Today wraps up Week #1 of our Enrichment Project. We spent time each day watching one or two TED talks.  Below you’ll find a list of the talks (with corresponding links) and some of our thoughts.  We had a lot of fun “enriching” our minds this past week and highly recommend taking the time to check out TED if you feel so inclined. 

Monday

1. Mark Pagel: How Language Transformed Humanity

Dave’s Thoughts: This was a somewhat interesting talk, but in my opinion not as good as the some of other videos we watched. Essentially, it is a discussion of human evolution and the speaker’s (Pagel’s) view that what set human beings apart from other species is our capacity to communicate with each other and share knowledge.

Adrian’s Thoughts: A little boring, but I enjoyed the talk given the fact I have an interest in language and communication.

2. Ken Robinson: Schools Kill Creativity

Dave’s Thoughts: I highly recommend this very provocative and thoughtful discussion of institutional education. Robinson argues that modern schools are a construct of the industrial revolution and exist simply to destroy original thoughts in students to try and shape them into being “conventionally” intelligent (in a sense, a cookie cutter version of what we view as smart; reading, riting, rithmatic) i.e. the perfect factory worker and a perfectly boring person. Also Robinson is an excellent, casual and engaging speaker. Please watch this.

Adrian’s Thoughts: I too highly recommend this talk. It was one of my favorites from the week.  Not only was it informative and engaging, but Robinson’s great sense of humor kept me laughing the whole way through.

Tuesday

1. Gever Tulley: 5 Dangerous things you should let your children do

Dave’s Thoughts: Funny discussion of how the lengths we go to protecting children have become absurd and counter-productive.

Adrian’s Thoughts: I found that Tulley’s discussion of children today (and their sheltered upbringing) really resonated with my experiences from working at Northeastern.  The idea that parents are so protective of their offspring throughout their childhood, leaves them ill-prepared to face the challenges of adulthood was something I witnessed time and again.

2. Ian Dunbar: Dog-Friendly Dog Training

Dave’s Thoughts: Not our favorite video… summary: man who loves dogs and hates humans scolds humans on how they treat dogs. Skip it.

Adrian concurs. Blah…

Wednesday

1. Matt Cutts: Try Something New for 30 Days

Dave’s Thoughts: Nerdy guy goes outside for a month at a time and actually enjoys it. Worth watching.

Adrian’s Thoughts: Apparently Dave’s not as easily inspired as I. I thought Cutts was interesting and motivating. His talk made me think about trying to put all my plans into action.

2. Julia Sweeney: “The Talk”

Dave’s Thoughts: Very funny story about the speaker’s experience of having the “birds and the bees” discussion with her daughter. Recommend highly.

Thursday

1. William Ury: The Walk from “No” to “Yes”

Dave’s Thoughts: Very insightful presentation about difficult (impossible) negotiations, specifically the Arab-Israeli conflict, though he touches on others (Chechnya). The talk starts better than it ends though, as in my opinion, Ury attributes way too much meaning and promise into his successful “Path of Abraham” initiative. Still, a great presentation.

Friday

1. Ben Dunlap: A Passionate Life

Dave’s Thoughts: Getting past the man’s enigmatic accent, this was an inspiring talk, but Adrian liked it more than I did.

Adrian’s thoughts: This was one of my favorite talks. We watched it the day before we went to visit Sachsenhausen concentration camp and it was such an emotional experience to imagine what Holocaust survivors went through during and then after their imprisonment. The fact that so many of them are such proponents of forgiveness, determination and a search for meaning speaks volumes about the resilience and compassion of human beings. Dunlap recalls that his friend (Holocaust survivor and civil right proponent), Sandor Teszler, always reminded him that, “Human beings are essentially good”. It’s good to be reminded to take advantage of God’s gifts, that learning is life-long and that life should be lived to it’s fullest. 

Saturday

1. Joshua Klein: The Intelligence of Crows

Dave’s Thoughts: My favorite of the talks we watched, a discussion of animal (crow) intelligence with a provocative idea about intra-species cooperation between humans and animals. It reminded me of Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire. Also short enough for everyone to watch!

Adrian’s Thoughts: Entertaining, informative and eye-opening. 

Sunday

1. David Gallo: Underwater Astonishments  

Dave’s Thoughts: Very cool in a science comes to life kind of way.

Adrian’s Thoughts: Underwater life never ceases to amaze.These creatures are absolutely incredible and the video’s only 5 minutes…you should check it out!

2. Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Dave’s Thoughts: Nigerian author talks about stereotypes.

Adrian’s Thoughts: Thought provoking. None of the information was new, but it made me think about the way in which I classify and categorize people and places. It was especially interesting to think about the “single story” of the people I’m currently surrounded by and how those people might interpret me and my home from their singular views.

