An overview

Here's a quick overview of my first few days in Berlin:

I had to fly on 3 different planes to get here. All were on time, and my luggage was the second one out on the belt. Miracle of miracles. And the Brussels airport is awesome for only one reason: chocolate everywhere. Other than that, it's a stupid layout. But there's chocolate.

I guess I should explain that the point of me being in Berlin is to help out with an English camp that is run by Don Jones (the pastor that married Steven and I). Him and his family live in Berlin as full-time missionaries, and he was on furlough when we got married. English camp is for teens ages 13-17 and has two purposes: to get them better their English and encourage their walk with the Lord. I am going to be a counselor, co-captain for a team, part-time babysitter, and help out with whatever needs done.

The mornings and most of the afternoon have been devoted to planning for camp, which includes games/activities, sports, English lessons, worship songs, meals, etc. In the afternoons, we have been able to go check out some of the cool things in Berlin, like a remaining section of the Berlin Wall, the Berlin Wall Museum, the rememberance church (a church that was bombed during the Cold War and has a real bomb in the basement that was dropped during WW2), and the market on the south side. The market has the Ampelmann Store, which is hands down my favorite store ever. Ampelmann were the East German of the crosswalk people that coordinate with the traffic lights. They are shaped like real little people, complete with suits and hats, and are quite loved by the city. I suppose it's just a historic and cultural thing that united the city after the wall fell.

We've also been eating some legit German food, which is always awesome. We've had real grilled bratwurst, Milka chocolate and Nutella (of course), chocolate croissants (they are European, but vary from country to country), spaetzle (Southern German dish with egg noodles, some sort of pork, and cheese), and a dessert that is essentially cherry pie filling.

There have also been some noteworthy moments thus far. For example, last night Don, Sarah, and I went to bed around 12 or 12:30. I awoke at about 1 to some ridiculous neighbors hanging out in the yard (they've been known to do things like grill at 11 o'clock at night. In fact, they are out there right out talking outside my window. It's 11.) and making tons of noise. Don and Sarah woke up as well, not because of the noise, but because their room was illuminated with green and red flashes like a strobe light. Sarah went over to the window to check it out, and as she got closer, she saw that these ridiculous neighbors had LIGHT SABERS and were playing with them in the yard. At 1 am. Did I mention they are 40 years old? With light sabers. Really?

The following is a conversation that some of the girls and I had with Dane (Don and Sarah's 6 year old son) earlier today:
Dane: "Have you guys ever seen the movie 'Pistachio'?"
Us: "Umm... no..."
Dane: "It's about a boy with a long nose!"
Us: "Do you mean "Pinocchio'!?"