Hallo zusammen!

So Saturday I went to Potsdam for the first time since I have arrived in Berlin. Wow! It’s absolute beautiful. There is such a huge mix of old historical Sehenswürdigkeiten and new modern buildings. It’s even an UNESCO Heritage sight! Unfortunately I only got to see a small fraction of Potsdam, which was just the famous Brandenburgstraße and the Holländisches Viertel. I still missed Sanssouci (which means „no worries“ apparently), many museums, Neue Palace, Babelsburg Park, and much more. Both were beautiful and full of shops and restaurants. Since pictures are worth a thousands words, I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Visit Potsdam! Go go go! Bis Bald!

Brandenburgstraße

Cute little American inspired restaurant

-Milan ✌︎

Hallo zusammen!

Now that it’s nearing the end of the course (with the last week already starting tomorrow) I just wanted to give you a quick update on my experience. So, I really do think that in the last three weeks, I have learned more than I did in six months at another Deutsch Sprachschule. The lessons and quality of the teaching surpasses all that I could have imagined. Sometimes you look at vocabulary words and think to yourself, „Ok, when will I ever use that?“ But then, surprisingly, a few days later, you find yourself in a conversation with someone else using the same exact words you doubted would ever come in handy.

Honestly one of the greatest things about this course that they don’t even advertise is that it is the best way to meet friends. When I first came to Berlin, I was so worried making friends was going to be difficult, but Deutsch Akademie classes have facilitated the friendship process so much. I mean, you already have one huge thing in common with everyone at D.A.: you’re trying to learn Deutsch!   All the friends I have in Berlin right now, I met either at a Deutsch Akademie Stammtisch or the Deutsch Akademie class itself. Just the other day, I went out with one of them and had a great time.

On Friday night, we went to this awesome bar right by Warschauer Straße called Fitcher’s Vogel. And you can’t tell many people thought it awesome as well, because it was extremely crowded. We even got there pretty early (21:00) for bar standards and it was still filled to the brim with people. Luckily we managed to get a seat at the bar and enjoy a few drinks (the selection was awesome) If you go, I highly recommend the Mexicaner shot, although not if you don’t like spicy because oooh! that baby had a kick! We met and laughed with the people next to us, and overall had a great time. I would like to say though, that since its within the rules to smoke inside, by the time you leave your hair and all your clothes will reek of stale cigarette smoke. But if that doest matter to you then, Godspeed!

Very nice drink menu with good prices!

Bis bald!

-Milan☕︎

Hallo zusammen!

So as I have mentioned before in a previous Blog post, I come from America (the USA to be exact). Now we Americans are known for our annoying characteristics, mainly our volume and brashness. We tend to speak freely, and most of the time quite loudly. Now in America, no one thinks twice about it because we’re al loud haha, but when you travel, especially to a place such as Deutschland, you have to realise how truly terrible your actions are. Now if I wanted to write a list of all of the stereotypical American attributes, I would be writing all night. And plus, we’re not in America, wir sind in Berlin, Deutschland! So with that being said, maybe lets focus on some Berliner attributes. Now of course this is not all Berliners, but just the general sort. And disclaimer! None of these are insults or bad, simply just objective observations made by an outsider trying to become a Berliner. So, with that being said, lets begin shall we?

So first and foremost, and probably the most important: Berliners put their ketchup ON TOP of their Pommes. Now that may not seem like such a big deal to you, but wow! It is very irritating to me when I buy a side of Pommes and by the time I finish, there are those two or three soggy ketchup soaked fries from the bottom. Now of course, I sound like a large complainer, and I probably am, but what can I say? I’m a ketchup on the side kinda gal.

Most people I have come across in Berlin tend not to say excuse me. They normally just try to squeeze in what little space there is without trying to bother you haha.

Next, I have noticed how healthy (or at least healthy looking) and active Berliners are. Often times in America, the people you see are lazy and a bit overweight. And of course, weight doesn’t necessarily correlate to health, but in America the obesity rate is very high and the overall average health level of people is very low. I notice here, in Berlin, many people are always riding their bicycles, taking the stairs, and just walking a whole lot more in general. People here, tend to be a bit more environmentally friendly, such as carrying their own Einkaufstasche with them instead of buying paper bags, or actually recycling items. This can also play into why people ride bikes so often. It’s a good way to help the environment, stay healthy, and save money.

