Discovering Berlin

Monday 27.02.12


Tacheleles - "Plain Talking" Free artistic activity 

- galleries
- cinema High End 54
- Smell of spray paint and ...pee... in some corners
- lots of young hipster tourists with cameras and hesitance

Tuesday 28.02.12

Victoria Park - Waterfall and monument ending Napoleon's crimes 

- getting off at Merringdamm
- walking through Kreuzberg remembering our favorite buildings, cafes, and restaurants
- constant search for a smaller lighter bag that will house only my wallet and make-up purse
- an alternative and no-pressure sex shop (just for gags)
- Sebastian's contemplations concerning a 28 euro ukulele, we'll have to pick one up in Hawaii next time babe
- Finally, a fresh walk through the park downhills & uphills until we reach the castle-like monument
- wait, where was Napolean defeated? Where did he die? Leipzig? I thought he was marooned and died there
- 8)

Knickelkopp Cafe - Kreuzberg Str.

- underground basement activity cafe
- it's like walking into a fairytale granny's kitchen...and some indie lady playing xx and radiohead
- her dog ELVIS sits on a comfy leather chair with a bright green blanket - pretending to be invisible to people walking by wanting to pet it...I bet he hates that, for respect of the dog...I didn't touch him :( Sebastian did though - he didn't look pleased
- HEISSE SCHOKOLADE und KAFFE mit MILCH und ZWEI STUCK of PIES
- A depressing game of android - pool
- I guess inadvertently, Sebastian bought the loser a raspberry candy and rubbed in my loss on the walk home...I tried many times to change the subject because I am a poor poor loser, he is so funny

Wednesday 29.02.12


TU Tennis with my boyfriend the tennis trainer


- fuzzy yellow balls
- confusion...why does my forehand suck all of a sudden?
- should we go back to the baseline?
- "for the last ten minutes I want you to attack the ball" "Let out all of your aggression"
- I was really motivated to not let you down..I'm sure my body will pay for it tomorrow morning :p

Grunewald Tennis 


- two cheap slices of pizza and a bottled coke
- Sebastian's job as a tennis instructorrrrrrrr
- me sitting in Grunewald's cafe with cappuccino and pommes...and a fork to compliment the pommes, un-eaten mayo and OOPS I forgot my pin number to my Deutsche Bank card. How embarrassing, the kellnerin was not happy with me
- Russian Disco, BERLIN Hotels & More
- I watched the last 30 minutes of Sebastian rounding up little kids for a "friendly" fussball match
- His team lost - karma buddy!

Elise & Sebastian

En route to Honolulu - my thoughts while in-flight

My first day back on paradise island - and I have no idea with this Holiday will surmount to, each step I take is unfamiliar, and at the same time it feels as if I never left. To me, the world becomes so parallel when I travel. 
Below are some thoughts that arose during my in flight - en route hours:

Best Regards

It is mystifying how one puts everything (or nothing at all) into the application process of seeking internships, jobs, scholarships – or things we want that require a certain “letter writing” format.

It’s funny how in this desperate day and age, when we’re all struggling to find jobs to sustain ourselves somehow we place emphasis on those academic taboos that make us nervous just as we are to send out that letter.

Best regards?

Sincerely?

Thank you for your attention?

Who are we trying to impress and what kinds of format-nazis are turning down our inquiries because sincerely is too emotional or too touchy for this kind of work?

At which point in our lives, does that kind of simple thing govern our quality of work?

Personally, I always liked best regards, and of course – sincerely, so as to not sound like a repetitive 

e-mailing, letter writing robot, I combined the two … I wonder if its invented…sincere regards

Serving Mai Tais over nothing

How many post baccalaureates are truly searching for jobs (not even careers) that never suit their interests? How many of them are biting into the media frenzy that 80% of 2011 college grads move home and remain jobless?

How many of them are:

Prostituting

Waiting

Sales Associates

Flight Attendants

Basically searching for JOBS rather than careers with plans?

Personally, its intimidating, I try not to pay too much attention to what the media says, so I walk around with this determined attitude in my Master’s program and search for resume boosting internships or jobs. I feel that the waitressing days are over- given, I am looking for one for now as I return to Honolulu for six weeks, to be realistic a six-week vacation in Hawaii is not the most ideal environment for an individual hoping to be employed in good faith.

So for now, I’ll settle for nearly anything- but even I face the dilemma or elephant in the room that says,

“Yeah Elise, you’re great – but you’re not innovative enough, inventive, or creative to make it out there.”

It’s surely intimidating to think of some of the entrepreneurial ventures I would like to undergo, but the only thing I see stopping me are mental blocks.

