Friday was Matthias's last day in the lab. It also happened to be Sophie's last weekend as well, so she had a little going away party at her place. There I met Camille's boyfriend, Nail, who is from England. (Camille is from France...welcome to Europe. Pretty cool in my opinion). He had just finished up his degree after a year in Berlin last year. He actually specialized in American politics and foreign policy, and he knew a lot of stuff that Americans probably don't know. We also found out we both love the TV show The Wire, and he hooked me up with the rest of Season 2 I hadn't seen and Season 3. (As of today, July 5th, they are all finished.)
Saturday morning we went to Morgenland, Matthias's favorite resturant place, for an epic type brunch. We got there around 11 and didn't stop eating until about 2. It was very delicious food, and I want to head back there for a brunch next Sunday on my last day I think. Saturday evening was the United States vs. Ghana game which we lost in overtime. Very depressing. Sunday we watched the British game though, and they got embarrassed by Germany. Sadly. It was also time to say goodbye to Matthias, of course we got one last picture together. Definitely gotta check out France and Spain now. And I suppose London. Wonder when I'll have time to do that. Let's aim for next summer if I have a downtime summer if I apply to and get in to law school. To be decided...
The week in the lab was pretty low key. Tuesday night Spain played Portugal, so Andreas and I got together to watch that. First, after work, he invited me over his place to cook up some dinner. We had steak and some potatoes with onions while listening to some Spanish music. Then he showed me his hometown on Google Maps and I did the same. After that we walked up the East Side Gallery, the famous portion of the wall with paintings on it, which is right near his place. We walked across the river to Kreuzberg and ended up at Morgenland where we watched the game. It was a very nice night.
Nothing major happened until Saturday, when I got out and saw some sights I'd been meaning to see, including the TV Tower, the Rotes Rathaus, Berliner Dom, and Friedrichstraße/Checkpoint Charlie. Saturday afternoon was the Germany vs. Argentina, in which Germany destroyed Argentina 4-0. It would be quite amazing for Germany to win the World Cup and I'm actually here for it. That evening we all met up again to watch the Spain game, which they won 1-0. That sets up Germany vs. Spain, or Andreas vs. the Germans. Now I actually found out a few days ago that Andreas is actually half Spanish and half German, his father being German. I found this surprising, he is quite Spanish looking and he has lived in Spain since he was little, though he was born in Germany. He is pulling for Spain, but the funny thing is that the game is on Wednesday night, and he has to give a presentation for his thesis work on Thursday. So if Spain wins, he is going to have a bunch of pissed off Germans grading and critiquing him as a Spaniard. We'll see how this plays out...
Sunday was low key. I checked out Hermannplatz, which is a subway station done up with high ceilings and a cathedral like theme, it was interesting. Other than that I did the last round of laundry, bought some more souvenirs, things like that. Monday there was little to do and I actually got to go home around 2:30 and take care of more things around here like thank you notes. Things are winding down here...two more days in the lab, then a quick trip to Heidelberg for a conference until Saturday. After that, Sunday is my last day in Berlin and Monday morning I fly home. Feels like I just got here yesterday.
Pictures:
Coming tonight.
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