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After returning to Berlin from the Willage we got back into the city groove quickly with the May 1st celebration. About 10 minutes after putting our bags down in the apartment we were back out the door. The streets were filled with people, drinks in hand, walking around the city. May 1st is Labor Day in Germany but in Berlin it is a politically charged event. Many years ago it was a day of riots and protests with police cracking down on every street corner. Demonstrations and marches for better labor conditions in the unions were common. It often turned violent and many banks and stores were broken in to. Today it is a very different scene; more like the Love Parade that used to take place in Berlin. Young people gather to watch break dancing, drink their beers in the street (which is legal here) and listen to live bands. Bratwurst stands probably see the best business all year on this day. Despite recent years' lack of action, the police line the streets in full riot gear with dogs, shields and pepper spray ready. Usually if anything happens it starts as soon as the sun disappears behind the horizon line. This year there was nothing to report. The streets are bustling late into the night but in the morning nothing is left but thousands of bottles and piles of trash you wouldn't believe. The city cleans up the mess but scrappy citizens who know the value of a few Euro cents usually gather the bottles throughout the day and night. Bottles range from 10 to 25 Euro cents. A couple of grocery carts full can go a long way.
Steve and I wandered around and took pictures. We met up with some of his friends and chatted until some live, hardcore punk rock took them away. We sat down for a beer and people-watched. It was a very cool experience but I'm glad nothing serious went down. A cab driver earlier that day had told me to bring a bottle of water and a towel for washing my eyes of the pepper spray and to wear good shoes for running away. I thought to myself that although the tips were good, it wasn't information that excited me for the events of the afternoon.
The following days were spent working (Steve) and learning (me). While Steve caught up on some translation and editing, I was attending my language class each morning trying to get the three different "the" articles straight. Die, Der, Das. Feminine, masculine, neutral, respectively. I rather enjoy having just one "the" to work with in English, but it has been fun to learn German grammar. Luckily it's my sort of thing. My class was very international. There are students from South Korea, China, Japan, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Canada, England, Ireland, Colombia, Spain and a tiny island country that I cannot remember. Unfortunately I only had three weeks to get to know everyone but it wasn't hard. Everyone was very social but all in Berlin for different reasons. One English girl was an amateur photographer and in Berlin for inspiration and to build her portfolio. I agreed to help her out and we had fun shooting on her apartment roof and once in a studio. A local designer she had met at a flea market styled the shoot with her 50s inspired pieces. It was very fun and it added some great shots to my portfolio as well. She has a solid eye for composition and will find no shortage of inspiration in Berlin.
One random day, Steve and I took a long bike ride and made two big discoveries, the Russian soldier memorial and a creepy carnival in the woods. The Russian memorial was desolate. Maybe two other people were there. It is an uncommon stop on traveler to-do lists, unfortunately. Part of the memorial reminded me of a scene in The Never Ending Story when the boy walks between the large Egyptian statues in the desert. The ones that shoot laser guns out of their eyes. Strange. But, it looked kind of like the large soldiers would do the same thing to me. I passed through unscathed.
The carnival we found was full of Turkish people and had big rides for such a small space. We rode the bumper cars and threw some darts but didn't go on the rides. A bit shady. Oh and some form of local American Idol was going on too. I was confused because there were hoola hoops involved.
Steve and I didn't do a lot of sight seeing for a few days because we were anticipating the arrival of my brother and his wife. We didn't want to double up on anything, especially because there are almost no free museums in Berlin. I worked on a list of things to see and once they arrived we got to it!
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