Casper's Berlin Blog

Eight Months On

2008-06-08T08:53:00.001+01:00

FINAL POST

Oh, the truth in the saying,

'Where one door closes, a window is opened.'

This freeing, inspiring, thoughtful, motivating, exciting, educational, beautiful, memorable Erasmus year is coming to an end. Tomorrow I fly to Oslo to start the journey to the Arctic with WWF (read more here) and if I am honest, my head has already left Berlin.

I've been reading, learning, thinking and writing so much about Climate Change and my future activities that I have let slide my previous hopes of visiting every museum in the city, seeing more of the state of Brandenburg and all the other plans I had on my 'to-do list'.

But Berlin has found a special place in my heart. I have grown so much here, and I am so thankful for the friendships, opportunities and fun that I have had here.

So if my head has left, my heart remains.

In the sunshine-filled parks where everyone mingles happily, in the street art which make cycling and walking exciting, in the stress-free atmosphere and the delicious cake.

If you ever go to this marvelous city - send me a postcard?

Thanks all for reading,

Casper

Last Day

2008-05-16T16:14:00.004+01:00

Today is my last day of a three-month internship for BILD.de.

It has been a very mixed experience. I have learnt a tremendous amount about the web 2.0 world (the future of the internet), found a host of new blogs which I am following, and realised some hard lessons about my own working style.

Although I did sometimes struggle with working for a tabloid that many see as xenophobic, homophobic and sexist (a lot of my friends were deeply surprised that I of all people would work for such a company), but then again, it has taught me much.

The way teams function, the role of management - but more than anything - that I am an utterly hopeless employee if I'm not passionate about something. And that corporate life is not for me.

This was made all the more obvious when I found out about my voyage to the Arctic. With such an exciting, important experience coming up - my mind was totally focused on how I was going to use it to combat climate change - and I found doing research projects about navigation systems on newspaper websites a real struggle!

I'm glad I've had this experience, and I think I've managed to bring something to my colleagues and bosses (a little bit of laughter at least!), but I am also glad that its over.

I can now move forward, knowing what I want to do - and figuring out how I'm going to do it.

May 1st

2008-05-02T13:17:00.004+01:00

Berlin loves May 1st.

As Labour Day, the old GDR used it as an opportunity to put on the big parades, and celebrate the victory of Socialism.

Well, after singing Chaka Khan's 'Ain't nobody' at choir yesterday, a few of us went to the street party around the corner - the traditional MeiFest (now renamed MyFest to keep up with the 21st century).

After wondering past the various music stands (one changing from Fat Boy Slim's 'Praise You' to some kind of punk/brass mix with 10 German Turks playing their instruments as if on speed), we saw the HUGE numbers of police.

Shipped in from all over the country, they stood in position, like a Roman army. It looked extremely aggressive. In full riot gear, with (what looked like teargas, but turned out to be fire extinguisher) on their backs, batons, helmets - the lot.

No wonder there was trouble.

By standing there in such large numbers, they were practically inviting confrontation.

My friends and I approached one of them and put this to him. What followed was a 30 minute conversation about the nature of policing, and ended with him sharing some of his gum - and countless others walking up to other police and asking questions. It looked like some sort of hustings at one point!

Sauerkraut and Mandelhörnchen

2008-04-23T11:09:00.003+01:00

I just nipped downstairs to the large deli in our office building, to get me the tastiest version of the yummiest German baked good - the undefeatable, utterly delicious, king of bakery items - the Mandelhörnchen.

To make this little adventure even more German, guess what smell drifted up my nostrils as I came down the stairs...Priceless.

Karl Marx

2008-04-21T16:03:00.006+01:00

I had to rush home in my lunch hour to pick up my passport.

No, no, not to jet off for the afternoon (who wants to sit in a metal sausage anyway?!), I was just helping complete the German love for bureaucracy.

What struck me was how many places I recognised seeing from the film 'Das Leben der Anderen' which I saw last night. Especially the Karl Marx book shop on a street which also bares his name. I pass this at least four times a day - and for the first time, I went in.

Not a life changing experience, but nice nonetheless!

