Issue 2 - May 31 -- The Last of Berlin and Onto Aachen

Greetings from Aachen!!

My language course ended last week in Berlin. On the last day I visited "The Reichstag" which is similar to the Capitol in the US. Got some great pictures of the city from the building. Spent the last couple hours in Berlin and then took a flight to Dusseldorf Airport and then a train from Dusseldorf to Aachen. The train was PACKED when I got on, there was barely any room to stand. In a few stops we arrived at the main station at Dusseldorf - the Hauptbanhof where most of the people got off. An older man and a younger woman got into a physical fight over a seat or the fact that someone was trying to steal someone's luggage who knows, they were arguing and yelling in German.

I arrived at Aachen Hauptbanhof and met up with Till, my PhD student, and his student helper Cynthia. We went out to dinner, went grocery shopping, went to the ATM, and then finally arrived at my dorm room where I had to drag a HUGE suitcase, a stuffed handbag, and an over-sized book bag to where my dorm room was located. I met Konrad, the Polish kid that lives in our apartment/dorm. I started unpacking a bit and then slept.

Next day, I unpacked some more. The weather was pretty bad- it was raining and it was cold. It got better in the afternoon so I went to explore the city. I live outside the main downtown area so I had to walk A LOT! Bought myself an umbrella and some other things. Met up with Pankaj, another RISE student and we got some food.

Next day, Cynthia took me to the main bus station to get my pass, the city office to register me, and the university to get my extended visa. Met up with her boyfriend and some of her friends for lunch. After that I came back to my room and now I am relaxing.

Wow that was a long post. Those are all the updates I have for now. I start my research next week so this week will be pretty relaxing and I will get to explore the city. Tomorrow is sports day, which I plan on checking out.

Till next week, so long! Tchusss!

I found Rutgers in Aachen!!!

The streets of Aachen - Downtown! There were so many people out on the streets even though it was raining and cold.

My dorm room. I live in a campus dorm where 4 people share an apartment where everyone has their own room and we share the kitchen and bathroom. I live with a student from Poland, from Turkey, and from Germany.

The Reichstag (in Berlin). Similar to the Capitol building in the US. Pretty cool and innovative building with an open roof top that takes in water from the rain and heat from the sun to heat the chamber underneath where the Chancellor meets with the appropriate representatives.

Berlin - May 24th continued pictures

More pictures from the past week.

Berlin - May 24th

Guten Tag! I decided it would be best to have a weekly newsletter with descriptions of all the pictures I send, along with some blurbs about what is going on in Germany. I will try to send something out every week for all those interested.

The past couple of days were very busy as it is a holiday here in Berlin. There was a huge carnival and cultural festival with parades where about 1.5 million people came to Berlin to celebrate. We visited Potsdam, a nearby city, famous for its palaces and parks. This was very exciting but I was not allowed to take any pictures inside with my camera (a friend did and those will be up on Facebook later). We also went to the Turkish sector of town to see their famous market.

My language course ends this Friday, so it is my last week in Berlin. I will be flying to Aachen on Saturday to start my research Fellowship. Until next week, so long!

Pictures:

47- Cool old building with about 5 floors of graffiti all over the walls.

42- Karaoke Sunday at a park where about 300 people gather and people from the crowd get to sing individually or in groups.

59- Old church that was bombed in WWII and currently remains as it was after the war.

79- Outside the German history museum- an EXTREMELY LARGE museum – takes people 3 days to see the whole museum.

31- Back side of one of the main museums in a city that is about an hour from Berlin called Potsdam. It is basically a city with about 15 palaces and beautiful parks and a huge tourist attraction. Some of the treaties during the WWII were signed in some of these palaces.

33- Great view from outside one of the palaces.

45- Me outside the marble palace.

07- at a Turkish market in one of the largest Turkish districts. Extremely crowded and runs along a river.

18- Huge carnival of culture where all the various cultures are represented, there is all kinds of music and live bands, all kinds of food and drinks among other things to do. Everything is jam packed.

62- A 9 hour parade took place where all the different cultures and groups had a float and they walked down a huge square. About 1.5 million people attended.

82- A “scary” ghost float.

33- A picture of the huge crowd