the best: a list

the following will be cheesy and long; this is not an apology

AND in no particular order, the very best of Berlin in the summer and in these last months, and forever

• wandering the streets of friedrichshain
• 'no nation' and watermelonman at kptn
• the world cup: every single, wrenching second of it. (watched at: cassiopeia, heinz minki, fan meile, arena berlin, anywhere in friedrichshain, kulturbrauerei, and on the street)
• finding the strength, time and sun to develop a tan
• badeschiff
• falkensteinstrasse ice cream
• a perfect day at schlachtensee with two very nice friends
• two academic-length papers in german; officially solidifying my knowledge of the umlaut (alt/option then the u key)
• olafur eliasson
• kieran-- and all other aspects of the full circle
• the m10 tram line and how much i wondered and hoped about things every time i rode it.
• my little apartment and my cozy bed and the space to think
• (though not strictly berlin): the travels to greece/barcelona with hannah. belgium. warsaw with mama. and next up: ireland with my fantastic parents, southern germany to see my relatives (then homehomehome, the next adventure)
• the surprising day with the talk and the coffee
• the best cafe (besides fsm, of course): st oberholz. mitte, shopping in mitte, hipsters, raybans. the american apparel i purchased in berlin because i miss you berkeley
• the day at bar 25: steve the skateboarder, the photo booth, the boy with the hair, laughing with hannah, the sun the drinks the perfection
• dancing-- always
• my friends at home because you are everything.
• friedrichshain volkspark: watching you change with the seasons was truly an honor.
• and the people here: you are the ones who made this experience what it was (and still is for ten days, doncha forget). most of you will probably never read this, but regardless: you meant the world to me in these six months and i will never forget you.

i've got places to be, things to do, people to see.

i'll write you on the flipside.

chüssipussy (hanhan, you've got it in writing one time and one time only)

love,

kleine jot

jumbled out of order, loves

my last visit to saint george's for books by irish authors (i like themed reading hah)
fanmeile with 300,000 German fans
Schlachtensee with Christiaan and Carlos

birfday tapas at tafelgold

görlitzerpark with susi, watching the sunset
olaf eliasson, martin gropius bau
sunlight and hope at the fanmeile: ending in disheartening loss. nevertheless, the best choice ever to be in germany during the world cup. football: you have stolen my heart
myself, temporary exhibit called "dream passage". hamburger bahnhof: museum für gegenwart

nervy b(erlin)

the last few weeks have been crazy. i finished my last hausarbeiten (aka papers), turned them in, and since my birthday (last tuesday), it's just been constant play. i've gone to four museums/installations in the last week, especial especial favorite was the olafur eliasson light installation at the martin gropius bau, as well as the hamburger bahnhof: museum für gegenwart (aka museum of contemporary art). i mixed it up with the deutsches historisches museum (basically, the entire history of germany. i'll be honest: though fascinating, i mostly went because of the air conditioning...) bode museum--byzantine art, was also interesting although i was a bit put off by the sheer number of religious pieces. i think i'm just done with the really nasty bits of christian art (um, no more bloody jesus please?).

it's been hot hot hot here. really: 100 degrees today and no air conditioning anywhere. this is gross: but i literally do not have a memory in life that involves me sweating this much, even when i am sitting completely still.

this last weekend was officially my last in berlin: i'll be at melt!2010 next weekend, probably also sweating. and dancing all night. it should be amazing. this weekend, we went to lido (balkan beats) which is essentially crazy balkan dance music. yesterday, bar 25 all day long, probably my most favorite afternoon here: bar 25 is this beautiful building on the spree, with a dj room/dance floor plus outside lounges and an outdoor shower which was the most cooling and refreshing thing. i dont have pictures, as i forgot my camera but hannah's friend had one with so i will try to remember to post things, although i feel like i break a lot of promises re: updates on this blog. not that anyone reads this probably, but still. i'm not flaky in life, i promise!

my life is literally coming full circle this week. with things i don't want to talk about on the blog, but i really feel like berlin is providing all these nice ending notes and i'm just so pleased. i've run into people this week i never expected to see again, i've seen pretty much everything i want to see, i've been to the lakes outside the city, i feel saturated in culture and knowledge--my last opera visit is scheduled for tuesday (rigoletto at the komisches oper). i feel like i've done the things i'm supposed to do but that there is more and that somehow, i will find my way back here. i don't know how, but it seems impossible that i won't.

i just hope berkeley is everything i remember, because, hey: in a month and a week i'll be there.

ps. hey, with all my crazy linking you should be prepared for a week in berlin during almost all seasons. bookmark and visit, it's worth it.

last week, isabella and her roommate from paris visited me for a few days. we had great times, including a really fun dancing friday night out at rosi's, a very berlin, diy, grunge-esque friedrichshain club/bar. but the highlight was definitely our saturday visit to the tierpark, i.e. the former eastern-berlin zoo. we walked all over the gigantic park and visited with our favorite mammals and avian-variety creatures. definite favorite was the baby elephant, born only 2 months ago.

