Deutsche Reichstag!

Today we all went on a tour of the Reichstag, which is the German Parliament building. It was really pretty intense, and it had some awesome architecture. Inside it was really modern, and there is a huge glass dome that visitors can go in above the building. Here are some pictures of our adventure for you to enjoy. :) Ich vermisse dich!

View of the Berlin Skyline...you can
see the TV Tower, the golf ball looking
thing. Such a beautiful city! I need to get
pictures of the amazing grafitti.

This is inside the glass dome on the roof of
the Reichstag. I took it from the catwalk-type
thing that goes up to the top of the dome.

This is the bottom of the dome from inside
the Reichstag where Parliament has meetings.

Inside where Parliament meets. You can see

the big German Eagle. Each state in Germany

has a different looking eagle.

The outside of the Reichstag from the back.

Sweet picture of a roman-esque

archway near the Reichstag.

Photos, finally!

Still no internet at my apartment, but there is wireless in the IES building, so I am writing from my laptop while we all watch a movie, auf Deutsch naturlich. Hopefully there will be internet soon! Birgit needs to call the husband of someone she works with, and he's going to help us set it up. Let's hope that is ASAP. But for now, here are some wonderful photos for you to enjoy. You can see a little bit of how different it is here.

This is my room at my apartment. Very orange! It's really cute. They don't have boxsprings here, they have beds that are more like futons--but they are still comfortable.

This is our living room. You can see Birgit's record collection. It's pretty intense. On the right side is a bright red couch, but you can't see it in this picture.

This is the bathroom. Please note that the toilet and the tub are very high off the ground. I am small. You do the math. It's one of the most american-ish showers here...most are just tubs. You can see Tigger, Birgit's cat. He likes to jump in the tub and drink out of the faucet. He's really fat and I like him a lot.

This is the kitchen. It's small and cute.

And here ends the tour of my flat in Berlin :) Soon I will have more pictures detailing the surrounding area..it's really cute and old.

Hallo!
Ich bin im Deutschland jetzt!
Sorry I have not posted, but my wireless isn't set up in my flat yet. I will give the rundown of what Germany has been like this far...
Day 1: arrive in Frankfurt Flughafen. See a bunch of German people, my flight was late, so I had to get a new flight into Berlin. That was pretty easy to do so no worries. The exit signs here are all green instead of red, which is interesting and the custodians and workers all wear colored overalls. It is certainly different. Even the view from the airplane is different from the US...I even saw a castle! I was pretty excited but the woman sitting next to me on the plane was not at all impressed..oh well. I took a cab and the driver didn't speak english, so we spoke german and he was so nice to me. I met my host/flatmate, her name is Birgit Faßbender, and she's AMAZING! She works in the German parliament, but she is also a DJ in clubs on weekends and for weddings on occassion. Next Saturday I am going to the club to see her DJ and I'm so excited for it. She collects vinyl records from the 50s and 60s and she has some great stuff.

Day 2: I woke up to find that the two cats, Tigger and Louie, brought me a dead mouse. I guess they like me! Birgit showed me how to get to the center on the SBahn (the schnell Bahn) kind of like a fast train above ground. It was very easy....but when I tried to find my way back home in the dark I got lost for TWO HOURS and ended up on the complete opposite side of Berlin by some airport. I finally found my way home in the rain, but I couldn't figure out the lock system here for my apartment. Birgit was out with her boyfriend Raoul to see Batman:Dark Knight (which just came out here recently in theatres) so I was on my own. I made a lot of noise trying to figure out the lock, but after about 5 minutes I was able to get into my flat. I was frustrated by the lock and the fact that I was soaked (it was pouring rain during my walk) so I took a shower. While I was in the shower there was a lot of knocking on the door. I answered it in my towel saw two POLICE OFFICERS! Apparently, our neighbor had called the police because either she thought someone was breaking in, or because it was after 10pm (after 10pm in germany it is unlawful to make noise and disturb other people). I was surprised and frazzled so I had trouble understanding, but everything ended up fine! What a crazy two days...more to come.

miss you guys! write me on facebook.

ready for takeoff

Hey everyone!

So here is where you can keep yourself updated as to what I'm doing while I am in Berlin for the semester. Feel free to leave me messages on here, or e-mail me at jacorriv@colby.edu while I'm in Germany. It would be great to hear from home while I'm abroad!

A little preview of what I'll be doing abroad so you have some idea what kind of reading material you will have:
*1 week in St. Petersburg, Russia in October
*1 Week in Paris, France in November
*I'll be living in urban Berlin, in a historic part of the city
*comparisons of Germany & the US
*comparisons of IES and Colby
*shoutouts to those I miss!

I hope to keep in contact with all of you :)