Berlin

I am terribly behind in my posting, so today's post involves a slight bit of time travel. About a week and a half ago I traveled with a friend of mine to Berlin during our week off from classes. I really had no idea what to expect from Berlin, but let me just start off with the fact that it was fantastic! And this is despite being deathly ill my first day there (okay, i tend to exagerate a bit).

So far on my travels, I have never gotten sick and been forced to spend an entire day at the hostel. Unfortunately, my first day in Berlin broke that streak. The cold that had been surfacing the evening before was in full force, and it took all my energy to demand cold medicine and food from my travel buddy (even with a cold, my appetite will not be stifled ;) ). So the first day was essentially a bust, but the next two days were fantastic!

Day one involved a general walking tour of Berlin. It took about 4 hours and we covered so much! First thing of note is that most of Berlin was destroyed in WWII, so most buildings were rebuilt after that time. Any building pre-dating that time are sure to have shrapnel damage. It's amazing to me that a city had to completely rebuild itself. Another thing that struck me about Berlin was the emmense amount of history there. For instance, while studying the Berlin wall, we were also standing mere meters from the site of the gestapo and SS headquarters.

My interest in the history around WWII was definitely sparked by this trip. I want to learn more after visiting so many historical sites and memorials. Our second day we went on a Third Reich tour which focused on many of the sites from WWII. An interesting thing we touched on during both tours was the fact that Hitler's Bunker is barely marked, and currently is the site of a car park (*pause* I mean, parking lot). Our guide pointed out the dilema with how to deal with this site. If the bunker is destroyed, Germany is hiding its past. If it is turned into a museum of sorts it becomes a tourist attraction and Germany is exploiting its past. If it's turned into a memorial its controversial cause why should Hitler get a memorial. So no action is taken, and now you can park your car at the site where Hitler's dead body was dragged out from his bunker. Apparently a sign acknowledging the site was only put up recently in response to the accusation that Germany is ignoring its past.

On a completely different note, it was the festival of lights in Berlin when i was there. This meant that many of the buildings in Berlin were lit up in beautiful colors. It was fantastic to walk around at night.

We also managed to find one of those typical German Goth bars. It was pretty dead when we were there, but I did get to order a Twisted Sister and almost got kicked out by the bouncer (See below ;) )

Oh and B, I didn't get a chance to see Knut. I blame the lack of time due to illness. But I was in the same city as him so sent my warm wishes... :-P I could write so much more about the trip, but alas i think this belated entry is long enough so I will stop here for now. Suffice it to say the trip was fantastic and I was very sad to leave. Now I'm in Copenhagen for the next week and a half, so adventures at home will be sure to occur :-D

Fire in my heart

It appears I may have chosen the wrong semester to study abroad.

The fires continue to burn in San Diego. Newscasters claim these are the worst fires California has ever seen. Ramona, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Fallbrook, Chula Vista, Rancho Sante Fe, it almost seems that it would be easier to list the areas that aren't burning. And I don't know anything about the fires north of San Diego, but from what i hear, there are plenty up there as well.

After a day of attempting to be productive and not quite succeeding, i stepped out for a run in the increasingly frigid Copenhagen air. I was cold, and my knee bugged me a bit, but it felt good to get out of the house and get the blood flowing. I arrived back to my room sweaty, breathing hard, but feeling more alive. As I hit the intenet explorer icon and the signonsandiego page loaded i paused. I had actually noticed earlier in the day reports of wild fires, but such a thing is not an uncommon occurance in So Cal, so I wasn't overly stressed about it. What was different this time were two numbers that caught my eye. 5 and 56. It was like a jumble of words floating in front of me that just couldn't come together until an explosion in my mind. Evacuations West of I-15 East of the I-5 and North of the 56 freeway. That's where I live.

Instant confusion. There aren't wild fires in my area. Ramona, yes. Poway, sure. Tons of neighborhoods that I have associated with the risk of wildfires. But Del Mar? Rancho Sante Fe? Solana Beach? It made no sense.

Confusion set aside. Act. Open Skype and call mom. It was early in the morning there and I don't think I had gotten the news of the evacuation area much later than she had. I could hear the worry and concern in her voice, but my mom is never one to fall into panic. "I'm getting important paper work together. What do you want me to grab for you if I have to evacuate." Oddly the shock of the question didn't set in until after I answered the question. "Peg." I said instaneously, no hesitation, first thing that had to be saved. Peg is my stuffed pegasus from disneyland that i got when I was about 5. He has been everywhere with me, and the decision not to bring him to copenhagen was more about logistics than him not being an important item. He actually may be one of my most important possessions. He's been a constant my whole life. Then, after about half a second "...and my jewelry box." Those were the first two things I thought of. I hung up on Skype to let my mom do her thing but still called back in periodic intervals. "mom, can you find my box of running medals from HS and my scrapbook" an hour later "Mom mom mom, all my high school photo albums are in my closet." I even requested my favorite purse in the whole world and my entire dvd collection. You know you have an amazing mom when she is willing to pack up about 100 dvds and box sets because you are in a panic about your precious collection.

Since about 4pm yesterday I have constantly had four windows open on my computer. Signonsandiego.com with its up to the minute blog updates, my email, a google map of the fire and evacuation zones, and the MSNBC live newscast via the web. Last night I was afraid to sleep, because I didn't want to wake up to hear all that had been damaged in the 8 hours that i slept. I set my alarm and woke up every two hours to check the news. Not that there was anything I could do, but i had to know what was going on. I've been in touch with many friends in SD...mostly people whose families are in San Diego. I feel a lot of us are in the same situations, sitting in our respective homes on the internet waiting to hear from loved ones if they are evacuating or in any danger.

