are great bike paths all the way down it, and it's lined with parks, playgrounds and Gartenkolonies. We were almost to our building when we saw a small group of people eating kuchen and drinking kaffee. There was a sign that said all were welcome, so we sat down, had a few pieces of cherry cake, and asked what they were doing, sitting there selling cake (they all spoke English). They were a group that took care of that little stretch of the Panke by planting flowers and picking up trash. The kuchen was quite good.
We're having a lot of fun, although I can't wait for school to start. I miss everybody!!

What There's Alot of in Berlin

1. Döner Kebaps-There's at least 3 on every block.
   
2. Playgrounds-with huge, scary slides and water pumps, there are three just on our block
   
3. Currywurst stands- every from the U-Bahn to the lakeside
4. Bakeries and Cafes-yum!!
5. Flea markets and farmers markets-so much stuff!!
   
6. People- German, Turkish, English, Muslim, Jewish, French, Russian...
7. Graffiti- It covers every possible surface
   
8. Beautiful Old Buildings-Wow!!
9. Weird, random things-?????
10. Bike Paths-we can ride all over the city. There are even special turning lanes for bikes.
11. Lakes- Germany is full of them!!!
12. Kleingarten colonies-read about them on my Gin+Gelato!

We're having really fun, but I miss u all in the U.S. You all have to come visit soon!!!

Guten Tag Wedding

This week we said goodbye to our first home in Berlin. It was in the bourgeois neighbor of Charlottenburg also known as "sleepy Charlottenburg". We had become used to the daily rhythm of life in the former British sector of Berlin . . . impressive architecture, a three hundred year old palace, expansive gardens, museums full of Matisse and Picasso, and our daily trip to the local ice cream parlor where they knew us by name. As you can imagine, it was with much reluctance that we once again packed-up our enormous black duffel bags and schlepped everything down three flights of stairs to the awaiting taxi. It was then that I realized the Thompsons had officially become Gypsies.

We haven't found a long term housing situation so we had to find another temporary pad for a couple months. There weren't too many choices but luckily we found a beautiful apartment that is spacious and filled with light and plants. Plus, the apartment comes with a box of locally grown organic veggies delivered to our door every Friday morning. The owners, a Russian lady and her German counterpart, left us with an enormous library and ripening tomato plants on the balcony. It might sound somewhat idyllic but a mere fifteen minute taxi ride north over the River Spree has brought us into a whole other world.

The first couple days in the district of Wedding were a bit shocking. There is a mosque across the street, the majority of the women wear headscarves, and the dominant language is Turkish or Arabic. I felt like I had a huge banner across my chest that screamed "Americans" and, honestly, I was a little nervous on our first nightly stroll. So this is what it feels like to be out of your comfort zone. Life is not easy here and it is written on people's faces.

But by the second day I started noticing the sounds of laughter. Inside our flat when the balcony doors are wide open I hear the kids down on the street kicking a soccer ball, when I walk through the park I hear large groups of women chatting intensely, and on my early morning walk with Princess I notice the same three elderly Turkish men happily arguing amongst themselves. This neighborhood is alive. By the third day Elena was dancing down the street, Lydia was ordering Turkish pastries from the bakery next door, and we found the best Indian/Afro market in the city where you can buy everything from bulk curry to hair extensions.

Today we hopped onto the bike trail behind our house and cruised along a tree lined canal filled with ducks and the lull of crickets. Who would have known? When I told a sleepy Charlottenburger that we had moved to Wedding she let out a little gasp of horror, but that is OK, this gem will be our little secret.