Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The Twilight Zone of the Theater
Ok, just got back from seeing 300 (in it's original English version, thank god for the tourist haven of Potsdamer Platz) and I just wanted to highlight a couple of the weird culture-shock moments of a German Kino movie theater and I'll spare you a review of the movie which was pretty much how i expected (good art direction with a predictable plot, shit...there was a review).
Moment #1 - Assigned Seats
Yep, just as if you were going to see the Philharmonic or the Jacksonville Jaguars or flying the red eye US Air to Las Vegas, you get a row number and a seat number. Our were just ont he brink of uncomfortably close to the screen.
Moment #2 - Beer
Attention American rebels; theres no need to get the adrenaline rush of sneaking beer into your local cinema. You can buy it right at the concession stand, and frankly, it's cheaper than the jumbo soda.
Moment #3 - The Credits
Germans stay through the whole thing. In fact, the lights don't even come on until you've seen who the foley artists and assistants to the second mic grips were. Now, I know most of these Germans don't know enough English to understand half the colloquial language in the movie, what the hell are they reading in the credits?! I had a Chelsea match to watch!
Moment #1 - Assigned Seats
Yep, just as if you were going to see the Philharmonic or the Jacksonville Jaguars or flying the red eye US Air to Las Vegas, you get a row number and a seat number. Our were just ont he brink of uncomfortably close to the screen.
Moment #2 - Beer
Attention American rebels; theres no need to get the adrenaline rush of sneaking beer into your local cinema. You can buy it right at the concession stand, and frankly, it's cheaper than the jumbo soda.
Moment #3 - The Credits
Germans stay through the whole thing. In fact, the lights don't even come on until you've seen who the foley artists and assistants to the second mic grips were. Now, I know most of these Germans don't know enough English to understand half the colloquial language in the movie, what the hell are they reading in the credits?! I had a Chelsea match to watch!
Labels: 300, cinema, europe, Germany, movies, travel
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Residency Permit Followup
Thought I should follow up on the whole residency permit thing since I left everyone hanging in the podcasts.
Basically, What I learned (through the help of my wonderful translator) was that all I need for a "permission to freelance" residency permit is a valid copy of my diploma and proof that I have some money and insurance. What meager funds I had in my savings was more than enough to live in Berlin for a year, and I got some cheap travel insurance from HanseMerkur.
Only issue now is I need a copy of my diploma which has gone MIA sometime during my move. Hopefully Jacksonville University is not as scatter-brained as they used to be and can provide me a copy.
So, all in all, they didn't even care that I still had a job in the US. My reckoning is any country is more than willing to take your middle-class educated youth. Here's to that!
Basically, What I learned (through the help of my wonderful translator) was that all I need for a "permission to freelance" residency permit is a valid copy of my diploma and proof that I have some money and insurance. What meager funds I had in my savings was more than enough to live in Berlin for a year, and I got some cheap travel insurance from HanseMerkur.
Only issue now is I need a copy of my diploma which has gone MIA sometime during my move. Hopefully Jacksonville University is not as scatter-brained as they used to be and can provide me a copy.
So, all in all, they didn't even care that I still had a job in the US. My reckoning is any country is more than willing to take your middle-class educated youth. Here's to that!
Labels: europe, Germany, insurance, residency permit, visa
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The Todcast - Episode 3
Episode 3 is a couple days late but I'd hate to have you miss the special footage from this weekend's activities. Week two was filled with some sporadic spring Berlin weather, also.
To download episode Drei Three, ctrl+click here.
PS- By the way, I should mention these only play in iTunes.
To download episode Drei Three, ctrl+click here.
PS- By the way, I should mention these only play in iTunes.
Labels: Berlin, europe, Germany, itunes, travel
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
She packed my bags, pre-flight...
Well, your friendly Rocket Man is set for takeoff. I bought my tickets yesterday. 07 March, 2007. 02:00 PM. One-way. Here's the deets:
2:00 PM - Depart Jacksonville, FL
4:25 PM - Arrive New York, JFK
5:35 PM - Depart New York, JFK
Delta Airlines
8:10 AM - Arrive Berlin-Tegal, Germany
Delta Airlines
So, there it is! The amazing thing is I only paid $286! That's three weeks in advance! I was expecting to pay around $500-$600. I used a site called flights-to-europe.com. So if when you all come visit me, I'd recommend it for some cheap flights. I'd also recommend flying on a Wednesday.
Wed, Mar 07
2:00 PM - Depart Jacksonville, FL
4:25 PM - Arrive New York, JFK
5:35 PM - Depart New York, JFK
Delta Airlines
Wed, Mar 07 - Thur, Mar 08
8:10 AM - Arrive Berlin-Tegal, Germany
Delta Airlines
So, there it is! The amazing thing is I only paid $286! That's three weeks in advance! I was expecting to pay around $500-$600. I used a site called flights-to-europe.com. So if when you all come visit me, I'd recommend it for some cheap flights. I'd also recommend flying on a Wednesday.
Labels: airfare, delta, europe, flights, travel