it was a bad romance

don't call me on my t-t-t-t-t-telephone
let's hug it out, blue eye shadow girls
kleine monsters

and, update again

i am terrible at this 'consistent blogging thing'. it's kind of like when i try to keep a diary: aka always a major fail. (i'll write a long, ten-page entry when i have a terrible day or something, vowing to write again 'tomorrow'-- and then nothing for two months until something else stupid happens.) i'm not sure why i thought blogging would be different? i actually kind of think i'm hesitant to write on this thing simply because i don't know exactly who is reading it. that's it: i'm writing on a blog instead of in it. obviously, i know that a blog is public, but it's hard to censor myself sometimes. i am not always very careful with my words--i write hurriedly, not carefully--i'm even too lazy to capitalize here which definitely says something about my time priorities. let's just say that there are a lot of things happening in my life that i could just never write about in a public setting like this.

i do sometimes self-centeredly wonder how many lurkers i have out there though. i guess i'll never know...

back to may 1:

the first of may is the worker's holiday. in berlin there are always a tonnn of protests on may 1. there's a traditional neo-nazi protest and then there's 'worker' protests in other areas of berlin. fun fact about germany: all protests must be registered with the police before they take place. yeah, you actually have to ask permission to protest. weird, right? the protests are pretty much always allowed, but the police can decide where and when you can protest. obviously, this has to do with the history of the country etc.

anyway, the protests in berlin on may first are pretty notorious for being violent. there are often riots and last year, about 300 policemen were injured (!). i went to an area of kreuzberg where the streets had been closed and where musical venues and food stands were set up. it had more of an open air festival feeling than of a protest, but there was definitely an undertone-feeling of violence--there were huge masses of people and a lot were drinking heavily. honestly, i kind of realized today that i'm kind of over the huge-mass-of-people outdoor festival thing. maybe 'over it' is not completely accurate, but at least, i feel like i've experienced enough of them to not feel this one to be particularly special or unique. i also wasn't super stoked on the fact that there was a definite undertone of anger, and i booked it out of there pretty quickly. i guess heavy drinking + angry men is not really my thing? i dunno...

tani and another friend from gv visited this week! we had a really nice time and it was so fun to have a little slice of home in berlin. hope this post was totally boring/weird. i'm in a rambling mood today i guess.

happy may first!

ash clouds and socialism

the ash cloud may actually concretely affect my life. it's so weird to read the news about crazy things happening in far away lands, only to realize that you are in fact in that far away land and, unfortunately, the eruption of a volcano in iceland may prevent you from flying to the french riviera on thursday. not that i have much of a right to complain because it could be much, much worse, but still. sucky sucky.

anyways, life has been busy like whoah. on saturday night, a group of us went to the berliner ensemble, a theater in berlin that always plays bertold brecht. we saw the play 'mutter courage und ihre kinder'--aka 'mother courage and her children'. i kind of wish i'd read the description of the play before i saw it, because a bit was certainly lost in translation. but i was proud that i did get the jist of the story as it went along.

to be perfectly honest, though, i didn't really love the play. it's quite strange to go to a play in a foreign language. i wonder if it's even possible to like a play if you constantly feel that you're missing out on little nuances? though i suppose, shakespeare plays are really difficult to follow sometimes, and i still like them (except for the history plays, sorry dad, but they are really boring). so maybe i'm just not a bertold brecht kind of girl? i'm taking a language class that is 'theater' themed, which is great because it will definitely get me to the theater more often.

and get ready for the best factoid about germany-the-socialist-nation: berlin theater is subsidized by the government. yep, that's right. student tickets to a world-class theater cost only 5 to 10 euro. i am officially in love with socialism even more than i already was. sigh...

i spent all day yesterday eating brunch with friends and sitting in the park. i mean, literally all day. we arrived at brunch at 12 and sat on the terrace for three hours. yeah, and ate a lot, of course. it was truly very lovely. pictures to come later.

der lange nacht

once a year, every theater and opera house in berlin--from tiny avant garde hipster wet dream art house to the most stately german opera--sponsor the 'lange nacht der oper und theater' (the long night of opera and theater). for a mere 10 euro, you have access to any of these establishments and can see a 30 minute or so viewing of their current act. last night, a few friends and i did just that, managing to run around the whole city (well, run to and through many different ubahn/sbahn stations) and saw three shows.

