Obst und Gemüse

One of my favorite food things in Germany is how darn affordable fresh fruits and veggies are. I'm not necessarily talking biofoods, just anything that is not canned, jarred, frozen, dried, pureed or dehydrated. Pretend you get paid in Euros (like me). Then imagine that bananas are 60 cents/kilo, nectarines are 75 cents/kilo, tomatoes are 99 cents/kilo, lettuce is 50 cents/head, and cucumbers are 80 cents/large cucumber.

I spent a grand total of 4 euros on smoothies for a week (bananas, nectarines and soy milk). I spent another grand total of 7 euros on salad for a week (lettuce, cucumbers, vine-ripened tomatoes, salad dressing, feta). Add another 5-10 euros for dinner items like pasta, sauce and veggies, and I'm getting a full week's meal for 20 euros!! Then I also get fresh strawberries and coconut for snacks. I know that this changes with the seasons and the variety will be less in the winter, but it's still pretty awesome. I can't remember the last time I ate so many fresh fruits and vegetables.

I LOVE IT.


Let's just forget about the fact that I end up buying coffee and eating out for lunch nearly every day. I'll cut back on that. I swear.

Ich bin ein Japaner...

Yesterday we decided to go to a bar called ArtBar71. ArtBar71 is a hipster hangout in Mitte which typically has an interesting scene for drinks later at night and always has some sort of art on display.

What "rode" by as I was waiting outside, a six-person bike:

We're in the middle of Fashion Week Berlin right now and the bar had been temporarily taken over by a Japanese art collective. Their exhibit was called "Toyko Comes to Berlin". The artists were all there, including a photographer, painter, and product designer. They had also taken over the bar and were serving champagne and Japanese Summer Noodles while they waited for the Catwalk after-party to arrive. Needless to say, a couple of Americans in jeans stood out in the crowd...

We tried the summer noodles, which I really liked. They were cold and served in a salty broth with spinach in small glasses.

The photography was focused on the alternative lifestyles in Japan, including several posed pictures of a man who was completely covered in tattoos. There were also photos that had been drawn over, including images of the destruction in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami. One picture depicted a destroyed city area, with a boat completely intact but positioned on top of a multi-level building. The artist had then drawn (with what looked like white-out-type ink) the image of someone with a rocket pack blasting towards the sky and away from the destruction.

A visual media piece showed various clips of what appeared to be Japanese businessmen enjoying a Japanese brothel. The paintings, sample below, took a street art/graffiti approach to traditional Japanese cartoon imagery. From what I could understand (which was not much), there was also going to be a live painting later that night by the same artist. All in all, the art was a conflict between traditional expectations of Japan and modern realities. The jarring images tended to highlight pain, discord, and loneliness, with fantasies about leaving or wishing for something different. The feeling I got personally was very similar to the discomfort I get from art produced by Germans and Austrians during the Weimar Period (i.e. Otto Dix and George Grosz), although the style was significantly different. I also felt like this art was a reflection more of the individual's wish to flee, rather than the condemnation of society that Dix and Grosz depicted.

The product designer we spoke to was very nice, but I have to say I wasn't all that into his work. He had designed various household items, include a bowl and utensils, that were very simple and plain. I didn't really see what he was contributing to design in general. To be honest, though, I also couldn't understand why UCLA's new logo cost $100,000, when it just looked like someone had taken the old logo and italicized it. I don't usually get modern design concepts...

For people into modern art, I highly recommend both this exhibit and ArtBar71 in general. The bar rotates work through fairly frequently and a lot of up-and-coming people have exhibited or performed (music) there.


ArtBar71
http://www.myspace.com/artbar71

Kronenstraße 71

10119 Berlin

030 20879998

Brandenburger Tor

Kapstachelbeere aka Physalis aka Blasenkirschen...

...aka Judenkirschen aka groundcherries aka gooseberries!!

One of my favoritest fruit is the gooseberry, a delightful little thing that is allegedly native to the Americas, but I have yet to discover fresh gooseberries anywhere in my local markets and grocery stores. So I usually block the memory of their existence in the States. When I got here, I immediately went looking for them in the supermarket but couldn't find them until today. The sneaky little buggers had been hiding behind a vegetable scale. WELL. I bought them. And ate the whole package in the amount of time it took me to write this post. I love these things.

Photo Evidence

The weather has significantly improved and is now a balmy 80F, but to demonstrate the ridiculousness of my arrival weekend:

 This is me freezing my ass off because I don't have a thicker jacket on...

And this is Jessica, about to put the new umbrella that she *literally* bought within the last 24 hours in the trash can...at least now it can commiserate about its pain with the three or four other umbrellas that are already in there.

Im Juli

My first full day in Berlin went relatively well. I managed to get my travel pass, cell phone, and apartment deposit business completed relatively quickly. I did discover, however, that my current phone plan is ridiculously expensive, so once I run through the credit the phone came with, I’ll probably switch.