Arctic Adventure

2008-04-14T10:34:00.002+01:00

Over the past weekends I’ve had some wonderful friends to visit, and have walked around the city as I did when I first arrived here. The wonderful thing is, that you look at your everyday surroundings with new eyes, notice what people wear, the fact the train line runs through the centre of the city, and that the roads are so wide and quiet! And each visitor brings his or her own view of the city.

It also reminds me why I love Berlin.

As I look at people, I feel that just about everyone is someone I’d like to be friends with. That’s not something I’ve had in many places! You overhear conversations about politics in the hairdressers, impromptu late-night U-Bahn jokes amongst strangers, and restaurant tables mixing as if they were life-long friends. There’s an attitude in this city that takes getting used to – but when you do, you wouldn’t want to change back.

Elsewhere in my life, this week I found out that I have been accepted onto WWF’s Voyage for the Future program, as one of two young people representing the UK. The ship is going to the Arctic for ten days with climatologists and experts in how to communicate climate change. I’m going to learn about the science of climate change, help take scientific measurements and witness the supreme beauty of the Arctic. Easy to understand then, why I can’t wait to go!

If you’d like to follow my voyage to the Arctic, my time there, and the campaigning journey afterwards – check out my blog www.caspersarcticvoyage.wordpress.com.

Summertime...and the livin' is easy

2008-04-02T09:06:00.002+01:00

It finally feels like summer is here.

Because of the leap through time this weekend and huddles of wooden tables appearing outside café’s it really seems like winter is over. And about time. The novelty of arriving at work looking like a snowman and drying myself with toilet paper wore off pretty quickly after the second time - all because there were strikes on trams, busses, u-bahn, s-bahn, trains AND airport workers.*

It is great to see the city changing around me. After a short Easter holiday, I returned to find the Dom with multiple gold globes adorning the four corners – and the central cross is being reinstated this week.

It’s significant because during the Soviet era, all crosses were taken off churches to reduce the cities’ overt symbols of religiosity. Ironically, with the building of the famous TV tower, and the way the sun reflects on the central sphere at sunrise and sunset, a golden cross appears on the tallest of all the East’s buildings! (I learned that on a walking tour. Where I pretended to be a tourist. Which I'm not.)

* that’s not to say that I need an airport to get to work.

The Long Night

2008-01-27T01:57:00.000Z

Well. That was possibly the best evening in Berlin so far.

'The long night of the museums' they call it, and as I got home at 3am, a long night indeed it was. We started at a museum of twentieth century German expressionism where we came to see a saxophone quartet playing a seriously wide repertoire - which included Macedonian folk music from 1400, pieces written this century and, of course, Bach. Highlights included them walking around the museum throwing notes at each other - it was like watching an audio-tennis match!

But as our next stop was a short u-bahn ride away and time was pressing, we skipped the free drinks and pretzels and headed for the Simon Bolivar room to add ourselves to another completely packed hall where a lone drummer was doing his Brazilian thing. I headed up into the library/museum section and looked at maps for half an hour - during which my friends had joined the dancers (and everyone else in the audience under 85) in grooving away, Samba style.

Two down, two to go. Opposite this library is the KulturForum, of which a huge art space is part - housing the Neue National Gallery. In we went, most of it looking like a mix of WW1 trenches and the Berlin Wall itself. Coal, old winter coats and sacks of beans dotted the building, and after dancing around the outside of it, we entered the labyrinth. I often feel outwitted by modern installation art, so I try to outdo it even more. And did we. Even the guards were drawn into our discussion of gender in a post-colonial context. (And this from an egg, surrounded by coal.)

But there was more! The Museum of Musical Instruments had been on my to-do list for a while, and so we saw a huge variety of pianos, harps and things that looked like a cross between the two. But in the main open-plan area of the museum - totally in rapture, sat a 300 strong audience laughing, biting nails, watching 'Safety Last!', a silent film from 1923, accompanied by a maestro on the Wurlitzer. I'd forgotten how awesome those films were!

Finally, and by this time its 1am, we moved into a smaller auditorium where we were treated to some of the young talent from the music school here. Ranging from the youngest (aged 11 or so) to full grown concert pianists. Not forgetting the first ever performance of three people at the same piano! Amazing!

And all of this was preceded by a vegetarian haggis and Scottish poetry and song at a (one-day-delayed) Burns Night celebration. I had prepared a traditional dessert Cranaghan - eyed up enviously by my fellow u-bahn passengers, may I add!

