tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61088777882732036822024-03-05T07:43:47.655+01:00Kaffee & SuchenSophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-90248742873266469282014-09-16T22:02:00.000+02:002014-09-16T23:20:57.785+02:00Change <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGAEQkM9whyphenhyphenklMgUWyaQoY6S0O9RSoR6EK1y-vR5Qs_f2L1IHUJ2R74IHsu-uG61WHvs9SK2AajT7kI5oXxOxK0SGHxDLg6Gw8kuOpy4tlR1jzxgmb8CDsEPfe_adPK41iBjjzCt8mbA/s1600/2014-07-22+18.29.50.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lietzensee</td></tr>
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How, How, HOW has it been 6 months since my last post? My mind is officially boggled. My bike is lying on its side in shock above. A lot has happened in 6 months I guess. The half marathon, trips to Sofia, London, France, Switzerland, Soest and Doha, visits from my mom and a few friends, a friend's wedding and reunions with friends from Lannion and <span class="st">Tübingen</span>, and that whole Germany winning the World Cup thing. Plus a boy/heartbreak situation I won't go into here, but will say was equally lovely and heart-wrenching. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World Cup Final: That was fun</td></tr>
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Yet despite all the above, the majority has remained the same, leaving me feeling a littttttle antsy. A few weeks ago, in an attempt to mix things up, I tried to do one thing differently every day. Well I meant to try one thing differently every day but lost steam around day 4. Though to be fair, sharing this "failure" with you all is "different" for me - usually I would ignore it completely since I didn't officially finish what was a very unofficial project to begin with. Anyways. I tried things like taking different routes to work on my bike or biking to new parts of town, taking a spontaneous weeknight evening stroll through the Tiergarten, and going vegan for an entire day. Nothing crazy obviously, just minor efforts to show myself that I can make things different if I want them to be different. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiergarten</td></tr>
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It kinda worked I guess. I saw, experienced, and learned new things. Like what gears I should ride my bike in, locations of a few cute new cafes, and that not all tortillas are vegan. Like I said small things (though the bike gear thing was a revelation). But perhaps those changes weren't grandiose enough. It's surreal sometimes to think back at what this city meant for me as a tourist and what it means now, almost 3 years after living here. Routines can (and usually) settle in anywhere, and even though I'm still completely enthused and inspired by this place, it's usually the case that my days look somewhat similar. But I won't lie - I've been feeling a little like a spoiled brat having these thoughts in the first place. Are most of you just totally happy where you are, doing what you're doing? Or am I destined to live a perpetually confused and antsy life if I continue this transnational business? At this point I'm pretty sure it's a done deal either way though. A move anywhere else will surely leave me yearning for Berlin, which - in its own way - has been equally lovely and heart-wrenching. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-34374555514358284512014-03-25T23:35:00.002+01:002014-04-25T10:39:59.098+02:00Honeymoon Phase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you move abroad, you expect it to be difficult at first. Leaving family and friends behind, dealing with new forms of bureaucracy, learning or improving your language skills, making new friends, in my case even finding a job. But it doesn't just start out difficult and get progressively easier with time. Reality is not linear. It ebbs and flows, comes and goes, and sometimes you find yourself wondering how as soon as things seem "figured out," you hit a rough patch.<br />
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At least that's been my experience. For me, moving to Berlin was the easy part. The door was wide open with possibilities but I also knew I could made a sharp turn at any time and go right back across that ocean. I was all sorts of excited, but not at all invested. <br />
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For the first half year or so I frolicked and explored and made wonderful friendships and <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2011/12/kreuzberg-day.html" target="_blank">ate an obscene amount of Goezleme</a>. The whole not having a job thing was certainly <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/yesterday-today.html" target="_blank">stressful at times</a>, but things eventually worked out and soon enough I had my Berlin bears in a row. I <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/04/its-job.html" target="_blank">signed a contract</a>, <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/04/time-thoughts-and-trees.html" target="_blank">flew to Puerto Rico</a> for my first work trip, celebrated with my Berlin buddies, and then <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/05/oh-hey.html" target="_blank">flew home</a> for a few weeks to spend time with the family. A happy whirlwind, indeed. <br />
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When I got back and started my job, in June 2012... that's when I hit my first rough patch. That summer was a tough one: adjustment in a new office and position, close Berlin friends off traveling, pitiful weather, and a fear that I had just committed to something that I wasn't 100% sure I wanted. <br />
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Come fall the anxiety had mostly faded, I was getting the hang of my job, and I'd established something resembling a routine. By the same time next year, <a href="http://collidoscopeberlin.com/" target="_blank">Collidoscope</a> was born and I was increasingly pleased with the direction my life was taking. <br />
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Now I'm close to the 2.5 year mark, and almost everything seems figured out. The job, the friends, the hobbies, the running, the traveling. But nonetheless, I find myself in rough patch #2. Nothing is wrong <i>per se</i>, but there is a nagging feeling that some of the excitement has waned and the comfort is settling in. <br />
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Hold on! This doesn't mean I'm planning on leaving, nor does it mean that I love the city any less. In fact, through all my self-analysis these past few months I think I've come to realize that I may now love the city <i>even more</i>. Is this possible? Is this what true love is? <br />
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I'll never be 100% sure as to what's going on in my overly-analytical-and-hyper-sensitive mind. But I've come to accept that Berlin is not the problem, I am. The reason I am increasingly nervous about what's "coming next" is because of all that I've built for myself here and how invested I've become. <br />
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The honeymoon phase is over. Berlin is no longer a risk I'm taking. It's a life I would be leaving. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-88263091830368589732014-01-23T16:58:00.000+01:002014-01-23T17:41:41.559+01:00Before January's Over <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif37csl85k5RmGXpakkAPFU-Osjku4CtGuioo5b568gRnO3ONtkzeXffyWX8OW75n7rx4KcGR0tXIZvcwmHSg5l76k3PIPbeQZ4WBuxpBF3CJ3G45-9SFYSklRch55bY_3qFm337z9WPU/s1600/IMG_3875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif37csl85k5RmGXpakkAPFU-Osjku4CtGuioo5b568gRnO3ONtkzeXffyWX8OW75n7rx4KcGR0tXIZvcwmHSg5l76k3PIPbeQZ4WBuxpBF3CJ3G45-9SFYSklRch55bY_3qFm337z9WPU/s1600/IMG_3875.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reflections on a Berlin Canal</td></tr>
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Despite my vocal and written proclamations to the contrary, I seem to be <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/resolving-realistically.html" target="_blank">making resolutions</a> pretty regularly these last few years. Truth is, I do find it enjoyable to look back, review and reflect, and pat myself on the back or rekindle my desire to reach a goal. I just don't need it to be in a January-January time frame, which I find a bit silly. But steadily working towards something that makes me a happier and healthier person... that I can get behind.<br />
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So how am I doing on my goals? Here's what I wrote last year: <br />
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1) <b>Travel to three places just for fun</b>.<br />
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Mission accomplished, and I doubt anyone's surprised. Though this may seem like "cheating" to people who only make unenjoyable resolutions, the goal was for me to take advantage of the time and freedom I currently have to explore rather than racking up countries on my list. Where did I go? <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/04/the-delightful-danes.html" target="_blank">Copenhagen</a>, Croatia, and Sri Lanka (could also add a new part of the Swiss Alps and Madrid to the list). Copenhagen was a long weekend trip with my best gal Kelly, Croatia was the first time my mom and I have taken a trip just the two of us, and Sri Lanka was my first experience in South Asia with the lovely and adventurous Anna. All fantastic experiences. All, as usual, making me feel like the more I see the more I have yet to see. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Croatia, you beautiful devil, you</td></tr>
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2) <b>Follow through on a side project</b>.<br />
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Can I get a HELL YEAH on this one?! Kelly and I revealed <a href="http://collidoscopeberlin.com/" target="_blank">Collidoscope Berlin</a> back in April and are still going strong with our xenophilic baby. While we post much less often than we did in the beginning (down from 3 a week to 1 every 10 days or so), we've added <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/resolving-realistically.html" target="_blank">Facebook</a> (like us!), <a href="https://twitter.com/CollideBerlin" target="_blank">Twitter</a> (follow us!), events, and more to our side-project docket. While sometimes it's difficult to get ourselves to <i>just sit down and write already</i>, we're always so pleased with the product and the progression the project has taken. As always, we're open to ideas, comments, and connections if y'all have any!<br />
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3) <b>Date more</b>.<br />
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Oh, dating. When I wrote this one last year I was giggling at the idea that this could even be considered a resolution, but now I can say with certainty it was the most challenging of the lot. I took some RISKS in 2013 that ranged from giving online dating a shot to trying to use Collidoscope to hang out with my cute and ethnically ambiguous dentist. I had some fun, I turned many a boy down for a second date, and I had some disappointments and rejections. But even at the lowest of these moments, it was good to feel like I was putting myself out there. Now I feel I can take a bit of breather and hope that I've laid the groundwork that will catapult something into fruition this year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDMay_xNyCnRmdKTPVMKlKgpkRiNuwuXBRp7dKCdBq0C5D4p17nkhMu87UPuJTlz5nucsDoyh5W1AFxKimZKNvvOUGx0YOkoZtt-XlRTA-SlicjS7ACjzlE_J-25353zxcHx9H3hATj0/s1600/IMG_3257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDMay_xNyCnRmdKTPVMKlKgpkRiNuwuXBRp7dKCdBq0C5D4p17nkhMu87UPuJTlz5nucsDoyh5W1AFxKimZKNvvOUGx0YOkoZtt-XlRTA-SlicjS7ACjzlE_J-25353zxcHx9H3hATj0/s1600/IMG_3257.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dating?!</td></tr>
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<b>4) Work on my German grammar. </b><br />
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A hard one to measure objectively but I'd say I was pretty successful on this one. While I didn't take a class or crack open any grammar books, I did start paying way more attention and forcing others to correct me. I've finally learned some basics as well as been hit in the head with the realization I've been making some rather ridiculous mistakes for the past 20 years (so it's really "Hälfte" instead of "Helfte" and "inzwischen" instead of "entzwischen" and salt is neutral but pepper is masculine?). But that's what you get for growing up hearing a language but barely ever writing or reading it. <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>So what's on the proverbial list for this year? </b><br />
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To be honest, I'm not sure I'm totally feeling the resolution thing this year. I want to continue to make progress in the above categories and have started making some small shifts in other areas of my life that I'll give more attention to in 2014. These include trying to do one. thing. at. a. time. (I increasingly blame the internet for ruining my attention span... I can barely get through an article without being distracted by an email, work task, song, recipe, or god knows what else anymore). I want to learn to cook more vegan meals (In Berlin I eat almost entirely vegetarian but I want to go a step further on occasion). I want, nay, NEED to read a bit more in German (not my favorite activity). I want to travel somewhere on my own, even if it's just a weekend. OH! And writing more on the ol' blog here, because I hope you guys still enjoy it on occasion (anyone out there??), and because I know I will down the line. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-69619184665650834462013-11-19T13:04:00.001+01:002013-11-21T17:20:50.692+01:00Two<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E05sQDnsdVCu8aW_2cHu6OBLk6VDb5VZDYh6N7dNw08JHakoJCIi_N_8j2GlQ_zPVeZ99ZSxuWXhCM7nst-Qd-M-MO8tA1auFVjWyAvGkSrNo4hd50o6oU5kkIJoOI6xEd5jNvogO6I/s1600/2013-10-03+20.56.40-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0E05sQDnsdVCu8aW_2cHu6OBLk6VDb5VZDYh6N7dNw08JHakoJCIi_N_8j2GlQ_zPVeZ99ZSxuWXhCM7nst-Qd-M-MO8tA1auFVjWyAvGkSrNo4hd50o6oU5kkIJoOI6xEd5jNvogO6I/s400/2013-10-03+20.56.40-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A year ago I wrote my <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/11/one.html" target="_blank">first Berlinniversary post</a> and ended with the thought, "Wonder where I'll be writing from next year!" On a train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it turns out. And then from a Jerusalem caf<span class="st">é</span> eating my morning bagel, on the train back a couple days later, and then finally back in my apartment in Berlin. While somewhat indicative of the travel cycle that is my life, it's more indicative of the problems I'm having articulating what the past year in Berlin has meant to me. <br />
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That doesn't mean I haven't thought about it. Au contraire my friends, I think about it a ridiculous amount. Every jog or stroll past the Brandenburg Gate and I'm struck with the same thought: "wow, I really live here." A routine gathering with friends over a glass of wine and I find myself looking around the table admiring them, thinking, "wow, these are really my friends." At yoga class I glance over at the instructor and marvel at how I've known her since my first day in the city. Moments like these are very common for me, where I ponder where I am, how I got here, and how much has changed. I'm not sure if this is an expat thing, 20-something thing, or Sophia thing... am I just more introspective than most?<br />
