Pub Quiz

On Thursday, my second to last night in London, I finally partook in a British staple, the pub quiz. Usually one night a week, most pubs will hold team competitions with Jeopardy-like questions. Our rounds were music, words with "hell" in them, words that start with D, food items, and cars. Each team writes down their answers, and for each correct answer, your team gets a point. The pub we visited gave prizes to the first two winning teams and the team with the least correct answers. Unfortunately, we came in third place out of about six teams.

I went with a friend's uncle and his friends. Instead of having an awkward dinner, the pub quiz was a great way to meet these new people. Of course, food and beer flow smoothly throughout the entire affair so it's quite social even though it's nerdy. By the end, a couple old ladies were loudly insisting that the description "spherical granules made by rolling semolina wheat and coating it with wheat flour" applied to dough balls instead of couscous, which was the correct answer. The host promptly told them to shut up.

For the third round, you were given pictures and had to find the word that started with D and that matched the picture. From a picture of a strip pole, a dancer, and a merry-go-round horse, you were supposed to surmise Christina Aguilera in the music video, Dirrty. I'm proud to say that our team did not get that one right. From a picture of the Ten Commandments, you were supposed to reach decalogue. We used someone's iPhone to get that one (I promise, we only cheated on two questions).

For the fourth round, you were given a glass of wine and five samples of food. For the wine, you had to figure out the country of origin and the grape. None of us are wine connoisseurs so the grape was out of question, but we somehow guessed the right country, South Africa. For the samples of food, you had to figure out the main ingredients. I didn't try any of the food for fear of it being non-vegetarian. I'm glad I didn't; one of the samples was goose fat.

Overall, the pub quiz was a lot of fun. I wish they had a similar activity in the States, but it would never work out, especially with the different cultural attitudes about alcohol and its place in the community. It would make a good double date or a small group activity. However, if you do want to go in the UK, you can walk into a pub quiz on the designated night; there's no need to reserve tables, although there were regulars at our pub who had their tables and their game ready (Yes, they won).

Berlin

Berlin was a lot fun, a lot different from my other trips this semester. Instead of actively sightseeing all day, the group I traveled with was a lot more relaxed so we took time to sleep in, to just walk around and eat, to sit in the park and enjoy the weather, etc. However, we still tried to catch at least the major sites.

The location of the Berlin Wall is demarcated throughout the city and on many tourist maps. The reunification of Germany and the destruction of the wall is a not-so-distant memory that permeates the city. East Berlin, where our hostel was located, is distinctly cheaper than West Berlin so we didn't venture too far into the West. It's interesting how important, culturally and socially, 30 years can be, in terms of splitting the East and the West. Despite the convergence afterwards, some of the distinctions and memories remain between the two halves of the city. Taken from an EU perspective, it may hold an interesting lesson about the importance of historical tradition, the lasting influence of culture and the difficulty they pose in terms of political unification. I'm extrapolating a bit too far, but it is a valid viewpoint.

A section of the East Side Gallery, which as far as I know is the only complete remaining section of the Berlin Wall. This section is covered in different paintings and messages pertaining to Berlin, the Cold War, Communism, etc. It's incredibly inspirational. More than just the political division of East and West Berlin, the Gallery reminds you of the cultural division, the impact on everyday lives, the desolation that entered the city through the destabilizing effects of separate sectors and later sides. The Gallery doesn't project its lessons onto current world crises such as the Middle East, African warfare, etc., but it provides plenty of ammunition to do so.

There's a section of the Gallery where you can write whatever you want with a pen or a marker. Obviously some of the messages were inspirational and life-affirming while others were jokes. One of the joking messages read "Come frutas y verduras". About a foot above it, another person had written " 'Come frutas y verduras'. Palabras immortales" (I eat fruits and vegetables. Immortal words). It made me chuckle.
One of my favorite parts of the East Side Gallery. This picture doesn't do it justice, but the tiny circles have idyllic clouds and sky painted inside them. Juxtaposed with the other parts describing the dire state of Berlin and its people, this part is a perfect reminder about the power of hope. Obviously the same emotion can be found in any survivor story (whether it be Anne Frank or a book I once read about a girl in Kosovo), but I still found it moving.

