Monumental Moment!

I have officially secured my first big-girl apartment!  I feel like I can compare this feeling to that I will have when I purchase my first home, it's that monumental to me.  This is a really big deal because I still have almost 2 months to go and so many realtors were telling me that it was too soon.  Well my incessant need to plan every minute detail is not compatible with this response.  I still checked the rental market every day, just to keep an eye on what was available.  I happened to be browsing Zoopla (the UK's rental website) one evening before bed and came across the apartment that is now mine.  It was beautiful and perfect and I immediately told myself not to get too attached because chances were it would be gone before I would be considered.  And then I read the note on the property, "available September 1."  THIS CANNOT BE REAL.  I emailed the realtor company that moment.  They responded two days later.  I called that morning, received the application, sent it off, and paid the application fee literally within six hours.  It took them about seven days to contact my references and run my credit check.  Finally I was approved to rent a fantastic one bedroom apartment in Nottingham.  It is so much more than I expected to have for my first real life apartment!  There are photos included below so you can imagine my new home along with me!  But let me just tell you what you can't necessarily see... It's top floor (I didn't require top floor, just not bottom floor), it is fully furnished which was a requirement, it's only maybe 2 blocks from the bus I need that goes directly to my academic building, the grocery store is equally close, it is neutrally decorated so I have practically a blank slate for decorating, and it has excellent space for entertaining.

I have a budding hobby/passion for home decor.  Thus I have been ravaging Pinterest for inspiration of how to make my home "homey".  I'm so looking forward to shopping around the stores and markets for some unique finds.  I'm also hoping shopping around the city will expedite learning my way around.  Then I will just need to make some friends to invite over for dinner!

I am elated about my find and I absolutely cannot contain my giddiness over moving in!

And then my absolute favorite aspects....

THE KITCHEN! Aka heaven for person who likes to cook

THE BALCONY!

Only one thing in life is certain: change.

I am revealing the official countdown... I am moving to Nottingham, England in 100 days!! For those unaware, I will be attending the University of Nottingham for my Masters in Public Health, specifically international health. 

Moving in general is not easy, but moving abroad is even more challenging. I'm totally up for it though!! I have a checklist and I'm moving through it steadily to make the transition as smooth as possible. Outside of the business stuff like my visa application I have been doing tons of research on the city, specifically trying to educate myself on social aspects. I read the UK headlines on BBC every day. I certainly don't want to want to look uninformed upon arrival! I have also been researching things to do in the city as far as public events. I downloaded the app for the local newspaper to keep up to date on markets, festivals, and such.

I visited Nottingham in March, which was great to get a basic introduction to the city, see my campus, and meet with some professors. I left feeling very excited for my future! I've been wanting to move to a city for years and I genuinely feel like this will be the perfect fit. It's like the porridge in Goldilocks, not too big, not too small. There is a great music scene, trendy shopping, and a young population as it is home to two Universities.

Things I'm most looking forward to:

1. Markets - buying local items, especially food, and thrift shopping. 

2. Living alone - having my own quaint, English apartment. I'm looking in the Lace Market area which are old factories converted into apartment buildings. The romanticized image of exposed brick walls, gas stoves with tea pots, and huge windows for natural light all comprise my ideal home. I've already mentally sketched my decor and schemes! It'll just be charming.

3. Learning about/experiencing first hand a Nationalized health system - having spent the last seven months working for a doctor and seeing first-hand our health system I am thoroughly intrigued to see a different take on it all. As I will be in the UK for a year I will be allowed access to the NHS. From what I know now I register with a doctor during my first week. Past that it'll be an adventure!

4. European fashion - I love studying people. History, politics, culture.... Part of my sincere interest is fashion. I may not always be the most daring, up-to-date, or trendiest person, but I enjoy observing the styles and what it imparts about ideals. One of the things I'm enamored with, yet intimidated by, is military-style boots. They give off a more aggressive feel than what I'm used to, but they're versatile and I'm intrigued! We shall see what other things I find to obsess over.

5. Public transportation - Finally!! I cannot fully express how fond I am of public transportation. I am so excited to not own a car. In six months I may be eating my words and missing the convenience of coming and going whenever I please. But right now I do fully expect public transportation to be an easy transition for me.

Things I'm most nervous about:

1. Relearning how to spell English - We speak the same language, which was one of the main reasons I applied in England and not elsewhere. However, we spell things differently and within my courses I will be expected to use UK English. So far I've narrowed it down to two rules to live by: when in doubt substitute s for z, and always add a u.

