Mittwoch: den 29. Juli, 2009: 22:32 Uhr

It’s getting closer to 12 a.m. and I am extremely sleepy. But there is no way that I can sleep tonight, without first penning down these thoughts in my head. Ok, so heres a real quick update:

Today was DAS SOMMERFEST (The Summer fest), a party organized by the KULTUR BURO for all us students, teachers and staff. We, the class C-1 had organized a small THEATER-STUECK (skit) for the same. Original idea was by yours’ truly, inspired by the ‘Mind your lanague’ series. Post idea-gathering, I managed to create a readable script, but had to brutally edit the same L since it was getting to sound a bit tedious. Finally, around 4 versions and multiple role-changes later, at 18:20 hours, the final draft was ready. We were scheduled for 20:00 hours J

To say that I was apprehensive is an understatement. But once on stage, things moved very smoothly. Thanks to the support from Ketaki, Kavita, Deepak, Bora, Frau Maetzing (all of whom were cheering madly) and the amazing team-work from those of us on-stage, our skit was HIT ! Yay! Our teacher was so impressed and kept saying that it was very very well organized, (I am a happy girl). She also belw a couple of whistles towards the end. Nice!

I was initially a tad skeptical about the whole thing, since not everyone from class participated, not even as an audience initially. But finally, Alina, Dmitry, Molly, Luda, Oriol and I mamaegd to split roles amomg us and put on a rather-excellent show. Efraim would have participated but he’s rather busy and stressed out with his doctorate-work. Fabian, Gulce, Julia and Genaro didn’t want to participate. Genaro, actually rehearsed with us a couple of times and then, didt trun up for class. So, we subsititured Eric in his place (Eric and Helen are 2 new students from week4!) who are journalists with SPIEGEL- Online and are here for around 3 weeks, I think. But then Eric couldn’t reachc back from work on time, so we subistiured Oriol for his role (Oriol, was in facrt, thr original choice for the role, BTW). Alina and Oriol switched roles and she became the speaker (Sutradar, in Hindi).

Luda, Dmitry and Larissa (his wife) were absolute sweethearts, and among the 4 of us, we managed to firm up my original script. D and L are a real sweet couple (married actually) and I would like to write quite a bit on them, but some other time. They have a 2-year old son as well, they are as cute and so-in-love that it is sure to make anyone go ‘Awwwwwwwww’J

Anyways, will paste the script here later, with a translated-transctipr later tomorrow.

We had a piano recital by 2 students; Japanese and Korean, a dance-performance from Enrique and Carrie (I think) a song-recital by B2-1 and another skit by a different class (Who didn’t use the microphones!!!). Thank God, we did, we had asked for it beforehand. Then we all danced quite a bit, mostly to Spanish music, which is TOLL!!!

The entire event was a hit, and the Goethe Institut has done agreat job in organizing it. What I liked the best was the timing with which everything was organized, to the tee. Immediately at 9.40, the event came to a close, and the team went about cleaning up the place; even the papers lying about in the garden. This dignity of labour is what I admire the most here and the pride with which one goes about her work.

In other news, I somehow managed to whip up a masala-rice tonight (was stricylt OK) but needed to eat at home, since was feeling a bit under the weather (physically) but mentally am high on life, and how! :D

Today, back in class, a lot of people came up to me and called me Marlene Mueller, that was my name in the skit. and said that it was a good play, etc.- etc. I likes :)

bis bald,
Anya

Freitag, den 17. Juli 2009

So, the INTERNATIONALE ESSEN TAG went off great. I was initially a bit hesitant about how the humble potato sabji would do, but guess what, it did great!

There were 7 cheeses from France, Switzerland, mexican rice from Mexico, chocolate cake from Poland, etc. The humble bhaji was displayed with the headline ,KARTOFFEL GEMUESE VON INDIEN, Bon Appetit!' Potato-sabjhi from India, Bon Appetit, along with our national flag.

Several people wanted the recipe, the dish was a hit, well, 1 coz it tasted good :D and 2, coz was a good option for those who opted for vegetarian. Surprisingly, there were several people who are now vegetarians by choice. It felt real good, especially since it was so last-minute. The recipe:

1. Pour oil in a vessl, add chopped garlic and red-chillies
2. Add chopped onions and wait till they turn translucent
3. Now, add the masala from home (dania, jeera, red chill pdr and some garam masala) and let the onions absorb the spice.
4. Add the chopped potatoes (in cubes) and some water so that the potatoes become tender.
5. When thepottatoes are tender enough. i.e can be cut with a knife, add salt as needed

Serve with love and a lot of patriotic pride!