A funny little thing I noticed, is that most Berliners stay waiting for the little green Ampelmann! Even if the Straße is completely clear, they will not walk until the light is green.

Perhaps the funniest thing I have seen people in Berlin do within this last month, is translate traditional German anecdotes and sayings into English. Now I’m sure, regular Berliners don’t actually use these English sayings (why would you if they sound better in German?) but I still think it is very entertaining to see what some people think we native English speakers say. I included some pictures of these amusing English sayings I found on cards in a little shop.

I see why they thought „Heartly Luckwish“ was a real saying (Herzlichen Glückwunsch) aber what about „Now We Have the Salad“? Where did that come from? lol

To those of you not from Berlin/Deutschland originally, what else do you notice about the awesome people here? If you have any observations, comment down below! Would love to see what you have noticed :) Until then, bis bald!

-Milan☮

Hallo zusammen!

It’s me again. Oh Gott! Can we talk about the weather today? I am sorry, but it was terrible! Now I love the rain, and I love the cold, but when you put them both together and then add wind, it creates a terrible disaster. At one point during the day, a gust of wind blew so hard that my umbrella went backwards and completely broke, resulting in my having to throw it away! Ay ay ay!

Anyways… So today was Stammtisch Nummer 2! This time is was at Cafe Berio in Nollendorfplatz, which was great because it’s only one short U-Bahn stop away from Wittenburgplatz Deutsch Akademie. You could walk the distance, but I don’t think anyone wanted to in this weather. It was the perfect night to just stay home and watch a film, but that is my innerer Schweinehund talking, so I went! When I got there, I said I was with Deutsch Akademie and they automatically showed me upstairs to a quaint private section just for us. Unlike Cancun, this place was quiet and a bit smaller, cozier too. I saw some of the awesome people I met at the last Stammtisch and talked to them for a little while before going to another table to meet new ones.

Cute little Cafe!

The table I was at was full of great people from all over, including someone all the way from Indonesia! They were nice and we all had a big „Prost!“. I ordered a Berliner Wiesse Grün (if you have never tried it, I recommend it… its very sweet but it’s a fun drink if you like beer!)

Waldmeister!

Like at the other Stammtisch, we had name tags and about an hour into it, the Deutsch Akademie staff handed us fun quick little activity papers. Today we had to draw our favourite Faschingskostüm! Oh and almost most importantly, the food was good too!

Kartoffel Suppe!

Unfortunately today I couldn’t stay late because I have to get up early tomorrow, but I was able to enjoy the small time I had during the Stammtisch. If you haven’t gone to any yet, please go to the next one. It’s a great way to meet new people whether you’re new to Berlin or not, and just an overall fun activity to do if you have the night free. If you see me at the next Stammtisch, don’t be shy, say hi! Just look for the brunette girl with the „Milan“ name tag. Until then, bis bald!

They won a prize for their drawing!

-Milan☂

Hallo zusammen!

So it has come to my attention that some of my Wittenbergplatz Deutsch Akademie student mates are having a bit of a hard time remember certain aspects of Deutsch. Now, I am not perfect either but over the years I have developed some help study habits that help me remember information efficiently. Of course I do not have all the great tips, but I will share the few I have with you. And if any of you are reading this, feel free to comment more tips you have down below!

• First tip: TAKE NOTES ! Very important! If you have notes, go home and review them every night. If every night is too often and you are very busy, try to do a review at least every other day. It’s very important to keep the information fresh in your mind, especially if you are not utilising/speaking it all the time.
• Use flash cards to help memorize the past tense version of verbs. Can also be used to memorize      the Artikel of words, or just vocabulary in general.
• Like I mentioned above, if you are not speaking to others auf Deutsch often, then try to speak to yourself. Of course it may seem a little silly, and you don’t need to do it public haha, but if you are at home, try to ask yourself questions and answer them in Deutsch.
• If you have trouble memorizing the Artikel of the nouns (der/die/das), you can write them in colors in a notebook, in a folder, on loose papers, etc. For example, if you’re writing your vocabulary, you can write masculine words in a black pen, feminine words in a red pen, and neutral words in a blue pen. You could also underline them in colors to help your brain connect a pattern between the color assigned to the gender and the word.
  

  Color by Artikel (please excuse the messy writing)

• On your free days, or when you finish the course, go back and do the exercises in the Arbeitsbuch that weren’t assigned to you by your instructor during the course.
• Try to read German books and watch German TV Shows/Films (with or without subtitles).