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Don't get me wrong, a lot of the time I'm on auto-pilot and go through the motions of everyday life. Everything is zoomed in and there isn't time or energy or desire to peer at it from the outside. But
most days, even if for a very brief moment, I zoom out and inspect my
Berlin life from somewhere else. Like when you post something on Facebook and then re-read it 10 times to make sure it's still there, that you still like it, and to see what it looks like to other people (again, do other people do that?). When I "refresh, edit, 'view as specific person'" my own life, I generally "like" what I see. I see the standard stuff: job, friends, coworkers, apartment, travel, favorite restaurants and caf<span class="st">é</span>s, particular streets or corners, my running route, <span class="st"><a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.co.il/2011/12/kreuzberg-day.html" target="_blank">Gözleme</a> etc. I also see myself navigating through all of it: a braver, more independent, and more passionate person than I know from the past. I see myself stumbling and failing probably more often than I used to, but I also see myself taking lots of risks. When I'm zoomed in I usually can't see where I'm headed. Zoomed out I'm still not sure, but I'm somehow assured that I'm on a path. </span><br />
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Regardless of whether I stay another 2 or 20 years (and whether it takes 1 hour or 5 days to write this post), this is what Berlin will always mean for me. Berlin has coaxed a different side out of me. My relationship to the city feels reciprocal, and I'm thankful every day for what Berlin has given me. Now that I think about it, that's probably why I'm so
set on giving something back to it, whether it's taking visitors on impassioned tours of the city where I don't shut up about how awesome it is, to writing about it on <a href="http://collidoscopeberlin.com/" target="_blank">Collidoscope</a>. <br />
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So cheers Berlin, here's to year three of you and me! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEnkTIlL7RzdElZ-Rx-9zRNUx55BxXLfoXRYsNz0BpiIYtMaaqCRDtyNJFezGcR-r1_etUvJemAdKrzr3C1YLAHlelN3w8V5L6uyEU_Xl6Bw1C7VtvcLzLr0ANdL1xkb4_uo7DdkrA3g/s1600/2013-04-13+19.37.14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEnkTIlL7RzdElZ-Rx-9zRNUx55BxXLfoXRYsNz0BpiIYtMaaqCRDtyNJFezGcR-r1_etUvJemAdKrzr3C1YLAHlelN3w8V5L6uyEU_Xl6Bw1C7VtvcLzLr0ANdL1xkb4_uo7DdkrA3g/s400/2013-04-13+19.37.14.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCEnkTIlL7RzdElZ-Rx-9zRNUx55BxXLfoXRYsNz0BpiIYtMaaqCRDtyNJFezGcR-r1_etUvJemAdKrzr3C1YLAHlelN3w8V5L6uyEU_Xl6Bw1C7VtvcLzLr0ANdL1xkb4_uo7DdkrA3g/s1600/2013-04-13+19.37.14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-73843482860920968032013-10-27T23:03:00.000+01:002013-10-28T16:41:37.550+01:00Thirty<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUTiGUknVMrxqBM2BEXnd6iTalxB6fasg7jR_IqqT4CbwYuSbCARfvJ70oKTU7uSLbSpUDGbfL0ju3grNb_VGYCVseRnrzKSDvErbbTVP2zYU2Qv0whx-kjRU2unArrSExGuf0BaPqRU/s1600/2013-04-13+12.26.40.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUTiGUknVMrxqBM2BEXnd6iTalxB6fasg7jR_IqqT4CbwYuSbCARfvJ70oKTU7uSLbSpUDGbfL0ju3grNb_VGYCVseRnrzKSDvErbbTVP2zYU2Qv0whx-kjRU2unArrSExGuf0BaPqRU/s400/2013-04-13+12.26.40.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
No, not me! I still have a little time before I hit that milestone. I did, however, reach another milestone this year: getting a 30th country under my belt, Croatia. Though far from considering myself a travel expert, I have picked up a few tricks over the years on my travels from everywhere from Cartagena to Copenhagen to Canada. Here are my five personal favorites. <br />
<br />
1) Find a hotel<br />
<br />
.... if you need a restroom. Many countries have unfortunately not embraced the idea of free public restrooms, and they are often tricky to locate. I find that hotels are the best bet for a free pit stop as a tourist. They have so many people coming in and out they generally can't remember who's a guest and who isn't, and all of them have public restrooms on their main floors. It's foolproof! Otherwise I'm not such a big fan of hotels: Airbnb, small guesthouses, or better, staying with locals, is always my preference. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhshNizSf2xK8HclXeRwsii8U82hu3loByIS3xaryqs46p3XA7Hlb5swUN8R0uPy87YNFKR5nnIHUAlf3-K4sCvdPknZz9434JMnRPjbtEk6sfHVel-LfS8vmuLepSRjcluUO3_4sgMQ/s1600/2013-04-01+23.04.42.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPhshNizSf2xK8HclXeRwsii8U82hu3loByIS3xaryqs46p3XA7Hlb5swUN8R0uPy87YNFKR5nnIHUAlf3-K4sCvdPknZz9434JMnRPjbtEk6sfHVel-LfS8vmuLepSRjcluUO3_4sgMQ/s400/2013-04-01+23.04.42.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copenhagen </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
2) Say (and learn) "Hello"<br />
<br />
No one expects you to learn every language in the world and we all struggle when abroad. Learning a few words (like hello, thank you, please, and how much?) can go a long way. But no matter how much you struggle with language, say "hello" when you greet a waiter, hotel concierge, museum ticket seller, or bartender. Oftentimes these people greet throngs of tourists a day and just demanding what you want (in a foreign language, no less) doesn't go over so well. A smile and a short greeting in the local language can make all the difference.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16z9BlRt2S70c7MjBugbO92lwcp1JtCArlAMC-bQbGw2j4TEBS4_sUZroa_l3dJmUF9I395ZSLxaB6T9hHFjJfW66hFX2Tt1w-tj1one3E1rIoPSSjiwUeB_LVQMbMIv9bEbrXfdRvPY/s1600/2013-05-20+17.22.26.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16z9BlRt2S70c7MjBugbO92lwcp1JtCArlAMC-bQbGw2j4TEBS4_sUZroa_l3dJmUF9I395ZSLxaB6T9hHFjJfW66hFX2Tt1w-tj1one3E1rIoPSSjiwUeB_LVQMbMIv9bEbrXfdRvPY/s400/2013-05-20+17.22.26.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Croatia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
3) Get up early<br />
<br />
...not just for the sunrise. Tourists tend to sleep in (it's vacation, after all!) but the locals are living their normal, every day lives. In busier touristy cities (think Prague, Paris, Dubrovnik) the morning is the best time to see locals going about their business as usual, rather than just your business as a tourist. While your fellow travelers are sleeping, they're heading to work, grabbing a coffee, and taking their kids to school. Prime people watching time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jguM0D_z2Cu8HrAQQnnEWBFxvea1b5tMdKdOQbwhhHO3QT1rzvMKOHGblgomdjZE8QgLG44_-lDehlaynXO8j1ed1qlVCLAjzO84-5z75pIa0MZhCjzlnokVwXMEPNCCFBagh-ojDQQ/s1600/2013-07-10+11.49.21.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jguM0D_z2Cu8HrAQQnnEWBFxvea1b5tMdKdOQbwhhHO3QT1rzvMKOHGblgomdjZE8QgLG44_-lDehlaynXO8j1ed1qlVCLAjzO84-5z75pIa0MZhCjzlnokVwXMEPNCCFBagh-ojDQQ/s400/2013-07-10+11.49.21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or mountain watching time. Alps, Switzerland</td></tr>
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<br />
4) Don't make special meal requests<br />
<br />
There aren't direct flights between Berlin and DC so I always end up transferring in London. During one of my layovers last year I was showing my passport at Heathrow when the attendant glanced over my boarding pass, typed something into his screen, and suddenly asked if I would like an upgrade. After enthusiastically nodding yes and thanking him profusely he leaned in and said, "you know why we picked you? Because you don't have a special meal request. We can't upgrade people with special meal requests because the meals are different in every class." You know, so they won't get sued if you eat something you said you didn't want to eat. What's the point of special meals anyway? Veggie options are pretty standard these days and unless you're allergic or do it for religious reasons I think we can all agree that no airplane meals are particularly "special" to begin with. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JgndbWl3f29oF64JSdCUHa0snoleLPWjZlG9M17NWgzWeQVjAFL4VuJKfg08at54wEqtSgyJGn2ckOBpAuUnMOjiX3OK88kOyFJYqHm8DuN6XeDKGFZ0rcX-G_ztJlvQ-wjh596OQfA/s1600/2013-10-19+12.07.14-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JgndbWl3f29oF64JSdCUHa0snoleLPWjZlG9M17NWgzWeQVjAFL4VuJKfg08at54wEqtSgyJGn2ckOBpAuUnMOjiX3OK88kOyFJYqHm8DuN6XeDKGFZ0rcX-G_ztJlvQ-wjh596OQfA/s400/2013-10-19+12.07.14-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Berlin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
5) When in doubt, ask the New York Times<br />
<br />
These guys don't mess around. The recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/travel/36-hours-in-berlin.html?_r=0" target="_blank">36 Hours in Berlin</a> article profiled one of my absolute favorite restaurants in the city that is not even that popular (yet). In the last 1.5 years I've followed their guides for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/travel/36-hours-in-dubrovnik-croatia.html" target="_blank">Dubrovnik</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/travel/36-hours-in-krakow-poland.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">Krakow</a>, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/travel/11hours.html" target="_blank">Copenhangen</a> and haven't been disappointed once. (A bottle of NYT recommended Croatian wine that I lugged from Hvar-Dubrovnik-Berlin is sitting in my apartment as proof.) Of course it's great to be flexible and spontaneous and just see where the wind takes you, but sometimes you want the wind to know what it's talking about. Other than good ol' locals, I consider the NYT my reliable wind.<br />
<br />
So there you have it. This coming winter I'll be backpacking around country #31 (unless I get a work travel surprise between now and Christmas): Sri Lanka. It'll be a different type of trip than I'm used to - less planning ahead, more go with the flow, a new region of the world - and I'm bound to add something to this list. In the meantime, there's always the NYT. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-27035298786749358092013-05-28T15:08:00.004+02:002013-05-28T15:09:03.471+02:00Full CircleA few days before my 1 year job-iversary, a wrap up of my tree season series. The <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/09/four-seasons-of-maybachufer.html" target="_blank">Maybachufer</a>, my favorite work tree... what should be next? <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3es8fmLTZL-5_GyFDqLWN7o5bRCg5noEXoAOpKuOukIqORYOkti89Y-brZrZa5A83qzt37JruA9u3PTwAKP0G3GLDdTAzRZXj9HpwZROXMdxQJbqFXi5wI9yEau7PpHBRvAh_5CmgXPQ/s1600/2012-10-24+20.08.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3es8fmLTZL-5_GyFDqLWN7o5bRCg5noEXoAOpKuOukIqORYOkti89Y-brZrZa5A83qzt37JruA9u3PTwAKP0G3GLDdTAzRZXj9HpwZROXMdxQJbqFXi5wI9yEau7PpHBRvAh_5CmgXPQ/s400/2012-10-24+20.08.23.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesVdnsiqkcIHOEiub5W-_1JEh8KjZid7Un9fCf4htfBanpLlDk0whr9md5nJsrukDhJJHL-ym50_qNdSDTuaukvSvOW_jsif_pRG2DUQe8Z3zWItPvfwEoetrIC893uCZGClYsjRBGNA/s1600/2012-10-24+15.17.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesVdnsiqkcIHOEiub5W-_1JEh8KjZid7Un9fCf4htfBanpLlDk0whr9md5nJsrukDhJJHL-ym50_qNdSDTuaukvSvOW_jsif_pRG2DUQe8Z3zWItPvfwEoetrIC893uCZGClYsjRBGNA/s400/2012-10-24+15.17.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">October 2012</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolhI9YAE-RednjyqjwCIk46FWL8eWOllgz7MaXuNpcfnn9B5xWW8rWqYybZAXZrjIbdFWPTSTJj7Y-YSfR2h3DWr3efdsYot4XGhUyoSL33ZjXnSMUjnpc4K_bz16hL2POcq-15m7lok/s1600/2013-02-03+11.40.33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolhI9YAE-RednjyqjwCIk46FWL8eWOllgz7MaXuNpcfnn9B5xWW8rWqYybZAXZrjIbdFWPTSTJj7Y-YSfR2h3DWr3efdsYot4XGhUyoSL33ZjXnSMUjnpc4K_bz16hL2POcq-15m7lok/s400/2013-02-03+11.40.33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January 2013</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWJ0s8arG0-0qoZMd3I563U_3zWHVGNKMFGVGyukLcMbirfHIIrtknjFZtt8bmAsmAicmgbn_G1JdJJBUL70Wc92zj3YZH-8AaESa1KWWbj0nHxklwIbhZhH7o2ToXCM_sGLEL7P_S7c/s1600/2013-05-28+14.47.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWJ0s8arG0-0qoZMd3I563U_3zWHVGNKMFGVGyukLcMbirfHIIrtknjFZtt8bmAsmAicmgbn_G1JdJJBUL70Wc92zj3YZH-8AaESa1KWWbj0nHxklwIbhZhH7o2ToXCM_sGLEL7P_S7c/s400/2013-05-28+14.47.33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May 2013</td></tr>
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<br />Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-31041620489015628782013-05-15T14:09:00.004+02:002013-05-15T14:14:19.310+02:00A Chance on Collidoscope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwadoFQiRx5EcdTUsSWD5crMkZQ8-sLkAA4h9IPsfRFh0LVEUNNSSFgzdzO-iZ5XYlQWFsuSIkLaqeAjnPylJGlhVBoip7mR7AI_2p45QSuLSsIvwa0-fQkSG5LE-wcjKhBr9nDPAbys/s1600/IMG_2521%5B1%5D.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSwadoFQiRx5EcdTUsSWD5crMkZQ8-sLkAA4h9IPsfRFh0LVEUNNSSFgzdzO-iZ5XYlQWFsuSIkLaqeAjnPylJGlhVBoip7mR7AI_2p45QSuLSsIvwa0-fQkSG5LE-wcjKhBr9nDPAbys/s400/IMG_2521%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Ok, here's the truth: I've been cheating on Kaffee & Suchen.<br />
<br />
After almost half a year of conceptualization, planning, and preparation over train rides, Monday night dinners, and strolls through the city, Kelly and I have given birth to our xenophile love child, <a href="http://collidoscopeberlin.com/" target="_blank">Collidoscope Berlin</a>.<br />
<br />
This website is a collaborative project that examines migration, multiculturalism, and diversity from three angles: anthropology, education, and tourism. We see this website as a conversation-starter, an alternative storyteller, a democratic and
inclusive view of the many peoples, spaces, and settings that confound
the modern city. It's a response to the absurb claim that "multiculturalism is dead" and
a forum for seeing the city's collision of cultures as a positive and an opportunity for enrichment, rather than just a problem or challenge.<br />
<br />
This project is a big deal for us. It represents our shared but also divergent interests: Kelly comes from the more anthropological angle, my perspective is more focused on international education and intercultural relations, which you'll notice in both our topic choices and writing styles. But most importantly, this website represents us taking a chance and electing to be part of the conversation. I'm curious to see what comes out of it.<br />
<br />
What you can expect for now is 2-3 posts a week, generally falling into one of our feature categories: Rants & Raves (something we hate or love), Interview (the unstructured structured interview), Lens (our perspective in a story), or Happy Weekend (a "non-sceney" tip for the weekend). <br />
<br />
As it stands, full-time job + Collidoscope + volunteering + social life + travel + regular visitors + the occasional jog = a busy Sophia, so something needed to give. Unfortunately, it will most likely be Kaffee & Suchen for the time being. I'm sticking around, but the posts will become notably more intermittent. I hope you can forgive me, and more importantly, I hope you will keep up with our journey through Berlin on <a href="http://collidoscopeberlin.com/" target="_blank">Collidoscope</a>, because it's important that everyone see the city through a different lens from time to time. <br />
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-15046079772764378172013-04-21T11:34:00.001+02:002013-04-22T19:14:56.937+02:00The Delightful Danes <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Living in Berlin, I always knew I would make it to Copenhagen someday.
