So,
today's my twentieth birthday and I'm in Berlin, Germany! Today is also
Reidling's birthday, except he's old, so it doesn't matter. Celebration
explanation soon to come.
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| Disclaimer: These pictures were not taken on my birthday. In fact, they were taken on Easter in Zürich, Switzerland. |
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| Me being fabulous as my twenty year old self. |
The main reason we're in Berlin is because we've spent the semester preparing for a presentation at Otto Bock, a world-renowned prosthetic company based in Duderstadt. We were asked to design a trans-tibial socket more innovative than current designs. Blah, blah, blah... Nonetheless, we were pumped to be on an excursion.
So, during our stay in Berlin, we took a
tour of the famous sites: Reichstag, Museum Island, Postdamer Platz,
concentration camps, the Jewish Memorial, Brandenburg Gate and more. We even
went to the Berlin Wall Memorial, where the Panhandlers dressed as
WWII Soldiers are rumored to be male strippers that just pose for
photos during the day. Shann-ohn and I decided we'd go investigate,
ourselves... They, actually it was just one, were really friendly. The
"German" (better looking) soldier, went to the local MickeyD's to grab a
bite, so we talked to the other dude. I gave him some of my Prinzen
Rolle chocolate filled grahams, hoping he'd hint that this was just his day job. He did not, but rather he begged for us to stay when Scion, our bicycle city tour guide, told us it was time to go. He insisted on getting a picture with us, probably for the munite$, or because we were so ridiculously good looking he wanted to document our encounter to show off to his stripper friends. Obviously, the latter.
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| Sehr lecker deutsche Schokolade gefüllt Cracker. The "soldiers" guarding Checkpoint Charlie. |
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I was going through the pictures on my phone and apparently there's an AUTOMATIC feature called celebrity photobomb. At least my phone thinks I'm famous. So, here's me photobombing a picture of my 2 favoritest Davids, in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
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| #MakeJohannaFamous |
We were warned about the high number of pickpockets, but not all of us were assertive enough to scare them off. For example, inside the Jewish Memorial.
A-a-ron got muntie$ stolen right from his over-sized shoulder fanny pack by talking-deaf gypsies raising awareness for, I assume, other talking-deaf gypsies. I tried to "fight" them off by throwing their folders on the ground, which I later realized was a mistake. I could've been shanked. I mean, I was in the middle of 2,711 concrete structures. You can't see it in the pictures above, but the ground dips down the further you travel into the memorial. At one point the 8 ft wide concrete walls are hovering at 15 ft, which is meant to create a sense of "lonliness, powerlessness, and despair". It's pretty overwhelming when you're in the center. It's especially unsettling to play Marco Polo amongst the concrete masses; not only because it's disrespectful, but also because it's hard to hear others in the distance.
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| Nic-kerr and BronDarius in front of the Reichstag, the German Parliament. |
Earlier on this study abroad trip, Zatchery introduced me to the
fabulous world of drag queens. I was enamored by their talent and humor.
Many of you may disagree, but you're wrong. So, if you would kindly "sashay away". Anywho, I did a little searching of the inter-webs and found out that a drag show had been conveniently scheduled on my birthday, during our stay in Berlin.
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| From Left to Right: Divab, Me (the birthday queen), Mariana B., Needles (in the back), Shann-ohn (in the front), Riedling (the birthday king), and Zatchery (wayyy in the back right). |
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Post birthday festivities with the birthday boy. I stole borrowed those flowers off the stage, along with a table knife. |
Kristin, our program coordinator, even showed up to my birthday after Otto Bock preparation shenanigans. It was buh'-nanas.
