auf wiedersehen!

So my dear friends, it is time for me to fly away from the land of beer and sausage, and make my way back to NYC! Of course, first I will spend 3 glorious days in England with my Ginny no doubt giggling and being silly as always :) I am both sad and excited as i leave here today. Sad to leave of course, and there is always the feeling that you didn't quite do everything that you wanted to do. Excited because I have learned a lot (about Berlin, Europe, and myself) and hope to allow this experience to affect my life back home. This blog was actually very important to me while I was here. It made me happy to feel like i was communicating with you all, and that even though I am far away, there are still people who care :) So, some parting thoughts, feelings, ramblings before i go........

-- I highly recommend Berlin as a city that you must see at some point in your life! The history here is astonishing, you could spend an entire day in just one museum or memorial and still not see it all. The architecture is incredibly diverse ranging from 13th century churches, to Nazi and Socialist era bleakness, to modern sleek glass structures. Of course, scattered around are remains of buildings that were bombed in the war, as well as tons of more modern buildings that are just empty, waiting to be rented. (Probably we should all buy real estate here while it's cheap! No doubt it will take off one day!) The thought that was continually on my mind as I wandered around here, was that so much of what happened here in Berlin happened within the last hundred years! Some of it happened while we were alive, and still life goes on here. Berlin is changing for sure! One gets the feeling that the Berlin you see right now is a fleeting thing. In 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, it will be a whole different place.
--Not just culturally, but also socially is Berlin such an intriguing place. Of course you can party any day of the week, and there is always something going on. Also, just the everyday way that you notice people behaving. Friends meeting for coffee and stying for hours, chatting and laughing. Nobody seems to be in a rush, and honestly, nobody looks stressed out or uptight. Everyone seems to just go with the flow. Of course, I'm sure this is not always the case, it's just what i noticed.
--In my conversations with dancers and other artists here, I have come to really be envious of their lifestyle here. In Europe it is possible to make a living purely pursuing your craft. None of the dancers I met had other jobs. Dancing was their job. Dancing was their work. Sure they don't make so much money, but also, they pay the equivalent of $350 a month to live in a 3 room apartment in the center of town, including everything with a balcony and new appliances. For those of you paying NYC rent, that is astounding! And they all have health insurance. Enough said.
--I really recommend, if you are visiting another country even for a short period of time, that you learn a bit of the language. It really opens so many doors for you! You feel not so afraid to enter a shop or bar, or to ask a question. It also allows you to speak with the local people and get some information that maybe a guide book would not provide you with. It is also interesting (at least to me) to notice the different colloquialisms that are used. You get a sense also of the rhythm of life here by listening to the language.
--Getting hit on at a nude beach is a very interesting experience.
--If there is a German Bakery anywhere near you, run, don't walk there and get some brotchen (rolls) or other pastries.
--If you look like you know what you are doing, people will approach you and ask you questions...mainly "how do I get to......?" If you are lucky, you might even be able to help them :) Also, if you speak to someone in German, they will assume that you know the language and talk very fast to you, prompting the embarrassing "Sprechen sie langsamer bitte. Ich spreche deutsch nicht sehr gut!" (Please speak slower, i don't speak German very well.)
--You can learn a lot from watching episodes of Baywatch and Dharma and Greg in German. Oh that crazy Hasselhof!
--It is so important to get out of the touristy areas when you are vising a place, and to explore a bit where the locals live, and how the locals do things. I think that it really begins to breed tolerance and acceptance of other cultures.
--Americans are loud (me included)

Ok, so there are many more things to say, but I will tell most of you in person when I see you!!!
Thanks for reading my blog.

Schon Tag!
Tschuss!
Jen

Fancy Meeting You Here!

As we all come to realize at some point in our lives, the world is a very small place. The circles we run in are rather intimate, and you never know what person from your past, or present will show up at any random place. So was the case last night for me! I went to go see a dance performance which was a collaboration between Lucky Trimmer in Berlin and Dance Off in NYC (some of you might know them). Even though some of the dancers were from NYC, I wasn't expecting to know anyone. However, upon reading the program I came across a familiar name.....Erin. Erin and I used to work together at Chelsea Movements and she now dances with Doug Varone. So I was very happy to see a familiar face after being among strangers for a month! The show was great, a bunch of short sketches in the dance-theatre genre. The performers for the most part were very committed and the work was pretty inspiring.
After the show, I met up with Erin, and spent a few hours talking to her and a few of the other performers. It makes me a little bit embarrassed to be a dancer in NYC and not know any of the other dancers from NYC, but so it goes. There is time. Then a bunch of us moved on to a gay bar nearby called Sharon Stonewall. Yes, it is a tribute to the Stonewall bar in NYC, and it is very pink inside. So I spent the rest of the night talking to gay men from NYC.....just like back home. We all agreed that we would move here in a heartbeat! There was one very cute young man from Bavaria whom I was talking with for awhile. He was the epitome of what I think a man from Bavaria looks like, sounds like, and acts like. He was great and telling me all about his favorite Bavarian foods (Blue Sausage--sausage cooked in vinegar with dumplings in a brown sauce) and about the natural springs in his village that many people come to for rest, rejuvenation, and healing. So now I want to go to Bavaria! Next time :) I left the bar pretty late/early and miraculously found a bus that was going where I wanted it to. So a fun night out with unexpected old friends and hopefully many new ones :)

