Dr Pong

No - that wasn't the nickname I received from my classmates after forgetting my deodorant on the first day of school!

It is the name of a very cool bar in Prenzlauerberg (a cool suburb of Berlin) that Chris van Tuinen had told me about after his last visit to Berlin. My classmates and I went there to celebrate our last class together.

The decor is a cross between abandoned warehouse and friends garage and you could walk past there for two months and never know it was there (In fact Paula from class did just that - she had lived DIRECTLY opposite the bar and didn't know it was there.

The first thing you see when you tentatively open the door, wondering if this is the right place, is the competition table tennis table. When we arrived there were around 30 people circling the table, beer in one hand, bat in the other, taking it in turns to hit the ball. When you miss a shot you sit on the sides, or go into the other room where there are some couches and a small bar. When the final 2 people are left at the table they play a proper game of table tennis (first to five) and then when this game is decided the loser taps their bat on the table and everyone jumps up to do it all again.

Pleasantly, despite the amount of beer in my system (or perhaps because of it), I managed to finish in the top 4 or 5 most times. I made the final 2 a few times and I even won one game. Here is a photo of me celebrating with my friend Nick from class...


The only downside to an unventilated room full of mainly men sweating it out around a table tennis table made me marvel at the double meaning to the bar's name.

This was the first time I had seen a bar like this and we all had a fantastic time.

The night after Dr Pong, I was walking home after having a quite dinner and when I was almost at my front door noticed a bar accross the road that I had never seen open before. I was going to walk past and head to bed until I spied through the window...............A TABLE TENNIS TABLE!!!

So, in I headed, swapped my drivers licence for a bat and played up a storm while chatting with locals.

It was the perfect way to spend my last night (for now) in Berlin.

Ich liebe Berlin

I was having lunch at the small cafe across the road from the Goethe Institute where I am studying and noticed the following...


if you're eyesight is on the downward slide here is a closer shot...


Thats right - for the last 3 weeks there has been a clothes line running from the top of a street sign to a power pole!

I can't stop thinking about this clothes line! Who put it there? How long has it been there? Why is this person interested only in having dry socks? Is someone wandering around in wet undies, too embarrassed to hang them on the line?

I fear that I am destined to see out my days never finding the answers to these important questions!

On another note - Tonight (as many other nights since I've been here) I have enjoyed a dinner of fabulous ingredients cobbled together from my local deli. I throw it together, sit on my balcony with a beer purchased at the newsagent (YES - you can by beer in the newsagents here!). Tomato, Cheese, Amazing Salami, Olives, Gurkins, and great German Bread!



Not long till I leave Berlin - 2 more days of class and then perhaps some celebratory beverages as I say aufwiedersehn to my newly made friends.

Then - on to Köln and Chapter 2 of my German adventure.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

Just in case you didn't get the reference.......here are a few of my favorite things in my apartment


The first thing to greet me as I entered my apartment in Berlin was not this Chicken, it was a man by the name of Stephan Hann. I am staying in his apartment with him. He is a fashion designer/artist that makes clothes out of paper and other salvaged materials - Click here for some examples of his work . He is very nice and extremely interesting but also leaves me to my own devises most of the time which is great. He is also a bit of a neat freak and insists that I dry the tiles and bath after every shower I take - For me that really takes some getting used to!

This chicken was in fact the second thing to great me....it did give me quite the greeting though!




This is the freundlich little fellow that greets me every morning and reminds me to dry the above mentioned shower (he does tend to mumble though so sometimes I have to say "noch einmal bitte?" to which he repeats his request a bit more clearly.


When I was deciding which shower gel to purchase I went down to my little local supermarket (which is a bit like a Priceline with some food thrown in) and wandered the isles wondering which one I should buy until I saw this one...



Unfortunately it is yet to deliver on the "happy time" I had in mind! - I'm thinking of writing a strongly worded letter to Nivia pointing out their failure to deliver on said "happy time". But it will have to wait as my German Teacher says that we won't be covering contract law until week 4.

The final photo is of an old friend.....



Yep, I know its hard to imagine but there amongst the assorted figurines...... good old JC. I had no idea they had him in Europe too! The magic of the Internet - who would have imagined ten years ago that we would now live in a world so liberated of traditional cultural and language barriers that this little man would come to be known all the way over here in Germany. I'm yet to travel to Italy but I wouldn't be surprised if they have heard of him there too!

