Deutschland Dreamland.

Hello!! I've had really no Internet, and barely any time, thus lack of posting. I'm with my Aunt now - we met a few days ago in Berlin and then flew to Munich together yesterday. Berlin was interesting. It is a very international city with lots of American influence, it seems. There was a ton of interesting art, and we actually hung out one night in a pretty young area. We stayed in Charlottenberg, which seemed to be Fashion Central. Prada and Louis right next to our hotel. Swanky for sure. Saw a lot of Mauer sites - East Side Gallery, where a huge chunk of the wall is there and artists have come and done installments all over it. A lot are peace-related, and it's really actually quite moving. Saw the Nazi-era Olympic Stadium, which was quite fascist and creepy... Carried a lot of my German film knowledge into that situation, remembering Leni Riefenstahl's creepy Nazi films, one of which was shot at the Olympic Stadium. Weird to be standing somewhere that Hitler stood, for sure. And then last night we got to Munich and I entered into my own personal heaven. (Dad, you are going to be extremely jealous.) Diddles (my Aunt) and I were getting on the U-Bahn to find a cafe or bar to eat dinner an watch the soccer game. Germany and Denmark were playing in the final game of the First Round of UEFA Euro Cup. This is a pretty big deal for Europeans. Fairly close to the World Cup, but Euro only. This game determined whether or not Germany makes it to the next round - the quarterfinals. We get on the U-Bahn (subway) and see tons of guys in their Deutschland jerseys, and decide to just follow where they're going. We end up at the Munich Olympic Stadium with a thousand psyched drunk German fans. FOR SIX EURO. We get into the freaking Olympic Stadium to watch this game FOR SIX EURO. Unbelievable. So if you know me well, you know why this is my personal heaven. Watching a soccer game with a thousand Europeans, for six euro. Amazing. And Germany won. The U-Bahn back to the hotel was packed full of fans, and they jumped up and down and banged on the sides of the cars singing soccer cheers about "Super Deutschland". We thought the train was going to come off of the tracks. Simply amazing. Still a tiny bit homesick, but not sick exactly for home. A guy I met in Oslo asked me what it is I miss about home, and I couldn't totally think of anything. Of course I miss my parents and family because I love them, I miss my friends and my church, but I wouldn't go home just for all of that. I told him, "It's the lack of control. I don't know where anything is. I'm lost, confused, and separated from people. I don't know which way to go, I can't just talk to anyone. I don't entirely belong here, and I'm not entirely comfortable here. I miss the feeling of having control and comfort." He said, "I think you just defined homesickness." I think he was right. I also think there is no feeling more healthy, more character-building, or more humbling than this feeling. I have no control. And that's okay.