Berlin 17.1.08 Step foward, step back

Hey There. I'll begin this entry with a look into what's been going on since my last update. I’m still conflicted as to whether I should attach older entries I’ve written since I first arrived here in September. The problem with it is it would make my entries really long. I guess I’ll ask the editor about it.
I was sick last weekend with the fever and pretty bad body aches, yet still managed to get through a five page paper, in German and 1.5 spacing no less! Amazing right? Anyway, the fever kept me down pretty well, but I was still able to show up for a party that Saturday. This is a picture of my friends and me.



We do our best to keep things amusing in this big old apartment building we all live in. I gotta say though, that things have been pretty dreary since I got back from x-mas break. It gets dark really early now; around 3:30 today I think and it's hard to find stuff to do every day.
I got out and went jogging today, which was pretty scary, since half the time I was jogging on sheets of pure ice! My yooper skills really paid off in that situation. (Ask me if you don’t know what I mean by yooper… forget if it’s well known in Lower Michigan). I explained to my friend Wen-Ti from Taiwan how to walk on ice a little while ago. We went to one of the best museums in the city on Thursday, "Die Staatliche Museen zu Berlin". It had some of the most beautiful paintings I've ever seen from artist such as Schinkel (my fav), Adolph Menzel, Preyer and Anton Von Werner. I didn't take any photos in there, but here are some cited links to the paintings I saw in the museum. They were all amazing:

Adolf Menzel: The flute concert
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adolph_Menzel_Fl%C3%B6tenkonzert.jpg
Karl Friedrich Schinkel: Draft to the act of magic
http://www.reprodart.com/kunst/karl_friedrich_schinkel_691/entwurf_zum_akt_der_zauberf.jpg
Schinkel: Spirit of an Age
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2001/spirit/large/73.jpg
Emilie Preyer: German fruit and Wine
http://www.stjathenaeum.org/gallery_images/fruit_&_wine.htm

Schinkel was my favorite because of the amazing note he took to detail, especially in building design. He really captured what would later be the era of Art-Deco in 1920's building design. Great stuff. This last one was one of my favorites though. It was twice the size of me:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Der_Watzmann_(C_D_Friedrich).jpg

Anyway, that's all that's really happened since last week beyond getting lotsa homework done and whatnot. Hope all is going well for everyone else back in Michigan and everywhere else around the world! Peace,
Dave