Christmas in Germany

Wow! Christmas in Germany makes me feel like I'm living in an enchanted fairy tale. It is fridgedly cold, the ground is covered in white powder, and every main street is filled with holiday markets full of Gluewein (hot wine), brautwurst and sweets. Most every house is decorated in delicate, beautiful lights and stars. Many of the decorations remind me of my childhood at teh Waldorf Schule...school.

Picture is from the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall

event at the Brandendburger Tuer. We are standing in front of the fallen "Dominoes". I am standing with two coworkers...Lilit from Armania and Maria from Italy.

I went for a jog yesterday through the snow. I live near the Neue Garten park and the famous Holy Lake. As I jogged along, I looked to the right and passed the last castle that was built in Germany. To the left, I saw the bridge that seperated the GDR (east) from Western Germany. At the halfway mark, Soviet and American troops would pass back and forth between the east and west. The Berlin Wall once stood along the trail that I ran. My roomate who grew up in the house I am living in, and told me that he used to pass through the guards and walk along tanks and barbed wire to enter the city center for groceries.

I will be here alone for Christmas, but on the 29th will fly to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit my dear friend Angela. After I return I will work four days and then fly to Paris for a weekend. Life is rough!

GREECE

Well...I have wanted to visit Greece for most of my life. With a week and a half of vacation time, I decided to take my first trip to Greece. Receiving a paycheck in Euros is certainly helpful when it comes to traveling. Greece was VERY expensive, but amazing nonetheless. I spent around 40 Euros per day on food alone!

I arrived in Athens on a Sunday evening. The taxi ride to my hotel was terrifying. The Greeks drive like crazy people and consider the speed limit to be a suggestion rather than a law. Somehow, I made it to my hotel alive, dropped off my bags, then headed into the Plaka to find some dinner. The food was amazing, but expensive nonetheless.

Later I ventured into the Peloponnese mountains and on to Olympia, cradle of the Olympic Games. I travelled to Delphi where I hiked to the Temple of Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi. I ventured through the site where Leonidas and the Spartans were defeated and killed by the Persians, then on to the Monasteries of Meteora. Meteora was certainly one of the highlights of my adventure. The geography seemed somewhat surreal, but then again, so does my life right now.

After my adventures through the Peloponnese, I went back into Athens. I returned to the same hotel where I had spent my first night. This time however, I found myself getting eaten by bedbugs! Athens is a very dirty city filled with dirty old men, hagglers and bed bugs! I could have skipped Athens all together, but then again, I was at least able to experience it. I hiked up to the Parthenon and found myself sorely disappointed. The temple was hidden by scaffolding and many parts had been refurbished in recent times. However, the view of Athens from the top of this hill was outstanding.

For my last three days in Greece, I decided that I needed to experience the Greek Islands. I took a ferry to Santorini, where I rented an apartment on the water with a westward view. Although I would have liked to explore the island, I was so exhausted that I decided to spend my time sitting on the patio/porch/veranda…whatever you call it…and read my book. I cannot remember the last time I sat and watched the sun set. It was amazing and rejuvenating and made my vacation everything that a vacation should be. I sat outside each day with a glass of wine, the new Dan Brown book and some Greek h’ordeurves and soaked in all the sun I could take.

I could write for days about the ancient ruins and geography that I encountered on my journey, but I will spare you all the details and let the pictures speak for themselves!

Now I am back in Deutschland where it gets dark at 4 PM and stays dark until 8 in the morning. It doesn’t seem to bother me yet, but it was nice to soak in a bit of sunlight over my holiday.

Last night I moved into my new home. I am now living in a Vegan commune in a city called Potsdam. My rent is very cheap here and the company is great. Hopefully I will learn German faster while living here.

Short one!

Last week I crashed hard off my bike and am now black and blue. The next day I met Rubia, our new distributor from Taiwan. I hosted her for three days and am completely exhausted.

Next Thursday I head into Berlin for a U2 concert at the Brandenburger Tor...free! What a life live :-)

Proposal

Ha! I finished my very first proposal for data sales to a company in France. It was one of the most stressful job experiences I have ever had, yet I somehow enjoyed it. I love my job. I feel important and appreciated. I feel like an equal to all those around me and people actually take the time to listen to my thoughts and ideas. I am satisfied in my career for the very first time in my life. I am working to build a company from the ground up and am involved with so may different aspects of the business. In addition, I am making connections with people from companies all over the world and I get to live in Europe. My body still tingles from excitement when I walk down the streets of Brandenburg. Life is good!