Yesterday, 16th Juli, was a rip-off day. We visited the State-Library, where the entire library system is extremely complicated and not in accordance with a book-lover´s tastes. For example, all we wanted was to borrow a German-English dictionary, but guess what, dictionaries cannot be borrowed! they have to be read (?) in the reading-hall. There are computers all over the place, where one needs to type in the book(s) that one needs to borrow, basically search for them in the online-catalog, once you find the book u need, u click on ORder (BESTELLEN), if the ORder-link is not seen, that means the book cannot be borrowed and instead the room where the book can be found is given.

Once u click on order, the order is assigned a number and u are givena time wehn u can pick the book from the PICKING-AREA. The PICKING-AREA is a room with shelves that are numbered 01-50, these symbolize the last 2 digits of ur library membership number. so, u go the shelf that bears ur number, and pick the books, then go the counter, and they issue it for u. the books lie on the shelves for a week, post which, they are sent back to the holding area(?).

There is also a service provided, where if person A has borrowed a book and Person B wants to order the same book during the lending-period of 1 month,. person B reserves the book for a sum of 1€, which means that Person A cannot renew the book, if she wants to when she returns it. But no one checks whether or not the person wanted to renew it, that to me is a rip-off, because if the book is present in the library just waiting for me to pick it up, why do i need to pay for it???

My other issue is that, there is no one room, where all the books that can be borrowed can be browsed through or even a link where all borrowable-books are displayd. So, u are basically expected to know what u need to borrow. Give me an old-fashioned library anyday, where i can browse through the books, read the burrbs, hold the books for a while, carry 10 books in my arms and then borrow them. The beauty lies in the browsing and not in the borrowing. Oh by the way, this whole membership cost me €10, i better pay regular visits there. maybe they have wi-fi, will take my laptop and use it in that case, but only if its free!

Ketaki ended up paying €1.90 for a newspaper, which we later realized is too expensive. Aren´t newspapers supposed to be for everyone and more cost-effective? We plan to frame it when we get back to Bombay and charge people for reading it, maybe we´ll be able to recover the €1.90 and also the €10.

Today, we (Class C1.1) went for lunch together to an Asian specialty restaurant called ,Papaya,... I had a burnt-rice with vegetables, that basiclly meant egg rice with veggies, was pretty good, i nullified the semi-blandness with the chilli-chutney provided :) and had the Spezi- which is Cola & fanta mixed, and is a German invention.

We discussed cuisines and lifestyles in Moscow, Mumbai, Germany, paris. incidentally the lone Parisian at the table wasnt a major fan of Paris, and said that life for him is actually stressful. to which i would agree a bit, among the capital-cities\main cities of the world where I´ve been to, Berlin comes across as a nice , calm city, where one can experience both a large city and have a quiet life, if one so wishes to. London, Paris, Rome, New York, Bombay; chaotic in comparison.

Interstingly there were 3 Russians on the table and when i told them that there is a lot of Russia in Goa, they were surprised. I remember seeing streets with all signages in Russian, german too on a trip to Goa and told them all about it. We now have at least 5 people wanting to make a trip to Goa, Bombay. i wish i could do this travel-bit full time and make a living out of it.

A few minutes back, it rained as it does in Bombay , without the sun and with a lot of force. its not normal weather for berlin this time of the year, and goes to show how much we have changed the forces of nature.
In other news, Kavita is planning to write on Bollywood as the theme for her REFERRAT (presentation). i think its a great idea, and have told her to incorporate our cryze for foreign locales and the roles that cities play in our movies. Kavita,s landlady has invited the 3 of us to her place tomorrow morning for breakfast. its at 9!!! so i need to wake up on time tomorrow. cant be late for breakfast! There are also several French students here, who I think are the cutest, well-behaved, friendly and very international, in the sense that they mingle with everyone, and are genuinely interested in knowing about other cultures. Pity they are all in the afternoon class.

There is a SPAZIER-GANG (walk) planned for Potsdamer-Platz, where we had incidentally gone yesterday in our quest for a dictionary. There are markings all over , where the Berlin wall stood. ther is so much history here, that sometimes, i think that it inhibts the people from totally being themselves, as if they still feel guilty for all that hapened so mnay years back.