1. qi, at the friedrichstadt palast

during my stay in berlin, i've spent a fair amount of time waiting for ubahn trains in stations all over the city. when waiting on a platform, it is easy to get caught up in the many advertisements lining the walls of each station. one of the most flashy these adverts is for the 'qi' show, a spectacular circus-type event held in the friedrichstadt palast, a huge concert/movie hall. i actually coincidentally have already been to the fp with taylor when we saw two films during the berlinale. anyways, last night we headed straight there, because the qi show is relatively expensive and let's face it, not something i would normally pay to go see. it is essentially comprised of extremely cheesy (but well sung) english broadway songs, which accompany the performance of incredible athletic feats. during the show, a state-of-the-art ice skating rink suddenly appeared from backstage and four impressively fit ice skaters proceeded to give me fourteen heart attacks as they performed intense but life-endangering stunts on the stage. in short, it was memorable, and i was quite happy to have seen it.

2. versus, at the chameleon

this performance was definitely my favorite of the night. it was a fantastically choreographed modern dance delving into the complexity of relationships. though we only saw a short bit of the show, i think i will probably bite the big one, shell out a few extra bucks for the whole show and head back to see it. i wish i had taken a video, because it was incredibly beautiful but difficult to describe. if i go again, i will definitely record some of the show and share it here. if you're in the berlin area, i seriously recommend this--it plays through august.

3. hausoper berlin

we arrived at this small venue to find it packed to the gills. the hausoper is essentially a simple room and in this case, was filled with people standing; a small area set aside for a pianist and a cellist. the proprietor, a beautiful woman probably in her mid-50s sang parts two operas and did so while wandering through the crowd. it was fascinating watch a performance while standing close enough to see the sweat and wrinkles and smiles and joy on the face of the performer. she sang a small bit of euridices and it was fabulous.

all of these performances were incredibly different and impossible to compare. though i have already remarked that the versus show was my favorite of the night, i cannot express how fun it was to see all of these performances. for only 3 euro apiece! after the show, we retired to a nice little bar and then headed to the russendisko (i didn't get back til 6 am, of course). it really was a wonderful evening; full of laughter and good friends and culture and thinking and dancing and sweat. really perfect.

i told you they love easter here

this is a lawn in berlin.

this is a lawn in berlin with bunnies on it.

this is a lawn in berlin with bunnies on it. the bunnies are here because it is easter.

my question is this: what do they do with the bunnies after easter?

i hope they don't eat them...

i got in trouble today, and i blame the blog

ok, i didn't really get "in trouble." publicly reprimanded over the loudspeaker in the ubahn is more accurate, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

let me start at the beginning. fyi: this is where i wax on and on about german social programs, etc. if the topic "social well being of all peoples" does not interest you, i suggest you skip to the visual at bottom.

so, i used to idealize germany and its social programs, thinking them to be far superior to US programs (uh, mostly because germany actually has social programs). having learned more about them in my german class, i can still say that german programs are still far better than any welfare-type aid you would receive in the US. the germans have also had health insurance for years, but so have all other 'first-world countries'; who's really keeping score anyways? we've caught up now finally...kind of.

in any case, germans (and some immigrants who are not yet citizens) are eligible for 'harz VI', a program which pays rent and utilities for a modest apartment and awards approximately 350 Euro a month for food/clothing per person (child dependents receive slightly less money per month, depending on their age).

nevertheless, there is still a considerable number of homeless people in berlin (for whatever reason, they find themselves in need of extra dough) and many of them sell the motz. the motz is a newspaper with a salaried editor and publisher, and people down on their luck can sell the newspaper for 1.20 euro, 80 cents of which they get to keep.

technically, it's illegal to sell the motz on the ubahn, but it happens, regardless of a pesky little thing like the law. the other day i decided i just needed to write a post on the great institution that this paper is and decided to buy one on the ubahn; basically, the homeless dude had to change my 10 euros since i only had paper moneys. this took approximately five minutes and apparently there are cameras on the ubahn, cuz the conductor publicly reprimanded me (well, over the loudspeaker) for buying the paper. uhhh, it was awkward and everyone glared at me.

but i felt pretty hard core, breaking the law and all. ahem. and here i am, with my papahh.

russendisko

highlight of my weekend was definitely the russendisko (aka the russian disco). bimonthly, a cafe/bar/mini club in mitte has 'russian disco night' and basically blasts the weirdest russian/techno/american-euro pop tracks for hours. it was an insanely intense dance floor--jam packed and hilarious dancing styles ensued. mostly, it was a giant mosh pit and such a guy thing! but i loved it, it was so weirdly fun to be twirled around the entire dance floor whilst bumping into equally sweatydrenched people. i'll be going again, i know this for a fact.

must dashdashdash!

xo

laundry day

guys, i am so busy. this weekend i barely stopped moving: it was grand and epic, but i feel at times that my mind is exploding from over-stimulation. my mom is coming to see me next weekend and i could not be happier. we're going to warsaw. it'll be easter weekend which means catholicism will be in full spring and blooooom. at least the churches will be open, so perhaps we can get our yearly dose of religion in. whaddaya say, mama?

