Top 14 Tweets of the Brazil v. Germany World Cup Game

It is impossible to ignore that the World Cup is happening right now. And Germany is winning.

News of the tournament is all over social media, I've covered where to watch in Berlin on EasyExpat and Where to Watch in Germany on about.com and every night there are fireworks announcing each goal. While our stamina is sadly sub-par to watching all the games, we've rallied around the US team (before their loss to Belgium) and worn our Germany colors proudly around town.

Last night's game between Brazil and Germany was a slaughter. Total annihilation. A complete, unbelievable joy to watch for Germany fans like us. Enjoyment was elevated even more when I tuned in to what people were saying on Twitter.

Feeling the Gay Lovin'

I've covered the Christopher Street Day Parade on this blog before (A Gay Affair 2011), wrote a post on the work blog about this year's event in Berlin (Gay Pride: An Expat Celebrates Berlin's Christopher Street Day) and waxed on endlessly about equality in person. But this month, LGBT Pride Month, my cup has truly runneth over in gay lovin'. Let me count the ways...

I could Never Run the Berlin Marathon

Today was supposed to be the running of the New York Marathon. The last of the 5 big races making up the World Marathon Majors series,  it is also one of the largest in the world with usually over 40,000 finishers. But then a little storm called Hurricane Sandy (aka Frankenstorm) rolled in as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record with winds spanning 1,100 miles (1,800 km) and early calculations of a minimum of $20 to $25 billion dollars in damage. Not a good time for a run.

Luckily, this was not the case a few weeks ago when we went to cheer on our Irish friend in the Berlin Marathon. Dave & Ger had made their home in Neukölln for several years before repatriating back to Ireland. After a year away, they were back for the weekend to re-connect with the city and friends like us. It was bitter-sweet to see them back in the city we all love. It's not quite a vacation going back to a place you once called home, and in such a fast paced city that is constantly changing, they were at once familiar and estranged. This is just part of the pain of expat life, your friends may periodically leave (but if they're like us - maybe they'll come back).

USA, USA, USA - An Expat Return home

We're back!

Back in the land of big coffees, big American breakfasts, big cars, vast lands, Mexican food, livestock, childhood friends, homesteads, driving, BBQs, Oscars, TV, and FREEDOM. We are back in American & couldn't be happier.

747!

Egads - We're Moving Again

I've always liked moving. I guess that makes me a bit of an anomaly. But I like getting rid of all the old things, re-organizing, and making a new Home.

What I do not like, what I am completely and totally over, is looking for a new place. When we moved to Berlin in 2007, we stayed in a total of 2 sublets. It was a relatively inexpensive and pain free experience, so when we returned to Berlin in 2009 it made sense for us to look for sublets again. We have now lived in 6 apartments, been ripped off, and been rejected in our application for our own apartment because we are foreigners. We're tired, so very tired, of this whole apartment debacle. I loathe thinking about how much time, energy, stress, and money we have spent on it.

Our Plan of Attack on Paris

When we plan (aka fall into an internet sink hole) for travel to places like Bratislava, Reykjavik , Polignano a Mare, Italy, Sighişoara, and Ljubljana - any resource is a good resource.

Researching our xmas gift to each other - a trip to Paris - is different. Much written about, photographed, and waxed on about lyrically, everyone and their mother has advice on Paris. And we have our own thoughts as well. I had one day in Paris on my month long high-school-group-adventure back in the day, and Ian & I spent 2 nights there on our month-long traipse around Europe in 2008. We are crazy excited to go back.

Onto what we have used to prepare for the trip.

Mosques & Unity in Berlin

Monday was both Day of German Unity (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) & a day of open mosques. Considering I've only been in one mosque (granted it is an important one), I was excited to see what all of our Muslim neighbors have got going on.

Let's Go!

Gorgeousness of gorgeousness! The open house was wonderful with a member writing names in Arabic calligraphy, prayer service, and henna tattoos.

When we exited the mosque, a news crew that had been video tapping the open house asked for his opinion. 1 euro for anyone who finds the footage!

We wandered down to Brandenburger Tor to check out the German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit) celebration. A concert, lots of food & beer stands (including proud displays of Belgian waffles, Dutch fries, and other national speciaties) I was completely underwhelmed by the celebration. Isn't this one of the biggest days in history for Germany?

(Expat in Germany wrote a great post about the celebration & her disappointment here. )

Another beautiful day in Berlin, but certainty not the significance I thought a day like this deserved. Tired from our tramping around, we made our way back to the house. We saw this notice on the door:

Someone had put a quacking lawn duck in the courtyard that quacks whenever someone walks past. This German doesn't find it funny. After asking "Who would do something like this?", they said the quacking is driving them crazy. Come to think of it, we can hear up on the 4th floor. It must be loud for those on the bottom. At least one German voiced a different opion, writing in pink marker 

"I love the duck"

For more pics of Neukoelln & the day: photos

Adopting a Pet in Berlin

We recently got our first pet in Berlin. I've never been one for pet shops or breeders so the first step was finding the animal shelter. Actually- the step before that was finding the word for animal shelter. Ah, "Tierheim". We're off.