Well, Enrichment Project- Week 1 down!  Hopefully our reviews didn’t put you to sleep!  Maybe they even will inspire some of you to investigate TED a little more:)  Whatever the case may be hope your year is also starting off on a good foot!

As you may know from an earlier post- on January 1st we moved out of our apartment in Steglitz to a cozy little place in Schöneberg. Though both apartment are technically located in Berlin proper- our new place feels much more “in the city”.  We have 5 different metro lines within walking distance and are only about a 20 minute walk from the Tiergarten and Kurfürstendamm Straße.

Though this apartment has almost 10 square meters less space than our previous place, it’s set up so that it doesn’t feel cramped. In our old apartment their were only 2 rooms- the kitchen and then the “living” space (which included the bedroom and the living room).  This spot has everything separated and it creates a much cozier atmosphere. The only real downside is the fact that the kitchen only comes equipped with two stove top burners- no oven:(

Unfortunately this wont be our “permanent” location, but we’re hoping the next place we find will have that option.  We will be here until the end of February though and are going to enjoy the international flavor and great restaurant selection while we can!!

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Week #1: Watch a TED talk everyday 

We are kicking off Week #1 of Project Enrichment by focusing on the mind.  Everyday we’ll be watching at least one different TED talk- each average only about 20 minutes. At the end of the week we’ll post a comprehensive list of the talks we viewed with notes and rankings.  We’re going to try and pick topics we might not normally go for, but I’m sure a few favorite topics will sneak in as well.  

Hope your second week of 2012 is off to a great start…Happy Monday!

We just returned from a wonderful week long Christmas vacation in south-west Germany. We left Berlin early on the 23rd and returned late on the 29th- just in time to pack up our apartment for a New Years Day move!  If you can’t tell- we’re really excited to be moving on the first day of 2012…luckily we had an amazing vacation to lift our spirits before undertaking the always fun task of moving. Our primary destination was Todtmoos, DE.  It’s a beautiful little village nestled in the Black Forest and was the absolute perfect destination for a relaxing and romantic Christmas.  We first took a train from Berlin to Freiburg (first class!) then transferred to a bus that drove us a few hours into the Black Forest and to our final destination. The bus ride through the Black Forest was amazingly beautiful and as we neared Todtmoos more and more snow covered the ground.  We passed through a number of other cute towns during the drive and actually ended up being the very last people on the once full bus as we pulled into the bahnhof  in Todtmoos!  Herr Coman (the owner of the hotel we were staying at) was waiting for our bus and he drove us up to the hotel. Upon our arrival there was a big box from the Chebuskes containing some wonderful presents and a super special Christmas tree!  We set it up straight away and it added a great festive feel to the apartment. The night of our arrival we enjoyed walking through the village and checking out the different restaurants- finally deciding on Sapa (a Chinese-Vietnamese-Thai restaurant).  We figured that we’d be eating plenty of German food over the course of the week and it couldn’t hurt have a little variety.  And thank God we did- the food was delicious and oh so spicy!  I liked it so much I made us go back a few nights later:)  The German food we had all week was delicious too, but my red curry w/ tofu was so reminiscent of my my favorite place back in Boston it made me very happy. We woke up on Christmas Eve to a beautiful site- big, fat, white snowflakes!  The already beautiful village was made even more beautiful as the flakes came down.  We did some more daylight exploring and some shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners (our hotel was more like an apartment- with a working kitchen). After a relaxing afternoon of games, reading and lounging- we got everything ready for our Christmas Eve feast.  Dave’s family does a big fondue meal every year and we decided to keep with tradition.  Our fondue came in congealed form, out of a bag, but it was from Switzerland- and delicious!!!  The good, brown German bread was a perfect compliment as were our beers and bubbly.  After dinner we headed up to the church in town for the Christmas Eve service.  Though we couldn’t understand a word of the service the church was beautiful and the people friendly.  The snow continued to fall as we headed home to watch It’s a Wonderful Life.

Church we attended for Christmas Eve service

On Christmas morning we woke up to another beautiful site.  The snow had stopped falling and the sky was bright blue!

