USA: the rest
It's been a while, so I guess you'll get the summarized version:
Ithaca -
I saw a couple of plays at a couple of local theaters, both very good. Being at the Hangar Theatre was like what I said about going to the grocery store and running into everyone I've ever known, except multiplied by approximately 100.
Wedding -
My second cousin got married in the Catskills, and I got to see a bunch of family on my mom's side, some of whom I hadn't seen in at least a decade. It was wonderful. My family is so good at scattering and so bad at reunions.
World Cup -
Germany went out with a whimper, in the semi-final against Spain. Paul the Psychic Octopus, though, fared better, predicting everything right down to the last. Which was weird because, I mean, I still don't believe that the octopus is actually psychic, but... weird. It was also funny to watch Paul become major news on American TV!
Transatlantic -
I had a direct flight (a fabulous invention) from Newark to Berlin, which was the good part. The bad part was that all of a sudden (starting last year, as far as I can remember) I can no longer sleep on planes. Flights back to Europe are always overnight, ergo I spent a sleepless night and arrived in Berlin at 8 a.m. as a zombie. If this is one of those things that happens as a result of growing up, turn back the clock!
Heatwave version 2.0 -
The day I got back to Berlin it was NINETY-NINE DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. It has NEVER been this hot in Berlin. I mean, literally never - we apparently just had the hottest day in the city's recorded history. Everybody's melting, stores are all sold out of fans (not kidding) and people who came here from New York City are saying it's too hot. While people who just moved here are worrying, "Is it always like this?" To which we sage Berlin old hands can confidently reply, no, it really really is not.
Ithaca -
I saw a couple of plays at a couple of local theaters, both very good. Being at the Hangar Theatre was like what I said about going to the grocery store and running into everyone I've ever known, except multiplied by approximately 100.
Wedding -
My second cousin got married in the Catskills, and I got to see a bunch of family on my mom's side, some of whom I hadn't seen in at least a decade. It was wonderful. My family is so good at scattering and so bad at reunions.
World Cup -
Germany went out with a whimper, in the semi-final against Spain. Paul the Psychic Octopus, though, fared better, predicting everything right down to the last. Which was weird because, I mean, I still don't believe that the octopus is actually psychic, but... weird. It was also funny to watch Paul become major news on American TV!
Transatlantic -
I had a direct flight (a fabulous invention) from Newark to Berlin, which was the good part. The bad part was that all of a sudden (starting last year, as far as I can remember) I can no longer sleep on planes. Flights back to Europe are always overnight, ergo I spent a sleepless night and arrived in Berlin at 8 a.m. as a zombie. If this is one of those things that happens as a result of growing up, turn back the clock!
Heatwave version 2.0 -
The day I got back to Berlin it was NINETY-NINE DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. It has NEVER been this hot in Berlin. I mean, literally never - we apparently just had the hottest day in the city's recorded history. Everybody's melting, stores are all sold out of fans (not kidding) and people who came here from New York City are saying it's too hot. While people who just moved here are worrying, "Is it always like this?" To which we sage Berlin old hands can confidently reply, no, it really really is not.