I can't imagine losing one's home. It's not just about the possessions. People make their home into a safe haven. It's constantly changing as you and your family change. A home and all that it contains represents the course of your family over time. In the last 7 years I've lived in various places. I've lived with roommates, in dorms, in flats, and in an apartment all to myself. But my home with my mom has always been my true home. I always say my heart is in San Diego, and if that is the case then that house is its center. I think even when I have my own place in San Diego I will consider that house to be just as much my home as the place that I live in and call my own. That house with the yellow roses in the yard will never cease to be my home.

That's something you can never replace.

Apologies for MIA

I've been absent from this blog for about two weeks now, which I hope is an absence that I won't repeat. Shortly after my last blog I received sad news from home, and wasn't quite sure how to handle it. I didn't feel like I could write about my life in Copenhagen and my travels while competely ignoring a significant event from home. I left for Berlin for a week and got back a couple nights ago, and now feel I've had time to digest, can write, then continue with blogging.

Less than two weeks ago I heard from my mom that my grandfather had passed away. It was very hard being so far away. All of my family flew to michigan for the funeral, and had I been in the States there is no doubt that I would have been there as well. I felt very, very far away. I wish I could have been there to say goodbye, and to be with my parents and other family during this time. At first I was extremely down and sad, but now after talking with my mom and hearing about the service, I know that he was suffering and was ready to go. I hope he is peaceful now.

I called my grandfather 'Papa Ray' (and I am named after him --> Julie Ray) and I'm not really sure how that started. He was never grandpa or gramps, but Papa Ray. I didn't get to see him as much as I would have liked considering I grew up in San Diego and he lived in Michigan with most of the rest of my Dad's side of the family. But I do remember going out to visit the family on numerous occasions. I always remember him being happy and smiling. I remember his eyes and his laugh, how the two would work together when he was amused. I hadn't seen Papa Ray for quiet some time...the last time may have been the summer between Junior High and High School.

I'm not going to write much more. I think I just needed to acknowledge that something happened before i could go on here. It means something to me even if it's just something as insignificant and trivial as a blog entry. I write this as much for me to digest my experiences as to share them with you, my friends and family.

Thanks you for the memories, Papa Ray.
Love,
Julie Ray

Oktoberfest!

I've been out of town for the past week or so, hence the lack of posting. But I will do a follow up post in a bit because I never blogged about Mom's last week in Copenhagen! But I'm going to skip ahead for now, because just this morning I got back from OKTOBERFEST!!!! Here are my some observations from the trip

By the Numbers:

Amount of beer in one stein --> 1L

Liters of beer consumed personally --> 4.5

Average number of steins the beer maids could carry --> 8-10

# of large pretzels consumed --> 2.5

Total hours at Oktoberfest --> 18

# of Beer Halls visited --> 4, but we hit one twice.

The People:

Munich ended up being a mini-Hastings reunion. I went with two other exchange students from my law school (both Hastings and CPH), along with another friend of theirs. We met up with 6 other Hastings student over the course of our time there. Additionally one of the girls from my school met up with a college friend of hers, who ended up being a guy from my HS (anyone from TP remember Ferdie?!?!) Small world...

The Venue:

I expected Oktoberfest to pretty much be a big grassy field with several tents set up and people getting drunk inside. Dude, Oktoberfest is way cooler than that. For the San Diegans, I would compare it too the Del Mar Fair, except without the livestock, more affordable, and with big Halls that are filled with benches and people drinking beer, a liter at a time. I think the Del Mar Fair could greatly benefit from some Beer Halls.

There were rides, and AMAZING food and snacks and desserts, and then, of course, the beer halls. It was a fantastic place to be.

Random Oktoberfest Observations:

Apparently, the White Stripes song is a drinking anthem. About every 15 minutes someone would start screaming the beat, but as no one really knows the words it sounds like "BAH buh-buh-buh-buh BAAH BAAH." This can be repeated almost indefinitely.

I am also quite sick of what I assume is the Bavarian national anthem. The bands would play that one about every 10 minutes.

Breakfast at Oktoberfest is a unique concept. Both days we arrived around 9 AM and for breakfast had a large pretzel and a stein of beer. When in Rome...

This is the last of my first pretzel. It was very heartbreaking that I finished the whole thing :-P

I saw people stack steins of beer mugs about 8 feet high, an impressive feat for when you consider that people must have consumed all that beer in order to have the empty mugs in the first place.

If you wear a costume (i.e. a bavarian dress) to Oktoberfest, you will get your picture taken about a thousand times. Also, a LOT of people dress up. Many pictures were taken (sorry, your truly did not dress up, but many of my friends did!)

The Tourists:

We also spent some time being tourists in Munich. The first day we did a walking tour to get ourselves oriented with Munich. I had been there before, but not for several years, and didn't really feel like I got a good feel for the city when I was. The walking tour was okay, but I really enjoyed the last day in Munich. We did a Third Reich walking tour and saw many of the places where Hitler was first building up his power and prestige. It was a nice contrast to the scene at Oktoberfest to get a little history about Munich. In WWII about 70% of the city was destroyed, and much of the buildup to Hitler's power started there. It was interesting to learn about, especially since i head to Berlin in a week and will be able to get more history on that period there as well.

Ok, that's all for now! PROST!