We made breakfast, opened gifts and enjoyed a relaxing Christmas morning. The Chebuskes sent us two great new games to play (I crushed Dave at 7 Wonders!) and then in the afternoon we took a walk to a nearby waterfall.  Though it was cold, the scenery was beautiful and the walk enjoyable. Christmas ended with a few good games of ping-pong, swimming and skyping with both our families.  Though it was a little sad to be away from our homes, we had a great first Christmas together and it couldn’t have been in a better spot.  Thank you so much Melissa and Al for the amazing vacation!! The day after Christmas we took the bus (free for all visitors to the Black Forest) to the neighboring town of Todtnau.  It was a bit bigger than Todtmoos, but still very quaint.  The town is located at the base of a number of mountains and one had an operating ski lift and strange looking contraption running down the mountain.  We walked over to get a better look and found out that it was a huge alpine slide. The ski lift was used to bring visitors up to the top of the mountain to either use the slide or to enjoy the views and beers at the mountaintop “lodge”.  We opted to buy the tickets and enjoyed a beautiful ride up the mountain. We weren’t really dressed to slide down a mountain, but we did partake in beers and wurst at the lodge.  The ride back down was just as pretty! That night we dined at one of the most popular spots in Todtmoos, Maien. I got their daily special- which included a creamy potato soup to start and then a huge plate of hirschsteak (venison), chestnuts, spaetzle and brussel sprouts. Dave picked out a Jagersteak with mushrooms- both absolutely delicious.  There was also live music- so all in all a very “German” feel to the whole meal.  The only downside was that since we hadn’t made a reservation we were seated a shared table.  The first couple we sat next to was great, but when they left an older Swiss couple sat down.  Rather than keeping to their side they sidled right over and started engaging us in conversation.  I usually don’t mind making small talk/socializing, but these were some strange people. Their English was not good, but that didn’t stop them. They told us that their former spouses had died and they were now partners. Then the gentleman told us about his prior health issues and his new electronic shock pace maker.  The woman started making jokes about how he wasn’t suppose to get too excited during the “love making” or they’d shock him.  They then had us guess their ages (really?!) and we found out they were in late 70s.  I literally felt like we were in a Saturday Night Live sketch.  We were both pretty thankful when the check came and we were able to escape our over-sharing Swiss dinner dates! The final day in Todtmoos we decided it would be only fitting to try and find a place to ski.  Because of our differences in skiing ability (Dave’s a pro, I have none) we opted for going cross country.  We found a place where we could rent poles, skis and boots for only 15€/day.  Even though it was Dave’s first time, he was much better than me (though I take pride in the fact that he fell first!).  We had a lot of fun skiing around though- and the weather was perfect!

That night we enjoyed the last of our favorite regional beers and made our way back to Sapa- where we were greeted enthusiastically by the host and even given special shots. Who knew there was such delicious Asian food in tiny village in the Black Forest?!

We were sad to bid farewell to Todtmoos the next day, but excited because we had one more stop on our trip- Freiburg!  Dave spent the first semester of his junior year studying abroad in Freiburg and was excited about revisiting some his favorite spots and showing me the city.  We dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed out for lunch.  Dave was determined to find his favorite lunch spot- Tacheles.  They have more than 30 varieties of schnitzel and spaetzle…and the one’s we had were as good as Dave claimed.

To work off lunch we headed to the Münsterplatz and ventured the 209 stairs of the cathedral to the bell tower.  From there there were about 100 more stairs to the highest point.  The view of the city was awesome and the bell tower beautiful.  I got some great pics!

After our visit to the cathedral we continued our walk around Freiburg before headed back to the hotel for a quick nap.  For dinner we headed to Dave’s favorite Freiburg beer hall (in the summer they have a huge outdoor patio) called Feierling Braueri. We enjoyed some great German beer and food.

The last morning of our trip was spent trying to see as much of Freiburg as possible before our 3:00pm train back to Berlin.  We wandered over to Dave’s old dorm in the morning and checked out some of his former school buildings.  From there we hiked a bit up a hill overlooking the city, checking out another beer garden. As we slowly made our way back to the hotel and our luggage, we ended up at one last beer hall- God love the Germans and their beer!

Though we are bummed about vacation coming to a close, we’re looking forward to 2012. I will be starting German classes the second week in January and Dave is only a month away from finishing up his first semester! After which he has 5 week off- lucky guy!  We’re hoping to get a lot more travelling in this next year (including trips home next summer for some very important weddings!).  We also plan on continuing to enjoy all Berlin has to offer and really take advantage of this opportunity to be in Europe.

Wishing you all a happy New Years Eve and an amazing 2012!!!!

Maddie came to visit this past weekend and we had a ton of fun exploring Berlin and being Christmas-y! Since she’s in the last weeks of her program she has a pretty hefty load of papers and exams looming and was also feeling a bit tired to maxed out tourist days.  We did something touristy everyday, but also spent lots of time relaxing eating and playing Bananagrams!