I’m hoping to overcome some of them while I am out here with everything in retrospect

Hawaii – Berlin - Hawaii

I'm going to try - Berlin

Actually, I'm not sure if it's about trying at all.

It seems as if I have skipped an entire semester's worth of blogging - which is a shame since so much has gone on since the first day of Berlin, which was my last post!

Shame, shame shame.

I guess it's because I sincerely did not make time for myself to blog my thoughts and experiences.

Sebastian and I considered this semester (which is coming to an end on Wednesday) a crash course into Berlin living, a study hard semester - little time for play, and tons of work and studying with Dresden trips and parental trips in between.

It's been a busy one indeed.

What I should have mentioned before is, I will be back to the homelands sooner than expected.

The original return was set for Summer, but due to mis-communication and what not.

I'll be arriving in Honolulu on the 29th of December. Yay, sort of.

I will deeply miss Sebastian, and the charming life we've been nurturing out here in Europe. The fairy tale never ends. Did you know, that some mornings he prepares my breakfast setting

- teacup and saucer

- dipping spoon

- black tea bag

- toast

- bowl with spoon for cereal and a plate to lay my toast

- and a butter knife

- and an extra cup in case I decide to have milk or juice with my tea

Yeah, it's like that - he's amazing

My stay in Hawaii will be fortunately AND unfortunately short - 6 weeks

I need to make money too! But who's gonna hire a girl when most jobs take ten days to train?!

So it's interhsips, mini jobs, old employers and side jobs to the rescue - I hope.

Do you know how sickening it is to craigslist positions?

It's hard to depict fake and phony.

To summarize, I would like to state that I will be writing more often come vacation time.

How radical of a change to leave winterrrrrrrBerlinnnnn for sunnyyyHonolulu.

Things will be put into perspective, no doubt. And I will take the opportunity to unwind and reflect.

Deep writing, maybe.

Goodnight!

Herbst intended, this should have gone up!

FYI: This blog SHOULD have gone up in the fall...I don't know why I didn't post it-but here it is


To the vast:

I'm in Berlin now, and have been for two months.
How's it going?
In an odd way, I like the bump and grind of the city below is a list:

- the convenience of the U-bahn (metro)

• Although I'm a little weary of the underground environment, I'd rather be below the surface than above. Most of the attacks take place underground (thank God it wasn't me, prayers are rad). On a weekly basis over morning radio Sebastian and I painfully hear about a man that has been killed by a group of men, a man that has been beaten up by a group of other men, and on one occasion, a man's smart phone stolen by a group of men-most of the assaults happen at night. I don't mean to be bias...and so skeptical but...when I'm underground, I am nervous around groups of men. 
• The traffic in Berlin is a headache, anyhow I'd rather be stuck in people traffic than automobile traffic. People traffic is OK, there are many exits from the underground, instinctively people gather themselves accordingly to get to wherever they need to go. 
• The walk to the U-bahn is stimulating. We leave the house at a time to give us exactly 30 minutes to get to point B. When we exit our door, we're walking between trees that are yellowing, thank you Autumn, and walk down a brick street. Most times, there's this old woman with a white poodle that looks like it hasn't had a bath in six months. Sometimes it's fetching after sticks broken off branches. Other times it's chasing it's green Frisbee. I would stop and pet it, make small talk, but it looks obsessed with it's current activity. 
• We walk down a long street and cross two intersections of morning traffic. Once crossed, we pass Kral Discount (our grocery store for rice, meat, and vegetables) sprinkled along the street are our Turkish friends and neighborhood dwellers taking kids to school, entering the U-bahn and buying things like: döner kebabs, croissants, donuts, and fresh fruits.
• We exit the neighborhood and enter the underground en route (if we're head for uni) to Ernst Reuter Platz.
• Courses are somewhat of a...unexpected occurrence to me. I had this idea in my mind that the university is some professional, on time (very German-HA!), serious lecture like experience. 
• Actually, the professors are always late, all with different excuses too:
• One dude has a kid that goes to school on opposite ends of Berlin
• Another one just got off the train from Amsterdam/Zurich/w/e..
• Another one isn't usually late, but for some reason misunderstood the timing of his lecture
• Another one is distracted by student complaints.
• The list goes on. Therefore, I sip my green tea a little bit slower in the morning and add lip stick before walking out the door...taking my time, in a way. What's my excuse? I need not one, the professor is usually later than me anyway!

