Where do I start? I'm not so sure. Let's revert back to my bolded headings for now, since they're easy to deal with. I've decided to just get on with posting and fix the bugs in my blog later...because who knows how long that'll take.
Backdrop and Preparation
What I've learned from this experience is that event planning management is extremely hard. When I first asked whether people wanted to go to the Berlinale (the international film fest), about 8 or so people PMed me on Facebook, expressing interest. However, due to time, money, and conflicts, they didn't really carry through with the plan. I don't blame them though--getting permission from AFS and host families is a pain in the neck.
The night before our departure, we looked up rides on Mitfahrgelegenheit, which is a carpooling site that lets passengers look for rides and for drivers to earn some money. Using this site is a whole lot cheaper than going with the Bahn, which costs twice as much. After approximately 2 hours of calls, we secured a 20 Euro ride to Berlin (unfortunately that was a bit expensive because we booked too late), and a 10 Euro ride back (with the Bahn--there's also Bahnfahrgelegenheit, using the group ticket). 30 Euros roundtrip really isn't bad at all, considering that the Bahn had prices listed near the hundreds, even with our Bahn 25 discount card that AFS provided.
Then we had to look for hostels. I planned to stay there for 2 nights, Thursday through Sunday. After a while of searching, I came across The Circus Hostel, which as you will later find out, is the coolest and best hostel available in Berlin. Definitely recommended. The rate was 19 Euros/night for an 8 person room, but it could of been cheaper had we booked it earlier.
Day One
We arrived in Berlin around 11 am, and as we got near the city, NPR News from Washington came up on the radio. I always listened to that radio station back in the US (because we live near Washington DC) on the way to school, and hearing it in Germany just..gave me a piece of America back. Later, we checked into our hostel (lesson of the day: bring your passport--I almost wasn't allowed to check in!), and proceeded to inquire about tours. Turns out the hostel gave free 5 hour tours around Berlin, and it started at 1:00, so we still had time. The receptionists at this hostel were super nice--they asked us what we were doing in Berlin..and when we said that we were here for the film fest, they gave us 2 free tickets! Plus, the hostel also has a discounted price of 4.50 Euros for daily transportation tickets (normally they cost double, and the Asian receptionist only charged us for one day even though we used it for two :D). Afterwards, my friend and I got something to eat at Back Factory--we bought 4 different things and split each food in half. We paid 1.18 Euros each (and yes, it was filling). See the joy of sharing? :) Now, allow me to digress a little, but I've noticed that Germans don't really like to share food. Whenever they go to restaurants, they just order one big plate for themselves, and pizza almost always comes in the personal style. When I first arrived in Germany, I brought some American and Chinese snacks along with me, and my ex host family actually thought I brought it to eat myself...
Their sarcastic remark: "Oh yeah, of course you have nothing to eat here in Germany." -.-
I was shocked. Now, that might just be the older generation of course, because I do see German teens sharing drinks all the time.
The tour was cool--we saw all the main highlights in Berlin, from the Dom to various memorials, to of course, the Reichstag. People there walk fast--my legs died after that 5 hour tour. In fact, I had really bad leg cramps for the remainder of my time in Berlin...to the point where I could barely walk. And that's not an exaggeration. It probably is a sign that I need to get off the computer and do more exercise (like about now :D). During the tour, I met this really cool girl named Anita. She and her boyfriend were just visiting Berlin for a few days (aus Polen!), and we chatted while we tried to walk as fast as possible. When we got to the Reichstag, her phone camera wasn't so great, so we took pictures for her. She later gave my friend her Facebook info (I didn't have a pen on me)...and my friend accidentally threw that paper in the trash. That's just great. So now I can't really find her anymore...what a shame :( She said she wanted to come to America to study Linguistics, and invited me to go visit her in Poland. Maybe she'll come across my blog somehow, someday.
For dinner, we ate at one of the Chinese noodle box stands. It didn't taste so great, but it made me full. And for 2 Euros, I guess I couldn't have gotten a better deal. I really don't like the Stir Fried Noodles (they lack flavor and are a bit too oily) in Germany..if anything, go for the rice instead. Just a tip.