The very best thing about this evening, though, was the electric buzz you could feel everywhere you went. Pedestrians ruled the night, young and old enjoyed the density of culture and activity - and wherever each of us was enjoying ourselves, we knew there were at least another two hundred other places where others were engaging, learning and enjoying the creativity this city has to offer.

Back Home

2008-01-25T23:59:00.000Z

After a week in the UK, I have a whole new appreciation for my adopted home-city.

Landing in Luton airport with 'Heat'-reading, 'Stayce'-shouting, chip-munching, sour faced, rain-wet Brits was just the beginning of six days of being reminded how just about everything seems to be better in Berlin.

Without sounding negative (and that is hard), I'll be living in house opposite a massive Tesco's next year. On a small University campus in the middle of nowhere. Where the nearest city is Coventry.

So it was with utter delight that I arrived back in Brandenburg, where the early evening light shimmers on Spree river, the wind whistles in my hair (okay, I nearly fell off my bike today because of the SERIOUSLY aggressive wind) and I can visit places like Schloss Charlottenburg (pictures) and another cheap fifth row Opera experience.

Tomorrow will provide more sight-seeing as it is the 'Long Night of the Museums' - where many are open until 2am.

Party in the Renaissance portrait gallery!

Seasons of Love

2008-01-10T21:52:00.000Z

This evening we rehearsed (oh yes, Berlin's best a cappella choir will sing for your pleasure on Feb 3rd) in a new venue.

I love cycling to new parts of town, and this time I was headed into South Kreuzberg - and after I'd found the second door in the back courtyard, on the left - I realised that we were inside an old catholic church! - inclusive mural paintings.

The acoustics were fantastic, and the best thing?

We're singing 'Seasons of Love' from Rent! My wild enthusiasm at this (I may, or may not, have said very loudly - I LOVE THAT SONG!), was simply laughed at by the rest of group...

Warehouse Chique

2008-01-09T16:08:00.000Z

On my way back from the Mensa (one of the student dining experiences I would recommend you avoid), I walked past a warehouse-style building, with 2 mannequins outside, wearing theatrical clothes.

I thought - who knows? Let's go inside!

And WOW. They were selling an enormous selection of costumes, props and set used by one of the best Opera companies in Germany (which is opposite). The amount of fake Louis XIV furniture made me very happy :)

If only the Deutsche Post hadn't thrown away my camera charger/cable/ipod because I wasn't able to pick it up from the Post Office within seven days, I would have taken photos. But I couldn't.

Herr Doktor

2008-01-08T16:32:00.000Z

I arrived back in Berlin after a three week absence last night, and it feels magical to be back home. Even cleaning the inside of the fridge felt good!

It was that sort of bright winter day today, which is cold enough that you see your breath, but sunny enough to smile at the lady cycling in the opposite direction whom you nearly crash into.

I had my first experience with a German doctor this morning, (following an incident involving cutting candle-wax, a large knife and a 3cm cut into my hand in Geneva two days ago), and I had prepared myself. German bureaucracy, opening-times and receptionists haven't the greatest reputation, and yet - within 10 minutes of arriving, I was being attended to by an ageing, stout, extremely nice Herr Doktor.

All was fine, and as I walked out the door, with that wonderful post-doctor/dentist feeling, he asked, 'and what are you studying?'

'History'

'Good man'.

I like it here.

Oh KaDeWe!

2007-12-10T12:20:00.000Z

The Kaufhaus Des Westens earns its place in the Top 25 Things To Do in my guidebook. Bigger than Harrods, and on a Saturday afternoon, nearly as stressful, it was created to demonstrate the wonders of the Western World to the ‘one fizzy-drink, and you’ll like it’ East Germans down the road. And as we know, there’s no better way to demonstrate your freedom than by buying.

Known to locals as the KaDeWe, it has acres of perfumes, chocolates, bags and jewellery as well as all the fashion brands that make me want to scream, ‘it doesn’t even LOOK nice!’ Perhaps one of the best reasons to visit though, are not the products on display, but the staff who work there.