Yet despite a general interest to visit, the prospect never seemed as exciting as planning trips to Croatia, Istanbul, or even Krakow. Maybe it's because it's so close: the flight from
one capital to the other takes less than an hour meaning the ride from
my apartment to the airport was literally longer than flight time. Or maybe Scandinavia just seems too
similar to Germany culturally to feel at all exotic. Either way, it was a no-brainer in my travel to-dos, and my excitement soon kicked in upon arrival.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlmygbl48_X578uN-s2eyh8SAqrNytx5lAm5FmnukdPbNfYx8wGTnD2c5G935OCYe42ZJjuQuA7lqByh7DG6F6fYdNmZtzILS3We41IBzrBnzo1tHePabZ9VwXwjO9jItyQl7yBVI_yU/s1600/photo-11.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDlmygbl48_X578uN-s2eyh8SAqrNytx5lAm5FmnukdPbNfYx8wGTnD2c5G935OCYe42ZJjuQuA7lqByh7DG6F6fYdNmZtzILS3We41IBzrBnzo1tHePabZ9VwXwjO9jItyQl7yBVI_yU/s400/photo-11.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excited about the discovery of a library-cafe for our first meal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm not usually one for stereotypes, but sometimes I make exceptions
when they veer on the positive side. Really, I just want to share a few
of my impressions of the Danes which will likely be over-generalized and premature given I only spent three days there and had close contact with all of one actual Dane. Not exactly the stuff of ethnographic studies, but enough to affirm some
suspicions as well as shed some light on our friendly neighbor to the north. So I
hope you'll indulge me just this once.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfl2NbwdtX4G__rwbfI3jOgGWaY9qidTNCF5HFDrdeBk53AcryvmgaP0kU2sgMC7JCq8HZ62NAcy6zZICfpxoNqWcPkcV9fcoAeL30Qa_THzH-jxgp_Zy2CvgbYv8QPALiSw5TqBW_SW4/s1600/2013-04-01+18.09.01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfl2NbwdtX4G__rwbfI3jOgGWaY9qidTNCF5HFDrdeBk53AcryvmgaP0kU2sgMC7JCq8HZ62NAcy6zZICfpxoNqWcPkcV9fcoAeL30Qa_THzH-jxgp_Zy2CvgbYv8QPALiSw5TqBW_SW4/s400/2013-04-01+18.09.01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Copenhagen is every city. But better.</b> It's a ludicrous statement that is highly linked to my very thematic-prone brain, but I'm going with it anyway. Multiple times a day while in Copenhagen I found myself reminded of other cities. One moment I'm jogging along the water and thinking of Amsterdam, and the next I'm peering up at a couple cafes overflowing with people-watchers assembled in rows of outer-facing chairs and picturing Paris. The language and orderliness kept reminding me of home (both of them), and the cosmopolitanism and water everywhere reminded me of Hamburg... and I haven't been to Hamburg yet! Copenhagen felt like a utopian port city: It has absorbed influences from around the world but the influence feels reciprocal and seamless, not forced. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishFagB5bMfu54kmkv8nDLlg03PIR6auptDIV-SeX8C_XiM6xOYhja0vAXhuoE-nkl5P_uyhf6CZWB_iDkK6UAvC6XgAyUKQ5mZtl7p8zzwelhdwdJZkoTWOrES12lKSf4bqk6FNz1Hk4/s1600/photo-12.JPG"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishFagB5bMfu54kmkv8nDLlg03PIR6auptDIV-SeX8C_XiM6xOYhja0vAXhuoE-nkl5P_uyhf6CZWB_iDkK6UAvC6XgAyUKQ5mZtl7p8zzwelhdwdJZkoTWOrES12lKSf4bqk6FNz1Hk4/s400/photo-12.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Danish is like German. No, English. No... Denglish. </b>Kelly and I were in language heaven in Copenhagen. As soon as we got to the airport we were giggling and pointing out words, excited to find so many connections to our languages. In the airport we immediately spotted<i> Ankomst</i> for arrivals which is clearly related to "to arrive" in German, <i>ankommen</i>. Though the language certainly leaned more toward German, a lot of it reminded us of English, too. This makes sense given that English is a Germanic language (English native speakers: keep that in mind the next time you say German is an ugly language). Denmark, like the rest of Scandinavia, is known for their high English
proficiency, so we were free to get by in our native tongue while
learning a few words just for fun. The word we ended up using most often? <i>Mange tak</i> which means thank you. Mange: what do you see more? "Many" in English<i> </i>or<i> Menge</i> in German ("amount" or "plenty")? Tak: a shortened version of "thanks" or <i>danke</i>? Oh, the joys of language. <b> </b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iGbPFAyAYcAVsKXAaN_UR-hQvvDGqwhj69GWTAVaFqgr-HqrNg4_a2Fs_AX60BQXHl4F6180wIDCTLahnfrgxq19qRSI3YgGlLwLDQnSn3gHZi289msJviDhW9aS_D361Lc0rp1Ykmw/s1600/IMG_2010%5B1%5D.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iGbPFAyAYcAVsKXAaN_UR-hQvvDGqwhj69GWTAVaFqgr-HqrNg4_a2Fs_AX60BQXHl4F6180wIDCTLahnfrgxq19qRSI3YgGlLwLDQnSn3gHZi289msJviDhW9aS_D361Lc0rp1Ykmw/s400/IMG_2010%5B1%5D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! Language!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv965EGN66lPNVOUjlyyrBCidMNKK4qWgCIUv6OaZZg6fLFrFVjsxSzx0XF9EhOTtubGgSo7nFZ0CQ7oM5-iiUR542ccqik14XH8b24S-t_2Yqb4EM8Bfs-PR5scitFJ83RKh_y8qVHPI/s1600/photo-16.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv965EGN66lPNVOUjlyyrBCidMNKK4qWgCIUv6OaZZg6fLFrFVjsxSzx0XF9EhOTtubGgSo7nFZ0CQ7oM5-iiUR542ccqik14XH8b24S-t_2Yqb4EM8Bfs-PR5scitFJ83RKh_y8qVHPI/s400/photo-16.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May as well be the German "Reichstaggarten"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>The Danes are the perfect amount of confident. </b>Their education system
may not be as good as the Finnish one and they may get the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ikea-and-loathing-whats-in-a-product-name-792774.html" target="_blank">short end of the stick when it comes to IKEA furniture names</a>, but Denmark is still
part of the elite club known as Scandinavia. A certain confidence comes with being a member of this region, but people are educated and open to other cultures and languages, coming off as much more modest than those from another country I know. They're a happy and healthy and secure bunch riding their bikes, earning their overtime salaries, and eating lots of omega 3s and whole grains. They struck me as very balanced, and I am a fan of balance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqCJ52_anQCtfoTQI5AFB_Nl5Io2M1qYCODqJ5Uf1Y7YWiJTEcF0Gi7UUPNmvdVy530WNuYy9zC0SsytoAULm78c-_cZN2UL_7QVYEy7vMudi_LtUUazrgG43lJKF5B4liP0wdcY-mMw/s1600/photo-13.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqCJ52_anQCtfoTQI5AFB_Nl5Io2M1qYCODqJ5Uf1Y7YWiJTEcF0Gi7UUPNmvdVy530WNuYy9zC0SsytoAULm78c-_cZN2UL_7QVYEy7vMudi_LtUUazrgG43lJKF5B4liP0wdcY-mMw/s400/photo-13.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmmm herring </td></tr>
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<b>Denmark is struggling with their growing multiculturalism. </b>Like many European countries, Denmark is still struggling to see itself as a country of immigration and multiculturalism. Kelly and I were enchanted with a neighborhood in the city called <span class="st">Nørrebro which is full of Arabs, Turks, and many other Middle Eastern and ethnic groups. Our (young) Danish friend of a friend slash tour guide was so surprised at how much time we ended up spending there that he said he would start to bring more future visitors to the neighborhood, not having realized it could be so interesting for tourists. Kelly and I were beyond interested: </span><span class="st"><span class="st">Nørrebro</span> made both of us wish we could spend a summer in the city, and we began devising a plan for me to propose a Copenhagen project to my bosses and for Kelly to tag along as my devoted assistant. A dog factored into that plan somewhere, too. </span> <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3JHJmCj4op77mq7ql5LUJTFxE2tz_K7jjo7kmoAa8xWJ-_t9lctq9FSIgDCEfRBeXrjnUIeP84ZXCKSp4DPSpH__KiAekiQ2TaZZOmUq_xXaf2gP-kHtVN9f3FK-jJZhTPuA9niido0/s1600/photo-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3JHJmCj4op77mq7ql5LUJTFxE2tz_K7jjo7kmoAa8xWJ-_t9lctq9FSIgDCEfRBeXrjnUIeP84ZXCKSp4DPSpH__KiAekiQ2TaZZOmUq_xXaf2gP-kHtVN9f3FK-jJZhTPuA9niido0/s400/photo-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="st">Nørrebro</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjUqV5ZyFJy6dBa-j-3hJ_4teCe7ITRryoTgyI-KYPoi3JMaL6YTF0zG5y69n8Eb-upO3u4_pfmHVTtPq6Qh9vK46HLvS-uYi-gnYN1IUxH__v_nuwnSnXFo7190pGlwFkjDxGX2rXCc/s1600/2013-04-01+18.11.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjUqV5ZyFJy6dBa-j-3hJ_4teCe7ITRryoTgyI-KYPoi3JMaL6YTF0zG5y69n8Eb-upO3u4_pfmHVTtPq6Qh9vK46HLvS-uYi-gnYN1IUxH__v_nuwnSnXFo7190pGlwFkjDxGX2rXCc/s400/2013-04-01+18.11.17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="st">Nørrebro</span> mutlilingual statue about coexisting... yes please!</td></tr>
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<b>The Danes are puuuurty. </b>I wish I had a picture of the barista at that one coffeeshop.
