Monday, Monday

And here I thought I wasn't going to have anything to do this weekend!

Friday night, I attended an outdoor theater performance of Heinrich IV, most of which I did not understand, but was fun nonetheless. It was an absolutely beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky, and the venue was gorgeous. All amphitheater-y and brick and be-windowed. My only problems were that a) I was seated directly in the middle of the second row, and I don't really like to be too close, because it kinda weirds me out to be seen by the actors I am supposed to be watching, and b) the main actress in the play only had one facial expression: scrunching her forehead up and covering her mouth with her hands. It got kind of distracting very quickly. But the good things were that I got to meet some Americans! And spoke English with them! What joy! And, one of the actors totally reminded me of Mr. Bean. So that was fun.

I went to Berlin on Saturday. Got to see the sights through a bus window -- how exciting! We got out at the Berliner Dom (the Protestant cathedral), which is right near the Museuminsel (Museum Island -- virtually every art museum in the city is within a couple of blocks, save one). Across the street from the Dom and the Museuminsel are the ruins of Berlin's castle, which was destroyed in WWII. Apparently, many people would like to see the castle rebuilt, but the cost is exorbitant: over 650 million Euros just for the facade. That doesn't include any of the interior. From what I understand, after the war, Berliners had to choose whether to save the Dom or the castle and they chose to save the church. Probably wanted to stay on God's good side, haha!

I also got to see the Brandenburg Gate, which was being restored the last time I was in Germany and was covered up by a giant advertisement for T-Mobil. One more thing to cross off my list of things to do in Germany!

There is a huge exhibit of 20th century art from the Museum of Modern Art at the Neue Nationalgalerie right now. I really wanted to go see it, but as we drove by the museum on our tour, we could see that the line wrapped around the building and out onto the grounds. So I nixed those plans and instead went to the mall, where I found the nearest bookstore. Here, much to my shock and amazement, I found a novel written by one of my professors at Witt! Of course, I bought it, and it's actually pretty good. (I was contemplating My Life, by Bill Clinton, but it was 32 Euros. Not today, thanks!)

Not long after I got home on Saturday, one of my housemates came home! I was pretty surprised, seeing as how I hadn't seen anyone else in the apartment until that moment. Her name is Julia, and she's also doing an internship at the Leucorea, but not with the institute I'm working with. She's nice, very friendly, and a neat freak. But she showed me how to use the stove (the gas kind, which you have to light yourself -- scary!), which is a good thing. She's been in Wittenberg for about 3 weeks, and she'll only be here for 7 more, so in October I'll probably be alone again, haha.

Yesterday, I made plans with myself to go see Harry Potter 3 at the movies. It was good, just like I remembered it, except that it was in German and there were no discernable English accents. It is for that reason, and that reason only, that I prefer the original. Part of the charm of Harry Potter is reading it or hearing it with a British accent!

The Foto-Workshop begins this afternoon. I'm supposed to go, although I'm not sure what exactly I am going to be doing. No one is sure, so hopefully Herr P-- (I forget his name) can point me in the right direction. And not speak as quickly as he did on Thursday, either!

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do for a perpetual throat-tickling cough? It feels like I've got dust in my throat or something -- since I got here last week -- and it is very annoying!

Happy Monday!