Welcome to Germany! Now fill out ten forms.

After a whirlwind beginning of the week, the students are all nicely settled into their apartments in Kreuzberg, where they tell me they have been getting to know each other through potlucks and group explorations of the neighborhood. They’ve also been great about helping each other adjust to new technological challenges (getting cell phones and internet).

As of yesterday, class has officially begun! Our first activity: introducing everyone (as slowly and gracefully as possible) to the idiosyncrasies of the German legal and school system. The result? Filling out a LOT of forms …

Hopefully by Tuesday we’ll have all the registration stuff taken care of, and we’ll be free to concentrate on the fun stuff: Berlin history and media theory!

snags

We discovered today that our students’ apartments do not come with linens. The reasons aren’t that interesting (miscommunications over the summer) … suffice it to say the solution involved an impromptu trip to IKEA to buy 21 sets of linens for the apartments! IKEA is awesome, and it ended up being quite affordable in the end. Here’s John driving the shopping cart full of sheets, duvet covers, towels and – I insisted! – shower mats …

warming up to Berlin

Chance and I met John and his lovely wife Eleanor today in their (and the students’) new Berlin neighborhood, Kreuzberg. It’s a beautiful part of the city, with a lively and diverse feel. Though we spent most of the day taking care of various administrative and technological tasks (it’s always a challenge to get settled into a whole new system of cell phones, internet and ATMs!), we got to enjoy the great fall weather and explore a little of our new surroundings too.

We started out with a walk through the park along the Engelbecken and Luisenstadt Canal.

Like the rest of Berlin, the architecture in this neighborhood is full of contrasts. We admired the Max-Taut-Haus on Oranienplatz, which fits so well into Berlin’s current aesthetic that you might never guess it was built between 1931-33. Max Taut, the architect, was Bruno Taut’s brother. The stately St. Thomas Kirche was constructed in the mid-1860s.

We finished up the evening at Hasir, a delicious Turkish restaurant on the corner of Orianienstrasse and Adalbertstrasse.

The students arrive on Monday, and we’re looking forward to commencing our explorations of this fantastic neighborhood – and the rest of the city – together!