The place is out there. Berlin is a large sprawling city that people complain if they have to come from 2 neighborhoods away. This place would take an hour to get to. Shit.

The Good of the Germans

I just did one of the stupidest things I have ever done. The cost was low, but the stupidity was high.

I was rushing down the stairs to the U-Bahn as I saw the dreaded wave coming up to me- my train was here! Struggling through the crowd with my bags I pushed through and got one bag half in the compartment as the doors slid solidly closed. I had the straps, but the goods were firmly trapped inside. Two guys tried to force it open from the inside as I frantically hit pulled the lever. But with a huff, the U-Bahn started to pull away and I threw up my hands & watched helplessly as half my groceries glided away.

As I waited for the next train, I felt enormously stupid. The next train was coming in 4 minutes- what was my rush? Pacing, I tried to remember what was in the bag. Ground beef, chocolate ice cream, and cherry tomatoes. At least it wasn't the beer.....

I jumped on the next train and sweated it out the wait to the next stop. As we rolled through the station, I saw the two guys who had tried to help with my Kaiser bag, holding it up to the passing train. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I thanked them ineptly in German, and received a short lecture about not doing it again. "Never!" I promised.

Soaking in sweat and laughing like a madwoman, I made it home with all the groceries. As I re-counted the story to Ian, I couldn't believe that I could believe my luck. As much shit as we talk about the Germans, and the one extremely notable instance of us getting scammed, Germans are decent, honest, straight-forward people. While this may result in the blunt assertion, that "Yes, that dress does make you look fat", it also means there isn't as much worrying about hidden fees or getting ripped off. Most of the time- you can trust that things are as they seem. In a city as big and cosmopolitan and turbulent as Berlin, I have never felt ill-at-ease or in danger.

A Prost to the guys that stopped to help, and to all you other wonderful Germans.

Ferries, Trams, but mostly an Automobile

We're back! I don't know about a triumphant return, but an epic trip was had. And (so far) no issues with the car rental! That is true success (a little skittish after car rental in Iceland).

Truly- this no-planning vacation exceeded our expectations and proved that throwing a little money at travel really does make things easier. Who knew!? Oh...everyone? Ok, well we didn't.

We will post in-depth soon with plenty of pics & video, but as for now we have had several stressful days of driving (actually only Ian, I was a happy  passenger), lots of drinking (don't worry mum- not at the same time), and we have a Wii and bunny to attend to.

BUT if you are really curious, here are ten pics at random of our (tiny) European roadtrip.

ok- not really from the trip. But Herr Schmidt is one cute bun amiright?

No sooner had we got in the car then we took a wrong turn. Luckily, we got a unique view of the Siegessaule

Golden Stag at Schloss Drachenberg in Germany

Dinant, Belgium

Literally 5 min too late to make this brewery tour. Gr#$^^%&^! Luckily, we were able to drink some of their beer a stone's throw away and bought some beer & a glass in the shop after the tour

After finding out that Belgium's southern "cities" are literally little more than villages, we finally settled on a very pleasant hotel just outside of Chimay and drank some of it's beer to celebrate.

Colmar, France. Just south of Strousberg, this city has shared French & Germany history and is phenominal

Bamburg, Germany. More like "Damn city! You're beautiful"

Bamburg's old square hosted a beautiful cathedral

Back in Berlin! Enjoying some pils, doener, and salad with scharf sauce. Du bist so wunderbar Berlin....

Pardon the Interruption, BUT....

I'm in the midst of reviewing/uploading Copenhagen BUT I wanted to break from that to update on the apartment scammer situation:

We went to the police station on Friday and identified the thief. We had heard he had been caught, along with an accomplice (the supposed girlfriend/wife). But we hadn't heard much else.

We brought Greg along and justified it by saying it was an experience he wouldn't normally have (sorry Greg). The security was actually friendly and we were greeted by a very nice & quite attractive policewoman - double surprise. She gleefully told us more about Herr "Peter Berger".

• Though he told us he was Austrian & spoke with a slight Austrian accent, he is actually German
• He is not a petty criminal, but a "Grosse Criminal". He was on Germany's Most Wanted
• He has been thieving for at least 8 years all over Germany. He was caught in Cologne.
• Of course, Peter Berger is not his real name. He has over 20 aliases.
• Along with aliases, he has multiple girlfriends who were helping him set-up scams

So - basically he is a miserable sleezeball. While I hope he'd be in jail forever, the police woman helpful told us he will go away for "at least 5-6 years". Are you kidding? You said he was a major criminal for at least 8. But here in Germany people often only get 20 years for killing someone. Odd place to show sympathy Germs.

