They Don't Speak French in Hungary...

Thanks for showing this to me Adrien!

(East) Berlin & Lessons on WWII/the Cold War

This past weekend I went to Budapest's "House of Terror" which is basically a former secret police building transformed into a museum about all the crimes/atrocities committed during the fascist/Stalinist regime. I think the museums was really well-done in that people were really able to feel and experience the exhibitions. They reconstructed offices, what the voting booths were like, the prisons and torture chambers. I remember standing in the prison and starting to freak out - my heart was pumping really fast and I could feel myself start freaking out.

Hungarians seem to have this rep of being pessimistic, and a lot of people argue it's because of their past - being occupied by one nation after another. This one international student was saying how it looks like they always have a sour look on their faces. But man, if freaking first Nazi Germany took over my country, and then when they finally left, communist Russia took over, I'd probably have a sour look on my face too.


Okay, so for Berlin.. It was incredibly cold and gloomy... How appropriate for a history lesson on WWII! I think I learned more about WWII's history on the walking tour in Berlin than I ever did in school.

The "Palace of Tears" where families would be broken up because those in West Berlin can visit those in East Berlin only once every couple years. I think they're renovating it so that it's a night club.

Berlin's Parliament.

Holocaust Memorial. They're like 2,700 blocks of concrete that vary in height and get bigger as you go further inside. There wasn't really a description, but the artist just said that it's supposed to be what you make of it. I think there was a lot of controversy about this memorial and the vibe I get about the public view is that it's more negative than positive.

Notice the "Lego homes" in the background because the blocks that make up the home were originally manufactured like Lego pieces. I think it's somewhere around there that Hitler died.

Inside the memorial, the ground is wavy.

The Berlin Wall.

Open your eyes!

Checkpoint Charlie - crossing point between East and West Germany. You can't see in the picture, but there was a stand and there were guys dressed up in army clothes where tourists can go take pictures with them. Although I learned a lot, I feel like my trip in Berlin was kind of disappointing.. in that, moments like these I really felt like Berlin is just profiting off its bleak history through tourist attractions like these and others. It all just seemed like a mockery out of something so serious.

Mmm.. complimentary chocolates on the train back to Munich.

Korean Friends, Help!

Can someone tell me where I can buy/download music from Casker? Particularly the song, "Mocha"?

Photo Extravaganza

I'm tired of being behind in my pictures. Today is the perfect day to update since I'm sick in my apartment, and I can't go out because there are 30 mph winds.

On a side note... Check this out (after you view my pictures!): http://members.asianbeautyblog.com/entry/Incandescent/64123/How_be_Ulzzg__makeup_magic

I learned what "circle lenses" are, which are contacts that make your pupils look bigger and so you have that "cute" look. I'm assuming it's all the rage in Asia... Weird!

Okay, here we go.


Munich

If you've been to the Grove in LA, you've probably seen the clock where they have little figurines going in circles or doing some sort of repetitive action. This is similar, but 100 times cooler. When it strikes 12pm, this thing goes in circles and tells a story of war, disease, love, etc. It's really cool because there's this part where 2 guys are jousting and one hits the other off his horse.

It's the city map!

This church is freaking tall. I couldn't get it in one shot.

The stamp of the devil. Basically the story goes that the guy who built the church had like 4 years or something to build it. Since that's crazy short, he made a deal with satan to help him. The catch, though, was that there would be no windows so that God wouldn't enter the church and people wouldn't go. The guy though, built it so that there would be columns inside the church blocking the view of the windows. So people went to church, and satan was like "what the freak," and so he stood close to the entrance and when he realized he was tricked, he stamped his foot and stormed out.

See the columns.

A maypole. I think each town is supposed to have one, and at a certain season if you steal it, the town is supposed to invite you to their festival and allow you all the drinks you want. There's a story that a maypole got stolen from a town and so the people called the police. The police started snickering because they were the ones who stole it.

They had the freshest market ever! Full of exotic fruits too.

My mom had a pickle.

I thought it was funny that it was T-Punkt.

This place is supposed to be famous, but I never heard of it before.

My mom and I had some of their famous beer, sausage, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut. The beer was incredibly smooth and delicious. Cheers!

Beer stein lockers! Traditionally, people kept their beer steins with them every where they go, and so this is a locker for them while they eat.

I learned that Bavarians love their beer.

I'll post Berlin later!