Tomorrow we have two finals and so I’m studying all day. And then, enjoying myself at The Producers, tonight.
It seems like I didn’t leave home that long ago, that I’ve only been here a few weeks.
Still, I’m so glad to go back. I miss everyone. And I miss Seattle.
But, I know, in a few weeks, I’m going to say the same thing about Germany. One of these days, I’ll have to return.
I guess I’ll write more about that, when I do.
See you then.
Today, I rested. It was needed.
I studied a bit, and then walked to a Bio Fresh Market nearby.
I’ve been eating a lot healthier, getting more sleep; hopefully I can take these good habits back to the states.
Later in the day I went to Classic Tattoo to get my industrial. Sadly, the piercing artist told me my ears were too crooked. ARGH. After ten more minutes of figuring out what could and could not work with my ears, we decided on a conch piercing.
Before I knew it, it was finished and I was walking out the door.
I’m going to wake up to caked blood for a few days, but it’ll heal faster because I got a dermal punch.
I sort of want to get a second one. We’ll see.
Today I learned about the crash in the Atlantic. The plane traveling from Brazil to France. Tragedies like that are horrific in themselves, but the fact that we’re flying in a few days unnerves me.
I went to the Jewish Museum, today. It was the greatest museum I’ve ever been to. It was wonderfully-done, with tremendous thought and care. Powerful.
Today we traveled as a class to the Brandenburg Gate.
I imagined I saw so clearly Reagan yelling at Gorbachev. And then my mind rushed to three years later, when people were sitting on the Wall, humming along to Beethoven’s 9th.
I wish I could have been there.
Later on, I traveled to the Pergammon Museum. In Berlin, more than any other city, I’ve felt a deeper connection to history. The ruins, the monumental friezes and columns, great art that I seem to understand here. Maybe it’s just the culmination of the trip. I’d like to think it’s not.
Welcome to Berlin!
As soon as we got here, I went off to explore, and also, to buy tickets for The Producers next week.
Berlin reminds me of Seattle to an enormous extent; it even has its own sort of Space Needle. The size is the only thing that strikes me as exceptionally different; Berlin is 8 times the size of Paris.
It was a beautiful day, and I found things that make me feel at home now: New Yorker, Back Factory, and H&M.
We’re in a ten person room, which will be sort of a challenge. But, everyone’s excited to go home, so people are willing to do anything to keep tensions at a minimum.
I’m learning how to get accustomed to a city, quickly.
I found an environmentally-friendly, and CHEAP, laundromat. Sauber und Schnell. I showed it to everyone else; I’m glad I can help other people out now, instead of relying on others to show me around and tell me what’s where.
Here is a shortened, convoluted summary of what I’ve learned concerning Romance from Herr Professor Macdonald:
Romance
Sehnsucht - “longing” - “a yearning to escape from the monotony of daily life” - Walzel
tantalizing: a thrilling torment with the promise of something that seems unobtainable
- Man’s Search for Meaning
Freud - pleasure, Hitler - power
Frankl - work, significance, courage
- C.S. Lewis - “if we’ve got an infinite longing, why not think there’s an answer for it. if there’s a desire in this world, which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
“the argument from desire”
Music - “heightens and ennobles everything it expresses”- Goethe.
Nature - Arthur Conan Doyle - “If evolution is all we need, then why does the rose exist?”
Europe - foundation of our Western way of life and thought. leads to a greater truth - points to the magic of something greater: “God, freedom, immortality.”
I’m thinking of joining the Americorps.
In other news, I’m so thankful for this hotel. for free tea and hot showers, fresh towels and light switches!
Since Weimar is celebrating the Year of the Bauhaus, you should know this:
What is Bauhaus?
Bauhaus -“House of
Building” or “Building
School”- is a term for
a school in Germany
that is world-renowned
for its novel approach
to design, and its
synthesis of crafts and
the fine arts.
Why is it Important?
90 years ago, this
design revolution
began in the town of
Weimar.
The Bauhaus style
greatly influenced
Modernist architecture
and modern design;
subsequent
developments in art,
architecture, graphic
design, interior design,
industrial design, and
typography were
profoundly impacted
by this University.
How can I participate?
The Bauhaus
University became one
of the most important
schools of design of the
20th century. There is
a Bauhaus Museum
that houses roughly
500 exhibits made by
teachers and students
of the University.
Today, we traveled to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
I can’t really describe how it went, it’s something you should experience for yourself.
We went to Don Pascual, an opera, a few hours later. The extremities of the day didn’t affect me.
I had prepared myself for it.
Obama’s coming to WEIMAR! I’m IN Weimar. Sadly, he’ll be here next week. And, he will be traveling to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, which I’m going to this week.
it’s not fated, but it’s close.
