Wednesday, October 29
Final reflections on Berlin, Dinkelpoppies & Art
Before I begin - GO OBAMA GO!!!! Tomorrow let the games begin!
Ok, now for the ramble...
Being in a place where you don't speak the language certainly has it's drawbacks. On the whole I've been oddly satisfied with the experience. Sure it's a bummer to have to ask everyone if they speak English, only to have them look at you with a note of indignance and superiority before launching into perfect English. But it's something if a relief not to have to listen to people's trivial conversations either. I can pretend that all the other mothers in the playground are having intellectual conversations about Heidigger instead of exchanging diaper rash advice. There's something secure and fuzzy about being in a tourist bubble. Still, I am embarrassed to say that I studied German for 2 years in school and after 2 months I still can't even order a wiener schnitzel. But how useful is German anyway?
I can't tell if the people here are moody or just put-off by having to address me in English. I think they are just moody. T and I played a game in a cafe this morning. The first one to get the waiter to smile won a gummy bear. T won of course with her charismatic cheeky grin. She wondered if he was in a bad mood because his mom gave him a time-out.
There aren't that many smiley happy Germans around. In my simplicity, I'd imagined these cheerful freckly blondes wearing organic striped woolen leggings and funny vests riding around on bikes waving "Auf Weidersehen! But they all act rather indifferent, aloof, or downright rude. Not unlike New Yorkers! No wonder I'm not homesick, Berlin has the best of both worlds - sophistication and rudeness, but everything works perfectly!
I can't tell if the people here are moody or just put-off by having to address me in English. I think they are just moody. T and I played a game in a cafe this morning. The first one to get the waiter to smile won a gummy bear. T won of course with her charismatic cheeky grin. She wondered if he was in a bad mood because his mom gave him a time-out.
There aren't that many smiley happy Germans around. In my simplicity, I'd imagined these cheerful freckly blondes wearing organic striped woolen leggings and funny vests riding around on bikes waving "Auf Weidersehen! But they all act rather indifferent, aloof, or downright rude. Not unlike New Yorkers! No wonder I'm not homesick, Berlin has the best of both worlds - sophistication and rudeness, but everything works perfectly!
I just love that everything in Germany works. Have I missed the chaos of a city like NY? Not really. Give me a tram or a bus that is on time every time and super clean streets with no honking or ghetto birds buzzing overhead.
Is it just beyond the powers that be in NYC to create that kind of world? Why? We can send people into orit but we can't get the MTA to make our subways run on time? Jeez, I'm starting to sound like a harpy.
This morning we had our final bowl of mystery cereal with 'dinkelpoppies und minikrunchy'. T seemed unphased that we were packing up once again and hitting the road. For 2 weeks she has been proudly announcing our departure to everyone. When they ask where we're headed she says gleefully, "France, they have real chocolate croissants there and we speak French!"
Did you know that the contraceptive pill in German is "die Antibabypille" - that's up with creepy Catholic shit? I listened to "This American Life" the other day. There was a guy who runs the biggest mouse-trap company in the world. He said that some German company actually produces a mouse-trap that works like a gas chamber. Let's rewind... actually, no let's not.
On a brighter note, Germany is the home of my most beloved sweet of all time! I am in heaven. The candy aisle of the grocery store is devoted to all manner of gummy things - sour gummy fruity french fries, gummy cherries, gummy marshmallow frogs, gummies that have yogurt smoothie centres (sounds foul I know, but in fact delicious). I am going to miss all manner of gummies when we leave but something tells me France will have more where that came from!
I think I will miss all the hot German dudes. Are French guys cute?I can't remember. If memory serves, aren't they are all a bit pasty and pigeon-chested? And smokers. Oh, I forgot to mention that the chicks in Germany are not hot - at least compared to the guys. Which is opposite to NYC where you can knock over 20 gorgeous babes if you swing a cat, and not one hot guy. I think all the hot NY guys migrated to Berlin.
Where are the shoppers! Is it verboten to shop? People here are frugal, which has been an epiphany for a compulsive shopper like me. I never see people with shopping bags for anything. Grocery stores charge you for bags so everyone brings their own bags.
On that note, the street style here has been disappointing. I spend a lot of time people-watching and it's not as good as I'd have expected. Fashion-wise, the Berliners seem to be stuck in a GDR funk. It's as if the wall came down and suddenly they were barraged with opportunities to get jiggy and wear colors and like the poor old deer in the headlights - they all froze. At best the trendies have adopted a kind of militant chic "ready-for-the-second-revolution style", a look rather similar to the East Village in the 80's. But more German. For babies & kids there's an endless array of great stuff. I guess the adults are still in deprivation mode. Or else they just got it all very wrong. When MT was here we went out on a mission to find some cool gear but we came up empty-handed.
I did see one little shop that makes bespoke headbands out of bright boiled wools. 4 neatly dressed ladies with rosy cheeks sat in the atelier sewing away. T begged me for one. They were quite beautiful. But at 500 Euros a pop I asked myself - who is keeping this place in business? They just seemed far too whimsical and cheery for the general public here.
