Activity Highlights in September 2023
Here we all are back in Berlin again, and there's a lot going on in the Club! From a flea market visit to a palace visit, from language-learning groups to walking groups to an Oktoberfest celebration (yes, Oktoberfest starts in September), there's something for everyone. Get Out and Explore Mauerpark art Sunday, 3 September Sunday afternoon at the Mauerpark: a flea market with food and drink stands, a karaoke stage, and colourful street art! Tuesday, 12 September A tour of the Visitors' Center of the German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst), the German equivalent of the CIA or the
Activity Highlights in August 2023
It's lazy late summer ... a few of our activities are paused until autumn, but there are still many opportunities to enjoy good company and the pleasures of Berlin. Get Out and Explore Friday, 18 August A day trip to Werder—famous for its fruit orchards, smoked fish, and other attractions—by boat from Potsdam. Tuesday, 22 August A three-hour boat tour from Wannsee pier, proceeding past Schwanenwerder Island and Kladow to Peacock Island. The boat then passes Glienicke Palace and Cecilienhof Palace, providing marvelous views of the so-called "Prussian Arcadia". Eat, Drink, and Enjoy Thursday, 10 August Fancy
Summer Party 2023
What better way to spend a summer afternoon than to sit outdoors and to relax with friends old and new? Especially at the BIWC summer party! We celebrate every summer, and every summer is a little different. In the past we have had a barbecue on the bank of the Spree, a garden party in a charming village with timbered houses, and buffets at members’ homes along the water, with a chance for a swim in the nearby lake. This year we enjoyed that grand German tradition, a Sunday lunch in a classic beer garden—in this case, at an inn
Activity Highlights in July 2023
The summer outdoors in Berlin can be wonderful. Here are our plans for enjoying it! Get Out and Explore Tuesday, 18 July A tour of Volkspark Schoeneberg-Wilmersdorf, which was an elegant promenade in imperial times, and is now a modern all-generations park that has kept a certain flair. We will see a fountain with a golden stag on a 8.5m high column, a beer garden under chestnut trees, stone and bronze sculptures, gently sloping lawns for sunbathing, a running track, a ‘hippie hill’, playgrounds, etc. Friday, 21 July A guided tour of the Palais Charlottenhof in Potsdam. This Palace
Activity Highlights in June 2023
Summer is here, and we have plenty of activities to get us out enjoying the summer city and the countryside! Get Out and Explore Friday, 9 June We will enjoy the beauty of the Botanical Garden, now in full bloom. This is also our last chance to visit the Art Nouveau Mediterranean Greenhouse, which was built many years ago and will be closed soon for restoration during the next two years. Friday, June 16 Get a good inside view of the pink parliament house (the Landtag) of Brandenburg, with a guided tour of this spectacular work of rebuilding in
Activity Highlights in May 2023
So many ways to enjoy the spring! Join us for activities from book discussions to posture improvement exercises to explorations at the outer edges of Berlin. Get Out and Explore Tuesday, 9 May See Chile and a bit of Peru in the photos and videos of a member who was recently there—a great diversity of settings, from street art in Valparaiso to nitrate mines in the Atacama desert (the driest nonpolar desert in the world!). Friday, 12 May We will visit Alexandrovna in Potsdam, a Russian-style village named after Czar Alexander I and built to house the singing soldiers who
Activity Highlights in April 2023
Spring is coming! A variety of activities are on offer, from a hike through the cherry blossoms, to museum visits, to an English afternoon tea--and much more! Get Out and Explore Friday, 14 April See the special exhibit, Sonne, Quelle des Lichts in der Kunst/ The Sun: Source of Light in Art. Taking Monet's painting, "Impression, Sunrise" as its point of departure, the exhibit brings together a variety of sunlight-inspired artworks from antiquity to the present. Sunday, 16 April Join an English-language, behind-the-scenes tour of the Berliner Ensemble, the famous theater founded by Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel. We'll have
Annual General Meeting 2023
Another year has come and gone, and it was time for a little celebration! A volunteer organization needs a lot of support from its members, and we enjoy taking this occasion once a year to thank not only incoming and outgoing Executive Committee members, but also those members who do not hold office but who eep the wheels turning in the club. They organize events, they work with social media, they welcome new members and help out when fellow club members have questions or difficulties with Berlin life. So here we are: Last year's activities have been summarized, the financial statements have
Excellence in Service Awards 2023
Congratulations to the recipients of this year's Excellence in Service Awards, Angela, Brigitte, Jackie, Karen, Christine, Barbara, and Monika—and thanks for all the work they have done to keep the Club running smoothly and to provide events that we value! Angela Andersen Angela puts in an enormous amount of preparation for each presentation for the Science group. She has used Zoom to keep the group going during the pandemic and later to provide flexible access to members who may have difficulties coming to a physical meeting. She is well informed and always ready to help anyone with anything if
Meet Sarah
Having lived and taught in India, China, Africa, and Europe, as well as her native USA, Sarah Chevaillier knows from experience what can be gained and what may cause problems when different cultures meet. “It’s about grasping concepts of diversity; dealing with the unfamiliar and not dismissing other people just because they handle things differently.” Growing up near Los Angeles, Sarah was always restless to experience other ways of life. Her high school gap year in Zurich was an early eye-opener. After returning to the USA and gaining a university degree in French, German and English Comparative Literature , she