American Diner

Sunday I hunted down an internet café so I could talk with Joe online and look up details for next weekend with Kate. On Friday at dinner I asked my waitress if she knew of an internet café in the city and she point me towards one that was close by my apartment. I found it later that night and the sign said that it closes at 8pm on Sundays. It wasn’t a café, but rather just a store where you could make phone calls, fax, and surf the internet. Today around 6pm I headed off with the intent of talking online, sending a few emails, and researching travel costs for next weekend. Unfortunately I got to the place and it was closed. Apparently I didn’t see the part of the sign that said that it was opening up again on June 1st. Oh well. I had seen a similar place by my apartment the first day that I got here. I wanted to find another place because the one that I initially saw looked pretty sketchy. With my first choice gone, I headed off for the one right next to my apartment to check it out. All of the sign on the outside say that it has pool tables, darts, video games, chatting, etc. Apparently it is just a house that they have turned into this technology hub. It was pretty cool when I went in. The woman just told me to find computer 5 upstairs and I was good to go. The price was 1€ per hour. A lot cheaper than what I was expecting. And, turns out that their system went down half way through my stay there so I only paid 1€ instead of the 3€ that I really owed. Cool!

I left the internet place around 8pm. I hadn’t expected to stay there that long but I had nothing else to do besides eat dinner so it really didn’t matter. I have discovered that most everything in the city closes by 8pm so I really didn’t expect to find a place to eat at that night. But, with the thought of eating a 2nd turkey sandwich for the day, I headed off to the Aldstadt to check and see if anything was open. Luckily the American food restaurant was still open – their sign said that they close at midnight. Although this meal wasn’t very cultural or eye opening, I did need food so I figured I would grab a burger. I ordered a patty melt and a large glass of Lübzer Pils. Probably the best beer I had yet. Very tasty. I wish I could say the same thing for the patty melt. The place was almost exactly like Steak ‘N Shake. The interior was very similar except that this one had a large bar in it. I guess I expected a delicious patty melt much likes the ones I get at home. I read on the menu that they put onions on it – I didn’t mind at all because I love onions – but much to my surprise they put onions that were cooked in some type of brown gravy and then put the brown gravy all over the burger inside the two pieces of toast. Bleh. Not the best thing in the world. I felt like I was eating meatloaf in a sandwich. Gross. The fries were okay and the beer was good so I guess I can’t complain.

I found the whole concept of the restaurant pretty amusing. It said in large letters “American Restaurant” on the outside so I assumed that this is what the German people thought of America. I got to eat with an American flag napkin that also had Lady Liberty on the front. Up on the walls they had all the typical Steak ‘N Shake style décor. The thing I liked most was the large Smirnoff advertisement that had an airbrushed picture of Janise Dickinson on it dressed as a scandalous Lady Liberty. Yes, the one and only, Janise Dickinson: the first ever super model and of course one of America’s Next Top Model’s judges. I found it really funny that she was pinned up on their walls next to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. Good times. The music in the place was funny too. At one time they played the “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, a lion sleeps tonight…” song from The Lion King. Now, I’m not sure if another group sang that before Disney added it to their movie, but if so I have never heard it before. Ultimately, I learned that America equals Janice Dickinson, Disney, and Lady Liberty. Pretty good stuff.

One cool thing about German restaurants is that most of the time, when you order the server has a handheld wireless PDA that they type your order into. It goes directly back to the kitchens and let’s them know what they need to make. Pretty cool. It has been at most places I’ve eaten at. Also, each server carries around a large coin purse on their belt that they keep bills and coins in. They bring you your check and wait at the table for you to pay and then give you change from their coin purse. This startled me the first time it happened but now it’s fine. Also, they always include the tip in the bill. Something I should have probably known before I got here. Now it makes sense why the servers were so thankful when I gave them an extra Euro or two before I left, hah.

I am very excited about next weekend! Originally Kate and I planned to meet in Amsterdam while she was living in London for the summer. Amsterdam is almost directly between Berlin and London so we figured it was the cheapest way for both of us. Unfortunately Kate couldn’t book a flight to Amsterdam – they were all full. So, change of plans, we are going to Paris this weekend! Before this summer I had no intentions of visiting France – it just never appealed to me. Since we’ve decided to go there I’ve got excited. I got even more excited once I read Meredith’s reply to an email I sent her asking her for cool stuff to do while in Paris. Since she lived there for 9 months I figured she could hook me up. Turns out I was right – I’m excited to check out some of the things she mentioned. Somehow the city sounds a lot cooler now.

I just got internet in my apartment! Yay! I’m pretty sure some student just created a network and put up a bunch of wireless routers. Whatever, I emailed him and he let me join for a small fee of 20€. No biggie. Turns out I can only get decent signal if I put the computer on the edge of the kitchen table. Even then the signal fades in and out the whole time. Great. Whatever, I can’t complain because at least now I can Skype! Yay! Definitely worth it.

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