Dear Uncle Jim,
Surprise! I made a blog!
I told Grandma Ginger about my plan to do this, so I hope she didn't spill the beans in the odd day or so since we called! I decided to start this blog because I want to keep you and Auntie Eileen and Auntie Wendy in the know while I'm over here, and to make sure y'all know I'm thinking about y'all. Plus, I love to talk... oh boy do I love to talk. I'm fast at typing too, so I can really ramble when I have the chance!
I must admit, I have this weird aversion to replying to direct messages. So I thought it'd be fun to try out one of these old-fashioned internet blogs. If you have not been able to tell by the name of this blog, or by the address of this blog, or by the first line of this blog post... I have decided to name it "Dear Uncle Jim," even though it's more a "Dear Uncle Jim and Auntie Eileen, as well as the rest of my extended family with whom I will share this blog"
... Dear Uncle Jim is easier to type, so we'll keep with it.
Along with this, I don't really know what this blog and what my logs will entail. A long-form account of each move I make every day? Probably not. Perhaps absolutly nothing happens for a whole day--what to do then? We'll figure it out together, I guess! Anyway, to conclude this little introduction, I hope you enjoy reading about my crazy adventures while I'm in Europe (crazy was italicized to indicate sarcasm.)
Enjoy!
I left California at around 15:00 on Monday and arrived in Berlin at around 15:00 on Tuesday. Taking time zone changes into account, the total number of hours traveled was around 15 hours--11 hours from LA to Paris, followed by a 1.5-hour layover which ended up being a 2.5-hour layover because they lost our plane somehow and had to get a new one!
Traveling from BER-Brandenburg to the hostel I'm staying at was perhaps the most tiresome of the list. After so many hours of waiting for planes, boarding planes, sleeping terribly on planes, and having weird-tasting food on planes... all that was left was a half-hour long standing train ride into the city! With two full and heavy suitcases! And also a heavy backpack carrying my laptop and tablet! Did I mention the city has cobblestone walkways! And I had to walk to my hostel, which took a solid 20 minutes!
And then when I arrived at the hostel, the entire lobby and lounge were completely packed because it seems as though an entire class of teenage students was on a trip. Lord have mercy. I stood in a single place, first in line, for 30 whole minutes while the chaperones were getting everything cleared. And to add insult to injury, a group of young and loud Irish blokes pulled up and cut line in front of this glasses-wearing blond guy who had already cut line in front of me! And they almost got into a fight, because this blond guy was my height and way too small to be trying to give this giant Irish dude some lip for nudging his way to the front. It really felt like I was back in a high school lunch line. Either way, dead on my feet, I made my way to my hostel room and took a shower first.
It's a nice room, it's eight beds in four bunks and has a nice a table next to outlets--where I am currently typing this log. I just took a picture of my point-of-view, so here is that (along with the mango lassi I am currently sipping on):
The room was half full when I arrived and only had top bunks available, which was a nightmare to climb up and down, so when the person underneath me left this morning I very sneakily had the housekeeping clear my bed too so that I could just move my stuff onto the ground. I am very sly. She did end up taking my linens though... and I had to go downstairs (I am on floor 4) to get new ones. It's a whole process putting the sheet and pillow case and duvet cover on everything, but it was worth the bottom bunk... even as I have hit my head on the top bunk three times now... which has metal framing... Here is a picture of the bunks for reference:
Anyway, I went downstairs to get some water since the airport didn't allow for water and I had went directly to the hostel after leaving. Turns out, the ATM was not working at the time and the vending machine decided that it hated me personally, and my card wasn't working! It was a miserable endeavor, going back upstairs to rummage through my spare Euro coins trying to find just 2.70 for a bottle of water! I didn't exchange money at the airports because they're pretty greedy with the commission taxes, and I was just planning to go to an ATM--which turned out unwise on my end.
Either way, I found the coins, went downstairs a second time, bought a water and then a coffee from an automated coffee machine that did decide to like me. I went back to my room, watched some videos online, and went to bed.
When I woke up the next day (today) I put in my German SIM card and tried to draw a little to relax. I hadn't actually eaten too much yesterday, other than on the plane which I don't count as real food. I ended up going to a grocery store down the street to get the essentials--water, power-aid, chocolate, rice waffles, and nuts. As a treat, I got myself a fruit bowl, a mango lassi, and chocolate milk.
I passed by this church on the way to the store, I didn't take a picture but I will next time I go! I passed right when it turned 12:00, so it began to ring. It's one of my favorite things about Berlin--the bells. There are so many all over the city, it's not uncommon to hear them all day. I love it.
Another thing I enjoy about Berlin is the graffiti. Taking the train in, I saw some of the common tags which show up in the area--a frowning policeman and some recognizable works by the popular graffiti artist named Paradise Paradox. Last time I was here, I went to a photograph exhibit featuring his art--I hope it's still around! If it is, I'll let you know.
Anyway, other than to get groceries, I didn't leave the hostel much. I'm still recovering from jetlag, so I took a pretty long nap this afternoon. I went into the lounge to drink coffee and watch videos, but ended up back in bed most of the day.
This evening, I drew some art for my friends from Utrecht in Holland. Their video game is going to be released on the Nintendo Switch! It's so exciting! Here is the video game teaser trailer from Nintendo's own YouTube channel:
