Willkommen 2012! [written Tuesday, January 3]

The Fest Mile was magical! I felt like Penelope in the movie Penelope entering a glowing magical world filled with carnival lights, music, beer, and meat products cooked to perfection over an open flame. I tried a Berlin Pilsner and wasn’t too impressed, but the meat product I selected was this steak on a hamburger bun, and it was incredible. We tried to push our way toward the Brandenburg Gate, but the crowd was far too packed, and we resorted to standing in front of the big screen behind the Ferris wheel, waiting for the New Year to come listening to a strange collection of German and American music. Leaving the Fest Mile was an adventure in itself. The streets of Berlin looked and sounded like a war zone as sporadic fireworks went off at street corners and the unpredictable fire crackers were set off within a couple of feet distance from us. It was smoky and loud and absolutely surreal in all the chaos and the continuing festivities.

For all the noise and tumult of the night before, New Year’s Day opened with the quiet grey solemnity that I’m becoming accustomed to seeing in Germany. Danielle and I explored the city on foot, starting in the cemetery across the street from the Hotel Alex and continuing to the Brandenburg Gate (that wasn’t as glorious as it probably should have been amidst the tear down of the stage and all the equipment from the night before), the Holocaust memorial, and wandering down Leipziger Strasse, then Freidrichestrasse, then a few other streets until we found ourselves eating currywurst in front of the Berliner Dom. After making sure to hunt down crepes, we spent the rest of the evening following bursts of firework shows that took place at the most random places in the city: street corners, apartment roof tops, etc. Overall, I couldn’t have imagined a New Year’s Day spent better: exploring Berlin at one’s leisure, taking time to take in the city and not just its big tourist attractions, all of which was made even more meaningful when the tour of the city yesterday explained each of our discoveries.

We also did laundry! And while that would never warrant an exclamation mark back home, here, where the chances of using bleach on your clothes instead of detergent is substantially high and the concept of dryers running for only 5 minutes per 70 euro cent payment has never occurred to you, it is a big deal to do laundry successfully. And while we were not completely successful in washing and drying our clothes (after the driers failed us, we had to dry our clothes by hanging them on every piece of furniture available in our rooms), we did meet Max, Sebastian, and Thor, musicians from Germany, New Zealand, and Norway, respectively, who were in town to play at the Philharmonie on Thursday. It was the first time we’ve really spoken to people outside of our group, and it was interesting to gain the perspective of other people traveling through Berlin. It would be really neat to be able to attend the concert on Thursday. I shall keep my fingers crossed!