Class and touring

I had my first day of actual class today. It was uneventful. My professor Andrea is really nice and most of the class seems good, too. Something we have noticed: people who take German are either taking it because they need to know it for something, because they already speak French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, and English, and might as well learn one more, or because they are weird. It seems as though the last is really noticeable around here; there are a lot of really socially awkward people. In my class there is a girl with a voice like Fran Drescher only worse, a girl with a serious attitude problem, and then, two of Berkeley’s very own.

There is Boring Story Girl. Boring Story Girl was also, very possibly, hungover this morning. She certainly didn’t look stoked to be there, but she also never came to class except days we had tests in German 1, so I am not really sure why she would choose to take an extra class over the summer. Her hair was at one point dyed yellowish or orangish and is now about halfway grown out, which just looks terrible. She was complaining that she couldn’t figure out how to work her German cell, which everyone is, but everyone else is just saying that because things are in different places, while I am pretty sure hers is actually beyond her. She could hardly add a phone number. Then there is the Creeper. This guy is THAT guy. He takes photos of absolutely everything. In Mitte, the center of Berlin, there are statues everywhere. Most of Berlin has statues everywhere, of people who did something once that might now be of dubious importance. He stops and takes a picture of every. Single. Statue. The act that gives him creeper status, though, is that he takes photos of people posing for photos for other people to take. Does that make sense? For example, three girls that are here are friends. Two of them were posing like they were doing the tango in front of Humboldt University (which is interesting in itself, but maybe it is an inside joke?), and the third was taking a photo of the them. Creeper was as well. Later that day we went to a bar on the river and he took the third and last chair at a table so one of them had to sit somewhere else. And then when they had someone take a photo of the three of them, he leaned into the frame. Maybe he has a crush on one of them, but I am voting for socially awkward with no awareness of where he is (not) wanted. He also wears his backpack on one shoulder, which I just can’t deal with. Then, not in my class but also notable, is the fifth year senior possibly bulimic alcoholic. We went to a pizzeria for a Berkeley group dinner after our walking tour of the city on Tuesday evening, he and Torey both ordered a prosecco to drink. As soon as his first had arrived, he ordered a second. Torey took a sip of hers, he downed it in one gulp. He had a teeny piece of his whole pizza, and I think half of that piece was just torn to little pieces on his plate. He kept going to the bathroom for long periods of time. And by the end of dinner, he had six glasses of prosecco. He is not only poorly informed—he said sixty percent of Berkeley is made up of Asian-American females—but he talks way too much when he is drunk. Luckily, Herr Euba’s assistant here got caught in conversation with him. He also insists that we have met before when I went to a party at his house, which is totally untrue. I don’t go to parties, and of those I have been to, I have never been to one on Channing and Piedmont. He later had at least two beers at the bar—Torey and I left about an hour before everyone else, so we lost our tally.

Rachel dubbed these Berkeley folk to avoid “the lamers.” I fully accept that I am lame in many ways as well, but please let me know if I am this horribly awkward in social situations.

On Monday we had placement interviews for our classes, which Herr Euba said would be “extensive” and so we were all nervous as fuck. It really wasn’t that bad, though my interviewers had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Alois Reigl and kunstwollen and got confused. Try explaining kunstwollen in a language you hardly even speak. Rachel and I found a “bio” (organic) café on campus and got biofrappes, which were coffee with sugar, milk, water, and ice—then whipped with one of those little frother things people use to foam milk. So good. We felt kind of Berkeley, specifically Nefeli, which is even nicer for Rachel as her boyfriend Eric works there. I would kill for a Nefeli greek yoghurt right now. Instead I think I am just going to eat some horribly mediocre German brownie mix (the box has its own little fold-up paper pan to cook them in!). I also bought the new Harry Potter, and after I talked to my Eric for about 6 minutes before I ran out of minutes and my phone cut off without warning, I was so upset I decided to just finish the book that night. I did, at three in the morning. I didn’t like it.

Today after class we went into town to get some lunch before taking a boat tour on the Spree. The tour was really cool, we got to see some things I definitely would not have otherwise, especially from such unique angles. Torey, Susie and I hit up KaDeWe afterwards. KaDeWe is Kaufhaus die Westens, a giant department store put up in West Berlin to show how awesome capitalism and trade can be. And amen. Herr Euba said it wouldn’t be impressive to us Californians, so used to malls, etc. but KaDeWe is amazing. It is gigantic. There is a whole floor dedicated to men, one to women, one to kids, one to housewares, one to purses and make-up, accessories and boutiques, etc. The BEST is the top floor—all food. This is what my mum was thinking the Fauchon’s would be in Paris. Just counter and counter and shelf and area after area of food, prepared and packaged, from everywhere in the world. We got dessert, of course. After, we went to a Vodafone, where I saw a guy who looked like a short Chris Chu, and bought 150 euro of minutes, which is 97.86 pounds, which is about five hours of talking time. I hate exchange rates. C’mon dollar, you can do it! Beat the pound!

Addendum: Ok, so that five hours is actually about one if I am calling the US. I need a better deal.