Everything New

I know that I just blogged on Sunday, but if I waited any longer, this post would be way too long, there is just so much to say!

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). Class: On Monday, we had to take a three part test. The first part was multiple choice, then there was a short writing section, and an interview/oral test. Then they graded everything and put us in a class. I am not in the most beginner class, but not far from it which is good. The weird thing is that the class has to be entirely in German because not everyone speaks English. We have three Muslim girls and a Chinese girl in our class. Our teacher is amazing, she puts up with all of our terrible speaking skills so well.

PS - a special "thanks" to my lovely sister, Ashely, who taught me how to figure out a subway while we were in England, and to my parents who bought me a bus pass for Provo which taught me about buses. Between these two things and common sense, we have been making it around pretty easily with only a few minor bumps. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but if I hadn't been there, Kelsey would have gotten lost so fast and she agrees with me. She kept trying to get on the first train that would show up, whether it was the right train or going the right direction or not. And now back to our regular programming...

So on Monday night we went to FHe at the stake center, which is also where we go to church. It was really fun, we played this awesome game where you stand in lines of teams and everyone puts Vaseline on their noses and you have to get the cotton balls from the beginning of the line to the end. Awkward, but those are the best kinds of games (but I must say, it was probably a good idea that the FHE parents didn’t participate, that would have been a little too much – a 45 year old married man with 19 year old girls…yeah, no)

Here is the thing though, Berlin is a safe city, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be out late. Kelsey and I were walking/u-bahning home from FHE around 9 and it was dark. I was so glad that I have a roommate, some of the girls don’t. I would even go so far as to say that I wished we had a boy with us (which is not something I usually admit). Some creepy guys at the u-bahn station were trying to get our attention and it was weird and wouldn’t have happened if we had had a guy with us.

Oh, on Monday we also went grocery shopping which was an experience. They don’t exactly have supermarkets, but they do have markets and a bunch of fruit/veggie places and bakeries. Luckily there are a bunch of shops one street over, so Kelsey and I could go and wander around for a while. Now, I try to pay attention to what I eat, but it was hard to look at a label in a different language. However, after being here for a few days, I have realized that it doesn’t really matter. They are a generally healthier people than us Americans. They eat very organic and natural which just feels better than all the processed crap in the good old USA. I have only seen two gyms (a far cry from Provo where there were three gyms within a short distance from my dorm) and very few runners and yet there are very few fat people. That being said, there are very few deathly skinny people or super toned people. They are just normal and I love it!

Then the next day, we were on the U-bahn, and some kids got on and they were like in the middle of a fight. It was just verbal with a mom and another guy trying to break it up as it turned into a full out fist fight. It was two against one, and the one kid was super creepy. He reminded me of Jackson Rathbone as Jasper. He just had this look on his face, it was so weird.

Then today. Today was so beautiful! It was sun-shiny and warmish so we decided to go to the zoo. It was much fun, but not because of the animals, they were just a side attraction to the playground. We probably weren’t supposed to be playing on it, but we just couldn’t say no. And let me tell you, that if you thought little kids speaking British was cute, you need to see/hear some little kids speaking German. It is just about the most adorable thing I have ever seen.

PICTURES!!!!
A wooden cow, complete with udder, of course we had to climb on it and take pictures.


Hiding from the storm.

Facing the storm head on!

Kelsey got attacked by a goat when feeding the animals.

Guess which Disneyland ride this made me think of...