Schnee!

Yes the snow has arrived. It fell all day yesterday and I love it. The Kittens also arrived out of the fog on Wednesday so we have spent the last few days doing tourism. Lovely to see them as always and the Lili is as much fun as ever and spent much of the time saying 'aya`which means 'Where is the Elf ' I think. It is only 6 pm and the Elf has now gone to bed. These early mornings are really doing her in and I sympathize entirely. Might go myself soon but not before brewing up the first Glüwein of the season. Just sent F out for some bottles of red to complete the ritual. The Christmas Marketsstarted today. A good excuse to drink more wine and pretend I like these cold days. I have no idea how I will cope in January and February when it is -20. Time to stay in and tackle the next language I think. Thought about Japanese. I am definately devising tactics for holding off on the work for a couple more months. Once a week teaching yoga is just fine with me.

The second home

Arrived in London again on Thursday night and went straight out to the familiar Tandori Nights. Feels like I've never been away. Tis funny how you can so easily slip back into a previous life. It took me all of 20 mins. I am actually ( don't faint) here to work. A day of teaching with M. Lots of lovely people somewhere in the north of london and a day of yoga. Day flew by and and there were talks of doing similar workshops in Berlin and weekend spas in madrid and Israel. So this was the most work i have done in months and have returned To Berlin completely trashed. How does one keep up a job, a social life and have a family i wonder? Today the Kittens are supposed to be arriving from the Shire but we have just heard that there is fog everywhere so all flights are cancelled and they might get another one within the next 7 days. Oh Great! Their holiday was only going to be 5 days. So I am hugely disappointed and need to think up a good diversion tactic this evening for the Elf because she will be truly unhappy. This is the problem with these cheap flights that only go once a day. Any mishap and that's the end of your holiday. Oh well hopefully will see them at some time this week even if only for a night. Having recollected their bags they are now driving the hour and a half from Liverpool back home and will wait and see. What a pain!
Word of the day: Nebel......Fog

Calling is free!

Ok so this is a little gripe to all( well not ALL but most) of you lovely friends in the U.K. I have crossed water it is true. I am also living somewhere with a different language it is true. The ansaphone sounds strange it is true.....but I am not in Timbuktoo. Look phoning is free so we can talk for hours.

How it is.

Berlin

Langweilig sunday

Well the first friends have visited. Ap and Ia turned up on Thursday so I have been a very normal, happy creature and feel like everything here is a bit more real now. Someone has seen my new life and apparently it's not that bad so I feel I don't have to do that three year travel/runaway thing just yet. Staying here for a year or two is even perceived of as quite hip? So I am feeling much more like my old self but in the meantime this weekend I have completely lost all my German vocabulary. So, we went everywhere speaking English even though not everyone understood us and occasionally looked disapprovingly. There was much shopping done and Ap went home with a suitcase full of socks and a father Christmas type coat ( we loved it, but unfortunately Ia didn't). However he seemed quite happy to pay for it.
There is something here though that is really bugging me and today more than usual. Sundays are dull! I hate to sound materialistic but not one shop opens on a Sunday. Finding milk is a chore and the streets, subways are almost empty. I have never been very good at empty........Where does everyone go on Sundays? Are they all inside sleeping, cleaning, blogging? If someone knows please let me know....

Where am I going? To fill in the white spaces

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Fast is best

The weekend was full of seeing people with extraordinary talent. Friday night went to see a dance performanceAkram Khanat the Hebbel Theatre. This man can really move at speed. It was however a strange evening as the woman sitting next to us had, what seemed like, first night nerves. She must have been his mother for every movement on stage caused her to sigh and twitch and elbow my neighbour. At the end she stood up with mouth open, unable to clap or respond in any way. I am glad she enjoyed herself but i had to restrain myself from standing on her toes........
On Saturday went to see the WDR Big Band and Joe Zawinul Project. The highlight was definatelyAlex Acuna, another man with incredible speed. So I am now on a "speed" mission to find the fastest way to learn a language. Preferably by Christmas. I am at that really frustrating stage of losing English before having grasped German. I am unable to speak and have become fascinated with peoples' mouths. I am hovering in a floating world.....
After the gig went to a fabulous barThe Rum Trader. You can only find this place if in the company of one who knows. You ring the bell and Herr Scholl invites you ( perhaps?) into his very small bar. We are talking half the size of a Quadrangle flat here, for those of you who know. The bar holds about 15 people and Herr Scholl and friend ( Orton and Halliwell) whip up some fantastic cocktails and sing along to some opera and shlager. Thoroughly entertaining place not to be missed.
Word of the year: Schnell.

Time to travel...

Having just read sister blog Jazzsharking and done the map create your own visited countries map it is definately time to go get some more red. Mine is definately too white. I am off to travel. See you in a few years......

Thursday

Having spent the last couple of days at a decent language school with a good teacher I am well on the way to becoming fluent in the German language...........Not. The teacher, Detlef, looks and sounds a bit like Hugh Grant, with a German accent and I have begun to feel a bit sorry for him as he tries desperately to get anyone in our group to speak. Today I could stand it no more and shouted out all the answers, right or wrong, and I am now officially the class swot. Tomorrow I might even try standing on the table aswell. What can a girl do? From experience I know that there is nothing more demoralizing than a group of students looking at you as if you are the most boring teacher on the planet.
After class I was determined to try out my new phrase and went into the supermarket and asked if I could pay with my EC card. The woman at the checkout was convinced I wanted a special type of cheese even though I was waving my card in front of her face and she wouldn't let me leave without some Manchego? Since when has Manchego or Käse for that matter sounded like credit card? Finally it clicked ( for her....) Much hysterics and repetition of the word "Klar" followed and she finally allowed me to leave with some unwanted cheese and a headache. Is my accent really so bad or was she from Mars?
Home now and must do extra homework. Now in the difficult position of having to live up to my new image.
Word of the day:kauffrau