I´d better get going, oh by the way, i paid a visit to the libray properly for the 1st time today, and spent 2 hours over some Grammar. I realize that I have a long way to go, and have miles to go before i sleep.

tc,
Tschuess,
Anya

Mittwoch: den 15. July 2009

Highlights of the day:
I somehow managed to prod myself awake, and prepare the potato-sabji for the INTERNATIONAL ESSEN TAG; fingers crossed that it goes down well in the evening. Hilda had a lot of questions about the various Indian cuisines, the food and drink that we have, whether we cook at home or eat out, the market for processed/ ready-to-eat, cook meals, etc. I gave gyaan on how a maid is a necessity back home and not a luxury as it is here, the fact that we eat out a lot and also eat home-food etc. etc.

I reached around 10 mins late for class; NEED to get the reaching-on-time bits in place and soon. Its barely a 10-minute walk from home-class, but wonder where the time goes :)
In class, we discussed German films; DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN, GOODBYE LENIN, DER TOTMACHER, DIE WEISSE MASAI. We also heard the German version of 'The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains'; Es grünt so grün wenn Spaniens Blüten... Good fun!

We also discussed proverbs from our languages, that have something to do with Time; ZEIT.

Eg: ZEIT IST GOLD/ GELD (Time is Gold, money)
ZEIT UND WELLE WARTEN AUF NIEMAND (Time and Tide wait for none).

There are more to be discussed tomorrow, and also homework on some more Grammar concepts :(
So, will get going, and keep you posted on how the INTERNATIONALE ESSEN-TAGE went.

Bis bald,
Tschuess,
Anya

Dienstag, den 14. Juli 2009

Guten Tag!
I am right now at the institute, in the Internet-zone and hoping tat i get enough inspiration to type out today#s dpings while thez are still fresh in my head. So, whats in mz head rt now, is:

1. We, in India have tonnes to offer tourists, but barely know enuff or maintain enuff of what we have or make things attractive enuff to visitors. Here, in Berlin, its day number 8 fuer mich, und already i know enuff to guide others arnd.
2. Its very hot here today, it rained in the morning, but the sun is beating down my back and reminds me of home.
3. Morrow is #IOnternationale Essenä day, intnl food day and am thinking what shud i take. pav bhaji wud hv been cool, so wud hv been chole but dont hv the cooker. i hunted for besan to mk vada pav, but havent yet found it. if nothing else happpens, will make alu ki sabji :D

So, today was day 1 of my ´new portable radio. a brand called Gruendig, meaning grounded in German. its cute and very very useful on my walk to class in the morning and back home. Radio Eins 95,8 (u shud know tat decimals is represented by , in German) is prima and today there was an interesting song on men in general .. will publish the lyrics later. I reached a bit late, and was a bit disoriented coz i felt i shud be changing my class and going one level higher. but then i spoke to Frau Maetzing who told me, na ja, i am just right and tat i have a decentlz high level, but tat one level higher may be a bit much. its starnge how much communication helps, i can never get enuff of it :D

The assignment in class was on .Differentiate 2 cities. I partnered with Luda, from Russia, adn we #Vergleiched# Bombay and St. Petersburg. Went off pretty wel, expcept for my Grammar :( and i quckly took the opportunity to talk abt how nice and friendly we Bombay-waalas are and how we make train-friends, wich the class found SEHR (very) interesting.

Today was K-II grammar, that is the Conjunctive (Would, Would have, If I were a millionaire). We also have 2 pieces of hoemwork to do. one a para on -If i were to meet Madonna, what would i do?# and II, a description on a newspaper article.

I have 1´2 a mind to buy a paper daily, but then i feel i mite take more than a day to read one. and then i.d anyways read old-news, so whats the point!

Post lunch, whihc we had at Pizza-Point, near class, we started off on our AUSFLUG nach DIE STADT-MITTE: BERLIN. This is east-Berlin. Highlights of the trip:

1. Berlin has been torn down and rebuilt several times in its history, its been torn apart and joint back also several times.

2. When the British used to import articles from Germany, they used to stamp them with -Made in Germany# marks that came to symbolise high product quality and standards. When Berlin was divided into DDR and Berlin, i.e east and west, DDR would stamp it as .Made in GDR: German democratic republic# nad West Germany as -MAde in west germany.#

ok, will eidt this later.

bis bald, going for a VORTRAG (Lecture) on the times betn 1919-1943.

The topic for the VORTRAG was ‘Politische Geschichte Deutschlands von 1918-1933 (The political history of Germany from 1918-1933)by Dr. Antonis Hilbers, a historian. It’s so much different from what I do at work; to know so much about the history of the world, be able to discuss it for hours with varying view-points, keep a varied audience enthralled is really something.