Hopefully you utilise some of these tips, and they actually help you! If not, I do apologize! Bis bald :)

-Milan✎

Hallo zusammen!

Heute habe Ich einen Rundgang durch Mitte gemacht! And if you’ve never been to that part of town, I definitely recommend it! In Mitte gibt es viele Sehenswürdigkeiten, but my favourites had to be the Konzerthaus and the surrounding buildings. The architecture of these are truly incredible, and seeing the difference between them and the more modern shops/buildings around them was very interesting. A whole square of history right smack dab in the middle of a modern city.

By the square, there is an incredible Chocolatier place named Fassbender & Rausch. OMG! This place was insane! They had truffles and chocolate of all different flavours including generic ones such as Himbeer and Espresso all the way to super unique ones such as Limoncello and Tiramisu! The best part had to be the enormous chocolate statues. Words cannot do them justice, so here are pictures!!!

CHOCOLATE REICHSTAG ! ! ! !

CHOCOLATE GEDACHTNIS KIRCHE ! ! !

CHOCOLATE BRANDENBURG TOR ! ! !

CHOCOLATE FERNSEHTURM ! ! !

Lastly, I walked up to Mall of Berlin and Potsdamer Platz, which is incredible in its own right and deserves a whole new blog post on its own.

Enjoy these Bilder for now! I need to get some rest after a long day. Bis bald!

-Milan ♟

Hallo zusammen!

Today I had a great day at (as you can tell from the title) a Fußballspiel, and I wanted to share my experiences with you all in hopes that you too attend a local Fußballspiel! So the game I attended was Hertha BSC v. Bayern München, which was very difficult because I love both teams! But eventually, I chose to root for Bayern because they’ve been my team for years. So, with my old Bayern sweatshirt that I bought from Karstadt Sports, I made my way to Olympia Stadion. 

When I got there it was obviously incredibly crowded and it took about a half hour to actually get inside the Stadion and sit down. In the Stadion, there is an obvious Hertha side (Ostkurve) and then the obvious Bayern side, and I was seated right in the middle of both with a mix of Hertha fans and Bayern fans all around me. Once the game started, I could automatically feel the incredible energy and adrenaline off the fans in the stands and the players on the field. Both sides were chanting and pounding, swinging their scarves (I didn’t bring one, what a shame) and waving their flag.The first goal was made by V. Ibišević in Hertha (to which half of the Stadion screamed until their lungs gave out) and then a goal was made by R. Lewandowski in the extra five minutes added to the game. Many excellent shots from Bayern were blocked by Hertha’s great goalie and vice versa. Of course in the middle of the match, there were a few falls, and even a few yellow cards to accompany them. At one point in the game, one whole row of fans got into an argument that had to separated by workers from the Stadion.

During half-time, I walked out, amongst the throngs of people rushing to use the restroom and get some refreshments, and got a nice hot really low alcohol content Glühwein, also know as „Stadionpunch“ and some tasty Pommes. Restroom lines, of course, were longer than heck but I managed to get back to my place in time. By the time the game was over, several people had left early (they missed Bayern’s goal at the 90+), but that didn’t mean that there still weren’t thousands of people trying to rush out. When I got to the S-Bahn, I had to wait for four trains by the time I was able to squeeze onto one. Overall, I absolutely loved the game and the experience I had attending it. I hope to go to many more in the future, and I hope you go to some as well! Bis bald :)

-Milan ⚽︎

Hallo zusammen!

It is Friday abend, officially the beginning of das Wochenende! So, today I thought I would write a little history Blog entry. First, let me explain. Four times a week I go to the Deutsch Akademie at WIttenbergplatz. Normalerweise to get there, I take the S-Bahn to Zoologischer Station and walk the fifteen minutes past the church to school. I’ve been past this church at least ten times and I still don’t know the history behind it! I’m sure not all of you know the Gedächtniskirche’s story either, so let’s do this!

So the church, designed in the Neo- Romanesque style by Franz Schwechten, was built in the early 1890s under the rule of Kaiser Wilhelm II to commemorate his grandfather, the first German emperor. It was opened on September 1, 1895.  There it stood proudly for about 40 years before being wrecked by an air raid on November 23, 1943 during World War II. For the next 20 years, there was much debate and controversy over whether the damaged building should have parts torn down, or if it should remain as it, serving as a symbolic reminder for the people of Berlin.