After dinner, we stopped by the Red Carpet at Potsdamer Platz..and Nicholas Cage was there. I guess that accounted for all the screaming fans on the sidelines. The media took all the good views though--they stood on ladders, and being short as I am..could only see things from the projected screen. We also attempted to buy our Berlinale movie tickets (for more movies), but the office box closed before we made our final decision. There were just too many movies to pick from. Bad planning on our part, although this trip was also just too sudden as a whole. But oh well. I enjoyed my time in Berlin either way :)
Day Two
We went to the Topographie des Terrors Museum, and I can officially say that it's my favorite Holocaust museum ever (yes, I like it better than the one in DC--don't kill me for saying that). Everything was presented bilingually (EN/DE), but what I loved the most was that this museum didn't concentrate as much on the Jews than as it did on the Nazi regime. This is not saying that I don't think Jews should be remembered (in fact, they should, and so should all the other social groups that were discriminated against), but that this museum just had a fresh outlook and new viewpoint on WWII and its perpetrators. We were also there just in time for the Sonderaustellung :D
After the museum, we chilled at McDonalds. McDonalds is like the default teen hangout place in Germany, from what I've seen, at least :)
Then, we rode the S-Bahn to the theater where "Sing Me a Song..." was playing. These were the free movie tickets from the hostel, but we still expected the movie to be good..I mean, what movie isn't good at an international film fest, right? It turned out to be a concert documentary remembering the life of a famous folk group from the US back in the day. The music was amazing. The voices were amazing. Sometimes I feel like I live in the completely wrong era music wise. At the end of the movie, everyone was crying and had tears streaming down their faces.
Afterwards, we bought 2 more tickets, because students get a 50% discount on all movies, 4.50 each xD That's even cheaper than the normal movie theaters we have around here. Anyways, we couldn't pick, so we decided to get two random ones that fit into our schedule: "Burn it Up--Dejassi" and "Interior. Leather Bar."
Burn it Up was good--it had a very simple story, but was nicely shot. The story is about how a guy living on the Ivory Coast meets his death in the ghetto, accidentally killed at the hands of his own brother. The producer happened to be there too, so we had a nice QA session after the film. Would I recommend watching this? Yes. This film is like the epitome of indie films--it's really not commercialized, and you can see that through the way it's directed and put together. I wished indie films were screened at big, public movie theaters more often.
Interior. Leather Bar. Uhm. Ok, I will give my honest opinion, although I will probably be judged for it. You are free to think otherwise.
The film marketed itself to be about homosexuality. And yes, it is about homosexuality. However, it was not what I excepted, and uhhh... let's just say I basically paid 4.50 to watch gay porn for about half the movie...and I'm pretty much scarred for life.
Basically, the backdrop of the movie is this: a few years ago, this same director created a film called "Cruising." In it, there were 40 minutes of gay porn, which was cut out by the rating panel in order to avoid an "X" rating. But the director was never satisfied with that film, so he decided to create another film that would somehow bring back the essence of those 40 cut minutes. That film is the one we watched (Interior. Leather Bar.). It's about a straight guy who goes undercover into a gay bar.
The message which the directors wanted to convey with the film is, I believe, to never be afraid of trying new things, and that gay intercourse isn't such a huge deal (and should not be censored). Their argument was: if intercourse between a man and a woman can be shown, then why not with gay couples as well? Thus, they asked their actor friends to come out and shoot this movie with them. The entire movie isn't a movie movie, but more like a documentary of the real actors' feelings throughout the whole process. It's about how these actors have trouble placing their values, and whether or not acting in this film is the "right thing to do."
And so here's what I think from a purely cinematic standpoint:
This movie is good in the way that it records the real actors' feelings and their inner conflicts. The movie sucks in the way that half of it is just porn. I did not appreciate watching the porn, and I will never ever watch a movie like this again. But I guess if porn wasn't included, then the directors' goals still would not be accomplished. I don't know. The entire film just had me in shock for the first 20 minutes. I forgive my friends--they were Chinese and had no idea what the summary on the film brochure stated, other than that it was about homosexuals. And I never would have guessed that such a film would be allowed on an international stage, so I trusted them. But no, now I understand why this film was allowed.
Let's move on to another topic.
Best Things About Berlin
1. The Chinese food (so good, so real, so...just amazing. We ate at Aroma. Apparently, Good Friends is awesome too, but it was a bit expensive for our budget).
2. The Ampel Menschen! They are so adorable :) I wish they had them here where I lived :)
3. Internationalism--you see all kinds of people here, and it's great.
4. The Nice(r) people that you find here. At least compared to the rest of Germany I've been to.
5. The late night, super convenient transportation.
6. So many things to do! :D
Worst Things About Berlin
1. Too much construction going on! I bet Berlin would be prettier if it weren't for all the drilling...
2. I almost didn't hear any German. Spanish, Italian, Turkish, you name it. But German..was almost nonexistent. I think if I lived in Berlin, my speaking skills would never improve. But I guess you would hear German in schools :)
So, more pictures coming later. I typed way too much in this post.
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