I learnt a lot of interesting facts about Hitler’s fast ascent to the top; a result of multiple factors; key among them being,
The Versailles VERTRAG (Treaty) Between Germany and the allied forces; USA, France, England.
The WELTWIRTSCHAFTSKRIESE (World Economic crisis) in 1929; that was a result of ‘SCHWARZER FREITAG’; Black-Friday.
DIE VERFASSUNG VON WEIMAR (Lot of freedom in the German republic)
DIE INSTABILITAET DER REGIERUNG; the unstable Government
The presence of Radical parties in the then-German-parliament
An Anti-democratic GESSELSCHAFT
Papen and Hindenburg; 2 leaders who supported Hitler’s entry into the German political main-league, it also goes that they thought Hitler could merely front-end the party and act like a French-marionette (puppet). It’s said that Hitler forced his way into the German political league, but we learnt today that his route was as legal as they come. It’s said that Hitler forced his way into the German political league, but we learnt today that his route was as legal as they come.

It also goes that a former contemporary of Hitler had, in fact, written to Papen and Hindenburg that inducting Hitler would be disastrous for the German republic and that he was capable of single-handedly destroying the entire nation. Prophetic words, those! There are also BILDER (photos) in the then-press showing Hitler emerging from an ice-cream cone, named ‘VERSAILLES’. Then, there are others that show Hitler sitting between Papen and Hindenburg, a leg on each shoulder, displaying the support that they gave him.

There was also a phase in Germany, post WW-I and 1929, (The WELTWIRTSCHAFTSKRIESE (World Economic crisis), where the percentage of those unemployed went through the roof. The law in those times, provided for a unemployment-social-security (called ARBEITSLOESIGKEIT UNTERSTUETZUNG), but the sheer numbers were daunting. Lakhs were unemployed and there was a waiting-period of more than 32 weeks before one could become eligible to receive the security-money from the Government. Post which, one could get a mere 7 DM per week that would buy a family some bread, 3-4 potatoes and maybe a Herring once a month. This insurance did not cover medicines and other essentials. A graphic representation of the HYPERINFLATION in Germany in 1923, post WW-I displayed the absolute rise in prices of daily-essentials. For e.g.: 1 Kg. Bread costing 80 pfennigs in December 1919 rose to 163 DM in Dec 1922 and shot through the roof to about >3 Million DM in December 1923 before stabilizing to 30 pfennigs in Jan 1924. This was also when a USD = 4 Billion Deutsch Marks. People would get paid initially by the month, then by the week, then by the day, then by the hour. The situation was such that the value of the DM could change in an hour or two; so people would spend what they had as soon as they got it. Hard times, those! It was also interesting to know that theatres in those times had advertisements stating:

DER BILLIGSTE PLATZ : 2 EIER
DER TEURESTE PLATZ: 1 PD. BUTTER

The least expensive seat: 2 eggs
The most expensive seat: 1 pound butter

Those were also the days when the Government was held responsible for everything that was negative. Such was the hopelessness and despair among the common people, that Hitler’s party (The DAP: Deutsche Arbeitspartei) found it relatively easy to make its mark. The former party (SPD: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschland) was literally wiped out in the 1932 elections, with the DAP and KPD( Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands) obtaining almost 50% of the votes, from a zero-presence in prior years). The VOLKS (people) had no choice and probably chose Hitler’s party with the hope that something positive would happen.

The lecture ended with ‘WAEHLT EINEN MANN, NICHT EINE PARTEI: 28.02.1932. Choose a person, not a party.’

The lecture perfectly coincided with the class-trip to DIE STADT-MITTE (The city-centre) in East-Berlin. This needs a little more history-research, so will stick to telling what I know till now. The city plan has changed a lot since forever, there are times, when the political vision (capitalism/ socialism) reflected in the plan of the city; e.g. housing vs. open spaces, parks vs. homes, price-worthy vs. expensive. Interestingly, when the city needed hands to build itself, the then-leader invited AUSLAENDER (foreigners) who were in-exile from their own countries. One such nationality, the French lived close to the RATHAUS (Town-hall) in the area that now houses the GENDARME MARKT. Our guide, Herr Mathias Rau, passionate, energetic and enthused, hates the fact that Ku’dam is considered to be the centre of Berlin and not the RATHAUS-area. The STADT-MITTE walk comprised of: Marien KIRCHE (Church), the RATHAUS, NIKOLAI VIERTEL, the river SPREE, The Berliner Dom and the MUSEUM-INSEL ( 4 museums in an island all their own). The church has a beautiful mosaic painting ‘TANZ DES TOTES’ the dance of the dead’, that depicts the impartiality that death shows towards rich and poor, young and old, prince and pauper. The church has created an incomplete collage of the same, made of tiny pieces of stone. One can buy 1 or more stone-pieces, each for 2.5 Euros, and help towards completion of the collage, and consequently contribute towards the restoration of the painting. Innovative idea! I also lit a candle in church, there’s something amazingly reassuring about lighting a candle. By the way, you should know that one difference between east- and west-Berlin is the presence of trams in the former. Plan to hop on it some day soon!

