Two Blogs, One Berlin.

When I was growing up, I wanted many things: to be an archaeologist (for the entirety of the 4th grade, what kid doesn't at some point?), to be 5'8'' (only a quarter inch short so can safely check that off my list), and to have a "cool" name like Stacy or Diana (pretty happy with Sophia these days). But one, let alone TWO blogs? No, that was not something I wished for. But here we are, with blog #2, adventure #3984753, and for probably the first time in my life, pretty much no idea what's happening.

My first blog, Sophia's Monde, was born in 2007 when I was freshly out of undergrad with the exciting plan ahead of spending eight months teaching English in France. When I set out to name the blog, I thought it would be cute to do a play on words with the book Sophie's World. It was my world, that tiny town of 19,000, and oh, was it grand. There were markets, and cheese, and beautiful beaches, and great friends who danced with me on beautiful beaches, and culture shock, and funny students, and language learning, and I was very happy.

Now I am once again crossing the Atlantic, this time to Berlin. A city I may not have thought much about as a child but that I have thought about a lot in my more "adult" years. I've been very intrigued by Berlin and it's eclectic, artsy, gritty, international, dynamic nature. Plus it's full of immigrants! So I'm going. And I have no idea when I'm coming back. Not to be too dramatic or anything.

To name this blog, I thought about things I like about Germany and immediately what sprang to mind was food-related, no surprise there: Kaffee und Kuchen, or for my Anglophones, coffee and cake. Traditionally taken at 4pm, it's for some a daily routine and others a more occasional treat. I liked the idea of my blog being something I sit down to every day, like Kaffee und Kuchen, but at times it will likely be more of an occasional treat. I hope to be able to say the same for the Kuchen.

Now is the point where you are probably confused because this blog is actually titled Kaffee und Suchen. Good catch, everyone! Some jerk has already claimed kaffeeundkuchen for their URL so I had to reevaluate. When I thought about what rhymed with Kuchen, I came up with suchen, which just so happens to mean "to search." And boy, will I be searching in Berlin. Searching for a job, for new friends, for adventure, for the quickest way around German bureaucracy, and most certainly, searching for the best Kaffee und Kuchen in town.