Back to school for me! London March Trip

So in March I flew back to London for a UCL workshop, meeting with my professor and then a historical conference.

Here's my school - University College London, the 'original' University of London! ;)

The next few installments will be pictures from this trip.

It was strange when I got there, it snowed the first two days I was there...








There's the Dome/Quadrangle during a snow/rain storm...

This is the German Historical Institute where we had the conference. They're also the peeps that are giving me a scholarship towards the end of this year....hooray!

Church Life...

So here are a few 'randomish' pictures showing what my 'Church life' here in Berlin is like. After putting them on here I've realized that 'Church life' involves a lot of FOOD! ;)



Here the missionaries are getting fed with some anti-nourishing American root beer and hamburgers....











And then afterwards outside the diner where we ate - 'posing like a fountain' were the instructions...












This is Horst Gruse. (I asked him what his name meant. A 'horst' is a big bird's nest, like an eagle or something - German differentiates between SO much! So while in English we'd just say 'nest' for everything, Germans say 'nest' for a small bird's house, and then 'horst' for a big bird's house, and there are probably a few other words as well ;) He's the Institute (that is a place where they offer religious classes, i.e. 'Book of Mormon', 'Old Testament', 'New Testament', 'LDS Church History', etc. for people from 18-30) director here in Berlin. A SUPER-nice guy!





This is Elder and Sister Kirkham from Minny-soda (I asked Sister Kirkham if her home state was named after a 'small beverage' ;) They are the 'couple missionaries' in charge of the Institute group (people from 18-30). They do a lot for us and this is a picture from when we had a 'thank you' dinner for them and Horst.











While the rest of the people were in workshops, we peeled potatoes, carrots and then I got to....




















Fry up the Schnitzel! Yeah, oh the McDonald's memories flowed I must say....and I was covered with oil - not bad for the guy that's supposed to lead the peeps for the rest of the day and introduce speakers, etc. Oi!





















Everybody eating!















And then getting down to bidness! We all went with the missionaries to a square in Berlin and sang hymns and talked to the people. The idea was to invite people to a program about families that night, but alas, none came....but it still was good to do it all!

Toto, honestly...where are we?!

So normally I look out my window here in Berlin and I can see our Funkturm (Radio Tower), which honestly makes me think I'm in Paris, staring at the Eiffel Tower. But then every once in a while they beam colored-light on it and then I get 'confused' - ARE WE IN OZ, TOTO?! 'Ruff, ruff..' Oh wait, I forgot...I don't have a dog...who's answering then? 'Marsha, Marsha, Marsha....'

Anyway, before I descend into a TOTO (forgive me please ;)mental breakdown, the point of all of this was to show what my Funkturm looks like during the 'International Green Week' - a show for agriculture and environmentally-friendly technologies.

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no ice cream like Ben&Jerry's, there's no...." 'Put a fork in me, Jerry! I'm done!' (Kramer, 'Seinfeld')

World Traveler, Flat Freddy, visits Berlin!

So a friend of mine came to visit me here in Berlin: Flat Freddy! He's from Oregon where he attends middle school and his classmates sent him on a journey around the world to learn what he could. Before coming here, Freddy saw the wilds of North Pole, Alaska and now I'll just cut-paste what I wrote to Freddy's middle school class....

"The pictures I sent you with Flat Freddy were his choices. He told me that some of you like sports, so we decided to go to the Berlin Olympic Stadium. It was here in 1936 that Jesse Owens won four gold medals in track events proving to Hitler and the world that there was no such thing as a superior person/race/anyone.

While we were at the Olympic Stadium I got a sausage with mustard and a piece of bread – this is probably one of the favorite snacks that Germans and Berliners eat! The local soccer team, Hertha BSC, was getting ready to play and their fans were all over the place, eating sausages and getting ready for the game.














Flat Freddy liked the public transportation here in Berlin. You can take a bus, subway or train anywhere you want to go – he decided it’s nicer to sit back and let someone else do the driving - and it saves the environment.





















