leute die ich kenne

Ahhh how suitable this photo is for my blog! It is truly random. This is me with some of Fran's friends - Toshia (aus Tokyo) and Flo (aus München). I have no idea what Toshia is doing with that pretzel stick, and I look like some kind of human-sized ventriloquist doll!

And here's Annaiis (Toshia's French girlfriend), Fransiska (Fran's neighbour) and Fran (my Aussie buddy). Fran is my 'rock' in Berlin. Thanks to her drunkenly chatting to a guy called Samuel at a party, I found my shareflat within 4 days of arriving here. She met Samuel (one of my flatmates), passed on his number, I went and visited the flat and then, boom-shanka, I had a WG!

Fran also inspires me with her love of all things German, and her passion (and talent) for speaking the language, even to me, at all times. Often the Germans ask us 'Errr...you two speak German to each other?' (like as if we're deranged), and Fran's typical answer goes something like 'Fuck yeah!'.

The other photo is Manuela (a friend of Fran's, aus Italien) and a Spanisch friend of Manuela's. The photos were taken at her farewell drinks - her student visa expired so she had to pack her bags. And then board a flight to Italy.

pretty as a postcard

Well here it is, my first Berlin post! About blaaardy time too, considering I've been living here for over a month now. Unfortunately I don't have Photoshop (or similar) and am unable to rotate this picture....so you'll just have to twist your necks in a pilates kind of way, in order to have a squizz.

This is Unter den Linden - one of the main drags in the centre of Berlin. The bookshop where I work is also on Unter den Linden, although not shown here. In the background are two major iconic landmarks of the city, the Berliner Dom (Cathedral) and the Fernsehturm (TV Tower).

You can see how during the World Cup, the sphere of the Fernsehturm was made to look like a soccer ball. I thought it looked pretty damn cool, but they've changed it back to plain silver now... I guess they had to, because it was actually spammy advertising for T.Com (a major German telecommunications provider) and therefore couldn't last forever.

Below: Another sadly lop-sided photo. A stack of books sculpture celebrating famous German authors (also on Unter den Linden).

der kölnische dom

Behold the Köln (Cologne) Cathedral, in all its gargantuan proportions!

The last time I climbed to the top of this bugger, I had a near fatal asthma attack - the result of scaling approx. one million ye olde stairs, in conjunction with the inhalation of city smog and dusty pigeon shit. Gross. But I did manage to enjoy the view, after taking a few long drags of Ventolin...

ning nang nong

On the Ning Nang Nong Where the Cows go Bong!

and the monkeys all say BOO!

There's a Nong Nang Ning Where the trees go Ping!

And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.

On the Nong Ning Nang All the mice go Clang

And you just can't catch 'em when they do!

So its Ning Nang Nong Cows go Bong!

Nong Nang Ning Trees go ping!

Nong Ning Nang The mice go Clang

What a noisy place to belong is the

Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

It's 2am and I can't sleep. Not only that, for some reason I was thinking about monkeys, blogging and Spike Milligan. So here is the culmination of that bizarre marriage of ideas. (The photos are from my trip to Bochum Zoo. I don't have any pictures of mice, so I've included some sleeping Ferrets instead.)

weltmeisterschaft madness

The WM is now but a hazy memory; all the t-shirts and flags are now half price and the tourists have gone home. But will the (partial) renewal of Germany's sense of national pride be long lasting?

I cannot answer this question, but what I can do is share with you, dear listener, the visual stills which make up my WM experience.

Above: Bochum Stadium, where I watched Italy defeat Germany on the big screen.

Considering I normally couldn't 'give a rats' about soccer, once in Germany I was surprised to find myself caught up in WM madness. Back in Melbourne, even though I knew it was very 'unAustralian' of me, I failed to stay awake and watch any 'historically significant' matches. Sadly however, Australia was knocked out of the comp very soon after my arrival in Deutschland. I soon learnt the German expression for penalty kick (elf meter), because the Germans were just as outraged as I about the ridiculous penalty which handed Italy victory on a velvet cushion. With golden tassels. Das war kein elf meter!











Above: Karina and Marc at Bochum Stadium, and the 'Mötley Crüe' - my backpacker mates from Köln with whom I celebrated the WM - Paul (Wales), Rita (Ireland) and Christina (USA).











Above: a stretch of pubs along the Rhein in Köln, where I watched Germany win 'the bronze medal', and the subsequent fireworks.










Above: Italians celebrate the WM win on the streets of Köln, and some random Italians who were more than happy to have their photo taken.