Looking like various breeds of preened poodles, with a strict hierarchy kept in order by the fragrant, older coiffured clothes-horses on the shop floor, they stare down consumers with a sense of down-the-nose superiority I thought was confined to Bond Street and most of the Parisian 7th arrondissement. The idea of paying for my purchase of a proper umbrella and some beautiful gloves with a debit card seemed to threaten the very core of their existence. I had to walk through half the store to find a till with a pin machine, which for a tourist destination as this is, is nothing if not surprising.

But the true stars of the employee showcase here were the presents, angels, and Christmas trees walking around on stilts. Oh, yes. With costumes ranging from the grotesque to the utterly vulgar – these hired actors and part-time clowns blocked entire ails, feigning total delight at the sight of a child, only to then to mistakenly kick the power-puff t-shirted 5-year old in the face as they moved on to the luggage section. Not to mention the half-hearted attempt at a jazz singer crooning, ‘oh happy day, oh happy day, oh KaDeWe’. (So clever...It rhymes!) She would sometimes stop mid-sentence to try and understand what her irate boss two floors below was trying to signal to her.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I loved it!

Thankfully, my Sunday was of a slower pace, visiting the various segments of the remaining wall left in the city (one part of which I’ve been cycling past for the last two months with no idea it was the largest open-air museum in the world, let alone the Berlin Wall). Topped with ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’, five rows from the front for seven quid – can’t complain really.

2007-11-25T02:55:00.001Z

Waking every morning with only one question, 'How shall I fill my day today?' is perhaps the biggest gift one can have; so much time! Yet it tempts idleness. I was determined today not to let my waking in the early afternoon prevent me from making full use of the present. I wondered around Savigny Platz (the only area in the West I go by choice...), where later a friend joined me in a vegetarian restaurant - perfect for those with a taste for Indian food, and more time than sense. The service was beyond appalling - which only made it funny, if a little frustrating - as we were to brave the city outskirts this evening...

I had been in contact with a German Gospel Choir (yes, they exist!), and had read about an upcoming concert. After using three new S-Bahn lines, we got to the station - encountering a woman peeing freely in the street and true Berlin-style unemployment culture - and started walking. It was totally dark, and as if in some biblical vision a giant light shone from a school-like building. We walked in as the 20-strong choir sang the classic 'Oh, Happy Day' - and until you've heard this with a strong German accent - you haven't lived.

That was about all we heard, as the concert finished just after that.. We were 45 minutes late - and hey, these guys start on time! The journey home was a delight in itself, as we treated fellow passengers to Christmas Carols (with harmonies) and extended scene re-enactments from Catherine Tate. There was time enough for these as not only did we take the wrong line - we also took it in the wrong direction, leaving us singing Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem to the cleaner who motioned that this was the end of the line.

We arrived safely, nearly two hours later laden with ice-cream and DVDs. And, as it nears my bedtime, which sadly hasn't been before 4am over the last few days, with Little Women's film score still playing from the end of the movie - I brush my teeth watching as the city around me is coated in a deep sleepy snow.

Sleep tight

I'm Gonna Run To You

2007-11-19T22:20:00.000Z

I was actually smiling the whole time - even when I had a stitch.

I'd bought my first running shoes, and as soon as I got home I was off into the cold Berlin lunchtime. Through the neighbourhood graveyard and into the enormous Friedrichshein People's Park - where mums and babies, teenage stunt-cyclists and fellow runners dotted the open park. I ran up the hill, did squats (yes, in public - i have no shame) and 45 minutes later, I was still loving it. The Team America soundtrack had a lot to do with my smile, I have to admit.

I'd followed videojug's advice on not going too fast - steady burns more calories you know!

I'm moving at Berlin's pace now, and I like it.

SHARK!

2007-11-16T19:32:00.000Z

Sometimes you've just got to go for it.

In this spirit, my friends and I met at Alexander Platz, the largest, and often-said ugliest square in Germany. Its cold. In fact, its snowing. Someone has just bought a ghetto blaster (to be returned an hour later: hooray for money back guarantees!) and another is filming us.

We get ready, 5, 6, 7, 8, - and we start dancing! In the snow. In public. And I don't know any of the moves. It is hysterically funny - our audience consists of a group of school girls in black hijabs - mobiles at the ready, taking pictures of my friend Jeremy who is doing his 'minimalist dancing'; moving only his index finger to the beat.