Sidenote: easter is on steroids in germany. seriously, there are bunnies everywhere. i took a picture the other day, i'll try to remember to plug in my camera and upload.

i've been doing a lot of thinking these days; in the moments when i have the chance to be alone, i allow myself to really be alone. i was talking to my wonderful father about this the other day: the extremely important act of allowing oneself time to really reflect. it's not about being lonely, it's about seeing yourself through your own eyes and not through the vague (and frequently completely irrelevant) bird's eye view of other people.

and to end for now: i experienced two hours of extreme homesickness last thursday. it was intense, but just like heart-break, that feeling makes everything that is dear to me simply that much more beautiful.

xoxo

um, heyyyyy, crossing over into the mid-60s this week.

praise jebus

routine

i realized today that i am a complete hypocrite (do me a favor and look surprised please). when tay first left for barcelona, i whined on and on at her on skype, pleading for details of her everyday existence. then i got to berlin and have since not bothered to actually talk about my daily routine on the blog. mostly because daily routines are relatively boring no matter where on the planet you happen to live.

nevertheless, here goes:

I have language class at my university from 9:30-13:00 (or if my dozentin is feeling particularly cruel, 9:00-13:15) mtwthf. guf. the freie universität, or "free" university, is an hour-long metro ride from my apartment so, yeah, i travel the equivalent time i would if i were commuting from nevada city to sacramento every day. basically, i spend a lot of quality time hanging out with my ipod, zombily (i am aware that is not a word) staring people down creepily on the metro--it's normal, ok? i would especially like to note that german women read really, really crappy american novels translated into german, which is even worse in my opinion. being the cultured person i am (haaaaaa), I started to read erich maria remarque's die nacht von lissabon today. in german. so cultured, right? mhmmmmm.

we have a break half-way through class, thank god. we usually go upstairs to pi cafe, which is a really nice 'alternative' coffee shop at the fu. on sunny days (there have been two so far and i am not exaggerating), we sit on the terrasse. (titillating post so far, right?)

after school, my friends and i frequently eat in the mensa (cafeteria) of the fu, because we're cool like that. actually, the mensa is a pretty fantastic option for students--not like crossroads, which was sooo expensive/disgusting. i usually average meals around 2euro, including something to drink.

afternoons are spent either doing homework, or running, or other things, and then in the evenings we frequently meet up for dinner or at a kneipe (bar) and talktalktalk.

so there you go: that's been my life for the past three weeks, and will continue to be my life for the following three. actually, it's been really fun to have such a busy schedule, but i seriously feel like i never stop moving. the people are great, though, and that is something i am so thankful for.

i have to go to sleep nowwwwwwwwwwwww but first---

GO OBAMA I LOVE YOU (that is residual happiness left over from this morning. despite my irritated eye, i spent the majority of my metro ride to and from the uni smiling idiotically, which got me a couple of reproving looks from staid, older german gentlemen. smiling on the metro is VERBOTEN here. or if not, at least vehemently disapproved of).

this monday began as an 'off' day, for a stupid reason--my left contact lens irritated me the entire morning and i just couldn't get my mind off my eye. it's a idiotic reason to ruin a day, but it sure got me thinking about 'vision.' it's such an important part of our lives, the eye (allow me to get metaphoric here). when we allow ourselves to focus too acutely on negative things--like the pain in our irritated eyes, for example--sometimes that focus can completely take over our mental state and ruin something (like a beautiful, sunny day) that's perfectly fine.

i'm pretty proud of myself, though, because i definitely turned this day around. upon arriving home, i promptly took out my contacts and went on a long run in what i have discovered to be the most romantic spot in berlin. maybe someday, you'll be lucky enough to accompany me there....(HAA). i also embraced my glasses because, hey--sometimes you just gotta bring on the nerdy. i feel tons better after a good sweat. i've got a BIG week ahead: lots of work, and lots of visitors! stay tuned!

edit: i just read over this and realized my sentence structure has gone completely whack. stupid german is ruining the smallest ability i once had to express myself on paper(internet). stupid stupid DEUTSCH

really good weekend.

this, this was a great weekend. full of friends, laughter, no stress, adventure. basically exactly perfect in every way. i had a few girlies over on friday night for dinner/dj sesh where we listened to lots of pretty fabtastic european music from the 90s (eye-opening experience, for sure). after, we went dancing with a group of 'peeps' (HEY KATRIEN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, THAT'S FOR YOU). downstairs, the club played techno and upstairs it was all about the remixed 90s stuff. it was crazy hot in there though, so sweaty but perfectly fun and exhausting. saturday was restful, and today was also great--brunch, fleamarket, and then fassbender&rausch for super rich hot chocolate.

Turkish Market, Kottbusser Dam: 19.03.2010

lady on a tight rope playing a trumpet. no big deal.

this is really embarrassing....