On a nature note: It's Autumn! (Herbst if you're wondering if I'm learning anything)

I am profoundly grateful to be here at this time of the year. Hawaii has signs of season change, but obviously nothing dramatic like the rest of the world. Aside from being able to tell that the season has changed by additional clothing items people throw on, the TREES are changing fashion also. All summer I danced among trees with gigantic green leaves and thick branches, watched squirrels scatter up and down, and birds flourishing in flocks in and out. Now it's cold, perhaps the animals have fled or have begun their sleeping :) 

The leaves have turned yellow, it seemed like an overnight process, as if, one day summer was completely over. 

To the world: we pray about you all the time...love from us to you 

I'm in Berlin, trying.

We finally arrived in Berlin. All smiles here!
Because it is really cool, odd and unique.


We woke up, and as Sebastian ran out to buy brötchen, I attempted to skype with my Mom on this terrible and poor wifi. When he came back from the bakery, we boiled water for tea and each ate half a banana. 
To my delight, he surprised me with a shokolade croissant...sometimes we refuse to purchase cola because we want to save money, yet he goes and does a thing like that. Carpe diem, chocolate is good for the soul :).


After breakfast we threw on comfortable walking clothes and went for a walk to familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood we live in, and let me tell you Toto, we're not in Dresden anymore!
On our beautiful walk under the hot sun, we saw:


Casinos
Bars
Odd shops
Children climbing out of second floor windows
Turkish restaurants
Groups of men
Elderly care homes 
and many cars


What I like most about our neighborhood...the red brick buildings with obnoxious green plants springing to life out of the cracks. 


We arrived home, weak and hungry. This may be due to the fact that the both of us are inconveniently sick with minor schnupfen (colds). But we had to press on! Today was our first official day here in Berlin! We then packed our bags for the badeschiff; bikini, surf shorts, water and towels. 


On our way to the badeschiff, there was a street demonstration, burnt trash on the ground and people sitting and standing everywhere. Polizei blocked entrances and exits, and let no cars pass through. 
It looked like a riot, almost. So to be honest, my guards were up and I was a little nervous. Once we passed the bridge it was smooth sailing, we turned down the street to the badeschiff, but then entered a different location a street too soon. No matter, we ended up finding the coolest bar I've seen so far. 
If you've ever been on that Pirates of The Caribbean ride at Disney land, this bar resembled it big time. Especially the part where you first enter the ride and there's that restaurant on the right overlooking the river. 


yeah, I was reminded of that...only because I have never seen restaurants and bars facing each other separated by a body of water. I was surprised and impressed. 


After sitting down for less than five minutes, we left en route for the reaaaaaaal badeschiff.
Sebastian has a great head on his shoulders, we effortlessly found it  ten minutes later...paid the place three euros each (not bad, student discount) and then spent two hours there. 


Also a unique place; on the river, there's this deep rectangular pool where people can swim and sit in under the sun. 


However! it was freezing, which is no good for people with schnupfens, so after five minutes of cooling off, we exited and laid our towels down on the fake beach. Trying to study was no possibility. There were too many people with such interesting things to say, paying attention to a book was quite difficult. 


We left badeschiff, kind of hungry, so we stopped for some ice cold cola and shokolade filled donuts. WOW, YUM. I stepped in wet cement (unknowingly) and then drew a cross in it. I hope it dried that way...Amen. 


photo soon...help me bear with this trashy wifi

I'm in Dresden on vacation

I'm literally counting down the weeks until Sebastian and I move into our insanely unique apartment in Berlin. Each room is separated by its own door! : The living room, sleeping room, cooking room, toilette room! We are not worried about respecting each other's privacy (ha!).
We paid it a visit this past Monday and moved bulky objects in (thanks to Sebastian's Dad, Ekkehardt).

I believe he is the most helpful person I've ever met, and I'm grateful for his company. If it wasn't for him, instead of studying in Berlin, I would be working very hard to be especially close to my favorite person in the world. Since obtaining an MBA in International Management is extremely pertinent to me, and since Sebastian and I make a wonderful academic team and most importantly romance! and love! and everything in between team, the possibility of studying here was, possible.

A Contract was drafted in this agreement, that of which I will not enclose, to keep it simple, even the contract was a blessing.

Doesn't this sound nice?
The reality of the situation is: The second year of my Master's study tuition will need to come from a different source, I hope my prayers are heard, and  I hope a couple of doors will open. At the moment I am aiming towards the study scholarship (click me) , it would be a dream to have it. I should be working on my proposal at the moment, but staring blankly at an empty word document as to where and how I start is intimidating.

Blog writing is enabling me to work out some nerves.

The good news is, I have a lot of brainstorming jotted down on paper and well equipped knowledge friends whom I believe will proofread my stuff. I don't expect this scholarship more than I would APPRECIATE it.

"I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often."

 - Brian Tracy; self development and life coach