She arrived on Friday morning and I met her at the airport.  We headed back to the apartment (about an hour ride) to drop all of her stuff off before heading out for lunch.  We dropped the stuff, picked up Dave and made our way to Santa Maria’s.  Maddie can attest- I have been talking to her about this Mexican place in Kreuzberg called Santa Maria forever!  It’s the best Mexican food I’ve found in Europe. Their guacamole is delicious and their carnitas are as authentic as you’ll find in Germany!  They also have a pretty sweet lunch deal that includes a cup of yummy corn chowder, three tacos and a beer- all for 8€! After stuffing our faces we then made our way out to the East Side Gallery.

The East Side Gallery is not a traditional gallery.  It’s a grouping of murals that were painted by artists in around the world in 1990.  What’s interesting about it’s location is that the murals are all painted on the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall.  Thematically most are about peace and community, but there are also some abstract pieces.  Though it was freezing and rainy out we braved the weather to take in the entire gallery and got some great pictures of our favorite pieces!

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After freezing our butts off at the East Side Gallery we decided it would be a good idea to head home and warm up.  We picked up some bratwurst and other goodies for dinner and made our way home.  We spend the night relaxing, enjoying our brats and watching a smattering of music videos from the 90s and early 2000s. (Enjoy a throwback right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqGnsP4wOf0)

The next morning we scheduled a free walking tour of Berlin.  We met up with our guide, an Australian gal named Kim, at 11:00 in front the Brandenburg Gate.  There were about 35 people on our tour from all over the world.  Only one other small group was from the U.S. Over the course of the next 3.5 hours Kim took us all over the city, giving us lot of interesting information about Berlin and it’s history.  I knew a lot of facts, but was interested in hearing a little more background on some of my favorite spots.

Additionally, she provided us with an interesting perspective regarding the building of the Berlin Wall.  I didn’t know, but apparently the Berlin Wall went up overnight.  Literally one night thousands of guards from the Soviet Sector lined up with a basic fence and barbed wire and then over time proceeded to build their inner wall, outer wall and line their “death strip” with guards, landmines, automatic shooters, dogs etc…  She had us imagine our own homes and think about the suburbs surrounding us.  What your family lived in a different part of the city or your friends or what if your job was in a different area?  All the sudden millions of peoples lives were changes. Over 60,000 people lost their jobs.  Obviously the Berlin Wall made a huge impact on the city and it’s inhabitants, but I hadn’t quite thought about on such a personal level.

After the tour we warmed up with hot glasses of Glühwein at a local Christmas Market before heading to our appointment at the Reichstag.  The Reichstag is the meeting place of Germany’s Bundestag (government). Touring the dome atop the building is free to the public, but you do have to reserve your spot a few days ahead of time online.  We made it right on time and got ushered up to the Dome for some great views (even in spite of the rain) and an interesting audio tour.

After the visit the Reichstag we were a bit hungry and decided we needed a good German meal to end our very German day.  We made our way up to the huge Bier Hall beside Alexanderplatz.  We partook in “mas biers” and introduced Maddie to Schnitzel and Spätzle.  Needless to say, she was a fan!

After dinner we went home for a miniature Christmas celebration.  Unfortunately this year Dave and I aren’t going to be able to make it home for Christmas- which we’re both pretty bummed about.  Rather than feeling glum though we opted to have a mini-celebration ourselves.  Maddie and I made Chocolate Chip Peppermint cookies, Oreo Truffles and Chocolate Dipped- Peppermint dusted oreos. While we were baking Dave was able the Skype with the Chebuske clan as they set up their tree and decorations.  They picked a beautiful tree!  Maddie and I couldn’t Skype with our parents because to the power outages in Sierra Madre due to the massive wind storms, but were lucky enough to talk to them over the phone. We ended the night with the Christmas classic- Frosty!

Sunday was our final full day together and we took it pretty easy. Maddie spent the morning finishing up some homework.  Dave also spent the morning studying and I was able to get in a little job searching. After our productive morning we decided we would continue our educational pursuits by visiting the Deutsches Historisches Museum. The museum was huge and was spread across two large buildings.  We spent about 3 hours soaking up some German history and learning a little more about what essentially is our family’s past. (Maddie’s and my family is about 75% German).

Following our educational visit we made one final trip to a Christmas Market.  We spent a little while walking around the different booths, taking in the sights and (delicious) smells before heading home.  Upon our arrival home we found that Dave had cooked up a delicious homemade meal of lasagna, salad and wine. He’d also crafted something he titled “The Sister Quiz”, in which Maddie and I had to answer 20+ questions about each other’s favorite things. I won of course:)  We had a fun last “family” night with more games, food and drink.

The next day Maddie had to head back to Brussels (she flies back to the States in just 10 days!) I was really sad to see her go, considering I don’t know when the next time I’ll get to see her will be- but it’s been awesome to have been able to explore Prague, Brussels and then Berlin together. Hopefully she has an awesome last week abroad and will be back to visit soon!

I’d like to take a minute to recognize the 2011 NFC North Champions- the Green Bay Packers! So excited for their 12-0 start!!!  The only downside is that I can’t brag about it to anyone here in Europe…they all think football is something you actually play with your feet.

Here’s to victory #13 and a strong playoff run….Go Pack Go!

Dave and I returned to Berlin last night after a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to Brussels, Brugge and Amsterdam. We had an amazing time and have so much to be thankful for!

The week started out on a great note last Sunday when I got a cryptic Facebook message from Jackie letting me know that Tamara, Jill, Matt and her were headed to Berlin Monday morning.  Considering they all planned to stay and get jobs in Prague I was a bit surprised. Turns out they opted for a totally different route and are going to spend the next month travelling around Europe before heading to Taiwan together in the new year! We were happy to host the crew for a few days while they explored Berlin and are looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing about all their future travels.

Everyone departed our place Wednesday morning due to the fact that I was flying out to Brussels that afternoon.  Luckily it’s pretty simple to get to Schoenefeld airport via S-Bahn and my flight with EasyJet over to Brussels went smoothly. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated on the Brussels side.  First of all- the Brussels International Airport is HUGE!  I seriously walked for 20 minutes just to get out of my terminal. From the airport I had to take a commuter train about 20+ minutes into the city, then get on the metro, then the bus. Maddie gave me great directions- so I never got lost, but it took almost 2 hours for me to reach her apartment. Needless to say- I was tired and hungry by the time I arrived!  It was so great to see Maddie though and to meet all her awesome roommates. She was preparing dinner when I got there and we enjoyed homemade spinach & artichoke dip and a big spinach, feta, walnut and pear salad- delicious! Her roommate Chrissy had also cooked up some Oreo Truffles- which were to die for…wonderful welcome into Brussels!

The next day Maddie took me to her favorite sandwich shop before walking me up to see her school.  I left her at school for her two Thursday classes and ventured into Brussels on my own.  I spent a few hours wandering around and taking in some sights before heading back to Maddie’s place to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner! Her program (ISA) hosted a big potluck dinner at the restaurant located directly under their office. All the traditional favorites were there including a turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (which we made), sweet potatoes, gravy, cornbread etc…The one snafu was that Dave was suppose to get to Maddie’s place around 8:00, but come 8:30 I still hadn’t heard from him. I tried calling and texting, but to no avail. I was getting pretty worried when someone reminded me that in Europe you have to enter a pin to access your phone every time you turn it off and on and that he probably forgot it.  I was worried that he might have gotten frustrated waiting and would try to wander away from Maddie’s apartment- so I hustled back there to find him waiting on the corner!  I was so happy to see him and we were able to make it back to the restaurant in time to catch dessert. The kitchen crew was even able to scrounge up a plate of “left overs” for Dave- so he got to enjoy some turkey and mashed potatoes as well as dessert!  All in all a wonderful ending to my absolute favorite holiday!

The next day we were up early- ready for Maddie to show us her city!  We first headed a little out of the center to the Atomium. It’s a massive steel monument originally built for the 1958 World’s Fair.  Besides the fact that it’s a beautiful structure, one of the most exciting things about seeing it was that my grandparents were in Brussels for the fair that year. My Grandpa Herlache was stationed in southern Germany and they did a good bit of travelling around Europe during their 2-year stay. In fact- one of my most prized possession is the charm bracelet my Grandma Herlache gave me a few years back. She collected charms from each of the different cities they visited on their travels and the Bruxelles charms was always one of my favorites.  It was pretty cool to be there for a variety of reasons.

We paid to go up and into the structure and it was definitely worth it. Even though it was overcast the views were amazing and there was a really interesting exhibit on immigration.  If you’re travelling to Brussels I highly recommend it!

After the Atomium we headed back into the city. We dinned on the famous Belgian moules frites for lunch and followed lunch up with a waffle (and speculoos ice cream) from the Australian Ice Cream’s stand. We then proceed to walk around the city- heading to the Grand-Palace, Manneken Pis, Jeanneke Pis and some of the other beautiful sites.

It was pretty cold out so we opted to warm up at home for a few hours before heading out to Delirium at night. We stopped at the store to pick up a few beers though and we conducted our own Belgium beer taste test. We took turns being blindfolded and sampling the different beers trying to 1. Guess which beer was which and 2. Pick our favorite. Dave’s pick was for the Westmalle, I liked the Chimay and though Maddie refused to pick just one, but I think she liked Delirium. On the whole Belgian beers are pretty strong- so even with the 3 of us sharing we had a good buzz going after finishing up the taste test.

After the taste test, more food (I love that Belgium seems to be all about the food and drink!) and a few rounds of beer pong we headed downtown to the Delirium Cafe. The Cafe has an enormous selection of beer.  They probably have between 30-50 beers on tap and then a phone book size menu of the other 2000 varieties!  Luckily we did a little research beforehand are were prepared to select our beers and were able to fight off the crowds for a table. It was such a fun experience and again something I highly recommend to any future Brussels visitors!

The next morning we sadly said good bye to Maddie (well not so sadly- she is visiting us in Berlin this weekend!) who headed off to Delft for an ISA trip while Dave and I hopped a train to Brugge. Brugge is an absolutely beautiful little Flemish city in western Belgium. There were tons and tons of tourists out and about and we joined them- walking through the city center, down the beautiful canals and streets and again just taking in the sites. We thought about walking up to the top of the Belfry, but the line was long and you had to pay 8 Euros/person to climb the 366 steps. We opted for the view from the street. After about 3 hours of walking around we stopped in a cute little cafe for some hot cocoa and cookies. We got lucky with a window seat and had an enjoyable time people-watching as the sun set.

After a quick nap back at our hotel (Hotel Etap by the way was fantastic- clean, affordable and a great location!) we went out into the city to see it at night and to grab some dinner. We walked around for awhile before deciding on an Asian-inspired restaurant. I had the red curry and Dave, being adventurous, got a Wok-Bowl with Antelope meat! It was gamey, but really good! A perfect ending to our day in Brugge.

Sunday morning we woke up early to head to our last stop: Amsterdam. The hotel was an easy walk to train station and we made it in time to catch the 9:04 train to Antwerp. From Antwerp we then transferred trains to Amsterdam.  Though we only had a half-hour delay in Antwerp we took it upon ourselves to see at least a little of the city. The train station was very centrally located and we were able to get great views of the beautiful station, the main town square and the zoo. After our little layover we got back on the train for the 2 hour ride to Amsterdam.  When we got into the city we had a little trouble navigating the transportation system, but a nice man helped us with some directions and we found our B&B pretty easily. We stayed a little outside the city (near the south end of Vondelpark) and were very happy about our decision to do so. Let me preface by saying Dave loved Amsterdam when he visited in college- I didn’t. I stayed in a horribly dirty hostel in the center of the city called the Flying Pig (the electricity in our room didn’t work, the linens looked unclean and the shower from the floor above leaked into our bathroom). Also, though Amsterdam is a beautiful city with a rich history I think that the Red Light District and Coffee Shops can attract a seedier crowd. That crowd in turn affects the opinions locals have of tourists- essentially I ran into some pretty rude people when I traveled in Amsterdam with friends in 2005. I’m happy to say though that after our short visit this weekend my opinion of Amsterdam has certainly changed  and for the better!

To start with- the B&B we chose was fantastic. It was on a quiet street a little outside the city center (about a 20 minute walk to museum district) and it was run by a wonderful lady named Sara. Sara is Dutch, but has lived all over the world and had so many interesting stories to tell.  For example: she spent one summer in the ’60s travelling around Europe in a VW Bug with 4 other girls before she moved to Rome and worked as an extra in film. Her B&B is only open for the rest of the year though because in February she is moving to Curaçao. In addition to being so interesting she was also so hospitable and helpful. After checking in with her and dropping our bags off we headed out to explore Vondelpark. Since it was Sunday afternoon there were a good number of families out on walks or biking around. Even though it was cold we spied a few people out at an outdoor restaurant and a few other picnicking. After spending some time in the park we walked up into the museum district and then into the city center. Again, we spent most of our time just strolling around and trying to see as much of the city as possible. We spent about 6 hours walking around before heading home to turn in for the night.

On Monday (the last day of our trip) we woke up to a fantastic breakfast of omelets and croissants prepared by Sara. She also blended up her own fresh orange juice and strawberry/pineapple/bannana juice for us. We were feeling refreshed and ready to go after the meal. We took the tram up to Rijksmusuem.  Though the museum is undergoing major renovations they still have one big wing open with a variety of different pieces. We learned a bit more about Dutch history (we agreed that the Dutch were a little crazy) and saw some pieces of antiquity. Then we made our way to the painting/sculpture gallery in which we saw Andy Warhol’s portrait of Queen Beatrix plus a number of Veermeer’s and Rembrant’s including The Night Watch. My favorite was Veermer’s The Little Street and Dave thought Hendrick Avercamp’s Winterlandschap met Schaatsers was particularly entertaining (maybe because of the man urinating in the snow in the center of the scene?).

We spent about 2-hours in the Rijksmuseum then headed over to see Anne Frank’s house and wander through the canals in the daylight. We stopped at a market for lunch and picked up some brie, salami, bread and beer and then wandered back to Vondelpark to enjoy. Though it was cold the sun was shining and it was nice to enjoy a little picnic in such a pretty place. Post lunch we had just a few hours left until we needed to head to the airport. We took the tram up to the city center and wandered through an open market and then the Blumen’ market (flower market). I though about buying some tulip bulbs or seeds, but was wary about how long they’d last.  We also were able to sample some Dutch cheese (something I didn’t know they took such pride in) and see the last little bit of Amsterdam.

As we headed to the airport we were sad that the trip was over, but looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation (well however much rest and relaxation you can get with classes and job search to get done). Our feet were in much need of a rest and it felt good to be back “home” again.

If you made it this far in the post I apologize for its length- just so much to see and so many pictures to post!  We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving with lots of food and family.  We have so much to be thankful for- our amazing, supportive families and friends, the opportunity we have to travel and of course each other. Thank you to all who read our blog and we hope you think about coming to visit us soon!

Love,

Dave and Adrian

Last night the international office at HWR (Dave’s school) had an outing to the Berliner-Schultheiss Brewery.  Tickets were a bit steep at 10€ a piece, but it ended up being completely worth it!  The night started a little precariously- it took close to an hour and a half to reach the Brewery via public transit and everyone was ready to get started when we arrived.  They began the tour with a short film about the history of the Brewery and then we walked throughout the plant looking at the brewing tanks, storage systems and finally bottling plant.  Our guide was a master brewer himself and knew his stuff!  I asked him what his favorite beer was and he said there was no way he could ever choose, but he knew that German beer is far superior to other beer.  He asked where Dave and I were from and when we said we’d been living in Boston he made mention of Harpoon and their famous IPA.  We were surprised and excited that he knew about Harpoon, he probably thought it a little ridiculous how excited we were, but oh well.

Tasting followed the tour portion of the outing.  I’ve been to my fare share of brewery tours and typically tastings get you just a couple beers or maybe a pitcher or so to share- not in Berlin.  We were led to a warm, beautifully lit room in a historically preserved buildling (basically it was one of the only things left standing in Berlin post WWII) with 6 delicious beers on tap and another array in bottles.  We were told we had an hour and a half to drink as we pleased- UNLIMITED BEER for 1.5 hours! Of the 25 or so of us in the group probably 20 of the students were undergraduates studying abroad- needless to say people got pretty drunk.  I tried to contain myself, but did end up having 6. I think Dave beat me by 1 with 7. The Bock and the Markischer Landmann were my favorites and Dave liked the Schultheiss best, but all were delicious!

It’s Monday, November 14th, and I am back in Berlin.  It was with bittersweet feelings that I caught the train from Prague here yesterday afternoon. On the one hand, I’m thrilled to be back with Dave and get to see him everyday.  I really love our flat in Berlin and am looking forward to all the wonderful Christmas festivals and traditions the Germans are so famous for.  On the other hand however, I had an absolutely fabulous time in Prague. I met some amazing people, learned so much through the TEFL course and loved getting to live in my favorite European city again.  Luckily Prague is only a 5-hour train ride away and now I have 20 amazing friends all over the world that I can plan to visit in the future! Dave and I are also in the process of planning our first Euro-trip together (we’ll be visiting Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam at the end of the month)…so some great things to look forward to!

Well back to the last week or so in Prague…

I think the last post I wrote about my time in Prague was about teaching.  As the last weeks of the course progressed teaching was on the forefront of everything. In addition to the usually twice-weekly teaching sessions we were also required to complete two grammar sessions for our classmates.  And while I think I can admit that my grammar has improved these last 4-weeks, it’s still pretty abysmal.  So though these lessons were shorter in length they took just as long to prepare for. And on top of all of the teaching we had a grammar test to prepare for on the last Thursday of the course. Needless to say it was a pretty packed last couple of weeks.  Fortunately everyone in our group passed the course (apparently there is typically a 5% failure rate) and we got to celebrate our achievements together with a graduation/champagne toast on Friday night.

TEFL Prague: Oct-Nov 2011

While we did spend a great deal of time working we also got in a bit of fun as well.  I’m pretty sure everyone was nocturnal the 3rd weekend in Prague.  On Friday night we started a club called the Roxy before moving to two other venues.  We left the last club just after 5:00am allowing us to catch the metro home (which closes from 12:00-5:00) instead of waiting for the tram.  Because of the late hour of our departure we didn’t make it up until close to 3:00 in the afternoon.  We spent the evening “eating breakfast” at Bohemia Bagel and then doing a little shopping downtown.  Since it was our last “full weekend” together in the city we decided we had to go out again.  We started at the oft frequented beer hall before it was decided that we had to try out Karlovy Lazne at some point on the trip. I’d been before and wasn’t too keen on paying 150 korunas to go again (it’s a little overrated), but someone found us coupons and we were able to get in at a discounted rate.  It was packed as usual, but also a lot of fun.  For those of you unfamiliar with Karlovy Lazne it’s a 5-story club that claims to be “The Biggest Music Club in Central Europe”.  Every floor plays a different type of music and it’s always slammed with tourists. We spent most of the night on the “oldies” level, which essentially played Michael Jackson’s greatest hits on repeat.  We danced so long we eventually closed the club and had to be bounced out at 6:00am.  Again we were able to hop on the metro home and made it into our beds as the sun began to rise.

We had to be a bit more active on Sunday than Saturday though.  Sunday night the whole TEFL group had bought tickets to the HC Sparta Prague game at 5:00pm.  Following the game everyone was coming over to the hotel for a group-wide potluck.  I got up around 2:00, ran to the store for some additional ingredients- made my guacamole and then helped clean up and prep for our guests. The game was awesome!  Sparta was playing the 3rd place team and the both were highly skilled.  It ended up going into overtime and then through 3-rounds of shoot-outs.  Unfortunately Sparta ended up losing in the shoot-out, but it was still an awesome game.

After the game we headed home to stuff our faces with amazing food from the potluck. Everything was delicious, but my favorites were the Greek salad, veggie burritos, buckeyes and homemade Czech pastries!  All sooooo good- remembering the meal is making me salivate right now:)

After the fun of the weekend it was time to get down to business come Monday.  Lessons to plan, grammar to study for and jobs to begin finding.  The early part of the week was spent working and enjoying our final “family” dinners at the hotel. Particularly memorable was the batch of fried dough Tamara made on Wednesday- so greasy and so good! Thursday brought final grammar presentations, the grammar exam and then my final teaching section. I had an elementary group (their English is extremely basic) and was a bit worried about the listening lesson on health and healthy lifestyle.  The video they had to watch talked about things like ayurvedic medicine, but everyone seemed to comprehend the material and my concept checking went really well.  I finished the lesson by asking about the what type of people were healthy.  I thought I’d get answers like “athletes”, “runners”, “vegetarians” etc…but they took it to mean nationalities.  Most agreed that Czechs were pretty healthy as were those living on the Mediterranean. When I asked about unhealthy people they didn’t have much to say so I suggested “Americans?”  That got a big laugh and lots of nods!  It was a relief to successfully finish up my last lesson, but now I’m in the process of job searching…hopefully something will come up soon!

After the my final lesson (and confirming that I’d successfully passed the course) I headed home to get ready for dinner out on the town.  All 20 of us headed out to find some traditional Czech food and beer. We took a few wrong turns in our search for food, but eventually found a delicious spot not too far from Old Town Square.  I had my final plate of goulash (can never get enough!) and enjoyed trying some of the other dishes as well!  After dinner most of us headed to Cheapu Rouge for more drinks and some dancing.

Since half of the class had already completed the program a number of us went out sightseeing and souvenir shopping on Friday.  It was sunny out, but freezing!  After taking in the sights for a few hours we headed back home to get ready for the evening’s graduation/champagne toast.  We met at the school at 6:30 and it essentially turned into one big party.  Everyone passed the course so we were in fantastic moods and ready to party with everyone one last time.  After hanging out at the school for about 2 hours we headed downtown where we all got down at Dejavu.  Some of the staff and teachers went with us and we even met up with some of the former TEFL Prague graduates- it was a great night.

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The next day was my last in Prague and I decided I want to do my last bit of sightseeing solo.  I went back up to Pohorelec (old stomping grounds) and tried to find my favorite little chocolate covered banana chips (couldn’t find them, but got some chocolate/cinnamon covered almonds that might even be better!).  After my search for candy I meandered down to the castle and then back down and into the city.  I was only out for about 3 hours, but it was so cold I felt like it was longer!  That night we did games and drinks up at the Villa and then went out to Nebe for a last hurrah!  Most of our number was still around so I got to say most of my good-byes.  Even though we’d only known each other for 4 weeks we spent almost every waking minute together during that time and I got to know a lot of people really, really well. I was sad to leave, but know that we’ll keep in touch and will now have 20 wonderful places around the world to visit!