Or the waiter at that <span class="st">Nørrebro </span>cocktail bar. Or the waiter at that <span class="st">Nørrebro</span>
restaurant. It's rare I ever find a guy on the street attractive, but in Copenhagen I was accosted by good looks multiple times a day. It didn't help that the men I saw were tall with chiseled features, many possessing that mysterious dark hair, light eye combo that makes me a bit weak in the knees. The girls were nice, too, I'm sure, but I was a bit distracted. <i>Mange tak</i> for the eye candy, Copenhagen. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD5oJCyHA7DrbE8dyBn5WuU2E63RoH3taSUKJiO5JBN34xYwSW032ZiWSnhrdVFLV2rNssGGCr_N-VQb8CYypKAwYBCcfyRRtfi4mWJibLTYydHg55omoq_W5X7W7Y8giAqchsEogkis/s1600/2013-04-01+18.16.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBD5oJCyHA7DrbE8dyBn5WuU2E63RoH3taSUKJiO5JBN34xYwSW032ZiWSnhrdVFLV2rNssGGCr_N-VQb8CYypKAwYBCcfyRRtfi4mWJibLTYydHg55omoq_W5X7W7Y8giAqchsEogkis/s400/2013-04-01+18.16.06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-35757471516589782562013-04-10T00:01:00.001+02:002013-04-10T10:49:54.155+02:00Projects and Peanuts <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEBLssPtmo6tc7ELfCK2j618JQC19mlfGg45ULNHCZrP4GO5xkxQpna0PIidMRuSnbQWQ5Z6rvzCn6ybX0sfeLwPKIWZBTQ2ti1iRhTZZKXIWcZIh6mBEUOYmAvoD5kysaME9gxSGIbY/s1600/2013-04-08+14.26.44.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIEBLssPtmo6tc7ELfCK2j618JQC19mlfGg45ULNHCZrP4GO5xkxQpna0PIidMRuSnbQWQ5Z6rvzCn6ybX0sfeLwPKIWZBTQ2ti1iRhTZZKXIWcZIh6mBEUOYmAvoD5kysaME9gxSGIbY/s400/2013-04-08+14.26.44.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My trainer Mike, me, and Kelly pre-race</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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After sprinting across the half-marathon finish line on Sunday, I looked down to my shoes that have two symmetrical holes where each of my big toes have been slowly pushing through, and muttered to myself (with the breath I had left) that running season was officially over. I suppose one might question my sanity to train outside during Berlin's excruciating winter only to switch to indoor basketball once the weather gets good, but that's what's happening, so deal with it. </div>
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So that project is over, and a few others are gaining speed. Some are smaller - finally purchased and put together a real bed today! - and others are bigger - the "<a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/resolving-realistically.html" target="_blank">side project</a>" I mentioned earlier this year is almost ready to be shared. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkU5Djbea4WioZKUgHruhW4T8p7RUN-MOX4LYjELDJV9g5K3u82atBjHDjy0yBl66DCC-QQtkbiCOm4EiJIi1TeZcNUffZxqctYxtOlRL4wcycGBSKltMp4xcm_l0bqasqzVIJ8lHVbk/s1600/2013-04-06+12.10.42.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkU5Djbea4WioZKUgHruhW4T8p7RUN-MOX4LYjELDJV9g5K3u82atBjHDjy0yBl66DCC-QQtkbiCOm4EiJIi1TeZcNUffZxqctYxtOlRL4wcycGBSKltMp4xcm_l0bqasqzVIJ8lHVbk/s400/2013-04-06+12.10.42.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caf<span class="st">é</span> Engels in <span class="st">Neukölln</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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In other news, on Saturday, Kelly, Marko, and I met at <a href="http://www.qype.com/place/1909435-engels-Berlin" target="_blank">Cafe Engels</a> for a quick coffee before picking up our race materials at Berlin's famous <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/09/thai-tempelhof.html" target="_blank">Tempelhof airport</a>. It was my first visit to the cafe, and I found it quite pleasant. I thought they did a great job with little touches, like mint in the carafe of water and chocolate covered peanuts that accompanied our creamy cappuccinos. Marko wasn't so pleased with the peanuts though considering he's allergic and unassumingly popped one into his mouth. Thankfully he didn't have a strong reaction. Also thankfully I got to gobble up the remaining ones on his saucer. </div>
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As a side note, I'd like to give a quick thanks for the lovely comments and messages on my last post. It's very encouraging to know all of you read, respect, or even relate to what I write on this thing. So, DANKE! </div>
Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-80588607993036598722013-03-28T23:57:00.002+01:002013-11-19T17:18:33.299+01:00Going it Alone<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzPnGCOPqMouZAL5o8pZeCDk3ye8cZ7QEt8TM_T9mFsaoIV-_eWrhxUPFiFDmQ9X4baCt8kkiS4UDkvMBwtrzAbAwXZ5rXhcRRaL6gsHXoaGEaDMC-hU6L4Sq1f173756sCpnAoSRqwEY/s1600/58520015.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzPnGCOPqMouZAL5o8pZeCDk3ye8cZ7QEt8TM_T9mFsaoIV-_eWrhxUPFiFDmQ9X4baCt8kkiS4UDkvMBwtrzAbAwXZ5rXhcRRaL6gsHXoaGEaDMC-hU6L4Sq1f173756sCpnAoSRqwEY/s400/58520015.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On top of the Andes in Mendoza, Argentina: 2009</td></tr>
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I'm settling in on the couch with a glass of organic tinto and some dim lighting for this one, because I'm planning on getting a little more personal than usual and need the atmosphere to work with me a bit. I generally try to stay away from divulging too much about my private life here on the old blog, because, well, it seems a bit self-indulgent and narcissistic for one, and two, this blog is public so who knows who's reading it. But I know it makes things interesting and can be cathartic and what not, so here goes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolgVYUM-QYF89hPRXQr1oq381hewG2dCOqggHf4IUfR8Q9lsPLoUDJkHSrWI8W23VJdG4f0iXRiYwrU95T5C_kOHOmGTe-SK_2wA0owjK6shs3AA6OY5ZQQZC_BKR-2K9y1IhqTfFc8g/s1600/IMG_7727.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolgVYUM-QYF89hPRXQr1oq381hewG2dCOqggHf4IUfR8Q9lsPLoUDJkHSrWI8W23VJdG4f0iXRiYwrU95T5C_kOHOmGTe-SK_2wA0owjK6shs3AA6OY5ZQQZC_BKR-2K9y1IhqTfFc8g/s400/IMG_7727.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The weekly market in Lannion, France: 2007</td></tr>
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When I first got to Berlin and people asked why I moved here, some would frame it as a question for which they suggested a possible answer. "Oh, so you're studying here?" or "You're teaching English, right?" were both popular, but the most common was actually, "Ah, so is there a guy over here?" One or two people even deigned to ask if I had <i>left</i> the US because of a guy. (I should add that these guesses came from people who didn't know about my German family/language/passport situation, all which make a 26 year old American girl moving to Berlin on a whim by herself without a job somewhat less surprising.) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oRmCkwdPX3BWk1rSdlyKcPMZg6hsjhcD917ljg5F1TqbCAYa8SOpJS2HmrsxJqFPWaD_2xUJPXsukBN5jbaovZABADuRiQ7xnoT0nenHPlU_eqoJRuELVHcxrh0K1y-5fXsMrg_h9L0/s1600/2130132570084298132HpBJbD_ph.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oRmCkwdPX3BWk1rSdlyKcPMZg6hsjhcD917ljg5F1TqbCAYa8SOpJS2HmrsxJqFPWaD_2xUJPXsukBN5jbaovZABADuRiQ7xnoT0nenHPlU_eqoJRuELVHcxrh0K1y-5fXsMrg_h9L0/s400/2130132570084298132HpBJbD_ph.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who needs a boyfriend when you have Italian statues? Parma: 2006</td></tr>
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Not only did a guy not influence my decision to leave the US nor to choose Berlin, but no guy has factored into my life planning for quite some time. As of some day in the upcoming two weeks - I've forgotten the exact date - I will have been sans boyfriend for three years. There was some dating and a few flings here and there, but nothing even approaching serious. I've become the epitome of the single 20 something girl, the one who eats eggs or pasta for dinner in bed while watching Gossip Girl and Downton Abbey. The one who leaves clothes strewn about on the chair all week because it's unlikely anyone will see it. The one who had to race into the bathroom and shave her legs one night while an unexpected suitor waited patiently in the living room, <span class="st">à la</span> Michelle Pfeiffer in "One Fine Day." Fortunately my suitor had not fallen asleep by the time I resurfaced. Unfortunately my suitor was not George Clooney. Maybe I should stop drinking this wine and rein it in a little.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQb1rZ9ruHt4ZM6lQ12GgpnVGvn7kbx9u1GT88OSOyRoYraht0gciNMpMbAZNBxRhASg6fRbtZJqBIvOrNMWarP463IKtBilNWCFupjNcKstzO2X8AFQiBzXm-XfxzhohtSXRKEfOou0/s1600/IMG_2947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQb1rZ9ruHt4ZM6lQ12GgpnVGvn7kbx9u1GT88OSOyRoYraht0gciNMpMbAZNBxRhASg6fRbtZJqBIvOrNMWarP463IKtBilNWCFupjNcKstzO2X8AFQiBzXm-XfxzhohtSXRKEfOou0/s400/IMG_2947.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also not reining it in, Tuebingen: 2006</td></tr>
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So no, I didn't move to Berlin for a boyfriend, and haven't found any serious contenders for the position in my almost 1.5 years here yet. But wanting or not wanting a boyfriend was not really the point of this post. The point is, I have watched, half-enviously and half-satisfactorily, as people I know in couples lead similar lives to mine: that is, do the moving abroad, traveling, teaching English to move abroad and travel thing. I am somewhat fascinated by this idea, because I've never had it. "It" meaning the partner to travel and live abroad with, not "it" the great boyfriend, because those I have had. But my international adventures have been overwhelmingly solo ones. Sure, I've traveled and stayed with friends in a lot of places and had plenty of help along the way. But no one was with me when I was lumbering onto the train to Tuebingen with two suitcases, registering for Spanish classes in Buenos Aires, traveling on a night bus to Mendoza, apartment searching in Lannion, battling the border control at the Chunnel from Paris to London, or facing the bureaucrats at the Bezirksamt or Zollamt in Berlin. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my first nights in Berlin: 2011</td></tr>
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And it's not just those big things: the travel itself, the paperwork acquiring, the apartment assembly, etc. A lot of major and minor life moments happened to me the first time while abroad: eating dinner alone in a restaurant, going to a movie by myself, figuring out how to read a map, learning to cook a proper meal, scraping by on very minimal language skills when an entire group of people relied on me at a cafe. Of course it would have been nice (more than nice, sometimes) to do these things with a partner. But I can't imagine I would have experienced the same leaps of growth, independence, and self-confidence if that had been the case. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brunch in Tel Aviv: 2012</td></tr>
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Of course if the right guy (or even "a right" guy) happens to pop up at my door anytime soon, I certainly won't turn him away. I look forward to finding someone who shares this interest and lifestyle and who I can explore places in the future with, and I have no doubt I'll find him eventually. But in the meantime, I'm happy to enjoy my somewhat crazy, occasionally scary, but extraordinarily fun and exciting life on my own.Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-41800962829882309342013-03-22T17:24:00.001+01:002013-03-22T17:28:36.704+01:00TGIFood<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusYZGXVpK9QO7KO6elKcE9PtmNHUi6Csps9bnQ_tpGCura4uT3uDYK69hyphenhyphenOYEz-qVXIc6vsx1RFMX5dWqH5oQaAMqeGU-U2ksCxQklkOo-LBGUV-j_OlVUNgfXHo4QJ7U8VtfTfimooI/s1600/2013-03-10+19.07.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusYZGXVpK9QO7KO6elKcE9PtmNHUi6Csps9bnQ_tpGCura4uT3uDYK69hyphenhyphenOYEz-qVXIc6vsx1RFMX5dWqH5oQaAMqeGU-U2ksCxQklkOo-LBGUV-j_OlVUNgfXHo4QJ7U8VtfTfimooI/s400/2013-03-10+19.07.41.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum of Natural History, Berlin</td></tr>