What I would really like to do, though, is file a complaint with the Berlin Weather Bureau. They apparently did not get the memo that it is JULY, as today was extremely windy, rainy, and in the low 20s Celsius. Not rainy because it’s humid, and not windy in the “breezy” sense. It has become apparent that the tenured bureaucrats at BWB have become lazy and no longer feel the need to follow the seasonal guidelines established in Nature Guide (versions 1.0 and 1.1) or the expectations outlined in the Development of Life, Etc., as discussed on pages 1, 42, 63, and 4332-4501. Therefore I fully intend to file a complaint, particularly in regards to the distress this has caused and its effects on my personal well-being. I will be filing for damages (highlighting the fact that I was attacked several times by flippant umbrellas and my colleague was forced to purchase two umbrellas within one day due to irreparable wind damage). I am seeking a settlement of at least three months of lovely, sunny weather plus financial damages. I am willing to forgo the financial damages if BWB will immediately provide the requested weather change as a good faith measure. Photographic proof of said events to come soon...

Kaffee und Kinder

Having survived British Airways’ attempt to bump passengers to a flight leaving the next morning, I started boarding the plane only to discover that my seat mate was a boy of maybe seven or eight years old. His entire family had been separated, leaving him by himself on my row. Ordinarily I would have switched seats so the mother could sit next to him, but it was a seven hour flight and her seat was in the middle of the row, whereas I had the aisle. I figured I could keep an eye on him and make sure he was eating and buckled up and all that, and that would make up for my unwillingness to sacrifice.

As soon as we took off, we were served dinner. Due to some mix-up, I ended up with a “Hindu Vegetarian” meal instead of the “lacto-ovo vegetarian” that I had ordered. The entrée was a lovely curry with rice, but the side dish was an Indian-style, spicy granola-type thing and dessert was an unrecognizable white, grainy blob. The blob was actually quite tasty once you got past the appearance and texture, so all in all I was not disappointed in my meal. I also utilized the complimentary alcohol service in an attempt to drink myself to sleep for the rest of the flight. Karma, however, had a different idea in mind, clearly punishing me for my earlier unwillingness to move.

The child did not buy into the “sleeping during an overnight flight” concept. When the flight attendant came by with tea and coffee, the kid ordered a coffee! Clearly taken aback, the properly British flight attendant exclaimed, “excuse me!? What did you want dear?” “Coffee.” The kid was a straight shooter – no look of surprise, no indication that he was getting away with murder, which as I later found out he was. The flight attendant composed herself, took his cup and put coffee in it. Then the kid continues to watch Rango while drinking his coffee black, with no sugar.

After dinner, his mother comes over to check in on him. “Are you drinking coffee!?” [‘Drinking’ was really the wrong choice of words, since at this point the kid had clearly already ‘drank’ the entire cup.] “You know you can’t have coffee, what were you thinking?? Do not get coffee again.” I would have laughed, except that this now meant I was sitting next to a caffeinated eight-year-old. Sure enough, he was awake and messing around on his tv screen, or fidgeting around in his seat, or getting up to go to the bathroom, for the rest of the seven hour flight. The few times I manage to doze off, he managed to whack my side with an errant elbow or flailing foot.

I pride myself on being the type of person who will offer to move for families without being asked, since I know how aggravating it can be for parents and children to be separated. This time, however, I really, really wanted the aisle seat and had even made sure to reserve it online earlier in the week. Just because a total stranger neglected to plan well does not mean I should have to sacrifice my comfort. That being said, I will most definitely be switching seats in the future regardless of where I’m sitting. When you mess with Karma, she comes back and slaps you in the face.

The Sins of Our Luggage

Getting to Berlin proved more challenging than expected. The last time I moved to Germany for the longer-term, I was going for school. Since I didn’t own any winter clothes (coming from California) and since I didn’t need any work clothes, the trip was completed relatively easily with two, perfectly packed suitcases. This time around, I stuck to two suitcases again. Only throwing in winter clothes and work clothes meant that the two suitcases were overflowing and overweight.

Arriving at Dulles, I looked around and quickly grabbed the insanely overpriced moving cart and brought it over to the shuttle. I had already plastic wrapped and taped one of the suitcases shut because I was afraid it might burst open in transit. What I did NOT expect was that the other suitcase would be the traitor, and that its treason would have nothing to do with the zipper. As I started to lift the suitcase onto the moving cart, I head a metallic *snap*! Looking around the side, I discovered that the stand on the bottom of the suitcase had broken off. On its own, a relatively small problem. However, since the wheels were still intact, I also couldn’t lean the suitcase against anything either. Whenever I tried to lean it on something, the wheels would start to roll and the suitcase would casually slide to the ground like a drunk hobo. Unable to deal with the issue at the time, I simply got into line and checked my bags. I would deal with their problems of obesity and public intoxication when we arrived at the other end.

Announcement

I am a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow for the 2011-2012 year!

I've known this since January but I didn't really believe it until this morning while I was looking at the sheet describing my apartment in Berlin. I'm moving to Berlin!! I literally squealed and did a little dance-y thing around my room and then my horoscope was all "you might have a very upbeat day." Correct Horoscope. Correct.

I'll be in Germany for a year and then who knows?? Turkey? Africa? New Zealand?

If I'm posting...

...it indicates that i should be doing something else.

A new study shows that Coca-Cola is not as good at room temperature. A study of 1 graduate student in a library has definitely demonstrated that a room-temperature Coke is not as delicious as a cold one, contributing negatively to the development of weekend morale. Scientists suggest a cold beer or glass of wine may mediate the situation but until we make much-needed reforms to the library infrastructure, that remains a distant possibility. Researchers are urging Coke drinkers who will participating in full-day library trips to plan carefully so as to avoid aggravating an already-dismal situation.