what google translate is for.

The "awful" german language is actually quite entertaining. Go to google translate, paste

pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch

Select from German to German, and hit "Listen." Voila, instant beatbox. Here is the original, thanks to Stafan:

http://gizmodo.com/5701485/how-to-make-google-translate-your-own-personal-beat-boxer

Our german classes are ending for the Weihnachts break. This is Christmas. We learned a lot of stuff, like past tense! This is important for when your friend says, what did you do this weekend? Then you don't have to say, I am going to the movies. I went!

Actually, I did go to the movies lately, to see Harry Potter. Surprisingly, dim memories of the book were enough to let me understand the movie even though it was dubbed into German. I learned how to say magic, "zauber." It was very educational.

We also went to KaDeWe the other day. That stands for Kaufhaus des Westens, or Department Store of the West. As far as I can tell it was basically built to rub it in the face of the east germans that the west was way better. It's practically (though I think not actually) within sight of the wall.

And it snowed! I know you guys in Oregon got a bunch of snow too, but I bet you didn't get -10 deg. C. I think we will have that tomorrow. Woo!

Jazzmusik

Last night we went out to a jazz club with our friend Noah. He plays guitar, and he came to Berlin from Israel hoping to make it pay. On Tuesdays this club has a jam session, and it was packed. There wasn't even room to lift your beer bottle up to your mouth to drink! The music was really great though. A lot of musicians there know each other already, but quite a few of them are new each week and everyone takes turns and lets the others on stage. There were a lot of people from America there too, mostly from New Orleans and Georgia. And on their year abroad from college. Those are the ones to watch out for.

Anyway, here's Noah playing guitar, shot from my iphone in a tiny dark room.

Can you see all the cigarette smoke too? There is no law in Berlin about which buildings you can smoke inside of, so it's up to business owners. We secondhand smoked until the wee hours...I think we got home around 3. Noah didn't make it to his German class this morning--I guess he stayed out a lot longer than we did. I guess a lot of the guys at the club don't have day jobs. My day job was a little tough today, but it was worth it.

Here's to next Tuesday!

What is that spinning thing?

It makes a strange noise.