Tiergarten and Gedächtniskirche

I'm happy to report that German class has been better the past two days!  I feel much more on top of things, and am learning a lot.  I'm getting much more used to hearing German spoken and using it myself, though I still feel a little awkward with it.  I'm sitting in the Starbucks along Kurfürstendamm, home to most of the luxury stores in Berlin, which is big and spacious with comfy chairs and what feels like air conditioning upstairs!  This is very exciting, because most places in Berlin don't have air conditioning, in spite of the heat and humidity that comes in the summertime.  I'm quite happy to have found someplace that is pretty easily accessible and cool!  I ordered in German, but the menu items are in pseudo-Italian and English (I got a caramel frappuccino and a piece of New York cheesecake, which ended up coming out as "Könnte ich haben ein tall caramel frappuccino und ein Stück cheesecake, bitte?"), so the cashier could obviously tell I was American and so responded in English.  But I spoke back only in German!  The cashier yesterday was much more game to use German, in spite of my confusion about what Sahne was (it's whipped cream, and once she translated, I very excitedly exclaimed "ja, bitte!").  I appreciate it when Germans have some patience with me, even though their English is far better than my German will ever be.

Yesterday, I went to the park with Rick and Peter.  Tiergarten (Tier = animal, so it's literally "animal garden") used to be the hunting grounds for the royal family.  Now it's a huge public park in western Berlin, about 10 minutes away from my apartment if I take the subway.  It's over 600 acres, so not as big as Central Park, but still very spacious!  We sat by one of the many rivers that meander through the park and read our respective books and enjoyed the sunshine.

The cottontrees are completely out of control, though.  There was so much fluff, I'm pretty sure I swallowed/inhaled a pound just from sitting there and breathing.  That part was not awesome.  But all the animals we saw were!  Tier is an apt title for the park.  There were a bunch of geese pecking away at the grass and fluff; Rick went over to try and become friends but they ignored him in favor of the dirt.

Walking away after being rejected by the geese.  His interaction went much better than it could have: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/01/dinosaur.html


Later some dogs came and chased the geese around, which stirred up all the cotton fluff on the ground and made it seems like we were in some kind of demented snow globe.  Then even later there was an epic showdown between an invading goose and the geese already there, with the interloper being chased off in a fierce show of birdly intimidation.


There were also a bunch of ducks in the river:

Those are baby ducklings in the bottom half of the frame, with mommyduck above.


And swans!

See all the white stuff on the surface?  Yeah, that's all fluff.  It was everywhere.

And then we also saw a baby bunny, but the picture's really small so I won't post it, but it was super cute.  On our way back we walked by Gedächtniskirche, a gorgeous church that was bombed out at the end of the war.  It's one of the few remaining pieces of pre-war architecture that wasn't remodeled or torn down during the separation of Germany (a lot of old buildings and palaces in East Berlin were demolished by the DDR as symbols of a hated imperial past).  It's very striking to see it surrounded by the modern high rises, including the Mercedes headquarters.

And that's all for today, folks!  I must now depart to buy some Kleenex and coffee (isn't it strange, the things you find you need?).  Tschüss!


EDIT: One last thing--one of the warnings they have on cigarette cartons here is RAUCHER STERBEN FRÜHER, which translates to "Smokers die earlier."  No beating around the bush there, eh?  Gotta love Germany!