American in Berlin

The Letter C

Today's blog posting is brought to you by the letter C-- for Cologne. It's been another few days full of "holy moly, it's cool to be in Germany" moments. I flew to Cologne on Wednesday evening and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Torsten and paying one more visit to a city I have had lots of fun exploring this year. Unfortunately, Torsten is under the weather (gute besserung-- being sick in the summer sucks!) But we still managed to see some neat new sights.

A definite highlight was the modern art musuem-- the Museum Ludwig. Simply put, it was the most extensive and impressive modern art collection I have ever seen. Picasso, J. Johns, Warhol, Mattise, Lichtenstein, Max Ernst-- you name an artist and his work is in the musuem. There was also a thought-provoking exhibit on sexuality and the arts in the last 60 years. Though I was startled by some of the images, (certainly not art postcards to send home to mom) I was fascinated to get a glimpse into different types of sexuality that I know basically nothing about.

I also shopped (gummi bear store!!), met a fellow fellow for coffee, visited a local market, the city museum and of course the Cathedral. Yesterday for lunch I tried sushi with real raw fish-- a first for me, and was pleasantly surprised how good it was!

As a related side note, I have officially been in Germany one year today! Just the thought puts a giant smile on my face and crocadile tears in my eyes. I'm writing this entry while I steam towards Berlin on the last ICE train I will take this year. As I gaze out the window, I continue to be amazed by what the country has to offer-- lush fields, factories, red roofed houses and more. I'm equally intrigued by the people inside the train-- the 10 couples traveling on vacation together, the friendly but authoratative Deutsche Bahn officer and the couple eatting thin dark bread cheese sandwiches and drinking coffee from a slender silver thermos brought from home. In many ways, I am sure they are just like my family and me. In other ways, they are uniquely German. I would love to hear all their stories! Listening to Eva Cassidy's "Fields of Gold" and Aaron Copeland's "Doppio Movimento" ("Simple Gifts") adds to the moment but makes me too sentimental so I let my Ipod choose something different. (No more moving songs until I get home, but I highly recommend both those songs to anyone not going into a week of goodbyes and making a life transition:-))

I met with Carl this afternoon and bought a chunk of my favorite German cheese to import back to the States with me. Unfortunately, I am now sick and my body is telling me enough, time for bed! But I will certainly think about my fun year as I take it easy and get over my little virus.

What a year it has been!

posted by Erin @ 11:40 AM