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Hello Friday! It always comes as somewhat of a shock when I realize I haven't written in almost two weeks. Where the time goes, I have no clue. What have I even been doing since that last slice of cheesecake and spicy hot chocolate <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/03/kaffee-kuchen.html" target="_blank">two Sundays ago</a>? I suppose there was work, travel planning (the Mama and I are heading to Croatia in May!), home improvements (new floors!), running (only 2 more weeks til half-marathon), the seeing of the friends (movie nights, sushi nights, lazy cafe afternoons), the occasional cultural experience (trip to the Museum of Natural History, Of Monsters and Men concert), and even the occasional date or two (ok, just the one). This weekend brings with it plenty of social engagements, from Korean food with friends tonight, to a home-cooked dinner with friends tomorrow, to more Kaffee & Kuchen on Sunday afternoon followed by more Asian food that evening... ok, so I'll be stuffing my face this weekend. But it also brings my most monstrous of all Saturday training runs: 160 minutes.<br />
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...at least I'll have something to burn off. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-32202293013222936082013-03-10T22:29:00.002+01:002013-03-10T22:40:13.506+01:00Kaffee & Kuchen <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFvyD1ko907aZPsrIGJbtIwM8O84m3B9Ye2CuTQuwqzhafr7Yi7G2JQQ9XpPHqOgUJEn4rMb58JlRHALigM3eGK8VBaqjTD214sPY5z-pCp_YqYmEOjePvwfNBD4i3CL9GtSm6FwUm0k/s1600/2013-03-10+18.40.51.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpFvyD1ko907aZPsrIGJbtIwM8O84m3B9Ye2CuTQuwqzhafr7Yi7G2JQQ9XpPHqOgUJEn4rMb58JlRHALigM3eGK8VBaqjTD214sPY5z-pCp_YqYmEOjePvwfNBD4i3CL9GtSm6FwUm0k/s400/2013-03-10+18.40.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One of my absolute favorite things about Berlin is the abundance of cute caf<span class="st">é</span>s. Tables graced with candles and flowers, the decor mismatched and rustic. Such a charm that I think is really missing at caf<span class="st">é</span>s back in DC that tend to be of the sterile chain variety. Today I met a couple friends for Germany's Sunday afternoon tradition, <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/03/devils-food-and-devils-mountain.html" target="_blank">Kaffee und Kuchen</a>, and savored a beautiful slice of homemade cheesecake and a hot chocolate spiked with chili. It was all I could handle on this lazy Sunday, and all I really wanted. <br />
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-40863636764338798762013-03-09T09:21:00.001+01:002013-03-10T12:32:38.409+01:00Think About It <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuK4khqx6i9IjLhcsdr0a1xeSluRJe2YnrJw6WTAcGdb_DPXFIi4V6vBLB8d4rp0tcOZbTni0xMykwslGzcPLhDm7YIs-XP-dqHO8JltAnlzUXB-Nc_ska9RClEBicY-dDOBKK_aNTw4w/s1600/2013-03-08+22.45.49.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuK4khqx6i9IjLhcsdr0a1xeSluRJe2YnrJw6WTAcGdb_DPXFIi4V6vBLB8d4rp0tcOZbTni0xMykwslGzcPLhDm7YIs-XP-dqHO8JltAnlzUXB-Nc_ska9RClEBicY-dDOBKK_aNTw4w/s400/2013-03-08+22.45.49.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
I knew the whole debate about ripping down part of <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/03/gesehen-b-at-esg.html" target="_blank">East Side Gallery</a> to build a luxury housing complex was a big deal here in Berlin, but I was pretty surprised to see it had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/world/europe/protesters-want-last-of-berlin-wall-to-stand.html?hp&_r=1&" target="_blank">made the front page of NY Times</a>. Though I suppose when you think about it, it is a big deal to tear down the longest last remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, and not just because it would be replacing history and art with a purely capitalistic endeavor- alone a deep insult for many Berliners. The word for monument is German is "Denkmal," a compound word that when
separated, turns into the imperative statement "Think about it." Different monuments serve different purposes, but East Side Gallery serves many. It is the most important historical monument that exists from the BRD/GDR days- one of the city's most complicated and painful eras. It also serves as an open-air art gallery, where international artists come to paint messages of peace and hope along what before could not even be touched (remember the <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/mauerpark.html" target="_blank">death strip</a> on the East Side?). But when you think about it, this whole situation is quite symbolic in another way. Most of last week's protesters would have been the same ones championing tearing down the wall a mere 25 years ago when it still separated the city (some probably did), but now they are fighting to leave it standing. It's not only a symbol of the past, but of how far the city has come, and this reminder serves as great a purpose as the history of the wall itself.<br />
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-10915659135960953792013-03-03T14:01:00.003+01:002013-03-04T10:27:03.126+01:00The "How are you?" Code <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad means "Bath" in German</td></tr>
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I really love language. Learning a foreign language is like an expedition: full of long stretches, bumpy roads, and the occasional sharp turn and light at the end of the tunnel. It opens up a whole new world in terms of the people you can interact with and what you have access to within a culture. Discovering these little cultural tidbits is what makes it so much fun. Like when I found out the <a href="http://sophiasmonde.blogspot.de/2007/10/last-thursday-when-i-was-eating-sushi.html" target="_blank">French call chopsticks "baguettes"</a> or when I realized that the pastry we call an "elephant ear" in the US is called a "pig's ear" here (Germans and their pork!). Understanding how people speak helps you understand how they think, act, and interact, and also what is important to them. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi86qCRMbmYd5FQlCkcoXcWvDhs2kcGp1CP8Vx8JWGljXv3I2W7m5kw0QJJRs_lrI51FuPXBR9nbXNQscJGrESxLfE4jhrANPtSY_qGRauX18uQj20CURpm6Ja2Yt88l1kcAG7cg3bFGXw/s1600/2012-11-19+21.24.42.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi86qCRMbmYd5FQlCkcoXcWvDhs2kcGp1CP8Vx8JWGljXv3I2W7m5kw0QJJRs_lrI51FuPXBR9nbXNQscJGrESxLfE4jhrANPtSY_qGRauX18uQj20CURpm6Ja2Yt88l1kcAG7cg3bFGXw/s400/2012-11-19+21.24.42.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being "multicultural" in Poland</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Let's ponder how Americans say hello, for example. It is extremely commonplace in the US to throw out a "how are you?" with your "hello" without a second thought- meaning it is completely acceptable, and even expected, that you pose this "question" when just strolling by someone without any time or inclination to stop and actually hear the answer. Sometimes "how are you" even replaces "hello" altogether. A typical response to this question would be: good, ok, great, fine, not bad, or even just a smile and/or nod and no verbal response at all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBrj1JJNnFcmOgemn1fXJWKHga43zVEJY2RP8nuzO2lA7Xtju6Kg0-j3uDQsAi7FKSJmZsKoIyQUBnjIDEJnKj5xn7I8ViOggfTas2mBLfXH5psKXhASwa-IBKBwuQzajymgLSgVEqFg/s1600/2012-09-01+11.22.44.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBrj1JJNnFcmOgemn1fXJWKHga43zVEJY2RP8nuzO2lA7Xtju6Kg0-j3uDQsAi7FKSJmZsKoIyQUBnjIDEJnKj5xn7I8ViOggfTas2mBLfXH5psKXhASwa-IBKBwuQzajymgLSgVEqFg/s400/2012-09-01+11.22.44.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A German play on English words</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I can't tell you how many times my German mother has brought this up and talked about how impolite it is. If someone asks you the question, why wouldn't they wait to hear the answer? I was talking to one of my closer German friends in Berlin about this the other day and she almost fell off the couch in disbelief. Steam was coming out of her ears she was so worked up. "What if I lost my job? Or have cancer?" she argued, "Am I just supposed to say "fine" in response?"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ51EyfZmxmtGKyDeYtmrsgJ7yqCm3dYN1Lksnr8HjFEDIxx1v9lk5jcKiSPx0URxj0_xUHdizuhuKgu9N96btjZ3i1PfYbRGegQfE1tZCTpUVtprP-cZs2Gcu8Wk-o17D_CwZ4Luj9gw/s1600/2013-01-06+22.31.11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ51EyfZmxmtGKyDeYtmrsgJ7yqCm3dYN1Lksnr8HjFEDIxx1v9lk5jcKiSPx0URxj0_xUHdizuhuKgu9N96btjZ3i1PfYbRGegQfE1tZCTpUVtprP-cZs2Gcu8Wk-o17D_CwZ4Luj9gw/s400/2013-01-06+22.31.11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's nice that YOU exist!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yes, that's exactly what you would do if an American you're not close with greeted you and posed this seemingly innocent question. For us it's just routine, and it's most certainly not impolite. It's part of the greeting, basically joined to "hello" so much so that <i>not</i> asking is almost impolite. It feels like you have cut yourself off halfway through the greeting. In return, not responding how you are actually feeling (giving one of the standard aforementioned one-word responses like "fine") is how one is reciprocally polite. Unless it is your good friend, or you're sitting down with someone to chat, you don't bother that other person with what is actually going on in your life. Americans know when a "how are you?" is posed expecting an answer or
not. A lot of it comes from the intonation. "Hi! How are you!?" said
with a broad smile by someone strolling by is very different from, "So,
how <i>are</i> you?" It's subtle, but any American hears the distinction. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_a6meqVrMZMp3FI8dQ_A4UQXfkJYij60hK1dwPE5_Je1BZzxdseV8JvQJV3DnCjqrJtJ5kCmtgyyttnYUDZDvSvhuTrxjPiqflSw1K4fPWtnEew0Kick6yb2mjJxk9b2EO01fRudC5TQ/s1600/2012-11-28+20.44.26.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_a6meqVrMZMp3FI8dQ_A4UQXfkJYij60hK1dwPE5_Je1BZzxdseV8JvQJV3DnCjqrJtJ5kCmtgyyttnYUDZDvSvhuTrxjPiqflSw1K4fPWtnEew0Kick6yb2mjJxk9b2EO01fRudC5TQ/s400/2012-11-28+20.44.26.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Now I'm going to rub you with a really nice olive oil, garlic, basil marinade"<br />
"Are you really a masseur?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Different cultures have different codes, and understanding the language helps you access that code. When you think about the difference between how Germans and Americans greet each other, you also see parallels with how they frame their relationships. Germans respond to that question when asked because they know the person is only asking because they expect (and want) a response. Just like there is no pretense of being "friends" with someone you are not actually friends with. Like that same German friend said to me, "You know when someone doesn't like you
here." You're not expected to love everyone, invite everyone everywhere,
and make friendly all the time. We do a lot more of that in the US, but I wouldn't say it's because we want or feel we have to be fake. We just have a different code for interacting with strangers and acquaintances. The line between "acquaintance" and "friend" is much wider and bolder here in Germany which makes things clearer, but it also makes it harder to break through and make contact with people in the earlier stages of a relationship. In the US there are more levels of friendship than in Germany, and there's a big difference between your friend from yoga class and your friend that you've had since freshman year of college. We may use the same word, but from the context, you can gather the significance of that relationship. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-3273275009140557302013-02-25T20:16:00.000+01:002013-02-26T13:54:05.659+01:00Great Expectations <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIfHzAj1RVKiXJSv7k2-HdaednNMtLK9cmf3gU4-CWGobfkbDzomlzaRR9iE8hp1c17-RYAX2GNfS8g6KcJOgJ_dgEToiMqK5JsRnG8i0-LOHFIS2NpBYh0l11zRI8dMRfFuChIOjck4/s1600/2012-07-28+17.25.33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIfHzAj1RVKiXJSv7k2-HdaednNMtLK9cmf3gU4-CWGobfkbDzomlzaRR9iE8hp1c17-RYAX2GNfS8g6KcJOgJ_dgEToiMqK5JsRnG8i0-LOHFIS2NpBYh0l11zRI8dMRfFuChIOjck4/s400/2012-07-28+17.25.33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lausanne, July</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The other week a colleague jokingly said it
was cute I was "stressed" about a presentation I was giving in the
office, and that it
was very "American" of me to put in so much effort. My brain, as always,
jumped to the underlying cultural implications of such a statement. Do
we Americans tend to be perfectionists and put
lots of effort into every little thing (at least in a professional
sense)? And if so, why? Is it because we're worried about how we will
