I love my life!

I made it through the first week of my new job. I love it! Rapid Eye essentially created a job tailored to my resume and interests. They wanted to hire me and they want me to stay. The company is young and thus far nonprofitable. They hire young, ambitious individuals that will work for low pay. This is a great business plan if you are trying to save money, but can also lead to much inefficiency.

Today was an amazing day. I woke up and went for a run along the river. The weather was cool and breezy and I soaked up every minute of it. After the run I had a nice cup of coffee and decided to go get my hair cut. It was a little scary to attempt...not knowing if anyone would understand that I didn't want a mohawk. Fortunately, all went well and I had a very good trim (that took nearly two hours!). I went back to the house, had a sandwich for lunch and then borrowed a bicycle to explore the outskirts of town. I rode for over an hour and found myself in a little village in the forest. I hopped off the bike and went into a cafe that served ice cream and beer. It was a weird combination, but I decided a couple beers sounded pretty good on such a lovely Saturday afternoon. I had two Pilsners and hopped back on the bike to ride home. I now realize that German beer is much stronger than American beer. I almost toppled over when I tried to stand and I was a bit wobbly on the bike.

After returning to the house (where I am a house guest until September 1), the neighbors told me of a festival in town. I have no idea of the significance...maybe just a reason to party and drink beer. I ventured out and was stopped by a guy in the street that was trying to talk to me. I explained that I didn't speak German, but he claimed he spoke English. While he was trying to converse, he decided to pee against the building, right in front of me! As I walked off, he tried to talk to me in German. I have no idea what he was trying to say and his English was certainly lacking. Strangely enough, the same thing had happened on my walk to the hair cut, only then it was a 7 or 8 year old boy. I guess that people just pee anywhere at any time here.

After walking away from the peeing man, I returned to my search for the festival. Many of the apartment complexes around town as well as business parking lots had turned themselves into beer gardens with live music, DJs and dancing. I walked into the courtyard of an old apartment complex that had the best sounding music. They had a great DJ and a great setting filled with couches, tiki torches and ivy under the stars. Beer is cheaper than water here so imagine going into a place like this and spending a dollar a beer for good beer (or spirits). I had one beer and decided to leave as I was feeling a little awkward being alone. As I was about to leave, a guy came up and tried to talk to me in German. "ich sprechen nicht deutsch" I said and he asked if I spoke English. We managed to have a very simple conversation in English, and I established that he works in Potsdam and drives a caterpillar! After that I left for a goodnights sleep. Guten Nacht, I will fill you in on my Berlin adventures and add pictures later.