And the last picture is Flat Freddy with the Berlin Funkturm or Radio Tower. It was built in 1926 and became a very famous landmark, especially in West Berlin. The tower is most famous, however, because it was from here in 1935 that the first regular television program in the world was broadcast.

Well everybody. I hope that you enjoyed yourselves seeing a little piece of Berlin. Don’t forget that you can learn even more by looking ‘Berlin’ up on the Internet or in an encyclopedia.

Take care one and all and enjoy learning!"

END OF QUOTE: And the same goes to you all! Go learn and enjoy this world we've been given!!

Oh, and Flat Freddy, before he left in a large envelope for Georgia, USA, yelled 'ICH BIN AUCH EIN BERLINER!" (I'm a jelly doughnut too! I tell you...it's moments like this that you feel grateful for friends will will stand with you...no matter how 'thickly-challenged' they might be...)

Jelly Doughnut Weather

So when I got back to Berlin, jet lag was a bit of an issue (10-hour difference between the Alaskan metropolis of North Pole and the village of Berlin) and so I got to enjoy something that I hadn't before: Berlin Sunrises...


Of course as my camera suffers from some mental condition, what I see and what the picture shows is not always the same thing...the first photo is without flash...so this is closer to what I actually saw...




This is with flash...I think it's the 'nicer looking' of the two...

Very 'connected, peaceful, calm' feeling seeing it...very nice....














This was one of those 'AHHH!' (angels singing moments) when the dreary, darkened sky is opened and rays of light beam all over and you feel like 'you're not alone'...camera didn't quite capture it in my opinion....







Then this was one of our more recent snowstorms. I thought it was very interesting to see Berlin in snow - firstly, because I love seeing things in a new way, but also because all my fellow 'jelly doughnuts' spoke often about what a mild winter it had been, etc. I hadn't really expected to see snow in Berlin....

These are both views out my window...

Good o' NoPo - North Pole that is...this is the 'ol Homestead', i.e. the house where we all grew up.















This was truly one of those beautiful moments, but don't let it fool you! During this time of winter we get maybe 2 hours of semi-sunlight in one day. This is the road where our house is...










And then the same road in the other direction. Truly a winter wonderland....as long as you can stand the -40 degree weather that goes along with it! ;)








And here we are, all ready for the Christmas eating. I still can't believe we ate dinner in the old garage? But hey, it worked! ;)

So, have you ever heard of when an airline messes up and then they put you in a hotel for free? Well, that happened to me! My Continental flight was late getting into Newark and so I went into 'the City'. I had always wanted to visit New York and it was great to see everything! I got to my hotel around 2am-ish or so....so here are some things I got to see.

There she be, the beautiful and world-famous Empire State Building! I'm such a maroon...beause the bottom color seemed to be more of an orange I didn't 'get' the color scheme and then suddenly the red-green entered me brain - I'm a smart one! ;)













There is the world-famous entrance to the world-famous Empire State Building. Very patriotic, yet of course when I see it I just think of 'Elf'!










The view was truly amazing! I walked out and there was the moon (this pic doesn't do it justice - it was huge and bright!) and then New York City and New Jersey below. Off on the bottom right is the UN building; center, is the Chrysler Building; I got to see what people say is the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, etc.

It was so freezing cold though! A really strong wind, cold....brr...but it all made for a wonderful view!


Afterward I just walked up Fifth Avenue, ate a panini, kept on walking and then there it was! ROCKEFELLER CENTER! Of course, what did I think about? 'Elf' ;)
















Right across the way was Saks Fifth Avenue with St. Patrick's Cathedral right next to it. The 'snowflakes' danced around to this really cool, deep bass 'Carol of the Bells'. Loverly fer sure!

















On my way down Fifth Avenue to Central Park I saw lots of windows that the shops have - made me think of 'Mannequin'.










I was warned not to go to Central Park, so I took this picture from the outside looking in. I went through the entrance and saw somebody sitting on a bench and decided just to stick my foot on the ground and leave quickly. ;)