look in front of others or because success is heavily valued in our
society? Or because striving to be "better" and ascending the ranks in
some form is part of our Puritan, ambitious, self-starting work ethic?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mC-yQAI5Z9HAJ6vUu4hWKEbl3Uc7PGVvTaro5B0Up73hJgNm6T7qeCX_U0N-TkdfdX21YBD2qoyX9Gpw2X6spOsPdC4JC_dKlbBPdgOj8FKeNME0yfrWVR_sCN5HOPn_xsnL6Zm77Lo/s1600/2012-10-17+20.48.27.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mC-yQAI5Z9HAJ6vUu4hWKEbl3Uc7PGVvTaro5B0Up73hJgNm6T7qeCX_U0N-TkdfdX21YBD2qoyX9Gpw2X6spOsPdC4JC_dKlbBPdgOj8FKeNME0yfrWVR_sCN5HOPn_xsnL6Zm77Lo/s400/2012-10-17+20.48.27.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Colleague's husband's art in Tel Aviv, October</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">That may play a role, but I also have a hunch that this cultural difference is due in part to
educational structure and expectations. In Germany, it's
all about credentials. Not "what school did you go to?" (no Ivy League
here), but more "what exact training did
you receive and what exact certificates do you have?" If you have the
certificate, you're expected to know a certain standardized body of
knowledge that
others outside the field don't have. If you don't have the certificate,
well,
it's not your field so why should you? Part of this must stem from the
fact
that people choose an academic or job training path so much earlier
here than we are forced to in the States, where spending half of college
earning liberal arts credits before choosing a major is the norm. Let
alone the number of us who end up doing jobs after college that barely
relate to our degree. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dv8vSyiynAJbVDeJbljovDu7EUwrmG5BZSvA94RaeEzZ5VpXR92_cTxTaGd1rhPUlZwpL_wesk1Jr1ELdWN6WnGetAVwDw8AZbwlT8XSCp1LdUjOxmwEgOfZkUr_Cx-RG-0LDulcs8Q/s1600/2013-01-06+15.28.20.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dv8vSyiynAJbVDeJbljovDu7EUwrmG5BZSvA94RaeEzZ5VpXR92_cTxTaGd1rhPUlZwpL_wesk1Jr1ELdWN6WnGetAVwDw8AZbwlT8XSCp1LdUjOxmwEgOfZkUr_Cx-RG-0LDulcs8Q/s400/2013-01-06+15.28.20.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kreuzberg, January</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">In Germany, life planning is notably more direct: you're filtered into a school level by age 10 that determines whether you will go to college or into a vocational path, and before
entering higher education you most certainly have picked a major. That
area becomes your expertise and if you want to do something else, you basically start over from scratch to get all those required certificates for that new field. Even applying to university is a more no-nonsense game over here. It's
not about how many extracurriculars you did, what type of personality
you have, or where you see yourself in 10 years. It's your grades and
your planned field of study, that's it. This system is too rigid- 10 years old is way
too early to filter, tracking puts lower-income students at a
disadvantage, and the 21st century requires a more flexible skill set-
but I can't deny it has its advantages, too. People are highly trained
and generally competent in their fields. In the US on the other hand,
the typical liberal arts college is
designed to give you a well-rounded and general skill set (learning how
to write and do research, learning to work well with others, etc.) and subsequently a
lot of training ends up happening "on the job."</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9yAnt_-cG9Vuybu0Veg3ZOz89piXt8UGimhNbOh1wFs-BtG-JyLKjHI3qqWOslDalh_90Fi1YvFzpQGTiiGN1cD08VdXL-h9puBZCxz3YGoyrLCo0_utQBxdNrnbDpvwL0__0gSggl8/s1600/2013-02-09+12.40.30.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ9yAnt_-cG9Vuybu0Veg3ZOz89piXt8UGimhNbOh1wFs-BtG-JyLKjHI3qqWOslDalh_90Fi1YvFzpQGTiiGN1cD08VdXL-h9puBZCxz3YGoyrLCo0_utQBxdNrnbDpvwL0__0gSggl8/s400/2013-02-09+12.40.30.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiergarten, February</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;">My colleague summed it up this way: Germans plan and Americans prepare. And I think there's some truth to that. If you're well-trained for a job, you may not feel the need to do a lot of "last minute" preparation because you've been preparing for, oh, 10 years. And maybe, if I'm allowed to push it this far, the higher level of job security in Germany may make pushing yourself to the brink or outshining the others less of an issue. In a similar vein, my American friends and I have talked about how unusual it is to hear praise from teachers or bosses here. While in the US you may get a "great job!" for sorting the mail correctly, in Germany you may receive no positive feedback after a 30 minute presentation that you put hours of work into. Both situations can seem a bit ridiculous (and counterproductive) at times.</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fY7oYdoRZ6enkR66jTfdM4QsFVbMT6qBZZc8af70zOA5ShJkgk9A-dJSSP3nXiFRGEGulnWpwgzLwYy6at5-bUqKse0fAyEq0V7Ms0i7270VafxKetPCnhjzh3TSC4FGVNles17NsWA/s1600/2013-02-23+12.08.33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fY7oYdoRZ6enkR66jTfdM4QsFVbMT6qBZZc8af70zOA5ShJkgk9A-dJSSP3nXiFRGEGulnWpwgzLwYy6at5-bUqKse0fAyEq0V7Ms0i7270VafxKetPCnhjzh3TSC4FGVNles17NsWA/s400/2013-02-23+12.08.33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="st">Köln, February<em><br /></em></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">I would probably be more confident in my current job had I
began training in international education at age 14 or 18 (or even 22
instead of 25), but a great deal of my "training" for this field and the
reason I got my job is my soft skills, and
those come from a variety of experiences and jobs, not from one
certificate. So in typical transnational form, I think both systems have
it right and wrong and could stand to learn from one another. A little
planning and a little preparation never hurt anyone. </span></span><br />
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-31350016328428113272013-02-15T20:40:00.001+01:002013-02-16T00:32:02.531+01:00B is for Belated, Bears, and Berlin<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWg69augu_njTiBn44bGa31lMQAlbSAW51LA00MxT4j8rvB8vg0k-7uxARj0SwVqpiybM6nQ69uZbVGAITHWpNumsAgFtOGhY2RRPisvTxK2pa1l1Rg2URGG5pCR-5sxN9YAEMdo8BBM/s1600/2013-02-15+00.10.40.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWg69augu_njTiBn44bGa31lMQAlbSAW51LA00MxT4j8rvB8vg0k-7uxARj0SwVqpiybM6nQ69uZbVGAITHWpNumsAgFtOGhY2RRPisvTxK2pa1l1Rg2URGG5pCR-5sxN9YAEMdo8BBM/s320/2013-02-15+00.10.40.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Happy belated Valentine's Day, dear readers! I don't know about you, but my V-Day was pretty good. I started off my evening with a Spinach and Cheese <span class="st">Börek</span> from my favorite Turkish stand by work and a homemade cosmopolitan, followed by finally seeing <i>Les <span class="st">Misérables</span></i> at Berlinale, Berlin's annual film festival. There was a red carpet at the theater which made me feel all sorts of important (minus the celebrities) and there were beers (which we smuggled in). Kelly and I went to <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/berlinale.html" target="_blank">Berlinale</a> last year in our unemployed days when we had no sorts of real lives and all sorts of time to go explore the city every day and take cute pictures and <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/herzliche-valentinstag.html" target="_blank">wish you a Happy Valentine's Day</a> on time. This year I offer you the following picture, which took 5 tries and still didn't turn out right:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnk777lDAahS1XtMLTNBbRkS10HoGTeyOzUAzKNnsYcZ0m9fgf12XDs49QQQU7IMoUcSTzQJVP5eSRK_V2OC71-63FiruoMOpWJoN1dgq1K0KbpC7go-6nJr-0G6tPnOejFSmiVkojsU/s1600/2013-02-15+20.28.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnk777lDAahS1XtMLTNBbRkS10HoGTeyOzUAzKNnsYcZ0m9fgf12XDs49QQQU7IMoUcSTzQJVP5eSRK_V2OC71-63FiruoMOpWJoN1dgq1K0KbpC7go-6nJr-0G6tPnOejFSmiVkojsU/s320/2013-02-15+20.28.06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Also, cultural difference alert!! Apparently the Germans found any mention of Jean Valjean "giving away" Cosette to Maurius incredibly funny. I mean, they were <i>cracking up</i> in any scene where it came up. The idea that a man would pass off his daughter like property! Ludicrous! It is pretty silly, but come on, this was the 1800s and Jean did Cosette a real solid with the whole adoption thing. </div>
Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-43806911145762000002013-02-10T22:39:00.000+01:002013-02-10T22:43:05.394+01:00Seasons Part IIIIt's that time of the year again for a <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/10/seasonal-showcase.html" target="_blank">seasonal tree update</a>. Lately they've been chopping down trees around our beloved Lietzensee like nobody's business, but thankfully my favorite <i>Baum</i> is still standing tall and proud. Who could really cut down such an extraordinary tree like this one, anyway? It's too bad I didn't think to get a shot when the lake was frozen, but the other part of me is happy that temperatures are now hovering around freezing rather than plunging deeply below it. Makes my 2 hr weekend jogs somewhat more enjoyable. More to come soon, but for now it's bedtime. Gute Nacht! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolhI9YAE-RednjyqjwCIk46FWL8eWOllgz7MaXuNpcfnn9B5xWW8rWqYybZAXZrjIbdFWPTSTJj7Y-YSfR2h3DWr3efdsYot4XGhUyoSL33ZjXnSMUjnpc4K_bz16hL2POcq-15m7lok/s1600/2013-02-03+11.40.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3es8fmLTZL-5_GyFDqLWN7o5bRCg5noEXoAOpKuOukIqORYOkti89Y-brZrZa5A83qzt37JruA9u3PTwAKP0G3GLDdTAzRZXj9HpwZROXMdxQJbqFXi5wI9yEau7PpHBRvAh_5CmgXPQ/s1600/2012-10-24+20.08.23.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3es8fmLTZL-5_GyFDqLWN7o5bRCg5noEXoAOpKuOukIqORYOkti89Y-brZrZa5A83qzt37JruA9u3PTwAKP0G3GLDdTAzRZXj9HpwZROXMdxQJbqFXi5wI9yEau7PpHBRvAh_5CmgXPQ/s400/2012-10-24+20.08.23.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 2012</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesVdnsiqkcIHOEiub5W-_1JEh8KjZid7Un9fCf4htfBanpLlDk0whr9md5nJsrukDhJJHL-ym50_qNdSDTuaukvSvOW_jsif_pRG2DUQe8Z3zWItPvfwEoetrIC893uCZGClYsjRBGNA/s1600/2012-10-24+15.17.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiesVdnsiqkcIHOEiub5W-_1JEh8KjZid7Un9fCf4htfBanpLlDk0whr9md5nJsrukDhJJHL-ym50_qNdSDTuaukvSvOW_jsif_pRG2DUQe8Z3zWItPvfwEoetrIC893uCZGClYsjRBGNA/s400/2012-10-24+15.17.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">October 2012</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolhI9YAE-RednjyqjwCIk46FWL8eWOllgz7MaXuNpcfnn9B5xWW8rWqYybZAXZrjIbdFWPTSTJj7Y-YSfR2h3DWr3efdsYot4XGhUyoSL33ZjXnSMUjnpc4K_bz16hL2POcq-15m7lok/s1600/2013-02-03+11.40.33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiolhI9YAE-RednjyqjwCIk46FWL8eWOllgz7MaXuNpcfnn9B5xWW8rWqYybZAXZrjIbdFWPTSTJj7Y-YSfR2h3DWr3efdsYot4XGhUyoSL33ZjXnSMUjnpc4K_bz16hL2POcq-15m7lok/s400/2013-02-03+11.40.33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January 2013</td></tr>
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-62175337990551876502013-01-31T16:07:00.000+01:002013-01-31T16:11:54.771+01:00Red Peppers at Green Week <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBj8AUXqrkX2FUMtY86ygBnkInV7y4Xh9v7Ef9Zo7ugq1LpetuqXECqWemnFJxBcoNN0RI_doOKFMDM9duwoPVoBWD-PwUdrRXbfjl7DOznTTag2tqtpQshrfnrohx0Ln1BdCknXDPuE/s1600/2013-01-30+22.43.01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBj8AUXqrkX2FUMtY86ygBnkInV7y4Xh9v7Ef9Zo7ugq1LpetuqXECqWemnFJxBcoNN0RI_doOKFMDM9duwoPVoBWD-PwUdrRXbfjl7DOznTTag2tqtpQshrfnrohx0Ln1BdCknXDPuE/s400/2013-01-30+22.43.01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBj8AUXqrkX2FUMtY86ygBnkInV7y4Xh9v7Ef9Zo7ugq1LpetuqXECqWemnFJxBcoNN0RI_doOKFMDM9duwoPVoBWD-PwUdrRXbfjl7DOznTTag2tqtpQshrfnrohx0Ln1BdCknXDPuE/s1600/2013-01-30+22.43.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <br />
Since we're on the topic of food anyway, I thought I would share a few photos from Berlin's recent "<span class="st">Grüne Woche," or Green Week. I'm too lazy to describe the event, so here is what the website says:</span><br />
<i><span class="st"><br /></span></i>
<i>Established in 1926, International Green Week (IGW) is taking place for
the 78th time in 2013. The IGW is a one-of-a-kind international
exhibition for the food, agricultural and horticultural industries. At
the same time, the IGW is the point of origin for the Global Forum for
Food and Agriculture (GFFA) with more than 60 departmental ministers.