Strandbad Muggelsee

In other words, I went to the lake today. A short S-Bahn ride from my apartment, and an even shorter tram ride from there (well, it would have been short if I hadn't gotten lost and gone the wrong, way on the tram!) brought me to the Muggelsee. It is still technically in Berlin and therefore was included in the month long train ticket that I have. Woo Hoo! It is a huge lake and on the northern end of it are a few public beaches. There is a nice family beach and about 300 meters away, a nice nude beach. Guess where I went? That's right my friends, my first real live experience with a completely nude beach! Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've seen naked men playing volleyball! I tried to laugh only on the inside. Everyone was totally comfortable, sprawled on their chairs or blankets. Naked people eating apples, naked people reading books, naked people sitting on public park benches (this seems just a tad unsanitary to me...no?) As I imagine all nude beaches to be (except on South Beach) the majority of the people there were old men. By the looks of it, everyone at the beach was a regular, judging purely by lack of tan lines. I was a little embarrassed by mine. Nothing says nude beach virgin like a white ass! It was a very relaxing and freeing day. I even swam in the lake, which was cold, but refreshing. The lake looks brown, but when you put the water in your hands, it is crystal clear. Probably not the purest lake in Germany, but for being that near to Berlin, I think it was pretty OK. Best thing.....no tourists! Just me, and a bunch of old naked people. OK and some young cute gay men. maybe I'll go back tomorrow and see what the weekend crowd is like :)

This and That

The last few days have been particularly lazy ones for me. I think I am feeling settled and comfortable. However, that doesn't mean that I haven't been having fun ;) I wandered around last Sunday with no plan in my head. I encountered some street musicians in Prenzlauerberg who were so great! They had a bunch of different instruments and were switching off whenever they felt like it. One man was also singing. It was a kind of jazz-reggae if you can imagine that. They were playing at the foot of the Mauer Park (Wall Park) which, as it's name states, is encircled by a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. It's incredible to me how normal life goes on around this incredibly powerful symbol. People are picnicing, swinging on the swings, making out with their partners, while behind them is this amazingly grafittied wall. Then I wandered along by the river Spree until I came to the Nikolai-Viertel, which is an area with lots of cobblestone streets, churches, shops, and tourists. However, it was quiet and beautiful and I enjoyed winding my way through it. I ended up in the Lust garden, which sounds kinky but is not. It's merely a large grassy area in front of the Berliner Dom. On that day there happened to be a live African band playing, so i crashed there for awhile. The band was great, and they played until the bells of the Dom started ringing. The bells here ring for about 20 mins around 6:30 or 7, calling us all to worship. I finished the night with a dinner of Spatzli at a place in Kreuzberg. Sehr lecker (very tasty) and cheap. I walked home along the Kanal totally satisfied with my relaxing day.
Monday night I went to a jazz club in Mitte called A-Trane. The house band plays every Monday (free entrance!) and they are great! I reserved a seat thank God because the place got packed. The trio is called Andreas Schmidt and friends (Piano, bass, drums) and they had 2 guests with them, a saxaphonist and my personal favorite, a vocalist. This vocalist did some amazing German freestyle!! I understood only a little bit, but he was a great performer, and the crowd was laughing a lot. I have a mini crush on him now.
Yesterday after class i had another marathon lunch/coffee/beer session with my new friend Elly and 2 of her friends Daniel, and Katya. They are all dancers by profession, and very nice to talk to. It makes me really want to be a dancer here!
Finally today! There was a freak hailstorm, just long enough to completely drench me as I walked to class. Luckily, a kind soul let me borrow her pants so that I didn't have to dance in wet clothes! Now it is bright and sunny, and in a few hours I will go to another jazz club for a jam session. For some reason, jazz music seems to be incredibly appropriate to how I'm feeling on this trip.

