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.

German Fruit Wine Festival

As an avid fan of alcohol, I knew it was going to be hard saying good-bye. But for the sake of the little person we don't even know yet, I have. And - shockingly - it hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

While I love my beer (and Ian has continued to enjoy in my absence), I don't really feel like I am missing out. I have indulged my fair share and in this latest adventure I feel like I will take any step necessary to make this a success. I have avoided out beloved spätis in Berlin, abstained on our latest adventure through France and skipped beers in my favorite brewery city in Germany.

But this weekend I will be tested again. The Fruit Wine Festival (Baumblütenfest) is back.

Why You Should Stay in Berlin This Winter

Berliners get extra ungemütlichkeit in winter as the days grow short and ice freezes in your/Ian's beard. Many try to flee the city, but I am making the case for celebrating the darkest season in the capitol. This is partly because we are poorer than ever and condemned to have no escape from the brutal Berlin winter. And since we gotta stay, we are trying to make the most of it and you should too.

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...

Männertag & Mother's Day

Vatertag or Männertag is celebrated on Ascension Day, or the much more fun to say "Christi Himmelfahrt". The holiday has been at least partially absorbed by young, not-father guys in an excuse for groups of males to get together and be manly over beers.

Wikipedia reports on the possible historic path this holiday has taken:

David Hasselhoff Visits the Berlin Wall

I had never really given much thought to David Hasselhoff. I certainly never expected to see him perform.

But that was before I moved to Germany and my American friends eagerly insisted that Germans love David Haselhoff. It doesn't appear that many actually do, but Americans seem pretty sure.

A Base in Basel

One of the few downsides of living in Berlin is that it is located waaay up in the corner of the country and it takes a little more time, money and effort to travel than our friends in the south. Luckily, we are adapting as we discover more discount airfares and alternate ways to travel. We still love train travel, but when I can fly to Naples, Italy for less time and money than I can get to Munich by train - my love for trains wains.

For my birthday this year, I wanted what I always want - travel. And I had an especially silly idea - roller coasters. Much to my surprise, I found the second largest park in Europe was in Southwestern Germany (after Disneyland Paris). How does this get us to Basel? After some dedicated internet searching, we found that flying into Basel was not only affordable from Berlin, it made more sense for the time & money than any of the other options. To the dreiländereck (three countries' corner) we go!

Falling in Love with the NFL in Europe

In the fall, a  notice briefly flashed across the UBahn monitor: “German Bowl XXXIV”. I knew immediately that we were going.

 

Berlin Pyronale = FIREWORKS!

If it is not already apparent from our blog or just life, Berliners love their fireworks (and Ian & I should never be allowed near them as our NYE almost disaster demonstrated). They love them so much, they have a whole event focused on a world championship,

Pyronale

We went for the first time* last fall and while I hardly captured the grandeur of the fireworks, I hopefully I captured a bit of the scene...a little bit of why we love Berlin.

NYE (Almost) Disaster

This year, we found out why they call it a bottle rocket.

Remember the first time you lit a firework? I don't. We've never really bought them and while there are a few notable holidays where we did light up the street (hi Yakma & Santa Barabara 4th of Julys), I have extremely limited experience. And it showed.

This year we bought fireworks. Even though this is our 4th New Years Eve in Berlin, this was our first time hosting a small party and I guess we wanted a piece of the madness. We were excited. In Ian's case, very excited.

Learning to Love in the Land of Whiskey, Whisky & Bourbon

Whisky Kaninett - Berlin

When a friend asked if we wanted to join a private tasting of bourbons and whiskeys at a shop in Berlin, there was only one right answer:

YES.

The Plan

As frequent drinkers of the cheap stuff, whatever that may be, I am not all that familiar with anything as tasty as whiskeys and bourbon. Despite my sketchy knowledge, we looked forward to a night of fine drinking. Six of us arranged to meet at the shop in Steglitz and drink to our hearts content. What we got was so much more. From 7:30 to about 11 we were inundated with fascinating facts about whiskey, whisky & Bourbon. 

What NOT To Do at Oktoberfest

Opening weekend of the greatest beer festival in the world was last weekend and it seems everyone we know just got back or is on their way. We have been twice before, beginning and ending our year abroad in 2007-2008, but we didn't even talk about going this year. As amazing as the festival is, we are hesitant to make our way back.

Let's start with the amazing:

Oktoberfest 2008

Back to Berlin on House Hunters International

When we received an e-mail about being on House Hunters International, we thought it was spam. That's kind of a big deal and how would they have found our little blog among so many wonderful expats? But they did and yes, YES, we did want to be on it. And so we were.

Our Berlin Apartment Priorities 

• Price - I am tough about our budget. When we first moved to Berlin in 2007, we generally found studio sublets (aka 1 room in Berlin) for around 400 euro warm (meaning total costs including electricity/water & in our case, internet and TV). We had now upped the budget to below 600 warm.
  
• Neighborhood - We prefer Friedrichshain and the former east, but fierce competition had us searching further afield. In addition, Ian works at a kita in Pankow so somewhere close to the school was a plus.
• Transportation - Berlin is big so a U-Bahn or S-Bahn station close to the house was mandatory.
• Length of sublet - We're straight up tired of moving so the longer the better.
• Internet & Amenities - We aren't fancy, but we need that internet.
• Light & Airy - We like places that are light & bright and we don't have to look into our neighbors window. Balconies are my drug of choice.
• Accepts pets - At this point we are packing a bunny and a cat. I'd be happy to turn our home into an animal farm. Ian is resisting.
  