2. Making friends - I've always made friends easily, so this may seem silly. But I've also always been in circumstances where I'm forced to socialize. And by this I mean, when I moved to NC for college I had a roommate, who thankfully I got along with splendidly and we were fast friends! Since I am choosing to live alone and away from campus it will just take more effort to put myself in situations to meet people. We do have a welcome week for international students where I will have ample opportunity to meet other foreigners. And of course I have my classmates. At this time I don't think I am particularly interested in student organizations. I do intend on finding a volunteer opportunity, internship, or some kind of job and maybe I'll befriend some coworkers.

3. Deciding on a dissertation topic - Aside from the fact that my dissertation is a minimum of 10,000 words, which will break the record for the longest paper I've ever written, it also needs to be a topic I can maintain interest in researching for a year. And then thoroughly defend upon submission. I am interested in so many things that its hard for me to narrow down a subject area. I'm hoping that one day it will strike me... Maybe some class topic or guest presentation will grab my attention.

I have endless ideas of how the year abroad will go, but (other than my education) my two main goals are to travel around Europe on the cheap as much as possible. Might as well take advantage when you don't have to pay for a plane ticket! And then also to blog about my life there.  It will be impossible to keep up with every one regularly, and blogging will be the easiest, most comprehensive way to fill all my family and friends in on my year in England.

I'm also very interested to read how much my blog posts change throughout my time there! Talk about self growth.

Home is where... my bed is.

We have returned from Germany!  The flight was easy, though I was sick so not entirely pleasant for my sinuses.

We arrived in Raleigh yesterday evening and I was greeted by two of my lovely sorority sisters.  We stopped for a snack at a frozen yogurt shop and they prodded me for information of my time in Berlin, though they had also been following my blog.  I shared with them some of the details I have not shared with you yet, but will now.

Berlin has a strange social culture that I could not get a beat on.  It's like 90s grunge has made a come back in Berlin.  But no two people look the same.  The United States (especially rural and/or suburban areas) is not particularly individualistic in their style, most people are just cookie cutters of jeans and tshirts.  In Berlin I saw middle aged women with bright red or purple hair, all kinds of piercings, gages, tattoos, combat boots, stockings, camouflage, cut off jean shorts, half shaved heads, mohawks, faux hawks, etcetera.

Germany is also very liberal in many different ways.  It's perfectly acceptable to pick up a beer on the way home and walk around the street or the subway drinking it.

Sex is an accepted act.  Katie and I spent an afternoon lying in a park and people were incredibly friendly with each other knowing that there were hundreds of other people just lounging close by.

Dogs may as well be humans in the city.  They are every where, and are perfectly behaved in public.  I only heard one dog bark the whole time.  They sit in cafes, they ride the subways, it's totally normal.

English is very widely spoken.  Almost all signs are in German and English.  It made it easy to get around, but also gave us a crutch on which to lean.  It was rare to find someone who did not speak at least functional English.  In the US it's rare to find someone who speaks even a little of another language (if they're native).

All in all I loved Berlin.  I can't see it as a potential place to live.  Even though many people, especially our tour guides felt that Berlin was a great city option because it has every thing to offer but is slower paced and cheap for a capital city, I just couldn't see myself fitting in there long term.  However, it was a fantastic visit and I feel like I got a great perspective of the culture!

I am slightly jet lagged from the trip.  I literally fell into bed last night and was so thankful at how soft it was.  I woke up at 5:30 this morning, unable to fall back asleep I went to the gym, grocery shopping, cleaned the kitchen, made all my meals for the week, finished my book, and then went to work.  I am hoping that by tomorrow I'll be back on a relatively normal schedule but I do have to work early most days of the summer so it's not too far off.

In the news today there was a headline story about a US Airways flight from Paris to Charlotte that was forced to make an emergency landing in Maine because a woman was claiming that she had a device implanted in her.  Thankfully that was not our flight yesterday!!  We did have two slight medical emergencies on two of our different flights, both just people passing out for an unknown reason.

Wandering in Berlin

So to wrap up our trip we had a night out on the town!  We left the hostel around 1 am, arrived in line for the club at 1:30 (this is when US clubs are doing last call normally).  The club, Berghain, was recommended by two different and one said it was the best club in Berlin.  We waited an hour in line outside, just looking at the building which was an old warehouse.  The music was loud enough for us to hear outside and the windows were flashing purple, red, blue and green.  We got to the front and the bouncer asked how many, I said 6, and he rejected us.  We asked why and he responded, "we don't give a reason."  So we trekked back to the club that was right across the street from the subway station.  It turns out that place was great!  The cover charge was half the price, and there were three dance floors with different styles of music at each one.  We stayed in the one with the most people that was playing mostly American dance music, with a twist of 90s throw backs: the Spice Girls, the Macarena, and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.  We watched the sun rise from the dance floor of the club and at 4:30 decided to make our way back to the hostel.  It was full daylight by the time we laid down to sleep at 5:30.