Speaking of such things, next time I promise to post some of my pics on Berlin street fashion.
A says I don't write enough about the rest of our family. I thought everyone already knew I was egocentric? Anyway, the girls are doing well. T is getting a bit fed up trying to communicate with kids her age at the playground and getting rebuffed. Her best friend is a 3 yr old maniac named Gnima who just moved here from Senegal. They have a weekly rendez-vous where they amp up on waffel mit eis (waffels with ice cream) and run around like urchins making trouble for everyone. S is the playground bully. Other kids avoid her in the sandbox because she invariably pulls their hair or tries to poke out an eye. She also grabs whatever food they have in their hand and eats it. She usually leaves some poor unsuspecting child in tears. On the other hand she's as cute as a bug.
This morning we had our final bowl of mystery cereal with 'dinkelpoppies und minikrunchy'. T seemed unphased that we were packing up once again and hitting the road. For 2 weeks she has been proudly announcing our departure to everyone. When they ask where we're headed she says gleefully, "France, they have real chocolate croissants there and we speak French!"
Did you know that the contraceptive pill in German is "die Antibabypille" - that's up with creepy Catholic shit? I listened to "This American Life" the other day. There was a guy who runs the biggest mouse-trap company in the world. He said that some German company actually produces a mouse-trap that works like a gas chamber. Let's rewind... actually, no let's not.
On a brighter note, Germany is the home of my most beloved sweet of all time! I am in heaven. The candy aisle of the grocery store is devoted to all manner of gummy things - sour gummy fruity french fries, gummy cherries, gummy marshmallow frogs, gummies that have yogurt smoothie centres (sounds foul I know, but in fact delicious). I am going to miss all manner of gummies when we leave but something tells me France will have more where that came from!
I think I will miss all the hot German dudes. Are French guys cute?I can't remember. If memory serves, aren't they are all a bit pasty and pigeon-chested? And smokers. Oh, I forgot to mention that the chicks in Germany are not hot - at least compared to the guys. Which is opposite to NYC where you can knock over 20 gorgeous babes if you swing a cat, and not one hot guy. I think all the hot NY guys migrated to Berlin.
Where are the shoppers! Is it verboten to shop? People here are frugal, which has been an epiphany for a compulsive shopper like me. I never see people with shopping bags for anything. Grocery stores charge you for bags so everyone brings their own bags.
On that note, the street style here has been disappointing. I spend a lot of time people-watching and it's not as good as I'd have expected. Fashion-wise, the Berliners seem to be stuck in a GDR funk. It's as if the wall came down and suddenly they were barraged with opportunities to get jiggy and wear colors and like the poor old deer in the headlights - they all froze. At best the trendies have adopted a kind of militant chic "ready-for-the-second-revolution style", a look rather similar to the East Village in the 80's. But more German. For babies & kids there's an endless array of great stuff. I guess the adults are still in deprivation mode. Or else they just got it all very wrong. When MT was here we went out on a mission to find some cool gear but we came up empty-handed.
I did see one little shop that makes bespoke headbands out of bright boiled wools. 4 neatly dressed ladies with rosy cheeks sat in the atelier sewing away. T begged me for one. They were quite beautiful. But at 500 Euros a pop I asked myself - who is keeping this place in business? They just seemed far too whimsical and cheery for the general public here.
Speaking of such things, next time I promise to post some of my pics on Berlin street fashion.
A says I don't write enough about the rest of our family. I thought everyone already knew I was egocentric? Anyway, the girls are doing well. T is getting a bit fed up trying to communicate with kids her age at the playground and getting rebuffed. Her best friend is a 3 yr old maniac named Gnima who just moved here from Senegal. They have a weekly rendez-vous where they amp up on waffel mit eis (waffels with ice cream) and run around like urchins making trouble for everyone. S is the playground bully. Other kids avoid her in the sandbox because she invariably pulls their hair or tries to poke out an eye. She also grabs whatever food they have in their hand and eats it. She usually leaves some poor unsuspecting child in tears. On the other hand she's as cute as a bug.
AT was in Egypt last week on assignment. Strictly Sahara. My man really gets around. He brought back reports of people who voluntarily run 275 kilometres in the desert. They run the more than a full marathon every day for a week. Some super fit South African he met there pretty much summed up Berlin in a nutshell... "There's too much art in Berlin it creates too much stress to think you have to see it all." I am totally beginning to relate. But the really amazing thing is how much non-commercial art is on view here. I know that sounds like a contradiction because one would think that the heart of artistic expression is essentially non-commercial. But in the States, especially in capitalist NYC most art on display is strictly commercial. In my opinion anyway. Here you see everything - the good, the bad and the extremely horrible. And often as not there is no pretense of making a cent. It's wonderful - and exhausting!
So, next stop Nice, as in South of France. Let's be honest, what's not to love about the Côte d'Azur?
So, next stop Nice, as in South of France. Let's be honest, what's not to love about the Côte d'Azur?
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