An afternoon stroll in Kreuzberg

It's a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Get the U-Bahn to Görlitzer Bahnhof.

Walk down Wienerstr. 

Peek into 'Gorli' park, take note of all the shops that you want to come back to.

Stop in front of the Silent Club and marvel at the people signing their lives away.

Turn right at some point and find yourself on the street where Five Elephant Coffee resides.

Buy a flat white, pick up a magazine, sit outside.

People watch and flick through the pages.

Walk back on the other side of the street. 

Go home content.

Life Lately

Phew! June is just flying by. So many people have returned home from their year abroad and it's so weird to think that I should have be on my way home by now too. However, I've still got a little while to go. I just found out that I may have to cut my time here short for financial reasons - I have to start paying for my house in Bristol from July and paying double rent for the more than a month will leave me pretty penniless. So I'm looking to come home earlier than planned and get a job from the beginning of August (I have to stay here unti 2 August, otherwise the placement doesn't count - thank YOU LIFE!) Anyway, here's what's been happening over the past couple of weeks.

1/2 Louis came to visit and the sun came out. Every single day was sunny and in the twenties. We did lots of outdoor wandering, then would come home and watch three episodes of Borgen (such a good show!). I showed him all my favourite hang outs and we ate a lot of FroYo.

3/4 On Louis' penultimate night, the light was really beautiful. We grabbed our cameras and some money for a beer and made a spontaneous film to the Alabama Shakes. We walked all the way from my house to Friedrichstrasse, passed the Hauptbahnhof, Reichstag and Bradenburg Gate. It was delicious. 

5/6 The church small groups are called Dinner Parties and I went to my first one last week. I've joined a relatively new group and that evening there were just three of us having a cheeky picnic in the park. It was such a great evening! There's nothing like a dinner party picnic to consolidate friendships.

7/8 Despite living in one of the most exciting cities in Europe is still easy to get overwhelmed. Every single week there has been a new 'issue', usually something to do with Year Abroad admin or my house for next year. Trying to keep up with it all, whilst still trying to make the most of my time abroad has been exhausting. The other day I just said 'enough'. I closed my laptop, ignored the emails, did my insanity work out, made a yummy meal, read my magazine and sat by the river. It was perfect. 

9/10 It's been a dungarees, fish-tail plait and boot chucks kinda life recently. Keeping it cool, keeping it casual and keeping it easy. No one want to spend too long working out what to wear in the morning - am I right?

30th Jan: Musings from the Launderette

Unlike October and August, January is not one of the months that flies by. It's more like September. Perhaps it's to do with re-starting routine and implementing new life-changes, perhaps it's to do with the shorter days and longer nights, perhaps it's to do with the weather. I don't know. What I do know is that I feel as if I've really DONE January, that I've squeezed as much of it's possibility as was humanly possible. 

For some reason it feels right that I am spending my penultimate January morning in the laundrette washing my life away. I really like launderettes  For one thing, I feel liek my clothes are getting professionally cleaned and for another, I don't have to scuttle down to my bunker-like basement, nor do I have to wait three days for my clothes to dry. No, here they have SUPER tumble-dryers. I am aware that the ultimate laundry experience occurs int eh bosom of your family home, where godo standards of cleanliness and the utmost efficiency can be assured (even if you have to do it yourself - it still feels easier and cleaner) Away from home the launderette feels like the safest place in the world. I've already managed to make friends with an old man and a kooky lady in a puffer jacket, who taught me how to use the machines. It feels so friendly here...

Anyway, back to January. January has been a dirty month full of slushy minus-temperatures, permanent dusk, stressful planning, tough habit-curbing, self-indulgent self-pity (so much self!) and an exploding washing machine. All these factors make it seem more than appropriate to be sitting here in the corner of this bright room, being soothed by the sounds of German efficiency. What I mean, is that I am making a fresh start; a fresh, hard, exciting, super nerve-wracking start and I intend to face it wearing superbly, professionally-cleaned pairs of knickers and socks. Yes, that will be nice won't it. Now I just have to wait here for forty minutes...

Life-Lately

Amidst the stress of moving, writing an essay and just generally doing life there have been some GREAT Germany times. I am so blessed to live this life of adventure.

1) Christmas is officially over when you see all the abandoned trees. It makes my heart sad.

2. Lots and lots of pretty, sparkly, freezing cold snow. Winter trees were made for bearing snow flakes.

3) I've been inspired by two lovely ladies (one of them is Charity whose blog you really all should check out and follow!) to make my own chai and have a cheeky read before bed time. It was so cosy.

