Ein lang blog :)

Hallo Leute!
     Ich bin hier am Deutschland! Which means, I am here in Germany! This will be a longer blog covering what happened the past few days. I apologize for not writing, but we have not had internet until late yesterday, and I have been exceptionally busy as well as jet-lagged.

13 bis 14 Mai (May 13-14)
     My German partner was so kind to drive me from Duluth to the Minneapolis airport. She took her dog to her brother's house in Germany and waited till her flight in the evening. We spent the entire 2.5 hours talking about how excited we were and all the fabulous things we were going to accomplish. My first flight was from the US to Canada through Air Canada and was a very nice, short flight of about 1:45 hours. The layover in Canada was very short and the Canadian customs people were incredibly kind and happy. For those who do not travel, happy, kind customs workers are a supposed anomaly. Listening to the French being spoken around me and over the intercom and realizing I understood what they were saying lifted my spirits. Studying one language intensely seems to have taken a toll on my ability to speak quickly in the other languages I know. Surprisingly, it has not taken a toll on my comprehension both orally and written. It was an incredibly useful tool, it turns out, switching from English to French because it actually made me begin functioning in another language and prepared by brain for the total transitions when I arrived in Frankfurt.
     The next flight was from Canada to Frankfurt, and that particular flight was my long flight of almost 8 hours. Air Canada is a really nice branch with very comfy seating, good leg room, very good food, and also a fabulous movie selection. I highly recommend them. Throughout my flight I was lucky enough to be sitting next to a very sweet Persian woman who was traveling from her current home in Canada to her home town in Iran which is on the border of Iran and Turkey. I found out that she had a great deal of Turkish friends and had even lived in the south of Germany for almost 11 years. We spoke quite a bit about Turkey and about the Muslim people living in Germany. It was her opinion that while Germany provided a lot of opportunities for Muslims and those from the Middle East it can create a situation questioning home verses homeland.  She wished me the best of luck in both Germany and Turkey and encouraged me to fully immerse myself in the cultures and enjoy.
     After landing, while sitting in the Frankfurt airport during my 3 hour layover, I was distressed to find I was unable neither able to access internet nor send SMS (texts) with my phone. To make matters worse, the Euro phones would not let me call home either. I had absolutely no way to contact anyone to let them know all was OK. I did not realize the importance of my communication tools in my life until that day.
     The flight from Frankfurt to Berlin was fairly short and went well despite a huge amount of turbulence. I waited at the airport for my German partner who arrived an hour after I did. I do not think I have ever been so happy to see the face of someone I know. We both waited for a third person whose flight arrived early, thankfully. And, the three of us set off from the airport to have our first German experience!
    Finding a taxi in Germany was, thankfully, easy since we were at the airport. We spoke to him in German, telling him where we needed to go and informed him we were students here in Germany to practice German. Talking with him during the drive, we found that he is Turkish, born in the East of Turkey, and moved  to Germany about 10 years ago. Gastarbeiter is the non PC (politically correct term) for someone of his same situation.
     Our hotel was absolutely beautiful! We stayed at the Marriot in the Zentrum (center) of Berlin. We had a small Abenteur (adventure) attempting to find somewhere to eat but were lucky enough to find an authentic hole-in-the-wall German restaurant, Bistro Kneipe. I ate Brotkeit, which was a plate of various cheeses, meats, and vegetables served with bread. Because I had not eaten anything but airplane food, it was the most delicious meal I have experienced. That evening I was able to use the internet and contact my loved ones and friends. And, the beautiful, king, bed was never more welcome!