slow down baby

last weekend was very cultural, yet tiring, for me. zaz!

on saturday, i went to the reichstag, which is the german parliment building. it was very fancy, but the main attraction, which is the dome at the top was actually closed. here are some photos of berlin i took.

see the big tv tower in the background? that's where i live. well, not IN the tv tower - but i live about 7 min behind it.

som fancy german writing.

i walked to and from the reichstag which was probably about 2 hours roundtrip. i met my italian friends there. it was nice to get out and go. we then went to get something to eat and i was so exhausted, i had to put my head on the table. i think saturday night i didn't do much. jen called to see if i wanted to go out, but i was too tired.

on sunday, i met my russian friend from this new class at a gallery to look at some guy's art collection - it was like a museum collection except this guy had died and so they made a foundation so others could enjoy his work. i have to admit that surrealism is a bit bizarre. some of it is cool, but some is just weird. my friend is an art critic from moscow, so she has seen like 20 museums since she has been here (in only 2 weeks). i was blown away by this guy's collection, but she told me that although the artists he owned were impressive, he didn't own the best pieces from those artists. of course, that's exactly what i was going to say.

here are a few thoughts that struck me and i wrote down:
one artist didn't "believe in the world's permanence." hmmm...
had to do with sigmund freud's analysis of dreams
the secret is free from prudishness
the comedy of death
create from the unconscious
art of the mentally ill
the US portrayed as a labrador (??)

some of the art were drawings, some were sculptures, there were paintings, and then some made me think, "i could do that." one guy used fumage - candlestick smoke painting. if you click on the wikipedia link, you will see a picture that i saw in the collection. doesn't it seem like anyone could do that? maybe the point is that not everyone does it...

i think i am not eating enough meat because after the exhibition, we had some food and then went on a walk and i was exhausted, again. i ran home to change because i realized that i was going to the opera on sunday night and figured i shouldn't wear jeans. i took a nap and did not want to get up. then went down the street to get some pad thai, which wasn't bad, but i miss american thai food, changed, and then went to the opera. i walked in right when they were closing the doors.

why were half the goethe students wearing jeans?? i was so annoyed! i could have gotten so much more done if i hadn't had to go home. oh well.

the opera was ... i dont think there is a word for it. i will have to write about that later.

after the opera, i booked it to the movie theater. quel week-end! what a weekend!