Above: the ceiling of the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Köln. Krass geil, oder?

gettin' arty wit it in düsseldorf

I made a little day trip to Düsseldorf back in July. I can't say I'm much enthused by this city. To wander along the Rhein is lovely, but to sit and enjoy a beer there is a bit pricey, and the whole place was sodden with snap-happy tourists, much like a wettex soaks up grey, frothy dish water. (NB yes yes I am a hypocrite, I know...)

Mind you, on the day I visited, it was blisteringly hot (maybe 40 degrees?). That, coupled with the fact that I got lost and wasted over an hour wandering around a vast wasteland of office blocks, maaaay have influenced my impression of the place.

Ahh well. At least I found these cool bendy, shiny buildings.

care to dance?

Awww süß. Here's Karina and I posing for a portrait of sorts before getting very drunk in celebration of her 23rd birthday. The party was at her WG (shareflat) in Bochum, where she lives with two other women - Caro and Micha. It was a great night; someone had brought along a mix CD of funk, soul and other miscellanous 60s classics which was, needless to say, total tanzbar! Later in the night the same compilation CD got spun a second time round, because we dance-hungry partyites weren't too keen on the alternative - hard rock/metal such and such. Blah.

A couple of nights later, Karina and I found ourselves at the Hawaiian-themed birthday party of the boyfriend of a friend of Karina's new girlfriend's sister. Oooohh so tenuous it hurts! Was great kitsch fun, though. We were all decked out with plastic flowers and ended up dancing the night away to, you guessed it, the exact same soul/funk/60s compilation CD that we'd danced to TWICE at Karina's birthday. Ahhh you gotta love a highly restricted music selection; just like in the DDR (!?).










Photos above: Hendrik (Karina's best friend), Karina and myself. And Marc with a very blurry (in more ways than one!) Hendrik.

fachwerkhäuser or: how I learnt to stop craving photos with people in them and love scenic pictures

Before I (back)peddle onwards and upwards towards my stay in Bochum, I thought I should post some pictures of quaint little Fachwerkhäuser (houses with that criss-cross timber action). Typisch Deutsch, oder?



And here are a couple of extra pics with which you can satisfy your craving for the architectural delights of Nordrheinwestfahlen:

gevelsberg im sommer

Let the backpeddling begin! Here is a lovely pic of my 'exchange sister' Karina, and her Dad, Martin. I did a highschool exchange with Karina when I was 15, and we've remained buddies ever since. Needless to say, when I arrived in Germany I was welcomed into their cosy home with open arms and a pot of tea.

Karina's parents live in Gevelsberg, which is a little town in the North-West of Germany - near Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and the like. It was previously a very industrial area, and the skeletal remains of several coal power stations (for example) have been preserved as monuments to this area's proud history of manual labour.

While I was in 'G-Berg', their local carnival (or 'Kirmes') was held, so I got stuck into the beers and developed a love of Bratwurst in Brötchen mit Senf (a long sausage smeared with mustard and clamped in the middle by a small round roll). Although on several occasions we foolishly decided to ride the Breakdance after our beer & bratwurst combo meal deal and (perhaps unsurprisingly) felt rather 'wrong' afterwards. Ahhh good times!

Karina, me and her boyfriend Marc
on the ferris wheel at Kirmes -->

It was blisteringly hot during my stay in the North-West too. Everyone was covered by a thin film of sweat at all times. And there was no Melbourne-style 'cool change' to speak of. So, what do you do in Germany when the weather is so schön und heiß? You swim at a lake! I went to two with Karina and Marc, here are them now:


<-- Karina &

me at Silbersee

<-- A lovely lake in the middle of a forest. (Sorry for the sideways action, I'm not yet 'down' with all this kerazy blogging technology.)

mein wünderschones zimmer

Well, true to form, this blog continues to be completely random. Due to the fiscal constraints of crappy internet cafes, posting of any description has been on hold for the past 6 weeks. And what have I been doing for the past 6 weeks? Establishing my new life in Deutschland, that's what!

I promise that I will do some serious backpeddling at some stage and pay due credit to the people and places I've seen thus far in my trip, but right now, I want to share with you all some pictures of my lovely new flat. I somehow managed to land on my feet and found a 'sweet as' renovated WG in Prenzlauer Berg, within my first 3 days in Berlin. (WG bascially means shareflat. It stands for Wohngemeinschaft, or 'living community'.)

Enjoy!

Meine Kuche

Mein Badezimmer

Mein Zimmer



Ich bins!