Also, the money is still in limbo. The police will be pursuing a criminal case, and it is up to us to find a lawyer and pursue a civil case to possibly gain back the money. We are going to ask around & see what our options are, but all in all, we're pleased. He's been caught! And while we definitely could have protected ourselves much, much better, this was a real life bad guy. We're sorry to come into contact with him, but happy that justice was actually served. How cool is that? Our lost faith in humanity has- at least partially- been restored.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.
Albert Einstein

Success!

Franc, Beloved Father/-in-Law & Wedding Planner, is Coming to Europe

Continuing our Bad Habits in Trip Planning- we are off to pick up Ian's dad tomorrow in Copenhagen!

Excited? YES!
Ready? No. yes. Maybe.

There really isn't a lot to get ready. We're just going to be gone for 2 days & the hotel is already taken care of. We have done our rambling travel reading about the city, picking out what beers & food we want to eat (you know, the important stuff). But life has been so hectic I don't even know if I have processed. We're seeing Greg. Tomorrow. Ahhhhh!

Copenhagen is going to be great. We are literally ecstatic to see Greg. His cousin visited with us just a few weeks ago, but he will be the first of the immediate family/friends to come over this time.

In his honor, some great Greg pics:

Greg impersonates Ian in some of his wares

In 2007, Greg visited for Christmas with Granny who is in her 80s . They were troopers, but Greg recalls this winter as the "coldest winter Berlin has ever seen".  It wasn't. But it was pretty cold.

Greg & Ian before the wedding

Greg & I at the wedding

You can see where Ian gets his humor

Last 4th of July - "Look at my cock" was frequently heard. From my FiL. Yeah- it was weird, but not entirely unexpected.

Welcome to Europe, once again, Mr. Porter!

Update: The trip was...a success. I think. You decide. 

 

The most Frustrating Waiting Room in Berlin

You too can be greatly annoyed in Berlin in just 3 easy steps!

1. Arrive in Berlin in need of long-term visa
2. Carefully study rules, regulations, and documents required and assemble your file
3. Go to the Ausländerbehörde (Foreigners Authority) where they will not give you appointment, keep you waiting for hours, have an almost indecipherable accent, ask for documents they hadn't mentioned up to this point, and then merrily (this is a joke as nothing is "merry" here) send you back home to come try again another day.

Eastside Gallery & Fernsehturm

Oh, the Ausländerbehörde. How I hate you.

BlogExpat Interviews

Writing city guides, expat articles, and moderating the forum is fun. Really. I can honestly say I really like my job. But...I saw an area of growth. More and more I am perusing expat articles and our plethora of expat blogs and am really impressed with the quality of writing and creativity I see out there. Damn peeps- y'all are good!

I had an idea. Not exactly an epiphany, but pretty exciting for me. How about we shine the spotlight on these fine expat writers & blogs and get some interviews on? Luckily, bossman agreed and gave me practically free reign to write up our format, recruit interviewee victims, and put their interviews up on our new partnersite:

 http://interviews.blogexpat.com/

The blurb

"The expat experience makes for a great story of adventure, drama and surprise. While each expat’s story is unique, we can all learn valuable lessons from each other’s experience.

BlogExpat interviews offers expats a standard format in which they can be as funny, informative, and/or honest as they want about life as an expat. Interviews with expats in the UK, Italy, Russia, Cuba, Holland, Turkey, the United States, Cambodia, and more offers a view into their amazing lives.

These stories serve as inspiration, advice, and entertainment for expats, travelers, and people who want to hear more about the world. We appreciate their expertise and look forward to sharing their experience with the world. Enjoy the interviews & best of luck in your own adventures as an expat."

Truthfully, it has been even more fun than I thought it would be. It gives me an excuse to spend hours pouring over people's incredible blogs and making contact with the writers. And one of the best things about it was Ian got to be our guinea pig and go first.

(Check out his interview here: interviews.blogexpat.com/from-seattle-to-berlin-back-to-berlin-and-beyond)

We also just published our second interview with a Londoner who made the move to Turkey with his partner: Perking the Pansies. He is an excellent writer with fabulous English humor.

I'm thrilled with the results and can't wait to keep finding great expat stories to promote and share. We already have a nice little line up through April. Hopefully my fellow expats & friends out there agree.

• City guides & articles: http://www.easyexpat.com/  
• Directory of blogs around the world : http://www.blogexpat.com 
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/BlogExpat 
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blogexpat 
• Post your photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/blogexpat/ 
• Participate to our forums on EasyExpat.com : http://www.easyexpat.com/forums/

Adjust Your Expectations

As Americans, we have a false sense of value that we are constantly reminded of in Europe & traveling. I like to think we have adjusted our views accordingly as expats, but sometimes a great visual reminds of how far off we really are. 

