Hello, my friends, hello

I want to start by saying hello to everyone back home, I miss you guys and want you to know that I'm having a blast! This place is amazing, much older than I realized and very beautiful. I had a little trouble getting here, I had to be rerouted and ended up without my luggage for one day which wasn't a big deal. We're in Berlin now, we've been here a little over a day. Bonn and Cologne were awesome, especially the Dom Cologne, a high Gothic cathedral located about 100 yards outside of the train station in Cologne. The view as you walk out of the main lobby is the most awesome sight I've ever seen. So much so that I took a video on my camera, which I'm also using to take way more pictures than necessary. I think I hit the 300 mark today...

Anyway, we've been doing a lot of touring, exploring, and learning. The culture here is different but very interesting, and everyone is very nice. On New Year's we were at the huge party in the middle of Berlin. I've never been in a crowd close to that size, so it was definitely an experience. We learned the hard way that Germans aren't too good with lines and are quite liberal with the amount of force they use to push past you in a crowd, which is probably why my gloves and coat smelled like gluwein the next day. But this place is great, so much to see and learn. It's hard to believe that I stood in the ruins of a Roman General's living quarters that dates back to about 50 AD. Early this morning I jogged through the snow around Charlottenbourg, a 15th century palace in West Berlin, and had a moment of awe as we ran through the gardens during sunrise.

But even though Germans live amongst these reminders of their past, they are quite progressive. Just recently they elected their first woman chancellor and are obviously thrilled at the election of our new president. Most speak at least a little English, and my German is slowly getting better. Tomorrow we go to Dresden for a day trip and tomorrow night 10 of us are heading to Prague by train. Dr. Wasser and our program coordinator Stefi have been amazing so far, and are making this trip very enjoyable and worthwhile.

One last thing, we had a lecture on homeopathy a few days ago which was quite interesting. It was a little backwards to me given the training I've had so far, but had some very interesting concepts. Just as a brief overview, the idea is that certain herbs and other natural substances that cause certain symptoms in a healthy person can be used to help cure a person that is experiencing those same symptoms. I encourage you to read up on it, it's still relatively unknown and unpopular, but may hold the answers to some questions that modern Western medicine hasn't been able to answer. But I hope everyone had a great New Year's and is doing well. If you want to reach me I can check my email pretty easily so that would be the best way.

Until next time,

Asher