Action Packed weeked 2

This weekend started with a bang when we went to see Salome at the Berlin Staatsoper and I have my first experience of being in a audience that has booed a performance. Immediately after the final chord there were a few people that booed however these few were quickly drowned out by a chorus of Enthusiastic whistles and bravos. The main boos (from I would guess 1/3 of the full house) were reserved to the Lady playing the role of Herodias. I did think she was pretty average but I felt really bad for her, I'm guessing she didn't feel to crash hot about it either as she didn't come out with the rest of the cast for the second curtain call. I thought in general that the production and all of the singing (with the exception of Betty Boo) was fantastic though.

After the culture came some culture-shock. My new friends from school and I went to a club/bar called White Trash Fast Food. It is a really cool bar in an old Chinese restaurant. Upstairs they were playing everything from Run DMC and Salt n Pepper to Blink 182 and Greenday and had quite an eclectic mix of punters and healthy dance floor. Downstairs in the basement were a mass of sweaty long haired, black clad heavy metal enthusiasts doing their best to dislodge a vertebrae in their neck.

Sunday I met my one of my friends and we had some lunch and then went to this enormous flea market in a park next to one of the few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall. The market was huge and was like the Glebe markets and the camberwell markets got married and had seven children. CRAZY. It also has a few beer garden areas and while there we heard an Australian guy who performs on his own and uses only his voice and a slide trumpet. - He was quite amazing the weird things he could do with his voice. He would sing/hum/yodel/beat box a phrase and record it and play it on a loop. Then he'd layer heaps of other layers on top and eventually when the backing was all there would sing a song to it. Really cool.

On the way home my friend was feeling faint and we stopped for a rest. He looked really pale and just went I suggested he should sit on the ground he started to have a seizure. I helped him to the ground and then held his head so it didn't smack on the concrete and a passer by called an Ambulance. He eventually came around and the ambulance came and sorely tested my German medical vocab and my Charades skills and we went to the hospital. Turns out that this is the first time its happened to him - he's staying at the hospital overnight and maybe tomorrow so they can run test and make sure hes OK. When I left him he seemed back to his normal self albeit feeling worried and a bit sorry for himself. I will go and visit him tomorrow morning and take him an English magazine or two.

After that drama I went to the Komische Oper's performance of La Traviata (in German). I HATED it. There was some great singing but the production was the most nonsensical thing I have ever seen. I have seen it before, sung 2 small roles and been in the Chorus in two seasons and i still had trouble following what was going on. I thought I was in for a second booing session (One I would have been sorely tempted to join in on) but I was astonished that not one boo could be heard. What sort of topsy turvey town is this???

Now I'm home tucked into bed after doing a bit of homework for class tomorrow. I'm going to sleep much better than a baby tonight!

Its time to speak out!

Well - I've been here over a week and I can't maintain decorum or my silence any longer!

What the hell is going on with this toilet?????

Now - I had been warned that I may come across this type of Toilet whilst on my travels in Germany but I certainly didn't expect to have to use one for my first 27 Days here. I must also add that the warning did nothing to alleviate the alarm and discomfort that comes from have to go through the motions with this contraption.

For those of you how haven't yet had the misfortune, this is what is know colloquially as the German Poo Shelf Toilet. Instead of the business plopping down into the water like in conventional toilets, with the GPST, it sits there on the bone dry porcelain shelf, taunting your nose with its vicious insults, inches from your nether regions. On occasion, in a moment of distraction, you may happen to glance down.... BIG MISTAKE! What greets you is a sight that I cannot describe for fear of turning away readers after only my third post.

Now - after you've finished up and hit the flush, water rushes across the shelf (hopefully) carrying the filth with it down the hole. Thankfully I have not had the following experience but I have heard of people who live on the top floor not having enough pressure to banish the mess and having to resort to encouraging them along with a wad of toilet paper. There is also the problem of too much pressure and propelling Mr Turdie over the lip of the bowl and across the bathroom floor. I guess the second floor has the ideal water pressure for the GPST.

I have a feeling that this toilet was designed by a woman because (and this I only discovered AFTER my first use) if you pee standing up you are very likely to end up with significant amounts of what I will call "splashback". The only other option for standing is to have extremely good accuracy and aim straight down into the water. This is not only uncomfortable, and fraught with danger, but EXTREMELY loud. It was on my second visit that I noticed this sign:

I think that with the sale of each GPST they must give away one of these signs. I wonder why he doesn't have a neck...

The same man that gave me the heads up about these toilets also thought to pass on that it is possible to purchase special plastic utensils for rummaging around in your stools. Perhaps Germans swallow a lot of valuables? - I can just see them thinking "I can not corn eating remember!"