Behold!

So:

Gas in California is $3.96 a gallon

Red Bull clocks in at $28.16 a gallon & 

Nail polish is the big "winner" at $1,024 a gallon. 

Go Team USA.

And the destination is...

Feel a little bad saying this considering the votes, but Mr. Porter & I are headed to England in April!

Greg, Ian's dad, is visiting in the summer & is dieing to go to Italy. Thus, we will go on that trip, but just a little later in the year. We have only spent a long weekend in London, so we are excited to see more of the city and do some day trip.

Anniversary of 9/11

Another year goes by....

NPR, as usual, puts out a new story that hits the mark.

  

Cleaning Up Sept. 11 Ashes

Newsworthy for Us

The times, they are a changing and events are happening.

Working backwards, this Thursday brings forth a very exciting event in Berlin for American ex-pats- sounds like us! Future president Obama is coming to Berlin to talk about foreign policy and try to forge both symbolic and literal bridges to the east and the west. Where better then Berlin where seemingly innocuous words like "division", "wall", "east and west" still reverberate? It is sure to be an excellent speech and hopefully our first time laying eyes on a presidential candidate. We will be ready with telephoto lens, binoculars, and some American friends that will join us after a picnic in the Teirgarten. My American cynicism ebbs a little when I think about a new president in the White House- come on America!

Post about Obama's Speech and our sometimes apathy about Politics

Excitement for the The TRIP is also building. We bought the (expensive but very worth it) Eurail tickets that will do the majority of getting us around (big shout-out to cheryl & David for their help with the tickets!). It is now less than a month till we take off. Every day a step closer...

Last Wednesday we were able to participate in some volunteering at an English language theatre (Orpheus Descending, Tennessee Williams). We sold some drinks, handed out some surveys, and received free drinks and admission- niccceee! Unfortunately, the theatre was sold-out so two seats were put out for us on the stage! This was a small theatre and there was quite a bit of interaction between crowd and actors, but at times we scrunched back to avoid getting hit by flying body parts. At the end we were able to talk with the actors, two from Vancouver, B.C., and the stage manager. Really fun and a great change of pace for us.

On the way back, things went down hill. My bike tire blew out (little did we know the other would go two days later- schnikey!) and we had to walk home after midnight. Oh well, at least we don't have to get up early. When we arrived home we found an im from my mum, my grandma had died while we are at the play. She had been in extremely poor health and her husband had died about a year ago now, but it hurt all the same. This is just a quick note to say I bear the middle name my mum gave me proudly, I am a Florence not in character, but in heritage and I will remember that.

2 months!

Into the second month! Weekend in Austria was amazing with a wonderful family and many great memories. The video in the upper left shows the actual Christkindlemarkt (Christmas Market) we went to in Vienna. In other news- Ian has almost got a job (woohooo!)& we are continuing to work on papers (sigh). NEXT- London.

We have added some new features to the blog. On the lower left there is a link of sights in Berlin. We also have a slideshow of our pictures in the left hand column. We are currently trasferring our pictures from Webshots to Flickr so if you wanna look at either disorganized mess of pics just go to either of those sites and look up beakymcgee & the photos will be there.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I think Ian & I are just going to go scavenge around & buy a 1/2 a chicken! Maybe if we're lucky we'll find a place that will show the Macy's Day Parade & football. That's the essence of Thanksgiving right?

They love stamps... lots of stamps.

Well, Ebe and I are officially registered with the local town hall. A rule in Germany is that you must register with your local town hall whenever changing addresses. We've been kind of bad and waited until today to do it. The process wasn't all that difficult, but we were a little nervous going in because our landlady has never registered, so we didn't want to get her in trouble. Needless to say, after a few questions in German, a glance at our passport, and some data input, we were given a piece of paper with a stamp showing that we have officially registered.... yay. Apparently German bureaucracy loves stamps. We finally have a document that is stamped, and now all we need are a few more to finally apply for an extension on our VISA.

After all this, I think I need a coffee. Which reminds me of a little rant I had with Ebe outside the Fernsehturm one day. Back home, Seattle being home of course, you order a coffee and you have your choice of 4 different sizes... short, tall, grande, and venti. Germany seems to have the choice of two... small or large, and the large isn't even that big! I order a large and get a cup of coffee the size of a short back home! Now, if I can still hold my hands still enough to perform a vasectomy on Kevin Federline, the coffee was too damn small. If I'm not running for the nearest john for fear of befouling my pants after my cup of coffee, the coffee was too damn small. I want to be shaking like a whore in church or Michael J. Fox after my coffee. Oh sweet Seattle barristas, how I miss thee.