After our routine (which ends in us all running around, spinning, shouting 'Fight The Power!'), we pretend to head off in our own directions... But no! We all move to Alexa - the newly opened shopping centre, which looks like a giant red brick. We surreptitiously mill around the entrance, when Tina (the only German in the group) screams at the top of her voice – HAI!!! (SHARK!!!) – and we fall the ground, trying to swim across the floor for safety from this evil menace. Those around us are suddenly standing above 10 people wriggling on the floor, screaming for their lives! Some laugh, some look very confused, annoyed even, and two little boys look very scared, clinging to their bemused father.

Needless to say, It’s been a good day. As I wash up with the apartment all to myself, my housemate being in Brussels this weekend, I sing along loudly to the radio and rejoice in the fact that the traffic announcements are sponsored by Tiffany: the Erotic shop in Kreuzberg.

Only in Berlin.

Drama

2007-11-14T17:29:00.001Z

I realised that I hadn't actually read the news for a week, so I got myself a copy of the IHT and headed off to try another local Stammtisch in the hope of finding a hidden gem. The bitter lemon was flat, and the cheesy Italian pop did little for me - but, and this is probably worth drinking there the whole night, the urinals were the BEST I have ever seen.

Those gents amongst us who enjoy the 'aiming at the painted fly' game on some urinals, are in for a treat. These loos had small football goals set up - with a dangling ball hanging from the crossbar, and with the power of your urine, and your urine alone, you could push the ball into the net.

Wow.

But it gets better!

This morning, as I cycled through Kreuzberg to meet up with two people from my Hip Hop class (tomorrow again - yay!), we found out that the Gay Museum, where one of them works, was closed. We thought we'd go for a quick coffee anyway - and boy, if I haven't found the gayest cafe in the world...

It is called 'Drama', and is totally pink; the chairs, the walls, the biscuits and the chandelier. The waiters are suitably camp, but the best was the hideous Faux-Chinoise sketches of naked Asian boys on the wall.

And I haven't even started the anecdote of the man setting his trousers alight on the U-Bahn last night...

Candle in a Coffee Pot

2007-11-12T20:17:00.000Z

At 11am on the eleventh of the eleventh, while the English look sober and respectful, a small, red paper poppy in their lapel (which collapses spectacularly at the first hint of rain - making you feel so guilty, you buy another one - yes, a very clever sales team in The Royal British Legion), the Germans celebrate St. Martin.

St. Martin, (he of cutting-his-cloak-in-half-to-share-with-a-beggar-during-a-snowstorm fame) is the German version of our Bonfire Night; but without the bonfires. Instead, little kids walk around the local square singing songs while holding little paper lanters, and looking generally very cute.

But, as you may have realised by now, Berlin don't follow no rules. Oh no! So, as I made a makeshift lantern by putting my chunky candle in a glass coffee pot, we headed off to Boxhagener Platz as it turned dark. We weren't alone! Getting closer, we could see other studenty types looking slightly embarrassed with their creation of a flashing bike light in a red glove, hanging on a string. Finally, we found a middle-aged man, with an outdoor sound system pumping out Reggae beats, and serving free Glüwein.

Mmmmm!

Snow

2007-11-10T19:40:00.000Z

On my way up to my apartment on the 4½ floor, I try to trick my brain into not thinking about the walk – meaning that I hardly notice my tired legs and general sweatiness. Having mastered times tables last week (8 is trickier than you think!), and concluded that trying to sing chromatic scales whilst carrying my bags and the post was not going to work, I am now trying to recount countries and capitals. Yemen anyone?

I spent today in the German History Museum (needless to stay, too big to do in one day) with an English friend who was told twice by the same over-attentive museum guard to keep her small bag in front of her, because otherwise she would bump into the various old coins, maps and portraits of Luther (all of which are kept safe in glass cases, away from aggressive tourists). This attitude of the Germans is so hilarious, I struggle to hide my laughter every time, and end up fake coughing to over compensate or something.

We also did some novelty folk dancing when our audio guide played historical music, I couldn’t tell if the same guard was worried, confused or shocked, but amused she definitely wasn’t.

I came outside, found my bike, only to realise the white layer on my saddle was snow! The ride home was freezing and very wet. At least four months of that, I’m told. Suddenly the U-Bahn sounds like a good idea again.