Finally it was decided, that most of the church was to be torn down and rebuilt in a more modern style, while the damaged spire would remain. The new part of the church, completed in December 1963, consists of two newer builds covered in coloured glass. Next to these two buildings, the damaged spire stands out to serve as a reminder of peace. In such a busy city, it is seen by thousands of people daily.

nicknamed der Hohle Zahn, or the Hollow Tooth

Hopefully this little story sheds a new light on the church for you. Bis bald :)

– Milan ♝

Hallo zusammen!

It is I! Wittenbergplatz Blogger extraordinaire. So, today is the three week anniversary of my being in Berlin. It was also the last day of the second week of my Deutsch course at Deutsch Akademie. Since I am now exactly halfway through the course, I decided to finally write about my Course class.

So my class is comprised of 11 people, including myself, from many different parts of the world. Incredibly, I have a classmate from Russia, one from Egypt, one from Turkey, and even one from Ethiopia! All of us are from different age brackets, which is great! There is so more diversity in such a small group. Going into the class, I was very nervous, as I had taken German classes in America before and didn’t have a great experience. My nerves quickly faded away though as the class started. My instructor is so amiable ( she makes us laugh every class) and she really made everyone feel comfortable right away. She even learned all our names on the first day (and we all have some pretty unique ones)! She started us off with a quick introduction activity so we can get to know our acquaintances a little better.

Every day we start off with a review of the lessons from the day before, and then we start of with a string of informative and entertaining lessons. Every few lessons, we do a fun little game such as Word Dominoes or Hangman so that we are not always doing serious work. My instructor’s teaching style is really great and the amount of information I have not only seen, but actually learned is incredible for such a short amount of time.

Quick snap of what was on the board today. Featuring two classmates‘ heads and my great instructor!

As the days passed, I began liking the class more and more and now, I even love it! The three hours pass by super quickly and by the time 18:00 rolls around, I feel as if I had only been in the class a little while! Hopefully you all love your classes as much as I do! Bis bald.

– Milan ★

Hallo zusammen!

It’s me again!

It is the start of a new week! How have you all been getting by? Do you like your classes/classmates/instructors? I know I do. Also, can I just say, wow! This cold weather is really kicking my butt! I don’t know about you, but it has been very difficult for me to adjust. Where I come from, and surely where some of you come from, it never gets colder than around 20* C, so getting used to this freezing weather ist sehr schwierig! It is also very weird for me to see it snow! Although when falling it is beautiful, when it piles up on the side of a schmutzige Straße, it looks like a colorless Slushy that Petrol Stations sell. Incredibly enough, one of my favorite parts about this harsh winter is the ability to see my breath. Being able to see the water vapor in your breath freeze in mid-air is one of life’s simplest pleasures.

Since there are both great and terrible things about this chilly season, I took the liberty of writing a little list to remind us of what we all love, and hate, about Winter.

• :) Weihnachten und Silvester
• :) No hot and sweaty days
• :) A nice hot cup of Glühwein from one of the many stands around berlin. Viellecht der kleine Stand neben der Wittenbergplatz U-bahn-Station. If you have never had Glühwein (or mulled wine in Englisch) think of ein süßer Rotwein mit Zimt, Kardamom, und Nelke, oder Staranise. That first sip makes warmth travel down your throat and throughout your body, warming you right up.
• :) Keine Mücken, Zecken, und Flöhe (this is especially great if you have pets)
• :) Schneeflocken (no one flake is the same) and Schnee
• :) Ice skating on frozen lakes
• and much more…

frozen surface of Schlachtensee

• :( The harsh, biting cold of winter
• :( Having to wear many layers, and then take them off and put them back on every time you arrive or leave somewhere. And if you don’t take them off, then you spend all your time indoors sweating.
• :( Dry skin and chapped lips
• :( Losing pain and/or pain in your fingers from almost contracting Frostbite (lol)
• :( Limited ability to do physical activity, and therefore (sometimes) weight gain
• :( Almost no sun! For two weeks, I almost forgot what the sun looked like

Now, depending on who you ask, Winter is either the best season, or the worst. But no one can deny the beauty of bare trees, chilled by Winter´s bite, waiting patiently to regrow its´ leaves so they can spread their foliage covered arms in Spring.

Try to stay warm! Bis bald!

– Milan ☄