Producers from all over the world come to IGW to test market food and
luxury items and reinforce their brand image. Renewable
resources, organic agricultural and products, Fair Trade, rural
development and gardening continue to gain importance at International
Green Week.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgm_0a3-WuyDufqexh40ppjz3n4i4rBLjWv1F2WSe8pXtXIkEIVsOWRywixfhtISpIIzRJXIyHRVmLNKDOVMi7zVsFQDQpsaZNy8cJnWpS8e9Fgt5Kc_TGBMBo4gIJY9g4MtaChn2paQ/s1600/2013-01-27+17.55.11.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgm_0a3-WuyDufqexh40ppjz3n4i4rBLjWv1F2WSe8pXtXIkEIVsOWRywixfhtISpIIzRJXIyHRVmLNKDOVMi7zVsFQDQpsaZNy8cJnWpS8e9Fgt5Kc_TGBMBo4gIJY9g4MtaChn2paQ/s400/2013-01-27+17.55.11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bavaria Section</td></tr>
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<i> </i>Different countries and German states had booths and sections where you could try their delicacies (samples for free, dishes for a fee). South African wine was EVERYWHERE (I'm not complaining). I obviously had to wander past the US section to be supportive of the homeland but all I found was one measly soft serve stand! Is that really all we have to offer the world? <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBNqKWBzjr-mbek8CnN35YA4iokGT6kPH05dZakaXjX-3SiOWdhLywyD1kEK4To8vRbSbktFddV0qqfdxZJlhh5Id_1kC38jTJnBAsU5W_PAbZXYGH7MhRBCJHmbLxGduHyIkfAyxVt8/s1600/2013-01-30+22.41.35.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBNqKWBzjr-mbek8CnN35YA4iokGT6kPH05dZakaXjX-3SiOWdhLywyD1kEK4To8vRbSbktFddV0qqfdxZJlhh5Id_1kC38jTJnBAsU5W_PAbZXYGH7MhRBCJHmbLxGduHyIkfAyxVt8/s320/2013-01-30+22.41.35.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found somewhere in between "Thailand" and "India"</td></tr>
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<span class="st">I tried many things, including a mackerel sandwich, South African wine, German red wine, more South African wine, Indian chicken curry, red Thai curry, more German red wine, Spanish red wine, German white wine, and coconut gelato. Yes, in that order. </span><br />
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<span class="st">Then there was this cuteness: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kLVbM9mJhyuDj5DCgmhGiBqUABt8wkqBfqrjE8vXWsLf2U-QctJvLzTLSqL3dBIzCpoBPkdVOlJjveX5AxXXt6gu9AiNZPXrAt0ZuPvaDgCdDaEzylZWHxUSRNZxKGlPyrNZ-2e4vwA/s1600/2013-01-27+17.52.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kLVbM9mJhyuDj5DCgmhGiBqUABt8wkqBfqrjE8vXWsLf2U-QctJvLzTLSqL3dBIzCpoBPkdVOlJjveX5AxXXt6gu9AiNZPXrAt0ZuPvaDgCdDaEzylZWHxUSRNZxKGlPyrNZ-2e4vwA/s400/2013-01-27+17.52.39.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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That I guess eventually becomes this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXzo8f_wIRqBRuZvTZG6ESLQ0keKwOJ0kvmGxINXW4ywPv908Q8WnmiNG1TK73Jx2gYsX4GVKuY-f8Ne7xZpxaCJ4-1b4mupx6BYnqvK4byLqebI-P4nKsmq1QThXaBfNO_Lx0Ykt0hw/s1600/2013-01-30+22.45.17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXzo8f_wIRqBRuZvTZG6ESLQ0keKwOJ0kvmGxINXW4ywPv908Q8WnmiNG1TK73Jx2gYsX4GVKuY-f8Ne7xZpxaCJ4-1b4mupx6BYnqvK4byLqebI-P4nKsmq1QThXaBfNO_Lx0Ykt0hw/s400/2013-01-30+22.45.17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Sorry to my vegetarians, but this wild boar roast was literally right next to the live animals! I guess it's all about knowing where your food comes from. And then covering that knowledge with mustard and tossing it into a Brötchen. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-49168561622119096592013-01-29T09:03:00.004+01:002013-01-29T11:20:01.127+01:00The Case for Food Snobbery<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8wj3P5APK8t6ss0uoCtvw0Fcy_UY8TfSOXjw7gqa4zkXdP7kRnud-73L9avG8eeIMqtLQPWWG8ipe4g1_i7a0YxINxsDKPG88UjwV309C6lOlAbrYTsGzsFGYWkcPbqNzPI71HUZJBQ/s1600/2013-01-06+22.35.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8wj3P5APK8t6ss0uoCtvw0Fcy_UY8TfSOXjw7gqa4zkXdP7kRnud-73L9avG8eeIMqtLQPWWG8ipe4g1_i7a0YxINxsDKPG88UjwV309C6lOlAbrYTsGzsFGYWkcPbqNzPI71HUZJBQ/s400/2013-01-06+22.35.29.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last dinner in Bethesda with the family</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
It's no secret that <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/06/american-foodie.html" target="_blank">I am a bit of a foodie</a> and eat (and drink) pretty well. Besides travel it's probably the number one thing I splurge on. I blame my family, since growing up with a dad, sister, and aunt who all cook really damn well meant I had high standards from a young age. The travel hasn't helped either, because once you have sushi in Japan or wine in Mendoza or gelato in Rome or seafood in Brittany or chocolate in Switzerland it's hard to go back to the mediocre stuff. I also don't know why being a "food snob" has to have such a derogatory connotation. Smokers have their preferred cigarette brands, no one rolls their eyes when people say Starbucks makes bad coffee, so why is it so bad if I say I'd rather not eat at Olive Garden or Chili's? I'm not going to sneer at anyone who does, I'm just not going to be sitting at the table next to them slurping up overcooked fettuccine drowning in a bath of bland cream sauce.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCy4UVfloeYQtQns6dXlsk91Arnbroa2sOldjIhl1x4geoIkdy8y3KnyBwbuvbMwEtiev6Dd_TRSmZOnkw8emT8O0hBHTyDmRW6vT6J48kHv4TXbkEP9W4uiCzdWTIWZxmPLOndb5LTiU/s1600/2013-01-13+21.27.53.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCy4UVfloeYQtQns6dXlsk91Arnbroa2sOldjIhl1x4geoIkdy8y3KnyBwbuvbMwEtiev6Dd_TRSmZOnkw8emT8O0hBHTyDmRW6vT6J48kHv4TXbkEP9W4uiCzdWTIWZxmPLOndb5LTiU/s400/2013-01-13+21.27.53.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galettes with Giovanni (extra egg on top for good measure)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpDnx4wXAm3VcWOws42h8pbeq-zDWEeD1ja2BJVPRNF0AYo4NN-LO4xStdSlsgkeiVGCFhq-HEk6atXQurwsLINf-EaQv_rj2qcZ8-Dq-_OYjsUSAqT_lM0RDgS6tO7DTCASVzqU8hEw/s1600/2013-01-20+09.50.07.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpDnx4wXAm3VcWOws42h8pbeq-zDWEeD1ja2BJVPRNF0AYo4NN-LO4xStdSlsgkeiVGCFhq-HEk6atXQurwsLINf-EaQv_rj2qcZ8-Dq-_OYjsUSAqT_lM0RDgS6tO7DTCASVzqU8hEw/s400/2013-01-20+09.50.07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discovery of a new Weinbar with Kelly in Kreuzberg</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I also think food snobbery gets conflated with people just trying to be high-class. I'm <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/01/not-for-calorically-conscious.html" target="_blank">not talking about fancy food</a> here, just good quality food. When I lived in smaller towns I ate plenty of "peasant" food like <i>spaetzle</i> and pretzels in Ludwigsburg and Tuebingen and <i>galettes</i> in <a href="http://sophiasmonde.blogspot.de/2007/10/stefanie-and-i-at-march.html" target="_blank">Lannion</a>, and I loved it. But the problem with living in small European
towns like those was that although local cuisine was tasty and of high quality, there was absolutely no
diversity. Tuebingen had one mediocre Chinese buffet and Lannion had... a
Subway. Thankfully, Berlin is a large capital city with most cuisines on offer, and on top of that it is<i> cheap</i>. Not everyone seems to know that about Berlin. But yes, <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/06/kumpir-poor-mans-paradise.html" target="_blank">Berlin is very cheap</a> and you can eat (and drink) pretty well <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/06/two-four-three.html" target="_blank">at a reasonable price</a>. So this foodie does! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8RcHYTG_BSqC8TdHp98prlyYxakSahP_rJy9yiynpFuYMyCE1PWFgKF-GDZDSHrFZv4iitoJkCyAlzoTDKwb4-TwQEMc5M02Qc82iBxx7srMxDiZbXKS9RUKaUb7cWvSzYGNblRLDFF8/s1600/2013-01-20+11.46.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8RcHYTG_BSqC8TdHp98prlyYxakSahP_rJy9yiynpFuYMyCE1PWFgKF-GDZDSHrFZv4iitoJkCyAlzoTDKwb4-TwQEMc5M02Qc82iBxx7srMxDiZbXKS9RUKaUb7cWvSzYGNblRLDFF8/s400/2013-01-20+11.46.31.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My ongoing search for Berlin's best cappuccino at an Italian cafe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdEMoBzskWebwNg6hzkX5Y5zteP1rGH4EH5NrXrxh4zC687HyIkcqBf8jR2nTvtVivFQxKGkSDo28qvAZ3lQVV39ilX-4LkeZBHYVQZ5qStxpYEEQAUKSiGfeZINHD9ZxqyIhn4OqtcY/s1600/2013-01-20+13.01.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdEMoBzskWebwNg6hzkX5Y5zteP1rGH4EH5NrXrxh4zC687HyIkcqBf8jR2nTvtVivFQxKGkSDo28qvAZ3lQVV39ilX-4LkeZBHYVQZ5qStxpYEEQAUKSiGfeZINHD9ZxqyIhn4OqtcY/s400/2013-01-20+13.01.04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunday brunch with Max and Kelly in Prenzlauer Berg</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxIIz7x1SHX_Pjrzlt9XuU8sNErKZdR9WjZgyiOlGOkMKtm_dohEkyCi2mzE721bgGqdBombOB8vtcvt8CgzxH83XsaqyCZrJadVj6TKAGaQjwYHVLJbH2TAdRQZ9ODrX6Q3TRI10NAM/s1600/2013-01-20+19.17.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhxIIz7x1SHX_Pjrzlt9XuU8sNErKZdR9WjZgyiOlGOkMKtm_dohEkyCi2mzE721bgGqdBombOB8vtcvt8CgzxH83XsaqyCZrJadVj6TKAGaQjwYHVLJbH2TAdRQZ9ODrX6Q3TRI10NAM/s400/2013-01-20+19.17.16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pizza, salad, and wine night</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgXOOLIqT3gz3PJbRbNNcoZ5QR72J7JoS_-KPD2GicYCZTjIKuCKMaF-kDN5vFHMCfWjeD7cMRuLVNfwi1LzIPvigaM33tLGl1T6ntq3LH-Id9kJpDYGRbWia_mwjPM44WNZ9JWxXUlE/s1600/2013-01-27+16.20.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdgXOOLIqT3gz3PJbRbNNcoZ5QR72J7JoS_-KPD2GicYCZTjIKuCKMaF-kDN5vFHMCfWjeD7cMRuLVNfwi1LzIPvigaM33tLGl1T6ntq3LH-Id9kJpDYGRbWia_mwjPM44WNZ9JWxXUlE/s400/2013-01-27+16.20.41.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicken curry at "Gruene Woche"</td></tr>
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-6699927557789701222013-01-24T23:31:00.003+01:002013-01-25T11:13:44.495+01:00Fortnight <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfscFQ79v1Q2ewJqHYmAAvDDP4TJSQIgVVrMQnC2fz5ogK0fYzvy8eXH9URRFeNGEtEBlD0kyKcuTtdBJXBqAeuZMJ48HgpbU9vDzCaaQKyen_xuyFY3hHF7CmSmhI6qzY0rlLAHbB8u8/s1600/2012-12-05+18.45.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="goog_251916269"></span><span id="goog_251916270"></span><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfscFQ79v1Q2ewJqHYmAAvDDP4TJSQIgVVrMQnC2fz5ogK0fYzvy8eXH9URRFeNGEtEBlD0kyKcuTtdBJXBqAeuZMJ48HgpbU9vDzCaaQKyen_xuyFY3hHF7CmSmhI6qzY0rlLAHbB8u8/s400/2012-12-05+18.45.53.jpg" width="400" /> </a> </div>
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I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post! I really don't mean to disappear like that. Things have been kinda busy I guess, partly due to my <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2013/01/resolving-realistically.html" target="_blank">resolutions</a> that I've been following through on. Primarily #3 has kept me busy outside of my normal routine, and I have to admit that dating is hard work! I'm not used to going out with guys I don't really know and most of the time it feels like an interview that I thankfully get to mitigate with a couple glasses of wine. I don't think actively hunting like this is going to last for long, but it's an interesting experience for the time being. Resolution #2 has also been moving slowly but surely, and #4 will get a kick-start in a few days when I commence a weekly study schedule. As for #1, a potential trip to Croatia and Macedonia is in the works for the summer (Kate!), I have my eye on a three day weekend at the end of March for a possible getaway to Scandinavia (actually just thought of that as I was writing this, pretty good idea though right?), and the 2013 <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/05/gearing-up.html" target="_blank">PJS reunion weekend</a> has been booked for London in April. All in all not bad for a few weeks work. </div>
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Otherwise it's business as usual. A few little surprises at work, half-marathon training in the persistently below freezing temperatures (though running through the deserted and snowy Tiergarten last night amongst the bunnies was nothing short of spectacular), and lots of meeting friends for dinner and drinks. My Opa was also just in town for a few days which was lovely, and now I have a few leftover hunks of wurst in the fridge to remember him by. Anyone want some chunky pork products? </div>
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Oh, and the picture. That's just an advertisement I saw weeks ago at the S-Bahn that never fails to make me giggle. Hehe. </div>
Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-91526660144062102802013-01-10T18:33:00.000+01:002013-01-10T19:10:24.590+01:00Got My Berlin Groove Back<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMd5oFk_qWETgPCeb9DsodQPhjdFCoeG9bpAykyyLtM8U2uZnrY5k94_StO5hifgRITixNv26l7C21YKpBQ8SOonapqrwkQs4iGp1TpOrlHO0y-zEGM6wcbUVjXgsscjQeR3NSMdTwk7M/s1600/2013-01-06+22.30.13.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMd5oFk_qWETgPCeb9DsodQPhjdFCoeG9bpAykyyLtM8U2uZnrY5k94_StO5hifgRITixNv26l7C21YKpBQ8SOonapqrwkQs4iGp1TpOrlHO0y-zEGM6wcbUVjXgsscjQeR3NSMdTwk7M/s400/2013-01-06+22.30.13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bye, bye Christmas</td></tr>
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After 6 days, I feel I have finally gotten my Berlin groove back. Yesterday I described coming back to Berlin after a long trip home a "hangover," because that was the best way I could think to explain it. My head is spinning from everything I did, all the places I visited and family and friends I saw, and then all of a sudden I'm opening the door to my apartment in Berlin and am supposed to resume whatever it is I've got going on over here. It's like flipping a switch, turning on one life and fading out the other.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9ZXcLBXupuQ8g8MRBZILBcqzBBiwmI1lSSRUKYfWgCNOKKmG-PDZZGB7wpOnqhIpK0FmCUJFfjM90LsCM_FNbC028Hymyk6-ahOoxvAygsGvt2MMCzBRbu8rtHNLILFQX1wAtKEfDiM/s1600/2013-01-06+22.38.05.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9ZXcLBXupuQ8g8MRBZILBcqzBBiwmI1lSSRUKYfWgCNOKKmG-PDZZGB7wpOnqhIpK0FmCUJFfjM90LsCM_FNbC028Hymyk6-ahOoxvAygsGvt2MMCzBRbu8rtHNLILFQX1wAtKEfDiM/s400/2013-01-06+22.38.05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Solo Sunday trip to the Berlinischer Galerie </td></tr>
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The first couple days are never easy. There's the unpacking, of course, the follow up emails and calls to tell everyone at home you've landed and are fine and to stay in touch, etc. Then there was returning to work and reorienting myself to a normal schedule after 3 weeks which is hard enough in itself. And then there was the fact that 3 of my close Berlin friends were still out of town, which meant a somewhat lackluster social calendar. So on Monday and Tuesday it was staying at work late, staring at a computer screen, to come home exhausted and watch movies on another screen. It's not a good pattern, but it's hard to break when you're tired and all you want to do is watch things on a screen. Sure enough though, as always, things turned around in the middle of the week, and a productive day at work coupled with a great jog with my running group last night was all I needed to whip myself back into shape. Now Kelly and Giovanni are also back, and my weekend calendar is filling up quite nicely.<br />