Tables are Turning

Last weekend I took a train ride over to the boarder of Germany and Poland with two of my soon to be roommates. We took a day hike (on flat ground) and then worked our way back toward the train station. While walking through the town, we stumbled upon a very unique cafe. The place was full of Bohemian furniture and tiling. The food was organic and they offered things like oat milk and soy milk. The walls in the bathroom were painted in a manner that reminded me of Waldorf School. This is very rare in eastern German towns, especially ones this far east. People tend to dislike change here, and often let buildings sit and crumble for 100 years rather than tearing it down. This little city was filled with industry at one point in history and was dotted with smokestacks and grey soviet apartment complexes that house thousands of people.

Last Tuesday I had a woman surf my couch while she was in town for an audition. Osnat is a very talented Opera singer from Israel and is one of the most interesting woman I have ever met. She left Israel and moved to Germany because she felt that people in Germany are the most open minded, non-judging people she has ever met. She feels that her country is filled with hypocrisy and she could not tolerate it any longer. I thought this to be very interesting since she lost a great deal of family in the Holocaust.

A couple weeks ago I met a new employee named Katerina. She is working part time in my department while finishing up a research job at the University of Potsdam. Once she completes her research, she will join RapidEye full time. While chatting with Kat, I mentioned my desire to find a new living situation in Berlin. She told me that she had a room for rent in her house in Potsdam. I had never considered Potsdam before because it is very expensive. It is halfway between Brandenburg and Berlin (maybe a little closer to Berlin) and one might consider Potsdam's relationship to Berlin as the Montecito of Santa Barbara or the Cherry Hills of Denver. Anyhow, I went to look at the place and met the 4 people I would be living with and agreed to take over the room. I will be living with an orange cat, three Germans and one Kiwi in a very unique old house (a triplex mansion) in a very classy neighborhood, close to a famous park and popular nude swimming beach. One of the girls is a Vegan and they all eat strictly organic. they make of point of eating dinner together every night. I think that means I may be turning into a Vegan for a while...

Miss you all,

Abiah

Life Without Internet!

I am now settled into my new apartment, but still no Internet or phone. Tuesday the 22nd is the day I meet the technician to set up my connection. I have gone three weeks without Internet, TV, movies, radio or telephone and it has been interesting. I ended up getting sick and staying home from work one day. I managed to finish my last book in English print and then nearly lost my mind from boredom. My fingers can only play fiddle for so long. Life ha sslowed down and I am starting to enjoy the peace of no-technology life. I friend has loaned me more reading material and I am back to reading.

Today I sit at the Wasch Cafe where I am doing my laundry, sipping a cappuccino and surfing the wireless Internet. This place might be the most brilliant place ever! Not only can I sit here and relax while doing my laundry but they also put my wash into the dryer for me and fold it for free.

Work is still fantastic. Little funny misunderstandings come up from time to time that can be frustrating for all. On the other hand, I sometimes get a good laugh. Last week my boss asked me what the word for pencil sharpener was. Everyone thought that there must be a shorter word for it, but no. Then the intern, Bjorn, picked up his eraser and stated that it was "a rubber"! I explained that you would not refer to an eraser as "a rubber". Then another coworker, Georg told me about his experience in Canada. He had purchased a map at a bookstore and decided that he needed a rubber band for the rolled map. However, he only knew to ask for "a rubber". The guy behind the counter nearly died laughing and explained that he wanted a rubber band for his map and not "a rubber".

I spent another weekend in Berlin. I met up with a coworker and we decided to have a ladies night on the town. On the way back to her apartment we walked by a karaoke bar and couldn't resist checking the place out. It was two stories high and had a front room with tables set up like a cafe. They also had roughly 20 private rooms. The whole place was filled with Japanese Germans with the exception of the two of us. On the screen was Japanese pop music blasting. Funny thing is, the Japanese music videos were much better than anything Americans make these days. I had a good laugh, needless to say and we ended up staying until 4 AM!

Berlin!

Oh how I love Berlin. It is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I am not much for big city life, but this is a city I can see myself living in. The streets are clean and the air is clean. Most people ride a bicycle, walk or take public transport. The excitement is always lingering in the air and I feel so alive. The culture is rich and the history is deep. I find reminders of war and suffering all over the city, yet somehow everyone is happy and I find nothing but positive energy everywhere I go.

I have spent many days in Berlin. One day was spent in museums looking at artwork from the Baroque and renaissance periods, ancient Egyptian artifacts and even The Temple of Athena that is housed at the Pergamon Museum. Another day was spent at the Salvador Dali exhibit. Of course, his best works are in Spain, but it was inspiring and interesting to stand not a foot from his original pieces that did not even hang behind glass. I thought a great deal about my brother on these days in the museums. He loves both history and art and I hope that someday he too can enjoy these splendors.