The Brandenburg Gate, the most obvious symbol of Berlin. Built in 1791, its utility and significance have changed over time. Originally it was one of several gates leading into the city (now the only remaining one). It led into the Unter den Linden, which is still a prominent thoroughfare, to the palace of the Prussian monarchs. In those times only the royal family could pass through the central archway while normal Berliners used the two outermost archways. Eventually the gate was used as a party symbol by the Nazis and made part of the Berlin Wall by the Soviets. When Reagan made his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, he made it near this Gate. Evidently, the Gate, especially after German reunification, became a testament to the strength and survival of the nation despite onerous trials.

The Reichstag, the seat of the Bundestag, or the German parliament. Behind this building is a glass dome, which you can walk up in sloping circles to get a good view of the surrounding city. Located only a block from the Brandenburg Gate, this building only came into re-use after German reunification, though it had been used before 1933 for a similar purpose. Entrance and audio guides are free, which I'd definitely recommend. My camera couldn't capture the entire building, but it's quite expansive and impressive.

A poster on the street for the May Day celebration on May 1st. May Day is akin to Labor Day in the States, but it takes on a whole new significance. Wikipedia likens it to International Workers Day, where strong Communist and labour sentiments pour into parades, riots, celebrations, etc. I can't translate the German, but the Communist connection is obvious.

One of the NYU administrators made a good point about Communism. In the States, we completely shun it, using it as a pejorative and not thinking that it has any valid contributions to our political dialogue. Though many European countries don't have Communist governments, the party remains a viable force, a legitimate participant in the political process whose views are heard and reflected in many people's lives. By no means do I favor Communism (after all I go to a business school), but his point resonated with me - that its critiques of capitalism are certainly valid and worthy of attention if we intend to moderate our capitalist system, widen our social safety net, provide a greater welfare state, etc.

The size of the crowd at the May Day celebration. I was weary of the entire affair since I was expecting hard-core Communist political speeches, but it seemed more like several ongoing outdoor rock concerts more than anything else. There were multiple musicians in the nearby streets with the free flow of food (mainly sausages), alcohol, drugs, etc. We stayed in the nearby area for a couple hours (the NYU Berlin housing is nearby), and the celebration was going quite strong well into the evening.

One of the brightly colored subways in Berlin. There's the S-Bahn, which runs overground, and the U-Bahn, which runs underground, but they cover some of the same territory. We paid for tickets twice the entire weekend and rode free every other time. In Berlin and Basel, everyone was lax about the public transportation, and you could easily ride for free (although students from NYU Berlin said they have been checked on occassion). It seems like a minor difference, but I'm wondering if it represents different cultural values. In New York and London, it's hard not to get noticed if you don't pay, but elsewhere in Europe, it's so much easier. It's hard for me to understand why Berlin residents wouldn't call for strict enforcement, through turnstiles or such, so they don't have to subsidize transportation for tourists like me. Unless most people in Berlin don't pay either

The graffiti in Berlin. Some of the graffiti on the ride from the airport was incredible, better than I've ever seen before. Again, this art may be a testament to the nature of East Berlin. Even the East Side Gallery had a bunch of graffiti before it was recently restored.

During the weekend, we also visited a temporary Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Martin Gropius Bau, which had over 120 paintings and drawings. One of my friends is a art history minor so she taught me that Frida Kahlo was the wife of Diego Rivera and one of the only Mexican female artists to be internationally known. Living from 1907 to 1954, Kahlo devoted much of her work to self-portraits and expressions of love, marriage, betrayal, etc. that reflected her own life. The exhibit, which only lasts until August, was fantastic, and I'd highly recommend it.

With its immense amount of history, Berlin is definitely an interesting city. As the capital of arguably the most economically and politically significant country in the EU, I expected it to be a nicer city with great architecture, art, technology, etc. on the scale of Westminster Abbey in London or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. However, I didn't realize how close the memory of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union remains to the city. In that sense, I could draw parallels with Istanbul, where so much history had occurred, but the city still felt like it lagged behind its European counterparts. Obviously, that's a simplistic comparison, but I think it gets the point across about why Berlin is so interesting. It makes me want to visit more of Germany and Eastern Europe...I'll have to do it sometime after this semester, I only have two weeks left and Berlin was my last hurrah before finals.