Shopping

As most of you know, I'm not really a big shopper. I don't generally enjoy it, mainly because I can never find anything that I want. Oh yeah, and because I never have any money. I've got to say though, yesterday it was my favorite thing ever!
I went shopping in Kreuzberg, which is essentially split up into two parts. One part, where I am staying, is a little grittier, tons of places to go out at night, lots of punks with tattoos, a little more non-conformist, and the shops reflect it. The other part is a bit hipper, trendier, for lack of a better word, cleaner. It's kind of like Williamsburg (New York :)) but not nearly as annoying or filled with hipsters. Or at least, Berlin hipsters don't annoy me as much as NYC ones. I had a blast shopping in both parts.
The main reason that i like shopping in these areas is the predominance of Second hand Stores!!!!! There are so many here and they are good quality (although the prices do reflect this) Also, you can get lederhosen and other traditional German costumes. Becca, I thought of you in one of the dresses I saw! The other stores were the usual mix of interesting knick knacks, music (lots of independent music stores! Not a Virgin Megastore in sight!), books, and Berlin Designers. In some of those designer stores, I wanted to buy everything! Luckily for my credit card, i did not. I had a hard time convincing myself that who you are is more important then what you have! Doesn't sound like me huh? I've got to say though, I really enjoy the European fashions more then American ones. I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems much more like me. Also, when I entered a small shop, I didn't feel like the owner was judging me. They didn't come and hover over me and ask if I needed help, they just let me browse.
I think this blog is not necessarily conveying how happy I was yesterday during my 5 hour shopping stint. The streets were so cute, everyone was sitting outside in cafes eating and drinking. It was the complete experience that I enjoyed, not just the actual shopping part. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that I am going again today! I'm going to a different area of town called Prenzlauerberg which is also meant to have some killer second hand shops, and some typical Berlin designs. I'm trying to get a sense of what is available before I start buying too much! I went last Sunday to a great flea market in this area, and think I will go back tomorrow to get some of the things I have been thinking about all week! This concludes the awesomely superficial part of my trip! I love Chocolate Muesli!

new friends

After I took class yesterday, I was hanging out in the courtyard with a few of the dancers, just chatting. One of the girls, Ellie, and I decided to go for a coffee.....4 hours later we decided to go for dinner........4 hours later we decided it was time to go home! We talked about everything from the dance scenes in NYC and Germany, to her experience with Buddhism, to Gyrotonic, to Slovania, to Japan, to contact improv. It was exactly the kind of experience that I wanted to have while I'm here in Germany! Getting to know a complete stranger over coffee and wasting the entire day talking! Life is good!

Nightlife

It's taken me a little while, but I've finally ventured out into the Berlin nightlife scene. It was a bit overwhelming at first because there are SO MANY places to go and going out alone in a strange city is scary at first. I started easy, going out to get some food the other night in my neighborhood. Only a five minute walk from my house is a very happening street called oranienstrasse. Tons of restaurants, bars, shops, clubs, etc. I ended up at the place where the Doner Kebap was born, a restaurant called Hasir. It was very crowded and I was siting outside at a huge table by myself. Naturally, a man who was also by himself asked if he could share my table. We ended up talking for a few hours through dinner and a few beers afterwards! I have unfortunately forgotten his name, as per usual, but he was a really cool 38 year old from Frankfurt. He was in town on business and had decided to ditch his friends and come to Kreuzberg (my neighborhood) for dinner. We spoke in English which allowed us to have a significantly more intellectual conversation then if we had spoken in German. We talked about war and world politics, about travel and music. His parents are Iranian so we talked a bit about life there (even though he was born in Germany). He loves Berlin and told me a few places that I have to go to. It was so easy to talk to him! He was so friendly and interesting, quickly mentioning that he had a girlfriend, so I didn't feel as if he was hitting on me. We ended the night with a friendly hug and went our seperate ways. One interesting fact that I learned from him is that they call Frankfurt "Main Hattan" because their river there is the Main, and it is the only city in Germany that has skyscrapers...just like Manhattan , cool.
The next night I went also to a club nearby to get a ticket to see CocoRosie ( I know, they are American, but I have missed all of their shows in NYC, and thought they would be significantly weird enough to see in Berlin, I was right :)) The early show was sold out, but they had added a midnight show, so I got a ticket for that. I talked to a guy in line, a very tall, very cute guy. So then I had about 4 hours to kill before the show! My first stop was to a kiosk to buy a beer and drink it in the street. Well, I actually walked to the river Spree which was a block away and sat on a wall to drink it. My view from there was across the river to the Eastside Gallery, which is a long stretch of the Berlin Wall that remains intact. Artists and other locals have grafittied pictures and words all over the wall. Needless to say it is a pretty amazing sight. I was struck by how small the wall looked (it's only like 10 feet or so). I could clearly see the city behind the wall, and it was so hard to imagine that that concrete wall affected the lives of so many people!
When i had finished my beer, I went in search of another bar. I found a punk bar called Franken again on Oranienstrasse. Sweet! I was sitting alone for mere moments when i struck up a conversation with a guy who was buying shots next to me. I joined him and his friend at a table outside. They were two Swedish guys in their early 20's who had come to Berlin to hang for a few days. They so reminded me of Ginny and I when we were 21 and travelling through Europe together :) I realized then that I am such a different person and in such a different place then i was back then (thank god!) They were fun though and gave me the name of the club where they were going that night to see some local punk bands. I will have to check it out one night! After they left , the two girls sharing our table started talking to me. They were Germans, and were laughing a little at the 2 young Swedish boys (and probably at me too, having loud conversations in English!) They are both students, late 20's, recent implants to Berlin from Heidelberg. We had a lot of fun talking and they invited me out tomorrow night to an after work Rock club that is in an U-bahn station, cool.
My last stop that night was of course, the concert. I didn't talk to anyone there, I was just drinking in the scene. I've got to say that German concert goers seem to be much better behaved then Americans. At least in this case. CocoRosie were great, and the venue was small and intimate. I caught the night bus home, and even though it was 2am on a Monday night, the streets were still packed with people. Gotta love it!