Can we go to Kreuzberg now?

Hallo!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty good, despite a horrible cold/chest infection rearing it's ugly phlegmy head on Saturday night. Work has been varied, they said my changes to a translation really improved it (woop) and I can feel my German improving slightly. I write emails in German and ask Marit to check them and twice now she's said all my endings were correct. IS THIS REAL LIFE?

I also finally posted my letters/cards today, my sincere apologies to those of you who have now had your birthdays and babies.

So the weekend before last, Joe came up for the weekend and we started out in a strange bar down my street. It was all very odd (but mainly just boiling) so we jacked it in and had a Burger King.

Joe was raring to go to Kreuzberg so that was, obviously, the first thing we did on Saturday, followed by what was possibly the most incredible Currywurst I have ever had the pleasure of digesting just off Ku'damm.

oh ja

We did get to see a Berlinale film- it was called Macondo and was about Chechynan refugees living in Austria. It was really good...until I fell asleep and missed the last 15 minutes. Are you surprised though? Saturday night consisted of bar hopping in Kreuzberg (you literally can't tear the boy away), starting at Madame Claude's where nearly everything was upside down and glued to the ceiling. That was followed by a slightly more normal cocktail bar, where I happily discovered Wassermelon Man. You can't taste the alcohol-it just tastes like Haribo. The third and final bar (too much rum had been consumed) was a bar called Misfits, which suited me down to the ground, but soon after that we headed back and all I remember is stubbing my cigarette out on my thumb so we could get in the taxi.

Sunday morning was me whinging for quite a while, before we went to the East Side Gallery and I properly tried falafel for the first time. Sweet Lord, it was delightful. 

You've learnt what freedom means, never forget it

I particularly enjoy Joe's foreboding shadow in this

Most of the day was wandering around really, though we did experience Europe's fastest lift. It was like 20 seconds to get to the 24th floor or something - mental, and my ears killed. The view was worth it though!

Chirpy

That weekend was pretty good when it comes to new foods and new bars. On Sunday night, we went for Vietnamese with one of Joe's friends who is also in Berlin and it was insanely good! We went to a lesbian bar on Weserstrasse, which was very strangely decorated - think Grandma's house crossed with a huge picture of a woman with too much pubic hair and a sign that said 'I love my vagina'. That was followed by another bar, where everyone was gathered around the the tv watching Tatort (a popular crime show here). There, Chelsea got us to try the house shot and I swear I thought my chest was going to burst into flames and Saint George would smite me down with his sword as I exhaled gusts of fire through my flaring nostrils. All exaggerations aside, it was bloody rank. An experience, but rank. So then it was bye bye Joe and back to work on Monday.

Last weekend, I met up with my French tandem partner, a nice fellow called Lionel. We had a crepe in Kreuzberg (well, Kotti, for those of you who understand the hip Berlin lingo) and a little walking tour of the canal. It was really nice to meet someone so random and I found it very enjoyable to listen to him struggling to say 'clothes' and 'studying', which was more like 'stood-ay-ing'. To be fair, I embarrassed everyone with my shitty French so I gotta give him credit.

After that, I went to find the Rollberg Kino in Neukoelln. I wasn't entirely sure and it was a bit dark, so I popped into a Lotto and asked the way. Was great, until I said 'oh right, so next left' while madly gesturing to the right.... Got there eventually though, got my ticket to The Wolf of Wall Street, salty popcorn and a beer. The film began with slaves standing in a sugar cane field. I then recognised Chiwetel Ejifor and realised I was in the wrong film. And so I accidentally saw 12 years a slave, and it was actually amazing.

I've got tomorrow and Friday off, which is going to be very nice indeed. I plan on sleeping a fair bit tomorrow to try and fend off the rest of my illness and then hopefully meet a German tandem partner in the evening. Then, Friday, I'm off to Poland for the day. As ya do.

Bis bald xx

Fabulous? Er, it just means sehr, sehr gut...

Hallo! 

I've been in Berlin for over a week now but it feels so much longer. Not in a bad way though, I just feel very comfortable here. I haven't felt very homesick yet but I think that's because I have such a structured routine here already and from the moment I got here had two very friendly flatmates to keep me entertained and distracted. I also feel like this is a more secure move in a way, because when I got to Paris I KNEW I was away from home, because I was in a student residence but here everything just feels very different. That's not to say I don't miss people back home, because I do, it just isn't getting me down. Give it a few more weeks eh.

Anyway, it's been a very good first week. My bank card arrived and I also have my monthly U-Bahn pass. Apart from working, I've had a couple of touristy days- Checkpoint Charlie, Berliner Dom, St. Hedwigs' Cathedral (what a superb name), the Stasi Museum (which I took ages to find and didn't realise I was outside it till I ate lunch. In my defence, the whole old Ministry of State Security complex has now got doctor's surgeries in it), the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, I went shopping on Ku'damm yesterday (thank you Sia, for introducing me to Pull and Bear, new fave) and checked out Potsdamer Platz, where the Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) is happening right now. No celebrity sightings, I am sad to report, but I did get asked for directions by a very hip looking lady with a dog.

Berliner Dom

Lunch outside what turned out to be the Stasi Museum. 

Dusky 

9/10

shopping like a rich Berlinerin

I'm just gonna have to accept it

Anyway, WORK.  

I was so nervous sitting outside on my first day, mainly because I was confused by the location. I knew it was on a quiet street, but I didn't expect the office to actually be in a ground floor apartment! Anyway, my boss is really nice although he reminds me a bit of my Grandad, in that he is really encouraging but has this really piercing stare when he's waiting for a response which is scary.  He didn't mess around and I was immediately shown the ropes and given work to do!  So far, I've proofread a website, a job advertisement, a cosmetics press release, translated some info about some sort of technical product and made a database of English advertising and communication companies. I feel like I'm learning every day, and having to explain English grammar rules in German keeps me on my toes; it's challenging having to justify why you've chosen a certain word instead of another. We also don't speak English in the office, so even if I am reading in English all day, I am still speaking and listening in German.  

Another girl called Marit works in the same room as me, on the desk opposite, and she seems lovely so far, even though when she speaks I nearly break my ears listening because her accent is really difficult so by the time I've processed the meaning, she's onto the next part and waiting for my answer. 

As for the flatmates, it's been great so far. Last Friday we went for ramen in Kreuzberg (I'm so cool I might do myself an injury) and we just chill watching tv together. Last night, Kat and I watched Winnetou dubbed in German and ate chocolates. That's my idea of chilled home life.

Have any strange things happened? Of course they have. A man offered me one of his muffins (he had three) while I was sitting outside a bakery, a very old woman with platinum blonde hair and drawn on eyebrows like, in her hairline, stared at me on the U-Bahn for an uncomfortable period of time and I saw a man in Aldi pushing around his dog in the trolley, just piling food around it. There's been others, but I found these particularly memorable. 

I'm actually quite excited for the week ahead, just eager to get back to work and see what more interesting things I'll be doing. For the moment, I'm very very keen, whether that'll change after a month or so, we'll see...

Also, Joe is coming to visit at the weekend which will be great and hopefully we're gonna see a film at the Berlinale (fingers crossed!)

Bis bald xx