Last Sunday I made my way around Berlin on foot as usual. There were many people visiting for a huge track and field event. There were concerts and live TV shows being held under the Brandenburg Tur. Beer gardens and food venders lined the "Unter den Linden" street and people buzzed around everywhere. I made my way toward Humboldt University and found another free concert in a park. I was tired and hungry and decided to grab myself a pretzel, take off my shoes and lay in the grass. It was such a delight to lie there amongst a couple hundred people doing the same thing. Children ran around dancing and jumping in the fountain, buck naked in the middle of a public park. You would never see something like that in the states.

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.

hard times

The last couple days have been pretty rough. After a wonderful visit to Berlin on Thursday, I decided that I would much rather live in Berlin and commute to Brandenburg. Unfortunately, I had made an oral agreement with a woman in Brandenburg regarding an apartment. She had already put money into installing a kitchen with the understanding that I was moving in. I had thought that she would wait until I signed a lease. Now I am stuck in this moral predicament and feel that I need to take the apartment for the 6 months of the lease. Furthermore, I made this woman very angry because she had bent over backward to help me with the apartment among other things. I feel terrible, but life changes and I need to be true to my own thoughts and feelings. Now I am still stuck with living in Brandenburg and these people are angry with me!

I am still ironing out the kinks in my contract and I meet with the president of the marketing department at 1 pm today. He is a very intimidating guy to speak with and I am a little nervous about negotiating a contract with this man. All part of growing up I suppose!

To top off my last couple of days, I had to do a wire transfer of funds from the US into my new German bank account. The dollar is very weak right now and it costs about $1.49 for 1 Euro, not including the $35 wire transfer fee. I picked a hard time to transfer money, but didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Uhg

...3 hours later...

This situation is looking up. the landlord has agreed to have me stay for only 3 months rather than 6months. 3 months seems much less overwhelming. The downside is that there is no use purchasing things to make myself comfortable. I may be living like a nun until I move into Berlin.

Week 2

I don't have much to tell this week. I went out and about on the town with a girl named Antje who I met on couchsurfing.com. She took me around town and showed me where to shop and get good coffee etc. It was nice to chat with someone my own age.

I found an apartment, but it is not available until September 1st. I am couchsurfing until then. The apartment is on the top level (no elevator) of an old but recently remodeled building near the Fochochschule (Vocational College). There are lots of young people that live in the area and it's only a 30 minute walk to work. It is going to be rough in winter, but I might be able to figure out the tram system by then. The apartment has an entry room, bedroom, kitchen, bath and living room. This is considered a 2 room apartment! I am renting this for 375 Euros per month plus the cost of Electricity (30 Euros per month) and phone/internet (35 Euros per month). This is not too bad all things considered. I even have a neighbor that wants to learn better English and will trade me language lessons in German.

I went around with my future landlord and found some furniture and lighting for my new apartment. Most everything here is particle board that comes in a box for post purchase assembly. Most people rent small apartments in old buildings where it is difficult to get furniture in and out of. IKEA is big here since it is designed to maximize space. Everything is uber small here. Apartments come with mini fridges and washing machines are smaller than a dishwasher.

I also met a very nice woman who moved from Hawaii to Germany in 1993. She is married to a German Attorney and is very wealthy for the area. She has offered me all sorts of furnishings and linens for my apartment. The few Americans I have met here are very helpful and supportive. I have met 6 to be exact!

About 95% of the cars I have seen here have been hatchbacks. I assume that this is because they are useful for transportation of goods.

I start work on Monday and I am actually looking forward to it. I have had more time on my hands than I know what to do with. I still need to settle some issues with my contract and then I am set. I will probably try to take a trip to Berlin for the weekend.

Tsuss!

Week One

I made it to Germany!

After a somewhat painful flight to Frankfort, I ventured on to Berlin where I caught a train to Brandenburg an der Havel. I checked into my suite at the Girono Pension after some confusion with the receptionist, then slept for about 13 hours. The continental breakfast consists of pork liver patte, bread, soft boiled eggs and extremely salty meats and cheeses. They have cereal as well, but it is the super sweat stuff that one can only stomach as a child. I have resorted to eating rolls with butter and jam. I am afraid to eat any other meal and seem to be starving myself. I finally made it to the store yesterday where I bought some wasser (water) and green beans. I had nearly fainted the day before due to low blood sugar.

The coffee is amazing here, likely due to the whole milk!

I am rather amused by the older men that seem to feel perfectly respectable running there motor boats through the town center in Speedos. I have seen a few of them now. There are also several Russian woman in town that dress up in globs of makeup and teenyweeny clothing.

The hair here is hilarious. I see 60 year old woman with bright purple hair and big sunglasses. I have seen woman my age walking around with Cruela Duvil style hair with poofiness and skunk stripes and all. I just can´t get enough. I wish it was appropriate to take pictures to share.