4) After going swimming at this really beautiful thermal baths type of swimming pool (for €2.50 might I add!) I listened to a New Yorker podcast and drank MORE CHAI. I really love the New Yorker.

6/7) I am currently writing my Year Abroad essay (3,500 words in German). Alas I have no desk, so my bed is my work space and THAT is my view. It gets pretty depressing sometimes, particularly when the sun isn't shining. 

8) I've been meaning to go to the Flea Market at Aachener Platz since I got here and on Saturday morning I finally made it. It was awesome.

9) Franziska bought a film camera. I take full responsibility for her current happy-snappy state. She tried to take a picture of my kitchen chairs the other day and NOT in an arty way.

10) The super-chic super-lovely Kerry graced the Düsseldorf streets with her sunshiney hair and posh frock coat. We had such a lovely time together.

11) We did a lot of SNOW walking and SNOW picture taking. You know the ones I mean.

12) We also got ourselves to the opera for €9. It was a very odd production of Don Giovanni. I came to the conclusion that I'm just not a Mozart fan. BRING ME PUCCINI. 

13) Kerry found this AH-Mazing hot chocolate shop. This is our ROSE PETAL hot chocolate that came with REAL rose petals and ROSE chocolate truffles. NOM NOM.

14) After my previous post I made sure to get myself to Woyton and the coffee didn't disappoint. I had lots of smiley,wavey JAJAJA conversations with ma barista pals too. It definitely brightened my mood.

15) My super-dooper Kate friend made me feel like a million dollars by giving me a quick hair-cut. It's amazing how lovely one feels when one's fringe is back in place and the split-ends have been removed. 

Back in the Dorf

I've heard that nostalgia is discontentment. Perhaps nostalgic people are not discontent but rather unsettled. After writing my previous post I had such a huge longing to do Christmas all over again, because it was familiar and structured and easy. My present situation is NOT easy. I'm once again living alone in the Dorf with my two kooky male housemates who pile their dirty dishes in the sink and not on the side, my internship is over, my routine non-existent, the sky a consistent murky-grey, my bank-account pinched, the prospect of 3,500 of German academic prose looming over my head and there is the rather significant fact that in three weeks time, I will be packing my bags and moving to another country, another culture and another linguistic challenge to do it all over again. It's exciting, it's interesting, it's fun, but it is NOT easy. 

Simple things like sleeping through my alarm and buying food that looked appetising but is in fact disgusting start to throw me into a tailspin. The weather is so depressing and it never seems to get lighter, so the days just merge into the nights so it just feels like one, extended, cloudy dusk. I've sat here trying to work through this assignment for uni, written a few pointless learning journals just in case they turn round and say that they actually count. Then there's the essay, which I can't really start until my tutor gets back to me and approves my title, so I'm just faffing about with a stack of reviews and few performance notes, wondering how on EARTH I am going to be able to write a half-decent essay IN GERMAN when I struggle to write one in English. 

Part of my problem MIGHT be, that I haven't left the house yet (apart from the food shop). I'm trying to save money and it's so disgusting outside that hibernating in my little room is always the preferred course of action. I'm hoping I'll feel a little bit more cheery when I start socialising again. I was back at the theatre again yesterday evening to perform in that silly play again, then this morning I'm going to a ladies breakfast and then tonight I'm hopping on a train to Berlin to visit my friend Josie for the weekend. So really I need to stop complaining, because despite the tasteless food, the crappy weather and my complete inability to create a routine, there are lots of great things happening and I am doing  surprisingly well with my to-do list. All is not lost. I just miss not having to go down to the creepy basement to do my washing and having a hallway that doesn't smell like boy and a bedroom window that looks out on a garden and not on a busy road. Good thing I'm moving to Florence in four weeks then. 

Das erste Schlückchen Glühwein

Seit der Anfang meines Auslandsjahrs wollte ich ein Post auf Deutsch schreiben und heute habe ich der Mut es jedenfalls zu versuchen :-) sei nett ihr Deutschen! 

