I'm in Berlin, trying.

We finally arrived in Berlin. All smiles here!
Because it is really cool, odd and unique.


We woke up, and as Sebastian ran out to buy brötchen, I attempted to skype with my Mom on this terrible and poor wifi. When he came back from the bakery, we boiled water for tea and each ate half a banana. 
To my delight, he surprised me with a shokolade croissant...sometimes we refuse to purchase cola because we want to save money, yet he goes and does a thing like that. Carpe diem, chocolate is good for the soul :).


After breakfast we threw on comfortable walking clothes and went for a walk to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood we live in, and let me tell you Toto, we're not in Dresden anymore!
On our beautiful walk under the hot sun, we saw:


Casinos
Bars
Odd shops
Children climbing out of second floor windows
Turkish restaurants
Groups of men
Elderly care homes 
and many cars


What I like most about our neighborhood...the red brick buildings with obnoxious green plants springing to life out of the cracks. 


We arrived home, weak and hungry. This may be due to the fact that the both of us are inconveniently sick with minor schnupfen (colds). But we had to press on! Today was our first official day here in Berlin! We then packed our bags for the badeschiff; bikini, surf shorts, water and towels. 


On our way to the badeschiff, there was a street demonstration, burnt trash on the ground and people sitting and standing everywhere. Polizei blocked entrances and exits, and let no cars pass through. 
It looked like a riot, almost. So to be honest, my guards were up and I was a little nervous. Once we passed the bridge it was smooth sailing, we turned down the street to the badeschiff, but then entered a different location a street too soon. No matter, we ended up finding the coolest bar I've seen so far. 
If you've ever been on that Pirates of The Caribbean ride at Disney land, this bar resembled it big time. Especially the part where you first enter the ride and there's that restaurant on the right overlooking the river. 


yeah, I was reminded of that...only because I have never seen restaurants and bars facing each other separated by a body of water. I was surprised and impressed. 


After sitting down for less than five minutes, we left en route for the reaaaaaaal badeschiff.
Sebastian has a great head on his shoulders, we effortlessly found it  ten minutes later...paid the place three euros each (not bad, student discount) and then spent two hours there. 


Also a unique place; on the river, there's this deep rectangular pool where people can swim and sit in under the sun. 


However! it was freezing, which is no good for people with schnupfens, so after five minutes of cooling off, we exited and laid our towels down on the fake beach. Trying to study was no possibility. There were too many people with such interesting things to say, paying attention to a book was quite difficult. 


We left badeschiff, kind of hungry, so we stopped for some ice cold cola and shokolade filled donuts. WOW, YUM. I stepped in wet cement (unknowingly) and then drew a cross in it. I hope it dried that way...Amen. 


photo soon...help me bear with this trashy wifi

I'm in Dresden on vacation

I'm literally counting down the weeks until Sebastian and I move into our insanely unique apartment in Berlin. Each room is separated by its own door! : The living room, sleeping room, cooking room, toilette room! We are not worried about respecting each other's privacy (ha!).
We paid it a visit this past Monday and moved bulky objects in (thanks to Sebastian's Dad, Ekkehardt).

I believe he is the most helpful person I've ever met, and I'm grateful for his company. If it wasn't for him, instead of studying in Berlin, I would be working very hard to be especially close to my favorite person in the world. Since obtaining an MBA in International Management is extremely pertinent to me, and since Sebastian and I make a wonderful academic team and most importantly romance! and love! and everything in between team, the possibility of studying here was, possible.

A Contract was drafted in this agreement, that of which I will not enclose, to keep it simple, even the contract was a blessing.

Doesn't this sound nice?
The reality of the situation is: The second year of my Master's study tuition will need to come from a different source, I hope my prayers are heard, and  I hope a couple of doors will open. At the moment I am aiming towards the study scholarship (click me) , it would be a dream to have it. I should be working on my proposal at the moment, but staring blankly at an empty word document as to where and how I start is intimidating.

Blog writing is enabling me to work out some nerves.

The good news is, I have a lot of brainstorming jotted down on paper and well equipped knowledge friends whom I believe will proofread my stuff. I don't expect this scholarship more than I would APPRECIATE it.

"I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often."

 - Brian Tracy; self development and life coach

I'm in Dresden on vacation

We're going to Birkwitz tomorrow!
It's the only lake I've ever been to in my life. I only know of one lake existing in Hawaii, and for years it was a toxic dump.

Birkwitz is unique for my taste. I really like it.
Anyway, it's the closest thing I have to an ocean.
There is something very healing about swimming and just letting the body float around in the placidity of the lake. It is also unique, that even if it is blazing hot over Dresden, the lake is still icy cold.
I feel that diving in right away is how you approach this body of water.
And it's not so much that the body adjusts to the temperature, I think it is in just pure shock, it then goes numb.

That tiny book in my hand is my English to German dictionary.
It has been helpful sometimes, but not all.
Learning the language seems to come much more easier to me when I pay attention to what people around me are saying, and then use it on my own (the way I think it means). Usually I'm right.
This is how children learn, this is also how they learn not to.
I might invest in taking German language courses, but I don't think I can afford it nor budget for it.
I will reveal in blogs to come of what my situation will be like in Berlin.
Reality sets in ladies and gentleman...and while I am living up summer in Germany to the fullest, colder seasons are upon us, and I have no idea.

Todo, we're not in Honolulu anymore :]

I'm in Dresden on vacation

What a vacation it's been, absolutely splendid, and every corner of Dresden (besides the grafittied walls and buildings) is magnificent and up kept true to its historical aesthetic.

If someone asked me about Dresden, I would not know where to begin. I might start with my very first and memorable experience which was eating dinner with my boyfriend and his family after a long 24hr plane ride from Honolulu to LA to Dusseldorf to Dresden.

 Sebastian's dad knew I liked rice (because duh, I'm from Hawaii), gratefully, they made a unique rice dish with curry and chicken. NOT a traditional German food, it was more of a comfort food to welcome me into my new foreign surroundings.

I haven't touched ranch dressing or thousand island dressing since I got here. The Grottkes are agriculturalists. Everything must be fresh market veggies! If it isn't they wont buy it :). The curry rice dish was accompanied with fresh tomato salad and green onions to accompany it with. I marveled over the deliciousness and freshness of the dressing and asked how it was made. Perhaps you should try it since who knows what the heck is in that salad dressing of yours!

What they do:
Chop all of the vegetables that's going into the salad
Save the juice from the tomatoes you cut into a bowl
Add pepper
Add Sunflower seed oil
Stir it of course

and then voila! drizzle it over the salad.
You might never eat ranch dressing with your salad again.

fin

"Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light" Regina

I'm moving to Berlin. :)


Aloha Hawaii & Mahalo for:

A forever lust for natural and raw beauty

Roots for my tree of life

Teaching me to stay cool on the island of endless summer

Waimea blue / Lanikai blue / Sunset Beach blue / Rainbow blue and sky blue

Friends and Family for their entirely appreciated blessings between the rise and fall of life

Smiles to share with strangers

Laughter for remedy in even the most desperate situations

Scars! That make for great adventure stories

Fresh out of the ocean, salt drying in your ears en route for plate lunches

Lastly, romance and attraction...the reason why everything came together for what will become the next journey and next chapter for Sebastian and I.


The Song