I find it hard to believe that it was not the allies first order of business to round up and destroy all GPSTs and save future generations years of misery - but then, i guess if they did, what the hell would I have written about today?

First weekend in Berlin

Well - I think I am in love with Berlin

Saturday night I went with some class mates to the Berlin Staatsoper (State Opera). We saw the final performance of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (The Masked Ball). If you are under 30 you can purchace tickets 30 minutes before each performance for 13 Euro. It was amazing. The Tenor, Piotr Beczala, singing the main role of Riccardo was stunning - his phrasing was beautiful and his top register was so exciting. The rest of the cast was great too- the Baritone sang well but his acting, unfortunatly, was a little overdone and one dimensional.

Before going to the opera I went and checked out the Pergamon Museum. It is worth the price of admission along to check out the Pergamon Alter - it gave me goosebumps when I saw it. It also houses a huge section of Islamic art and Greek and Roman art from up to 700BC.

Today I went to the Jüdiche Museum (Jewish Museum) which is housed in a very interesting building designed by Daniel Libeskind. The shape of the building is reminiscent of a deconstructed Star of David and houses many exhibits from all aspects of Jewish History. The holocaust section was particularly powerful but the three spaces which captivated me the most were the Holocaust Tower , the Shalechet (Fallen Leaves) and the Garden of Exile - Check out the link above for a description.

I am limping quite badly now due to my blister on my foot but i'm determined not to let it stop me. My bike should arrive on Tuesday so I can give my feet a little rest after that.

Berlin: First impressions

I have only been here for 3 day but I'm already going to join everyone else and say...."Ich Liebe Berlin!". The first think that struck me was just how many people ride bikes here (The second was how strange it is to see no one wearing helmets). My bike arrives in a few days and I think I will head to a quite area near home and practice riding on the wrong side of the road for a while before I unleash myself on the city - It has taken me four days to stop looking the wrong way as I step out to cross the road. I can't wait to get on the bike and start exploring the city properly.

Other things that I think are fabbo about this city (and Germany in general) are: The Sausage, the Bread, the Beer (you can pick up a case of 20 500ml bottles for 8 euro (16 aussie dollars) and its great beer too. Wine is also really cheap - A very drinkable bottle might set you back somewhere between 2 and 4 euros.......I think I've died and gone to heaven.

Tonight I stopped off at the supermarket on the way home from class and picked up a couple of beers, a loaf of georgous Schwarzbrot (black bread) and some cheese and sausage and I don't think there is much better than that combination for a ripper quick meal.

My brain is hurting after another full on class. I have skipped a level from the one I did last in Sydney so I'm feeling a little under the pump. I think its better to be like this than comfortable though. We were given a few hours worth of homework tonight so I'm going leave this post there and get cracking on it.

C

Tall people were not built to fly

After 23 hours on 3 planes I have finally arrived in Berlin. I was disappointed to note that on my flights we did not have individual screens. So, I had no choice but to sit through Inkheart, Bride Wars, New in Town and then..........Inkheart again! grrrrr oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention that I had to pay for alcoholic beverages on the first flight! grrrrrrr again

perhaps what was more annoying than the movie and booze situation was the fact that my legs didn't fit. Not only could I not straighten them, but I couldn't bring my legs up to form a right angle with my knees without inserting them well into the seat in front of me. And that was before he reclined! My poor pins were forced to spend the majority of the flight in a pergatory for legs as if waiting for their god to decide which way to send them. I have decided that I am not coming back to australia until I can afford Business class, or when I can feel my toes again, whichever comes first.

One pleasant and quite amusing aspect of the flight was the amount of cowboys on the flight who wore their cowboy hats the entire flight. There was also one gentleman (term used quite loosely) who was wearing a teddy bear hat. Now I know some of you are probably picturing a teddy bear attached to a hat, but you would be wrong. This man (who looked like Vin Diesel's younger, but no less scary, brother was wearing a teddy bear AS a hat. The teddy was lying on its stomach with its front legs hanging just in front of the guys ears and its head resting just above his forehead. I noticed him in the lounge before boarding and assumed he was goofing around. I am still not sure that he wasn't, but if he was, he was certainly very committed to the gag. I was also interested to observe that when he went to sleep on the plane he pulled little Ted forward a bit so that his paws were dangling in front of his eyes - Hat/sleep mask and toy for the kiddies all rolled into one - I gotta get me one!