(Written in the St. Oberholz with an Augustiner pilsner and a faint experimental-electronic-type soundtrack :OR: The most “Berlin” situation I have been in all week)
One of the goals I set at the beginning of this trip was to read most of my news—if not all—in German. Luckily, our hotel has a few daily newspapers [Zeitungen] available to read after 11:00 AM. These cover everything from local (Berlin), national (Germany), international and world news (um…everyone else). I still use my Twitter account for breaking news, so I’ve added Der Spiegel and Berliner Morgenpost to my Twitter feed to mix with my updates from Amiland [America].
About two sentences into reading the first article, I realized I didn’t have the vocabulary necessary to understand German journalism, and I still find myself reaching for my digital phrasebook quite often. Tomorrow I’m going to start keeping lists of these words, because some of them come up quite often while others are dangerously specific. For example, “Weltschmerz”—literally translated as ‘world-pain’—was used to describe something said in an interview about the legacy of Helmut Kohl.
“Digital Phrasebook”
This past week, we went on multiple tours so current events were one of the main topics that we discussed with our tour guides. Besides the upcoming G20 Summit in Hamburg, the passing of gay marriage in Germany and Donald Trump’s tweets dominated conversation. We toured Berlin’s memorials, the Reichstag, and some parks in Potsdam—including Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference was held after WWII between the USSR, USA, and UK.
Joseph Stalin’s idea of a joke
Overall, the last two weeks in Berlin have been busier than I imagined, yet I’m keeping up with my goals and courses while exploring greater Berlin.
Until next time,
Robert Babich