The South

2007-11-08T23:59:00.000Z

I spent the last few days in the southern German city of Stuttgart, visiting a very dear friend from university. You can’t overstate the difference between Berlin and the south. Traditionally conservative, richer, and with a variety of funny accents – the southern states are the old, kindly aunt in pearls to the rebellious dreadlocked student that is Berlin. I found myself searching for graffitied walls, or a drunk on the street corner, or Russian musicians on the S-Bahn – but to no avail.

But I’m back now, and ready to hit the ground running, or should I say DANCING! It’s hip hop class this evening again, oh yes!

Trains Trump Planes

2007-11-04T22:54:00.000Z

I've tried to keep my eyes open here in Berlin, on how messages about climate change are being brought to the public, and how they differ to the UK. And I have to say, credit to the Germans - watch this brilliant little ad (in English), and see what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTLO2F_ERY

Feeling inspired, I bought my sleeper train ticket to London yesterday, meaning that I shall arrive in the brand-spanking new St Pancreas International station in style, rather than prodded like cattle off a cramped EasyJet flight in Essex somewhere.

Trains are the way forward my friends! Because let's face it, as one of my favourite new websites says,

'Planes are for pussies!'

www.loco2.co.uk

Fight the Power - Express Yourself!

2007-11-02T00:24:00.000Z

Today I had one of my top moments in Berlin so far - seriously, I felt like I'd reached what I've been looking for.

Walking from the U-Bahn station in Kreuzberg I followed the instructions, finding the gate in the wall, going past the bikes on the left and into the courtyard. It was totally dark, except for some lights on the first floor...

I got there, ready for the class to begin - oh yes, this was Hip Hop Dance!

There were six of us, mostly anglophones, and I shaked my groovething!! It felt so good to move, and because the windows were open on to the street, we looked like some kind of class from Fame.

Yippee!

Trick or Treat?

2007-10-31T22:10:00.000Z

The following tickled me immensely today.

Hurry! Closing Down Sale! Up to 70% Off!

Then, at the bottom of the window – and painstakingly updated every day,

64 Days To Go!

Who says these Germans don’t enjoy a good laugh!

Elsewhere, as I was walking to pick up my newly acquired ‘Complete Works Of Shakespeare’ (20 euros - bargain!) I met a variety of monsters, ghouls and witches – all not very much taller than my knee.

The difference between trick or treating here and back home is that here, anywhere with a door is game. You aren’t confined to neighbours and acquaintances, but you can go to shops as well! I witnessed many a shoe shop being stormed by a walking pumpkin.

I feel for the owner of a sweetshop – he must be losing all profit made over the last month by being forced to give so much away.

Unless, and this would be so fitting for a country where shops seem to open when they feel like it, he closed early.

Ha Ha Ha's and Starbucks

2007-10-30T23:46:00.000Z

Today was a day of learning.

1 - Walking around Friedrichshein for half an hour does not mean that you will find the exact flavour of Häagen-Dazs that you are looking for.

2 - Louis XIV of France had all his teeth pulled out aged 23 (and lived to be 72) - according to my animated seminar tutor.

3 - I can be vaguely amusing in the German language! Hooray! When the very same seminar tutor discussed existentialism, (all of this, by the way, in a class on women in the middle ages - of which there was no mention) he proposed the possibility of there being a ghost in the room (of the friendly variety, named Casper). I promptly mentioned my name - and minor hilarity ensued.

4 – Your favourite radio DJ writing on your Facebook wall telling you he loves you is a really, really great feeling.

5 - Angela, my newly made friend, who works in Starbucks, will give you a bigger sized Chai Latte than you pay for - if you compliment her enough.

She does look young for her age, you see.

Woof

2007-10-29T00:00:00.000Z

It is sometimes said that their Berliners love their dogs as much as, if not more than, their children. Indeed, aside from the Prenzlauer Berg baby-factory, it is fair to say that the canine family is fairly dominant here. Not only are they man’s best friend, but also their therapist (having in-depth conversations with them is not uncommon in the park opposite my street) and of course they make invaluable Saturday morning power-walk partners.

Fine.

But why on earth do they let dogs on trains?! I spent the entire six hours on the train back from Holland in constant fear of the Labrador under the seat in front of me, so much so that I put my shoes on the luggage rack above my head, having had previous experience with munched moleskins. Added to this, on the way there, not only did our carriage have an aisle-blocking wolf-hound to contend with, but the same young woman to whom the thing belonged also had a baby in a shoulder sling and an oversized rucksack in tow. Not that her luggage or offspring aggravated me personally, but I did wonder how she did it all, really.

