Yearly Archives: 2011

Alex…

It’s always a pleasure to have a walk on the east-side. It gets even more interesting as the snow is melting and the landscape is changing, it’s like a new city emerging…

Alexanderplatz is one of the most famous landmarks in Berlin. A symbol, that has been a film, a song and a book. It’s not the typical „platz“ with trees and grass and kids playing around. It’s rather a massive concrete square with big department stores, restaurants, a skyscraper hotel and of course the „Fernsehturm“, Berlin’s urban symbol. The usual crowd consists of tourists, shoppers, skaters and the famous mobile currywurst sellers. The perpetual motion of people and trams totally in line with the city’s vibrant atmosphere, is also outlined by the World Time Clock, a continually rotating installation that shows the time throughout the world.

For some people Alex represents Berlin’s center, although Berlin is a rather multi-centered city whereas for some others is just a typical touristic attraction. For me, it is just an interesting alloy of Western and Eastern landscape architecture and as with most of the alloys it is time-resistant…

Ladies and gentleman, the white thin Duke in action….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXzyobIKZBE

Cross Country Travelling

I am Stella and I study German in Deutsch Akademie. Living in Germany and learning German have always been on top of my wish list. Of all the languages in the world I’ve always admired German and, as opposed to many people, I found it a good-sounding language. Now I am lucky to be living in Berlin where learning German is only a matter of finding a good language school and practicing.One of the best ways of practicing German is when I travel. It’s like „Killing two birds with one stone“: I get to see new sights and speak to different people. Sometimes they reply in English trying to make it easier for you but I continue to speak German. There has also been times when I pretended that I didn’t speak or understand English which left them no other option but to speak German.I am doing a cross country tour now. I was in Cologne where I witness one of the most amazing cathedrals and climbed up 500 stairs to admire its beauty from close proximity. Then proceeded to check out the ‚Schokoladen Museum‘ which unfortunately was closed. So I stopped at a cafe in ‚Altstadt‘ to have a cup of something warm where I starting a conversation with a woman sitting at the next table. She was very patient with my slow and, at times, grammatically incorrect German. In the afternoon I took the train to Bonn. I assumed that at least the „Haribo“ better known as ‚gummy bear‘ factory would be open. It was a real blast. I strongly recommend all the fans of gummy bears to attend.  My next stop was at a highly recommended soup restaurant in Bonn. The big variety of soups confused me a bit in the beginning, however, I didn’t hesitate to ask for clarifications.  In the end I had a Persian curry soup. Delicious! My final destination was at Beethoven museum. The tour was great. The tour guide was speaking slowly and clearly and that was definitely very helpful for comprehension.I arrived in Wiesbaden a few hours ago but I will share the impressions later. Ciao!

Berlin LIVE?!

Some of the most fascinating live gigs take place in Berlin. Groups and artists from all over the world representing a huge variety of musical styles come at least once in Berlin in order to perform in front of the Berliner audience. The city has a long tradition in hosting some of the most famous groups / singers in the world…

In Berlin, one can find at least one gig -some times much more- per day ranging from experimental electro-punk to philharmonic sessions. So, instead of just sit on your couch and watch sitcoms I would suggest to go out and find your favorite live performance! And who knows, you might find an interesting opportunity to practice your German language skills…

Zu guter letzt, for those who are interested in more experimental stuff, the 2011 Transmediale starts on 1 February. More information at http://www.clubtransmediale.de/.

And finally, a small taste of Berlin’s underground scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tee1bQbHu1o&feature=related

Berlin EINS ZWEI

foto-3.JPG

German learning is not only about grammar, syntax and vocabulary. It’s something more, especially here in Berlin.

It’s more about understanding a way of thinking, where structure is important but not in a restrictive way. It’s rather about engineering ideas out of words. It is about respecting uniqueness and realising that national identity is important but in a synthetic rather than a separatist way.

Living in Berlin is a privilege on its own. It is a capital city with almost 3,5 million people population, limitless cultural and entertainment possibilities and an international flair. Galleries and museums are widely dispersed in almost all of Berlin’s areas also known as “Bezirke”. It is like experiencing a perpetual cultural overdose.

But far most important from all the aforementioned data is the feeling one gets when living in Berlin…it feels like home…

Deutsch Akademie is in a way Berlin’s miniature, with people from so many countries and with so diverse backgrounds. Finally, all one have to do in order to learn German, is just being open-minded, ready to learn through daily interaction with people and absorb as many experiences as possible…

At the end of my daily entries I decided to link a video that reminds me of Berlin. So, for today let’s just “enjoy the silence”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_Dg5sMui0Y

Write to you soon…