A Whole New Year

Much to my relief things have improved markedly since my vent on my last post. There’s been visits by friends, we have got internet in the flat and I have started German classes, all of which have gone a long way to make me happier about my current situation here in Berlin. Of course, some problems still linger, such as the simple fact that I hate my job and am glad when I don’t get shifts, yet if that is the case, as it has been lately, I am burning through Australian Dollars like Deutschmarks in the 1920’s.

Just before New Years, Kate and Erin arrived in Berlin with some friends. It was great to see them again and go out for a few drinks in the city I love. While we did not have a white Christmas here, Berlin has been covered in a white blanket since about the 27th of December. There is something romantic about snow on a city and even through it’s very cold and messy, I still love the aesthetics of it.
New Years Eve was spent with a few of Paula’s friends at home, before going out the Potsdamer Platz to see the fireworks and then out to a club called “Ritter Butzke”. All of it was pretty awesome, the club especially was one of the coolest venues I have ever been to. I woke up with the expected headache and soon realized that I must’ve fallen on my ass quite severely as I could hardly walk. Paula later told me that I had fallen several times, and she had photos of the event. Nice

After having a few days to recover from New Years, Dima and Scottie arrived in Berlin after travelling through the Czech Rebublic and Poland. It was great to see Dima again as we always have plenty to talk about, even if it is only giving each other shit. I have really missed hanging out with guys and the time with Dima and Scottie was as much fun as I’ve had here. I took them on a tour of the historical sights of Berlin, along with telling them an abridged version of how it all went down. Even though that four hour walking tour is probably the coldest I have been in my life, it was still a great day, and reinforced my belief that I want to be a tour guide.

Dima and Scottie left, and I have now started German classes. They are every day from 2-5pm and while I definitely feel as stupid as I ever have, it’s nice to be learning something again. The class is full of Artists, everyone you’d expect to find in a Centrelink queue if I was with the same people in Australia. Painters, Dancers, Actors, Musicians, a Social Anthropologist and me, the Writer. Although I still haven’t made a great deal of headway in this regard. It’s coming up to 2 months and I have written a shade over two thousand words. I had originally planned to write at least 1000 words per day, not per month. Some planning has been done and major decisions regarding plot development have been made and then changed. I have two months before I go snowboarding and put another giant dent in my saving reserves, so I had better have written something worthwhile by then.