Plague, Cholera, Mainstream

2007-10-26T01:59:00.000+01:00

Every true Berliner I meet seems to be one of three things.

A DJ/Student deep into their twenties, a multi-media artist (specialising in nude pottery) who also sings opera, or a writer who funds their rap-poetry with a web-cam glamour modelling job.

A foreign exchange student seems positively tame in this city, where individualism is god. Unless of course your own unique tastes include a positive attitude towards 'mainstream' culture. So much is that word despised here, that on the U-Bahn today, Motor FM (a leading indie-rock radio station) decorated every carriage with 100's of 'do not disturb' style door hangers with the words - 'Pest, Cholera, Mainstream', literally meaning - Plague, Cholera, Mainstream.

I had been warned of this cultural attack by a new friend who works for the station, explaining that the campaign was launching precisely on the day that staff at the overground trains, the S-Bahn, were striking - meaning that the usually spacious carriages underground, felt very much like my old morning commute from Tooting Bec to Moorgate. I hope the old ladies, weren’t too bewildered.

Mind you, they’re probably creating post-minimal techno in their living room.

Knuckling the desks - a German lecture

2007-10-23T16:16:00.000+01:00

The first time it happened I thought it was some kind of small earthquake, or at least a student revolution - as at the end of a lecture everyone wraps their knuckles violently onto the desk. I'm still working out if its a form of thanks, or that everyone has lost their pencils and is simultaneously looking for them.

This is just one of the many exciting encounters I had today, as this week is the first week of lectures. Seminar sizes are at least 30, and most of the students seem to be grey/balding/sitting at the front and commenting on every three words the professor says.

I nodded off, twice during the ‘City Planning in Medieval Europe’ lecture, while the only thing that kept me awake during the ‘Aliens in Literature and Science’ seminar (which I ended up in because I thought it was something else) was because I practiced my autograph 300 times.

The one class I take outside the Technical University is 'Art and Architecture in Renaissance Italy' where I feel at home amongst all the other non-engineers. I take pleasure in noting that I am no longer wearing the skinniest jeans and am decidly mainstream once more.

No melting

2007-10-22T23:36:00.000+01:00

It is getting bitterly cold in Berlin.

I've bought myself a very manly winter coat, and I'm beginning to think I might need gloves too...

Its the kind of cold which makes you dig your chin into your scarf, and stick your hands deep into your pockets, hoping that the biting wind won't find you there. The wind has much more of a free reign in Berlin than it does in, say London, and I think its because of the wide streets. On the Karl Marx Allee, for example, which runs two minutes away from my front door, and leads on to what used to be called the Stalin Allee, there are no obstacles at all. The wind speeds up like the bicycles which scare the tourists on pedestrian crossings. This enormous street was built for the Soviet parades, but now is lined with trees turning brown and off-white mercedes taxis rushing past me.

I like the cold, though. It makes walking into a local cafe even more cosy, and the hot chocolate with sahne (whipped cream) even more tasty. They say it gets even too cold for snow. Is that possible? All I know is that it was chilly enough for me to walk home with my Ben & Jerry's ice cream to watch the best movie of all time 'You've Got Mail', without it melting.

Yummy.

Meet Nicolas

2007-10-14T13:49:00.000+01:00

Berlin is full of unexpected pleasures.

Today, as everything else closes (as things should!) on Sunday, many Berliners head off to the Flohmarkts which are dotted around the city. Having heard that those wanting bikes should head of to Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg, I dutifully met up with an American friend to browse. Perhaps its because I overspent at Ikea yesterday or want my entire life to look like some kind of Patek Phillipe advert, that the 4th/5th-hand (or more likely stolen) old pieces of tat selling way beyond their worth, just didn't cut it with me.

No worries, I thought. I'll get one in Holland. I met up with a fellow Erasmus student from France a little later, who happened to tell me about her salt and pepper pots named Segolene and Nicolas (obviously named during the election fever in France earlier this year). We were walking towards Kastanienallee, one of the main thoroughfares, and took a random wrong turn. Two minutes later, we walk past 'De Fietsfabriek' - which means 'The Bike Factory' in Dutch. Now that is serindipity.