Gestern Abend war ich mit der netten Katja bei Weihnachtsmacht, um mein erste Weihnachtsmarktglühwein zu trinken. Es war uns wichtig die richtigen Tassen und Preisen zu finden, weil   das erste Schlückchen etwas besonders ist! Wir haben uns überlegt ob es sich lohnen würde, drei euro für ein Stiefeltasse zu bezahlen (sie waren richtig, richtig süß) aber haben uns zufriedengegeben mit der Düsseldorflandschaftshorizontglastasse (die war auch schöne, aber in eine Glastasse wird Glühwein schnell kalt) Alles war so wunderschön, mit der Lichten und Dekorationen und einem riesigen Tannenbaum - es hat mir wirklich in die Weihnachtslaune gebracht. Ich freue mich jetzt so sehr auf die Weihnachtszeit, obwohl es immer noch nicht Dezember ist! Franziska hat mir ein Teeadventkalander geschenkt (es gibt 24 verschiedene Teebeutels - ich freue mich!) und ich habe auch ein paar Bibel Verse über die Weihnachtsgeschichte ausgesucht, also im Großen Ganzen bin ich für die Adventszeit gut vorbereitet. 

Last night I went to the Christmas markets with the lovely Katja to have my very first PROPER Glühwein (I've drunk a lot of Glühwein, just never at a REAL German Christmas market). One's first sip of delicious Glühwein is a special occasion and so finding the right mug at the right price was of the utmost importance. We deliberated forking out three euros for a cute little boot mug (seriously the cutest things EVER!) but eventually settled for a darling little glass mug with the skyline of Düsseldorf printed across the middle. However, Glühwein gets colder quicker in glass mugs - be warned! Everything was so beautiful, the lights, decorations and a massive Christmas tree - it really put me in the Christmas spirit. I'm so looking forward to Christmas, even though it's not even December yet! Franziska gave me a Christmas Tea Advent-calendar and I've found a really great Christmas bible reading plan, so all in all I'm pretty prepared for Advent.

Seid euch für die Adventszeit vorbereitet? Are you ready for Advent? 

Film Review: Oh Boy

The subtitle of this film should really read 'man in Berlin eventually succeeds in buying a coffee' for this journey towards caffeinated bliss is really the only coherent theme that holds this film together. We meet the protagonist in what appears to be a transitioning chapter of his life that involves a lot of sitting around, smoking cigarettes and aimlessly wondering from appointment to appointment. He possesses that common 20-something predicament known as a lack of purpose: he's spent two years in Berlin 'thinking about things' whilst his super successful father is under the impression that he's been studying hard at law school. 

His lifestyle may be every young bohemian's dream, and there is something deliciously edgy about watching him  flit in and out of film sets, weird interpretive dance shows and bars with interesting drunk old men, but it sure does get tiresome after a while. We can only hope that the death of the old man at the end of the film forces him to recognise life's fragility and fleetingness enough that he gets of his arse and at the very least finds a job. One could assume that the last shot of him finally sipping a cup of coffee is a metaphor for consolidation and new found direction...but then again, this is Germany, so maybe not. 

Like most German Arthaus films, this piece is clearly not about a gripping storyline but rather snippets of still observations shot in sumptuous black and white and accompanied by a jazzy soundtrack. It's worth it for the cinematography and the incredibly dry sense of humour, just don't expect the story or the purpose of the film to be any clearer after watching it. 

Lazy Lazy Morning Routines

Mornings are my favourite: I sacrifice my sleep to experience their misty, cosy beauty. The precious few moments before the busyness of the day engulfs you with its sharpness and clarity are the most poignant and important moments of my day. It sets up my attitude, it awakens my mind, soothes my soul from the restless night and promises new beautiful things outside my front door. The temptation is to overindulge in the morning blearyness but then their impact is lost. Despite their cosy, snuggly nature, the perfect morning routine requires balance and discipline from the moment the alarm rings out to the second before you walk out the door. Mornings are not to be wasted, but used.

These days I wake up slowly to WDR 3 radio, allowing the German newsreel to readjust the linguistic cogs in my brain, I then slowly make some tea, fix myself some breakfast, pull on some socks and snuggle back into bed with my bible or a newspaper to wake up my mind and prepare my soul for the day.

What is your morning routine?

My first EVER VLOG

I'm really excited to share my first ever VLOG with you guys. This is essentially a university project of mine to keep tabs on my language development whilst on my year abroad. I decided to do it in VLOG form as I find it much easier to press record and chat for 10 minutes than to write a formal report and it's MUCH more fun. I actually filmed this one at the beginning of September, but I'm hoping that they'll become a more regular occurrence and subsequently a bit shorter. I warn you that this film is unashamedly nerdy and cheesy. The title of these VLOG might be tongue in cheek but then again it might not. I fear that explaining the matter will only make things worse.

ALAS! I hope you enjoy. If you like you can follow me on youtube