Luckily the next day was our free day.  Katie and I decided to spend the day going to a museum.  We chose the Pergamon museum on Museum Island.  We got the full access pass so we were able to see the special exhibit that was a panoramic view of the ancient city of Pergamon that was located in present-day Turkey.  We entered the special exhibit, walking up 5 stories of a scaffolding type tower in the middle of a round room.  At the top we were greeted with a life-like portrait of the city in its hay-day.  The exhibit went through the day, getting light and dark.  In the dark you could see fires glowing in the piece.  There was also a soundtrack that went through the day also, peaceful noises at night and bustling noises during the day.  It took the artist 11 years to create the view.

We continued through the museum viewing sculpture pieces, like the ones below recovered from the ancient city.  There was also an entire section on Islamic art which I found very beautiful.  I have a fascination for Middle Eastern culture.  I wanted to take Arabic in college, but UNCP didn't offer it.  Realistically I will probably not be able to work in a field that allows me to experience the Middle East, but I find it interesting to learn about regardless.

I'd also like to say that visiting a museum is on my 101 in 1001 Challenge!  So, yay for marking off #11!!!  And I learned something while I was at it.

We wrapped up Sunday evening with our farewell dinner at another traditional German beer garden getting our last fixes of sausages, strudels and beer (for those who enjoy it).

And then auf wiedersehen, Berlin!

Day Excursion to Potsdam

Today was our last scheduled day.  We took a day trip to Potsdam, a town southwest of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg.  Our tour guide today was named David.  He is from northern England and currently in Berlin writing his dissertation for his PhD.  All of our tours have been through Berlin Walks company, and if you ever visit Berlin I highly recommend them!

So Potsdam was previously under Prussian rule.  It has many palaces within walking distance of each other, and all connected through a waterway that also connects to the river that runs through Berlin.  The palaces are now controlled by a foundation that maintains them.  They have been turned into hotels, restaurants, conference centers, and/or museums.  After WWII it fell into East Germany and USSR control.  The town houses one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!  It's commonly referred to as the Versailles of Germany, Sans Souci palace.  It was built by Frederick the Great as a summer home.

Left: the gardens, Center: the palace, Right: the view of the terrace looking up from the gardens

For lunch we had a Turkish pizza, which is similar to a Turkish Doner but rolled up.  It's made up of a pita style bread, shaved lamb meat, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and some special sauce.  They are quite delicious, but also quite large!

After our tour of Potsdam we did a little shopping around Berlin.  I took myself to Zara and H&M in this fantastic mall!  I was very excited to find a few nice new things!

We are going to a club tonight that has been recommended to us twice, and once referred to as the best club in Berlin.  We've been told it's an old warehouse renovated into a club with three levels... should be very interesting!!!  Time to get my techno groove on again!

Small side note, as I'm writing this in the lobby of the hostel a crossdresser just asked me to join a pub crawl that apparently leaves every night from the hostel lobby.  Berlin's culture is quite liberal and we have been enjoying some of the aspects and trying not to show our shock at others.  More to come on the cultural differences later.

Dresden: A Town Renewed

Today we took a day trip to Dresden which is about two hours south of Berlin.  Our tour guide today was named Torbin.  He was born in Germany, but grew up in Long Island.  He has lived in Berlin for almost 12 years.  Dresden is a popular tourist destination because it was bombed in early February of 1945, a mere few months before the end of WWII.  Since it's destruction in 1945 the city has been steadily reconstructed in its original form.

The town was established as a Slavic settlement in the medieval times and was in the kingdom of Saxony (now the German state of Saxony).  There is a lot of history, regardless of its destruction and many buildings have incorporated pieces that were left from after the bombing with new structures.  As in any traditional European city it was influenced heavily by the Renaissance and particularly Baroque art.  The figures are very expressive and span the city in gods and mythology.  The figures behind us in the picture below is Hercules holding the world in place of Atlas in exchange for golden fruit.  This represents the green houses we were standing on top of.

In front of the fortress and the green houses

As the history of the city still remains even though the buildings are actually 20th century productions, the lineage of the royal family is portrayed on a wall in the middle of the city.  You cannot see it in this picture, but the stone that is being used to recreate the city has a chemical reaction to the weather which turns it black over time.  City officials tried to clean it to make it look nicer, but it weakens the rock so they've stopped.  It actually looks older when it oxidizes.

Lineage of the royal family

There are many historical churches throughout the city that house multiple artifacts not destroyed or only partly destroyed in the bombing.  They house organs, altars, art work, and even the heart of Augustus the Great, the previous King of Saxony. 