Just another Karneval der Kulturen

When I posted about the May Day festivities in Berlin, I realized something. Everyone had already posted amazing pictures, info, etc. That's great, because these events are pretty seriously awesome - but doesn't make my posts unique little snow flakes. Thus, only a brief recap and pics of another great day in Berlin.

"The Carnival of Cultures presents the cultural and ethnic diversity of Berlin." For us, this means sun, food, beers, and one tiny red hat.

Gritty & Glorious - Erster Mai

May Day is one of the premiere events in Berlin. Though I had little idea it even existed in the United States, I now eagerly look forward to this kick-off of summer festivities.

This year we took on another part of the celebration we were similarly ignorant of. Have you heard of Walpurgisnacht? I didn't even know how to say it. This day falls exactly half a year from November 1 and has roots in European pagan rituals. A time of bonfires, witchery, and spookiness - I was in.

Arena Berlin

The traditional place to go in Berlin is Mauerpark and I had full intention of going. Friends had intentions of going to Badeschiff. Only half-reluctantly, I changed plans and headed to one of my favorite places in Berlin. After a recent facelift to the surroundings, the open-air club was looking even more magical than usual.

Love, Photos, & Christmas Cheer

Our photo advent calendar for our p's has become a grotesque thing of beauty. We've enjoyed  showing our culinary accomplishments (sugar cookies), showcased our Berlin life (kita Christmas pageant), and showed our decorating skills (Axis of Evil member adorns our tree).

Since we couldn't be with them this Christmas, we hopefully made them smile and laugh at least once a day.

Day 17:

Snowman were swiftly created, just to get into a food fight. We finished them off.

Where my Ghouls at?

I LOVE Halloween. As in LOVE!!!


Far and away my favorite holiday, I love the silly, spooky character of the season. Not yet into the mushiness of family time and fresh in the "holiday season", Halloween is all sorts of awesome.

I have fond memories of past outfits and tasty treats. What- You'd like to see some costumes & treats? No problem!

Princess Peach & Mario

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

What do we know about Germany politics?

From the political signs littering the city, it's become apparent that there is an election coming up in Berlin. Nothing is as bad as the American campaign process at this point, but German political posters (and parties) do seem a tad hilarious.

Somehow, Ian got in a long phone survey about German politics so clearly it was time to get a little informed.

CDU Christian Democrats - Yeah, the name says it all (assholes). Major players with Merkel in the club

Green - Germans are not into subtlety. Guess what their platform is? It is pretty cool that they once planted some of that wacky tobaccy in the Reichstag garden. (I was trying to think of a slang word for weed and ended up on a parenting site for watching for drug use in teens. Died laughing!)

Die Partei - This is a joke party. They have been hosting an awful campaign of bizarre ads like this blackface ad comparing the "canditate" to Obama. We actually saw them throwing a sparsely populated party in the park today.

Piraten Partei - This is a real party. Named after pirates. "Bbased on the model of the Swedish Piratpartiet...supports the preservation of current civil rights in telephony and on the Internet; in particular, it opposes the European data retention policies and Germany's new Internet censorship law called Zugangserschwerungsgesetz. It also opposes artificial monopolies and various measures of surveillance of citizens."

This explanation is mostly in jest as we really don't know what's going on. Expats can't vote and as we have been barely able to figure our situation- let alone the political climate - we have taken a break from following the dreary and depressing world of politics.

This is with one big BUT. One of the coolest moments we've ever had in connection with the political world was when Obama was campaigning and spoke at the Siegessaule. We saw Obama! In person! Do other people remember that feeling of hope when it looked like he was definitely going to be elected? It was a great moment in my life...and it seems oh so long ago. That Obama has never come to full fruition. Maybe with another 4 years and the freedom of not worrying about re-election we can finally have the president we saw a glimmer of that day. A girl can hope...

Still incredulous we will be seeing the future leader of the USA

Listen to part of his speech here (do be jealous that I watched it live)!  

More pics & video of Obama 2008 campaign speech at the Siegessäule

Karneval der Kulturen in Berlin

We were as excited to observe the Karneval der Kulturen parade as last time we were here. We loved the vivid costumes, dancing, singing, and drums. As it was several hours late last time, we took our time, touring Ian's cousins around Berlin, looking at the East Side Gallery, Documentation Center, and enjoying one of Berlin's legendary brunches  (one of our favorites- Intimes).

The Cousins - Jim & Marsha

As we pulled up to Kreuzberg , 20 min late, we noticed signs of the parade being over. Calling friends, they were confused as to what was happening. A few floats had gone by, but now people were breaking up. Well, bummer. Damn those hippies!

No matter- we were at the epicenter of the festival for the second day. Lounging in what was quickly becoming a dustball of a park, we actually got to see some pretty awesome stuff.

Like these bizarre ski things that were promptly broken as drunks couldn't coordinate, but kids did pretty good on them!

An unusual arm chair

Photo Bombing (where's Ian?)

Turkish dancing




Coconut drinks

 And eventually when we wandered away, we got happily stuck in a vortex of a house party that had spilled onto the street. This moment perfectly epitomized why Berlin is like no where else. Events just morph together in ways that you would never expect. It's a collective mindset that I have never experienced anywhere else. I love it. And you would too if you were here.




This weekend- Christopher Street Day (CSD) - an annual celebration and demonstration for the rights of LGBT people. Definitely miss our Seattle peeps & the Gay Pride Parade, but I have a feeling Berlin can match it. Going to be fierce!

For more of magnificent May:

Erster Mai 2012 (May Day) 

May Day in Berlin and Beyond

Just another Karneval der Kulturen