Anyways, for now, post the lecture, that got over at 8p.m., I trooped back home; on the way picked strawberries (not picked-picked), potatoes, garlic and chilies. Strawberries, am not sure if I’ve mentioned it already, are YUMMY over here and available in abundance, at least in summer. Also, DIE DEUTSCHER prefer buying their fruits and vegetables fresh and from local markets, you can see many of them in the squares, the corner selling a range of fresh produce. There is this Polish store close to home that stocks a variety of produce, along with several tinned products, sauces, powders that are Russian/Polish in origin. The advantage of living in an international city; you get to hear multiple languages, read multiple scripts, see a variety of people from all over the world. Not much can compare to this!

Anyways, I trooped back home with ‘Walking in Memphis’ playing on Radio EINS. The 1st thing I did after reaching home was; I cut the potatoes, onions and garlic and prepared a Potato-sabji, with the home-made masala that mom thoughtfully placed in my bag. Hilda came home at around the same time, and agreed to be my guinea-pig. I had the sabji with tortillas, heated on a tava with butter (as close to a chapatti as possible) and must say, not bad :D Hilda tasted some of it and actually liked it, and gave her go-ahead for the INTERNATIONAL SPEISE-TAG (International food-day). I likes!

Now, I am settled in front of the TV and watching Mile-High, the series on flight personnel, nothing exceptional but good TP. Not sure why this series follows me everywhere, it has played in all the televisions that I’ve had the privilege of seeing.

And now, I realize that I have tones of homework and also need to hopefully reach early tomorrow; OK, make that on-time, so its bye for now. Bis bald, und haben Sie einen schoenen Tag!

Tschuess,
Anya

Day 5: 11, Dahlmann Strasse, Charlottenburg

It’s 22:38 by the clock here and I have finally found the time and the strength to sit down with my laptop. It’s strange, there was a time when I’d travel to a Lonavala on a weekend and jot down all my experiences in detail. And now, it’s been 5 days in Berlin and am yet to start writing! Not liking this, writer’s block or whatever it’s called.

So, I’ll give the credit of my sudden inspiration to the tomatoes, broccoli, banana and strawberries that I’ve had today. In Berlin, fruit-sellers on the street are a common sight and the locals buy their daily fruits and vegetables from them.
It’s been 5 days in Berlin and I can hardly believe it. I’ll go about telling you stuff at random as I recall, and will fill in the gaps as and when :D

Today, I decided to dump the U-BAHN, S-BAHN and walk to class. I of course woke up pretty late and had to dump my grandiose plans of making myself an omlette as well. I had a mug of milk and started off on, what I’d like to call ‘Anya’s quest for the shortest route to class’. Class, by the way, happens at the VOLKSHOCHSHULE (Public high school; VOLKS: people, as in VOLKSWAGEN). Today, I walk to the S-BAHN station, take a right from there to the U-BAHN (U-7: WILHELMDORFER STRASSE) and then follow my semi-developed sense of direction to LEPATOZE STRASSE and Voila, there is the sign-board guiding me to the VOLKSHOCHSHULE. Of course, it’s a different story that I reached 12 minutes late and that too for German class! Das geht’s nicht, oder?
I also happen to be one of the few students to complete my HAUSAUFGABE (homework) daily and answer most questions in class, or at least pay attention and sit in class like a student, so that goes down rather well with our teacher Frau Sylvia Maetzing. My class, by the way, is one great soap-opera; Ill come to the details in a little while.
The actors:
Ludamira, a.k.a Luda: Russian: teaches English in St. Petersburg
Genaro: Venezuela: teaches English part-time and otherwise works in the family business of uniform-manufacturing for the military. Studies philosophy.
Fabian: Swiss: sports-journalist part-time, pretty good at German, is from the French part of Die Schweiz, hence needs to better his German. I thought, all Swiss speak German, well, you live and you learn.
Julia: Spanish
Efrahim: Israel: philosphy student, part-time german teacher
Dmitzy
Molly: Phd student from the US, very bright
Alina: Student from the US.