One the wall is an etching of a Walk of Death, where Death is leading
all types of people (workers, children, clergy, etc) symbolizing that
it doesn't matter what status you are, you all end up the same place

The city was really beautiful and gave us the traditional feel of a European city that Berlin does not have.  There were grassy areas, a river, and open air!

Memorializing Those Lost

Today was a somber day as we visited Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg.  There is a lot of history and appalling facts to learn.  As young students we learn the overview and maybe some minute details during primary and secondary school, but this was a completely different experience.  It is haunting and almost unreal the number of people that were sent to the camp (38,000).  It was built for 10,000 and when you walk into the camp it's actually not as big as you would expect.

The victims of the camp were labeled by stars that represented why they were targeted, eg. criminals, homosexuals, Jews, gypsy, political party, etcetera.  Sachsenhausen was predominantly an adult male camp.  Two or more stars did not bode well for the prisoner.  For a long time there were no Jews in the camp, but later they were sent also and separated into a specific part of the camp.  There was a production section of the camp because the Nazis desired to be efficient in every thing they did, so it was only sensible to make the prisoners work for them also.

Our tour guide, Finn, explaining the Last March

In the early 1940s the Nazis created the extermination plan to eradicate all people victimized by the Holocaust.  The easiest way for them to do this was to send them on a march in the middle of the winter  to the sea for them to die of exposure.  The ones who were left were going to be put on barges loaded with explosives and sent into the sea.

The road leading up to Sachsenhausen camp

The town of Oranienburg is actually quiet quaint.  The road leading up to is lined with houses that were previously inhabited by SS Officers.  It is strange to me that people can live so close to the camp and live in houses previously owned by SS Officers, but I also understand that you can't live life in a state of fear of talking about the issues and remembering history so as not to repeat it.

The gate to Sachsenhausen

We entered Sachsenhausen camp through the above gate.  The clock at the top of the gate is stopped permanently at 11:07 to remember their liberation when the Soviet soldiers took over.  The gate is marked with a phrase in German that translates to "work liberates."

Today was an incredibly windy and cloudy day so it was quite cold.  We were standing in the middle of the camp listening to Finn tell us how one of the Chief officers experimented with a process of natural selection at the camp one winter when the ground temperature was -30 degrees celsius, the outside temperature -27 degrees celsius and knee-deep snow on the ground.  He required all the prisoners to stand outside in their roll call formation all day.  This killed many which allowed for the SS to not feel guilt for personally murdering them.  We all felt pretty awful for complaining about mid 50s and windy.

There are several museums located throughout the camp to show artifacts such as the uniforms that were standard.  One of the artifacts is the corpse collection apparatus.  It looks like a wooden structure of a wheel barrow.  The other prisoners were required to collect the corpses and dispose of them, or sometimes stand up them in roll call formation.  All deaths were reported as something other than the real reason, ie. exposure or killed in flight.

Finn also explained several of the torture tactics to us, such as hangings, running around the track in shoes two sizes too small with a bookbag full of bricks for an entire day, hanging backwards by the arms, and starvation chambers.  The whole process of dehumanizing the prisoners.

There was a special prison located on site that was run by the Gestapo.  This was for criminals or people hated by the SS.  Stalin's son was held captive there.  The SS tried to bargain with Stalin his son for a valued soldier the Soviets had captured, but he did not find the bargain fair (as for the rank of the soldiers).  Stalin's actual last name was something I cannot even attempt to spell but it reminded me of jujubes.  He changed his name to Stalin, which means steel.  Hitler also changed his name from Schickelgruber.  Two of the most infamously evil people in history felt it necessary to change their names to something that would give them more clout.

Our second to last stop on our tour of the camp was Station Z (the "exit") which housed the showers, the shooting room, and the ovens.  Finn explained to us what occurred in those areas and also explained that there was so much ash the SS would mix it into the concrete for walkways.  The track throughout the camp is called the Walk of Bones because of this.

The ovens in Station Z (the "exit")

A demarcation of a mass grave of over 2,000 lbs of ashes

Our last stop was the medical barracks and the experimentation barrack.  The medical experiments were done with the least amount of ethics possible, but a lot of information was discovered through this, especially with penicillin.  The SS were also experimenting in creating an amphetamine to make their soldiers last longer in the field, it is now known as speed.  After the war was over there was a controversy over whether to keep the findings or throw them out because of how they were obtained.

An autopsy table in the medical barracks

Soviets ran it as a prisoner of war camp after liberating the victims of the Holocaust.  It was considered a silent camp, once sometime was taken prisoner there they were never heard from again.

This clearly isn't all the facts and history that was shared but a good general overview of our day.  Some of us felt strange about taking pictures of the camp, but we decided that people would probably rather be remembered than forgotten.