Embracing Tourism and the Hunt for Hugh Jackman

Before I left the US, I spent a lot of time researching "European fashion" and classing up my wardrobe in order to "fit in" with the European style. Since arriving in Berlin, I relish the times I am approached by a tourist asking for directions, or in German by a native. I am always disappointed whenever I recieve a call from a friend when I am on the train, because as soon as I open my mouth the spell I is broken. Everyone around me who had been duped into believing I was a native no longer works under that illusion. I am the American trying to blend in.

Well, you have to use the map sometimes . . . Photo courtesy of Emily Lloyd.

I have learned a lot about the city since arriving, and know the ins and outs of the transportation system, as well as when and when not to say "Entschuldigung" (excuse me) or "Tschüs" (see ya). I didn't realize how far I had come in learning Berlin culture until my friends Emily Lloyd (a Grove City student studying in Florence, Italy for the semester) and Elizabeth Early (a Grove City student studying in Aix-en-Provence, France for the semester) came to visit.

Neither speak any German, and neither Florence or Aix use public transportation the way Berlin, as a city of close to four million people, does. They were impressed by my knowledge of the buses and trains, especially Elizabeth who somehow managed to be dragged through first Hauptbahnhof then Friedrichstraße Bahnhof and then Potsdamerplatz Bahnhof, three of the largest train stations in Berlin, right on arrival.

Here is a picture of Hauptbahnhof - it is INSANELY huge

In just one month I had turned from the wide eyed tourist to the "knowledgeable" tour guide. I gave them the same tour of historic Berlin that our program leader had given us in the beginning of January. This time, however, we had a bit of sunlight, which is exceedingly rare in Berlin. I have seen less sunlight here than I would at this time in Grove City or Dexter, and I NEVER thought that was possible.

The sun made this incredible picture of the Berliner Dom and the Fernseherturm possible.

One of my absolute favorite places in Berlin is Pariserplatz, the plaza directly in front of the Brandenburger gate. We chose a Saturday afternoon to visit, and so 100 things were happening at once on the square. I attempted to capture it in one picture, but that does not do it justice. Click on the picture to make it larger if necessary.

1. Berlin Bear who tourists can take pictures with.
2. German musicians playing hipster music.
3. German actors dressed as an American and Soviet soldier.
You can take pictures with them for 3 euro.
4. Mario and Luigi from the video game Mario Bros.
taking pictures with tourists.
5. Iranian protesters protesting the US Embassy.
6. Tourists taking pictures.
7. The Brandenburg Gate.

Below is the picture where Elizabeth and I decided to embrace the fact that we were tourists and pay the "American" and "Soviet" soldiers to take pictures with us. My mom would not approve of me taking up with a Soviet like this.

Photo courtesy of Emily Lloyd

I made sure to take Emily and Elizabeth to get Döner kebaps, a Turkish food, but deeply ingrained in Berlin's food culture. We found a nice, inexpensive place on Wilhelmstraße, directly across the street from where Hitler's chancellery used to stand. The everyday-ness of such an experience as eating döner on top of so much history re-emphasizes to me just how much has happened in Berlin. 

Elizabeth and I paying homage to the remains of the Berlin Wall. Photo courtesy of Emily Lloyd. 

Of course, I also made sure they bought plenty of Ritter-Sport, the best chocolate Germany has to offer in my opinion.

  I had an absolutely wonderful weekend with Emily and Elizabeth, catching up with their experiences in their countries, and being able to share my own city with them.

 The Sunday they left, I found out that the Berlin premier of Les Miserables had happened the night before. And Hugh Jackman had been there. If you're anyone who knows me, you know that next to Richard Armitage, Hugh Jackman is one of my favorite actors. On Facebook that night, friends in my program were posting statuses about seeing Joseph Gordon Levitt, Rupert Grint, and Shia LaBeouf. Reports were circulating that Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Irons, and Robert DeNiro were also in town.

Why so many? Because the Berlinale, one of the largest international film festivals in the world, had started on Thursday night. Potsdamerplatz was streaming with well-dressed people, and, best of all, red carpet events were set to happen all over Berlin. A German friend of mine even told me that she had seen Colin Firth walk out of a coffee shop two years ago during the Berlinale!

Of course, I found out about all this fame going on in my city one day too late. By the time I realized he was here, Hugh Jackman was gone. But that did not stop Alicia and I from combing the streets around Potsdamerplatz on Sunday afternoon for three hours, hunting for Hugh Jackman.

Me, disappointed that I could not find Hugh Jackman. Photo courtesy of Alicia Young.

Finally, finally, after hours of a backbreaking, intensive search (aka cafe hopping and wandering aimlessly), Alicia and I found the place where Hugh Jackman had been only 18 hours earlier.

The red carpet area where the Les Mis premier happened.

We hung around a while longer, basking in the place where fame had once stood before leaving in defeat.

Monday night, however, I finally got my run in with fame. And it was much more literal than I had expected.

For my film class, we had to attend two world premier film screenings together. Monday night we watched a Russian film called "Za Marska", and a French film entitled "Je ne suis pa mort" (I am not dead yet). It was definitely the largest and most comfortable theater I have ever set foot in in my life.

I was leaving the theater after the French film when I slammed directly into a man who said "pardon" in perfect French, touched my shoulder as he passed, and proceeded to go up to the stage where he was introduced as the main actor in the film we had just watched.

I stood there, staring, and said to my friends "was that? No. It couldn't have been. I think . . . I think I just ran directly into the main actor of the film." So, while I did not have the run in with Hugh Jackman that I had hoped, I still had a literal run in with a famous actor . . . well, famous in France at least.

Oh yeah, his name is Mehdi Dehbi and he looks like this:

So I'm happy.