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Hope you all had a lovely holiday season, and have fully recovered from your respective hangovers, whatever type they may have been. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-47502337356445511142013-01-01T22:42:00.000+01:002013-01-02T05:34:09.435+01:00Resolving Realistically <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrypshAaNggoUb6nvR7lorn_0iGU9d5QEv-WChrOapNh1RcqXxw3q7dsK2Pq5yh-q_lifYMLuCm2pCLdNOkZjWQ6p6KZotD3QDMTh38cNueqSwqmoytQ5HrQso1q_Vp-GvzExNEU5aEiw/s1600/2013-01-01+09.39.38.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrypshAaNggoUb6nvR7lorn_0iGU9d5QEv-WChrOapNh1RcqXxw3q7dsK2Pq5yh-q_lifYMLuCm2pCLdNOkZjWQ6p6KZotD3QDMTh38cNueqSwqmoytQ5HrQso1q_Vp-GvzExNEU5aEiw/s400/2013-01-01+09.39.38.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving NYC </td></tr>
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Hello, 2013! I'm writing from the comfort of my childhood home and am at the tail end of what has been a lovely 2 and 1/2 week vacation home (and in SC, CT, and NYC) for the holidays. Since it's January 1st and all, I thought I would take this opportunity to revisit my <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.com/2012/01/resolutions.html" target="_blank">resolutions from last year</a> and see how I did. They were the following:<br />
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1) <b>Eat less foie gras.</b><br />
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2) <b>Get a full-time job.</b><br />
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Success on both fronts! To be fair, my list was kinda ridiculous. #1 was just silly, and #2 was pretty crucial to becoming a real person in Berlin. But now that #2 is taken care of, I can focus on more "frivolous" resolutions like going to yoga regularly, trying new recipes, or reading the news more. Though I've never been much of a resolution maker. I think it's great to be conscious of your lifestyle and try to make positive changes, but I recognize that these changes take time and believe steadily trucking along toward a goal rather than a drastic overhaul is necessary to make any change sustainable and realistic. For example, I'm happy that I now generally limit myself to one row of Ritter Sport chocolate rather than devouring the whole bar in one sitting, but that took a few years of practice, not one chocolate-less January. <br />
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It's kinda fun though, to look back and set goals, so I'll throw out a 2013 list just for kicks:<br />
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1) <b>Travel to three places just for fun </b>(outside of trips home to US). You'd think this was an easy one for me but since I've had my job, I've barely traveled outside of work trips. In that vein, I'll count an extension on a work trip that gives me some time to explore. Now that I have a real salary, and real European vacation time, it's time to start taking advantage of the fact that I live in Europe and can jet off to places like Stockholm or Slovenia for a long weekend. <br />
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2) <b>Follow through on a side project</b> outside work that I'm not yet ready to talk about. Sorry for the secrecy, just don't want to get myself excited by sharing before the time is right. <br />
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3) <b>Date more</b>. Yes, I said it. Now that I have a job, I'm ready for a guy. Or a "cousin" (that was for my friend JD who is convinced all the guys I like/date look like they're related- don't worry world, I am not actually planning on dating a cousin). <br />
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4) <b>Work on my German grammar. </b>Adjective endings and prepositions, I'm coming for ya. <br />
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#1 and #3 seem too fun to be resolutions (well, let's see with #3...) but again, it's all about being realistic. I'm especially interested to see how #2 turns out, and promise to report back. As for #4, well let's just say there was a reason why Mark Twain wrote about "The Awful German Language." Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-31156873528769727572012-12-15T01:19:00.001+01:002013-01-10T19:10:55.986+01:00Transnational <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3B9SvImE_2BsE5xOSa7KeVB-PJ-1lU1M612JiCp3MSMnzY1CTdl2bYTTKKhd2_oNM08dyefUJly3d51DGpoJoqqUoJannkSed68E9Txq_yRQa9tmA14hDdmDUSqyHpGmjBCqt-HGPbg/s1600/2012-10-03+19.06.04.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3B9SvImE_2BsE5xOSa7KeVB-PJ-1lU1M612JiCp3MSMnzY1CTdl2bYTTKKhd2_oNM08dyefUJly3d51DGpoJoqqUoJannkSed68E9Txq_yRQa9tmA14hDdmDUSqyHpGmjBCqt-HGPbg/s400/2012-10-03+19.06.04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volkspark Friedrichshain</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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No matter how much I fly, I always get the pre-trip flutters before a big travel day. Tomorrow I fly back to the States for the first time since May, and through all my excitement to see my parents at the airport, my sister and three closest childhood friends the following day, and a host of family and friends the following 2.5 weeks, I can't help but be somewhat nervous. And my nervousness was only heightened by the news of the devastating Connecticut school shooting today. <br />
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A few friends and I gathered this evening to cook our last meal together in 2012 when we learned about the shooting. With four American expats at the dinner, the criticism of the US and many American policies quickly began to fly around the room. We were heartbroken, furious, and at the same time, acutely conscious of how living in Europe has shifted our perspective on such issues. It is clear that any American would feel heartbroken and furious at such news, but no matter how initially shocking, the shock may wear off more quickly because it's becoming tragically commonplace to hear this type of news in the US. School shootings certainly don't happen every day in the US but they happen a hell of a lot more there than here- the US did experience two separate public shootings in the course of this week, after all. <br />
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As we digested the news, we also reflected on the fact that such events remind us of why we moved here in the first place. Not because of school shootings in particular, but because the world just functions a bit differently on this side of the Atlantic, and although we all came for different reasons, we find comfort in and feel connected to that world. <br />
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The longer I stay in Berlin, the longer I see myself staying here. In many ways, I see raising a family easier here, my quality of life being higher, a certain standard of living guaranteed for me should things get rough at any point, and a basic standard of living for others that I fundamentally believe should be guaranteed to all,<i> especially</i> in a developed country. I certainly don't need to make any long-term decisions now, but I'm aware that eventually the time will come where I have to choose the US or Europe in a somewhat permanent way. And as incredibly wonderful as it is to go home for a visit, it reminds me of everything, and more importantly, everyone, that I have to leave behind should my choice be here. Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-75704226356643723732012-12-09T14:05:00.001+01:002012-12-09T14:06:52.665+01:00Warm Tiergarten, Cold Tiergarten <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig09B1d0kEXpV1zrTjgomabGqY_-xPs5Z5ZDYcR6dFIuDW7kTJSy9wKtzj6USk8NLWh5sa28v_2rocKKLtz43u93oH_5m8J5_EgjjNkOpdRMpUMutCWHgkGKK7hwa6voUup7bE6VQTrBY/s1600/2012-12-08+18.24.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig09B1d0kEXpV1zrTjgomabGqY_-xPs5Z5ZDYcR6dFIuDW7kTJSy9wKtzj6USk8NLWh5sa28v_2rocKKLtz43u93oH_5m8J5_EgjjNkOpdRMpUMutCWHgkGKK7hwa6voUup7bE6VQTrBY/s400/2012-12-08+18.24.02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Sinti-Roma Holocaust Memorial </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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What does one do when it's -7C outside? Why go jogging in the Tiergarten of course! Because if -7C in the second week of Berlin winter deters you, then you may as well just give up, hole up in your apartment, and disappear for the subsequent 15 weeks. It's not about being bad-ass, it's about remaining human. <br />
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Berlin has split personalities, called summer and winter. In summer, or even the <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/03/65-is-new-80.html" target="_blank">first semblance of mild weather</a>, people are out on the streets frolicking, smiling faces pointed toward the sun absorbing its warmth, <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/05/not-your-mamas-labor-day.html" target="_blank">drinking in the parks and dancing at outdoor parties</a>. In <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/baby-its-fin-cold-outside.html" target="_blank">winter</a>, they're bundled up in Jack Wolfskin coats and scarves, hands buried deep in their pockets, with faces pointed toward the ground to avoid the snow and wind. But we endure it, because the pay-off is pretty sweet. Just a short 5 weeks ago, the Tiergarten looked like this. Sigh. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKofHbcuQMtU3eN7NwD3Mft6FvOP-w_lkv8PyEcf6WOol15p62Q8h903qBZmFlaiHQIhLNlgh0gBO5YbVfEHJy6VMB8VDZ5Bi-p857LeWhl7SJXuHIEeBY2jv0p_0Gd7xyKGFgTJP3zE/s1600/2012-10-21+13.13.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKofHbcuQMtU3eN7NwD3Mft6FvOP-w_lkv8PyEcf6WOol15p62Q8h903qBZmFlaiHQIhLNlgh0gBO5YbVfEHJy6VMB8VDZ5Bi-p857LeWhl7SJXuHIEeBY2jv0p_0Gd7xyKGFgTJP3zE/s400/2012-10-21+13.13.06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6108877788273203682.post-68375896319835050672012-12-02T14:51:00.001+01:002012-12-02T22:39:28.863+01:00Musings and Markets <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlottenburg </td></tr>
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Same city, same decorations, but man does Christmas in Berlin feel different this year than last year. When I got here <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/11/one.html" target="_blank">just over a year ago</a>, I spent a lot of time <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2011/12/scenes-from-stroll.html" target="_blank">strolling Berlin's streets by myself</a>, figuring out where everything was, heading from cafe to cafe to do a little remote work for MPI or <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/yesterday-today.html" target="_blank">continue the job search</a>. Occasionally I met up with Giovanni, or Anna, or one or two other friends of friends that I had been connected with, but otherwise <a href="http://kaffeeundsuchen.blogspot.de/2012/02/all-sides.html" target="_blank">spent lots of time alone</a>. I got locked into a Starbucks one night while downloading movies to watch at home (no internet in my apartment those days), had hours of idle time during the day to do whatever I pleased, and still felt wrong tipping less than 20% at restaurants. Germany was not new for me, but the circumstances of being here were. Things were exciting, but also quite disorienting, kind of how I imagine Santa might actually feel attempting a hand-stand. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSFkR2Ty545WC76BIcodPdf-8MJLOs9x3UZgGMJpaoHDox0tYvDvWGKUUvRUlyeTyGBvlzv1H9-YeIOTaS4TU5CwoDQuyKlpoC9RAuIgq068S6qF0eSjsoHuA4qw3vLYPFCaTPrykn34/s1600/2012-11-28+23.51.47.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSFkR2Ty545WC76BIcodPdf-8MJLOs9x3UZgGMJpaoHDox0tYvDvWGKUUvRUlyeTyGBvlzv1H9-YeIOTaS4TU5CwoDQuyKlpoC9RAuIgq068S6qF0eSjsoHuA4qw3vLYPFCaTPrykn34/s400/2012-11-28+23.51.47.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mitte</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLSFkR2Ty545WC76BIcodPdf-8MJLOs9x3UZgGMJpaoHDox0tYvDvWGKUUvRUlyeTyGBvlzv1H9-YeIOTaS4TU5CwoDQuyKlpoC9RAuIgq068S6qF0eSjsoHuA4qw3vLYPFCaTPrykn34/s1600/2012-11-28+23.51.47.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
Now I'm out and about so much I barely have time to watch a movie, or even spend time in Starbucks downloading one. The Christmas kitsch and market photos I do manage to snap I do so hastily, while heading with running group to a late dinner after training, meeting a friend for a quick weekend coffee, or racing home from work to tidy up before people come over. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUzjHnMXRCyeJMzXjq_e59pHwSw6d8WyFKnwUW3kXtg6aalZyOy_HF52yjL7vmh-43omQXr51WPw7ERCTadIHlyrBh99wfuPjkNisq0UTS_yMnbetNwJYk8rQ2HL0aNU8SgDntsx4OqY/s1600/2012-11-25+15.31.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUzjHnMXRCyeJMzXjq_e59pHwSw6d8WyFKnwUW3kXtg6aalZyOy_HF52yjL7vmh-43omQXr51WPw7ERCTadIHlyrBh99wfuPjkNisq0UTS_yMnbetNwJYk8rQ2HL0aNU8SgDntsx4OqY/s400/2012-11-25+15.31.07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kreuzberg</td></tr>
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With just a couple short weeks before my trip home for the holidays, I am going to try and soak up as much of Berlin Christmas as I can, because Germany really does Weihnachten better than anyone else. I'm starting with a trip to a Christmas market this afternoon for my first market <span class="st">Glühwein</span> of the season, followed by a trip to another Christmas market with friends tomorrow, and then yet another market next week with colleagues for our work Christmas party. Think that should about cover it. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhFIaLPJ0HDmCvuD24Mb8Ij4t-7KZlHpgk21V21u-_jvOkd_hx1E79dF7Vx2LA2R8myvia-6XW90apShXmHJducr8sWdOucIaa9MbrUNYed9KlvwhddUlU7NcS-P_yKSwwDwLY2Xolbs/s1600/2012-11-04+03.25.37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEhFIaLPJ0HDmCvuD24Mb8Ij4t-7KZlHpgk21V21u-_jvOkd_hx1E79dF7Vx2LA2R8myvia-6XW90apShXmHJducr8sWdOucIaa9MbrUNYed9KlvwhddUlU7NcS-P_yKSwwDwLY2Xolbs/s400/2012-11-04+03.25.37.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ku'damm</td></tr>
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Sophiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12522475366527825961noreply@blogger.com4