Needless to say, 20 minutes later I was walking away with the best used bike in the world, and feeling like a King. A Dutchman isn't complete without his bike...

Its only fair that his name is Nicolas - he's a winner, you see.

Panini Heaven

2007-10-10T21:50:00.000+01:00

I've moved in! Already I feel very much at home, which is great. The one joy of living abroad is that I don't have the endless titbits and random belongings which clutter my room most of the time! However, one trip to Ikea can't do any harm...

This afternoon I went for a long walk around my 'kiez' which is the German word for your 'hood' but in the non-ghetto sense... The area of Friedrichshein is in the east of the city - and where I am is pretty residential, nearly quiet. However, once I get my bike (to send over from England? to buy in Holland in 2 weeks time? to buy in a fleamarket? oh the questions!) I will be 10-15 minutes from the best places in Berlin - I can't wait!

The area where I spent the afternoon is called Prenzlauer Berg - with the highest percentage of babies in the whole of Germany. Love it. Best panini ever - seriously, I'm not missing UK food and prices....

Elke, whose room I am now living in, told me this evening that there is a German saying that you should pay careful attention to what you dream on the first night in a new house - so I shall hope the dreams are good!

Bis bald!

First Few Days In Berlin

2007-10-06T22:48:00.000+01:00

Berlin is absolutely amazing - I am constantly questioning whether I
am cool enough to live here. Unless you're dressed up as a pirate,
into 'minimal techno' or create conceptual art, it seems that you are
abnormal here.

So far my favourite thing about Berlin is the the fact that everyone
shouts 'fuck the police', yet they all politely wait to cross the
road until the traffic lights are green. Me being a general busy-body,
I always cross as soon as the traffic is clear, drawing general looks
of shock and disgust from elderly ladies and green-haired punks alike.

What I'm loving - mandel hoernchen (marzipan-filled pastry in the shape of a horse-shoe, and dipped in chocolate), finding a beautiful room with views over the centre of berlin and a roof terrace, staying with wonderful friends until I move to my place on Wednesday

What I'm not loving - my macbook's battery deciding it wants to end its life and german bureaucracy

My address is Auerstrasse 18, 10249, Berlin - for those inspired to write postcards!

Bis bald!

Casper

Berlin

2007-07-08T22:08:00.001+01:00

I'm hoping that my year abroad in the city of Berlin will give me many experiences which I will want to share with someone else except my local cafe owner there - so hence the reason for this blog! Here's to new excitement!

Warwick Experiences

2007-07-08T21:33:00.000+01:00

I've only recently realised how final some goodbye's were at the end of my second year, this year.

When I return from Berlin so many of my friends will graduate and move on, which means that our time together in the university experience has now passed. How quickly it all seems to have gone. I refuse to see it as something negative, however, but rather that I am so thankful for all the wonderful times I have shared.

This year I was lucky enough to be an Orientation Week helper, where I really felt I was in my element! So many cultures, nervous faces, and often situations just needed a friendly face and a joke or two. One night the Iroko Tree Theatre Company, (http://www.irokotheatre.org.uk/) played and I reached some sort of semi-trance - it was beautiful. I danced to those drums for 3/4 hours straight, and at the end I nearly fainted! There was just nothing left in me! Amazing.

One World Week (www.oneworldweek.net) introduced me to really hard work which I wanted to do, a strong team, being able to utterly trust someone and the incredible feeling of seeing a project through to completion. As always with these things, what I will take away most from it are the wonderful personal relationships - working and friendships - which I developed. Defintely a life-time memory.

I am so lucky to be surrounded my friends, but there are some who really stand out and make you fall asleep with a smile when you think of them. Thank you for those.

My actual degree seemed to be very much a secondary committment for a long while, only once the Easter holidays came round could I rediscover why I love studying History and Sociology so much! I enjoyed revision and the long essays, to the point that when it was over, I was quite sad!

Revelation Rock Gospel Choir (www.rev.org.uk) has enabled me to release all the stress and emotions through singing every week with a group of people who I hardly knew, but still loved for their kindness and generosity - from which I have much to learn. I strongly feel that this group has led me on a whole new journey. I wonder where it shall lead.