(Berlin'risch for "Kinders", which in Real German is actually "Kinder" which in English is...."children"--not meant condescendingly, much more conspiratorially.)
I love aquariums. Not of the home variety...don't ask me why, but I'm not a fan. I love being in huge rooms just surrounded by even huger tanks of water full of fascinating creatures. It brings out the cancer in me, I think, being completely surrounded by water. I could lay down on a bench and sleep like a baby.
Good afternoon to you all.
I'd've loved to have posted sooner, but you know, I was kind of busy trying to get a year started. My sincere apologies. Really. I know you out there in the interweb have been hankering for my double conjunctions and rambliness (oh, and did I mention the made up words?).
I think I can say after about a month and a half, this year is off and running. 2009 had a tendency to beat me up and steal my lunch money, among other things. Twentyten is going to be better of course (aren't they always?) but I have an inkling that things will be just as challenging.
To save time and space and my wrists, I'm going to give you the quick and dirty version of all the silly whatnot, drama, wonder and beautiful scenery I've been bopping around in since we
last heard from eachother.
Let's rock.
1. The Karkonosze.
Looked something like this. This lovely chalet was apparently a best-kept secret among the nordic skiiers in Bedrichov. You could get delicious czech food for silly prices in a wonderfully dark, mountainy atmosphere. Of course, being the foodies we are, Stephan and I couldn't resist. He had pheasant with those dense czech dumplings and I had venison with a lovely mushroom sauce. We were out of there for under $20 and it was so delicious. It came close to rescuing the whole vacation for me. I'm not going to get into too much detail, but suffice to say there was
pouting, a few yelling matches, some bewilderment, a few grudges and I won't be going on vacation with another couple (or 2) any time soon. I could have lived long and happily not knowing all the things I know about that crowd now.
But such is life, right?
2. Ringing in the New Year
Technically this is cheating, because we did ring in the New Year in the Karkonosze with That Crowd, but we did it at this random village party that our landlady told us about. They'd transformed some huge old soviet-style community center (there were murals of virtuous workers on the walls) into a place for a mixer for everyone under 80 from the surrounding 5 villages. It was ridiculous. Stephan had rousing conversations with the youth about soccer (what else?) and I beat all comers at the foosball table. And there was a pink wig involved in which we were
all photographed at some point.
3. I'm training for a half marathon.
Unfortunately, Berlin is covered in a thick layer of ice and snow, which occasionally turns into a thick layer of slush and then refreezes. This makes training difficult and has kicked my otherwise titanium immune system in the proverbial junk. I seem to pick up whatever bacteria are floating around in my general vacinity and take them for a test drive. This makes training tricky. I've got a little less than 2 months to double my mileage. It's going to be tight, folks.
4. There was the Lange Nacht der Museen.
I love the Lange Nacht. It commeth twice a year and I plan these outings with military precision which cannot be found in any other area of my life at any other time. This year, stops included: the Berliner Zoo Aquarium, a fanastic fashion photography exhibit at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, the very mediocre Film and Television Museum, an interesting exhibit of cover-jacket and poster art in the Kunstbibliothek and a depressing amount of religious iconography in the Gemälde Galerie (which reminded me why I'd never been there before).
I love aquariums. Not of the home variety...don't ask me why, but I'm not a fan. I love being in huge rooms just surrounded by even huger tanks of water full of fascinating creatures. It brings out the cancer in me, I think, being completely surrounded by water. I could lay down on a bench and sleep like a baby. 5. Sickness.
We're a bit out of order here, because technically, I was out of commission for the week before the Lange Nacht, but it was wretched. Stomach flu with all the fixings. I'll spare you the details, but it was noteworthy. Fastforward to now, which is me skipping my morning classes today to drink tea, take a eukalyptus bath and bond with the european homeshopping channel. I figured I have to give a course tonight and instead of doing everything today in a crappy/mediocre fashion, I could cut out a few things and do something well. We'll see if it works. I just know I also have to make it through the rest of this week somehow. Vive la Chamomile!
6. Matthias/Ladies Night.
Now we're back to recent things...like last weekend. Although Stephan and I have what we like to call our "rockstar" lifestyle, it usually does not include partying like said rockstars. It mostly includes eating like them...or eating really well, since I suspect that many rockstars subsist on pizza and random pills. This weekend, Matthias was in Berlin. Matthias of Rostock fame, who now lives in Hamburg who hasn't visited us in quite a while. It was great, but it was a bit on the ginsoaked side. Somehow it always is when we get together. We watched Bond, which is always good, but on Saturday I was invited to partake in a Ladies Night. Which is also something I don't do often. It wasn't ginsoaked, it was proseccosoaked. Oh dear, oh dear. On the way from Nici's house to the club, I think we entertained the entire subway. Without flashing anyone, which is perhaps a testament to the raucousness of the evening. In hindsight, I'm still pretty sure we were hilarious. I'm not going to pretend that Frannz is the end-all, be-all of the Berliner club scene, but it was appropriate for the evening. And they played almost all of the music we pregamed to. Since when is that not a win?
Somehow I think coming home at 6am on Sunday has something to do with my sniffleiciousness. However, I'm not that old yet, damn it...and I don't do it that often.
So.
It's official. You're all caught up. Mostly. Now I have to get caught up. I've got class to teach this evening, and I've got to finish the planning and perhaps get out of my nest here and get some photocopies made. And I need some sage tea. I'm fresh out and when you're feeling sniffly, there's nothing like sage tea. Chamomile is close, but sage is better. Take my word. You've got to get past the taste but once you do, it'll do you a world of good.
Anyway, I hope you all on the other side of the pond have managed to dig youselves out of your various snowpocalypses and are back to going about business as usual. Stay healthy and remember...the days are already getting longer. Spring is coming. I swear!
This post was brought to you by HSE24, Chamomile tea and my fuzzy pink blanket.
