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?

The Continental Shelf

One of the biggest differences I've found about our apartment in Germany and our old apartment back home (besides of course the shower in the kitchen), is the idiocy of our German toilet. I hope you all don't mind, but I shall try my best to describe this phenomenon.

Like most toilets around the world, you would expect to poo right directly into the water at the bottom of the toilet bowl; however, many toilets here in Germany have a small porcelain shelf that catches the poo. Then when flushing (and hoping the water pressure is good enough and the poo not too hearty), the poo should just slide right off into the lower basin and disappear forever as it should.

This "lay and display" idea is monstrous to me. It just sits there on the top shelf and continues to stink up the bathroom the entire time as you try and finish as quickly as possible. Gone are the lovely days of crossword puzzles and PSP games while I passed through one of life's many pains in the asses... yes, the pun was intended. And I thought Germans were the best engineers...

We're ready for our close-up Mr. DeVille

We have been trying to organize our huge load of photos since arriving but have had numerous requests to just see the pics SO:
http://community.webshots.com/user/beakymcgee
they are a bit of a mess which we will keep working on. In the meantime- enjoy

(if you have trouble with the link just go to webshots & the username is beakymcgee)

Alcohol anyone?

At times it may appear Americans have a peculiar relationship with alcohol, but I have come to believe we ain't got nothing on Berlin baby!

Football in Deutschland

Football, the kind played with your hands- not your feet. Elusive in Berlin, Ian was able to hunt down a game in Freidrichshain with a bunch of other fans. We made it just in time for the highly anticipated Patriots v. Colts game & the room was packed! A lot of American guys, a German or two, & a Swede all fell into speaking in English with all fo its colloquialisms & slang. We have resisted the temptation to hang out with English speakers till now, but the trade off was some leads on jobs, advice on how to go forward, and proof that other determined Americans landed in Berlin without much of a plan & have thrived. Thank you Toy Town, thanks fellow ex-pats, and most of all thank you football (although the Colts should have won).

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.

German v. American

There are many subtleties to appreciate in the difference between Germans & Americans. Ian & I are going to watch a football game tonight & Ian posted to the group to ask about details. An interested German also had some questions. Guess which one is Ian:

nw2berlin
Post #99

So Salama's tonight eh? What is the going rate for beers there? Do they have any specials or anything? This dollar/Euro conversion is really kicking my ass.


winterfeld
post #100

I'm new within this topic, .. is it possible to join your group this evening in Salamas bar?

Literaturforum im Brecht-Haus

One of the many nice things about Berlin is the bi-monthly magazine Zitty. It has articles about interesting things happening in Berlin as well as listings for all events that are within that issue's two week time frame.

ONE MONTH

This is it people! Ian & I have been in Europe for 1 month! We arrived in Amsterdam on the afternoon of Sept. 20th, it is now Oct 20th and we have a flat in Berlin (for those of you in remedial math like me). This pic was taken moments ago from our balcony. Yet another beautiful fall day in Berlin, which closes the last poll (with Beer garden & Doner Kabob tieing with 5 votes each) & opens a new, Halloween-themed poll. Enjoy & VOTE!

It also means 2 more months till we are unceremoniously kicked out. Tick tick tick...

Kids Are Kings

Hate to break it all of you who were, like me, born & raised in the USA, but kids RULE in Europe. You know that awesome jungle gym you had at your house/park/school? Well theirs is bigger, badder, and a 100 times cooler. Walking through the park the other day there wasn't just one kick-ass wonderland but two! These are not your everyday jungle gyms either. They are usually made out of wood, tower overhead, and have a theme. The second one we came across had a Arabian nights theme with a ship complete with crow's nest, rock climbing walls (the things to pull yourself up were all themed too- lamps, camels), sand, an airplane to climb in, a full size genie carved out of wood, wooden palm trees, a ping pong table, a picnic area, a rope maze...Awesome.

Kids rule in other ways too. They are constantly running, often away from their parents, and nary a word of caution is ever called out. They also rove around in gangs of fiveish unaccompanied at the tender age of tenish. I guess the U-Bahn (Subway) is like their backyard. People seem to look at these little terrors careening by, often on bikes, and shrug as if "What can we do? They are just being kids."

The same for the noises they make. Ian and I have turned around a couple times sure that a terridactile is right behind us only to see a todler. They screech, and scream, and shout the most outher-wordly sounds. It's actually kinda freaky with Halloween coming around. The funniest was in the Supermarket, a little boy was trying to tear into a package of food they were going to buy and his mother told him to wait, they had to pay for it first. "WahnSinn!" he yelled. What 5-year-old even knows the word madness?

Speaking of creepiness....this poll will end early so we can post a new, Halloween related poll so get your votes in now. I'm surpirsed no votes for curry wurst- it is delicious. Much better choice then the one vote for hot dog (with real Hund)- that's dog y'all. Also- please keep sending us e-mails and/or letters. It is nice to hear about home and what's happening with all of you. We even finally have an address you could send letters, packages, money, etc. to (just joking about the money- but seriously). We live on:
Jablonskistrasse 10
c/o Anat Vaadia
10405 Berlin, Germany
It's wonderful to call somewhere home and put up some pictures. Hopefully we will hear from y'all soon.