Enrique: dance therapist from Columbia

In class, today, we had the assignment of ‘DAS INTERVIEW’, an exercise in using the indirect speech. As in, She says, / according to her, Life IS beautiful. Now, of course, in English, ‘Life is beautiful; is in the Present tense, and is also used for the indirect speech. But, German being what it is, there is a different conjugation for the indirect speech called K1, KONJUNKTIV – I.
We were split into groups of 2, and interviewed each other on our likes, dislikes, favorites, motto, aspirations, strengths, weaknesses etc. I interviewed Oriol, Spanish, student of construction-engineering and from Barcelona. Intelligent, sincere and one of the few students who acts like one. We completed the assignment way before the others and Frau Maetzing was happy, I think. She likes me, as far as I can tell, but not sure how long that’ll last, since she is yet to read my conjugations on Accusativ and Dativ cases :D
Today, being a Friday, class got over at 12! Yay, post which, we loitered about for a while, with someone quizzing me on everything that’s Indian. Ketaki thinks he’s flirting with me, I think he thinks it’s his obligation to, with every girl he meets. :D Anyways, a lot of us head out for lunch to this place called Pizza point, just around the corner. It’s one of ‘em hangout places for the high school students and very very cost-effective. I had the Meal option, I.e. a XL pizza (8 inches) Vegetaria; that’s my excuse for the Broccoli that I had today, a salad, a sweet and a drink, I had the mixed salad, the waffles and a 7-UP, all of this for NUR 5.99. Toll!
Since there was no seating-place available, we actually asked for take-always, but then, the seats got empty and we sat down and ate from the boxes direct. Post the lunch, Ketaki had a Tiramisu, which we bought from the cake-shop across the street and went back to class to the internet centre.
The internet centre, by the way, is one of the school’s best-kept secrets, it took me 3 days to find the same, but of course once discovered, forever connected. I sat down, and emailed work on and off, basically, cleaned up all the unread emails and replied to absolute-must-dos; need to remind myself am on a sabbatical, so am going back :D
This took up some 3 hours, by which it was almost 3.30, ,Someone, by the way was very much there too and asks us before we said Goodbye, “How does one say Goodbye in India, by a kiss or a hug?” Good old Ketaki says ‘With a handshake”. She is a very cool, calm kid and I find it hard to believe that she’s only 23. The 3 of us, Ketaki, Kavita and I walk around the streets, which art we’ve mastered by now. We enter this cute shop called ‘1000 DINGE- ALLES MUS GEHEN,” 1000 things, everything must go, we are moving, which has a complete assortment of cute gifts, knick-knacks, stationery, candles, cute-but-useless things, like a sea-anemone stress-buster, etc. etc. we have planned to visit this place later, and generally look around and ooh and aaah over everything.
Post 1000dinge, we complete the SALAT from morning, sitting under a Starbucks umbrella on WILHELMDORFER STRASSE, opposite Starbucks. Our logic being, its 15 degrees, no one’s using the chairs, we might as well use them :D
We also bought fruits, strawberries, cherries and apples. This reminds me of the song ‘Strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in spring. My summer love is made of more than all these things, take off your silver shoes and help me pass the time, and I will give to you, Oh, summer wine, Oh oh summer wine.’
Then we entered Karstadt, this is the department store from the stable of the Metro Group. Another is Galleria Kaufhaus, a bit more trendy and up-market, but am yet to spot one in Berlin. I bought spaghetti, Chinese sauces, Maggi curry-kind powder (LEIDER, KEINE Maggi-Masala) and frozen cut vegetables; carrot, etc. Yes I know that cut vegetables tend to be older ones but priced higher due to the convenience factor, but well, what can I do! We then trooped back to my place, yes, my sense of direction is developed a bit more in the past 12 hours and ‘I’ managed to guide the 2 to my place. Hilda was home and watching television in the hall, I just said a Hi, and that I have some friends over and went to my room.
Here I need to mention that this whole GASTGEBER thing is a bit confusing for me, per se. this is because I need to really talk and communicate, and they are rather private and also busy people. So, but the time I leave for class, she’s left for work. By the time I get back she’s not yet or vice-versa. Anyways, I chose to not overdo the talking bit today, since if she had wanted to chat, she’d have got up, no? to my overtly hyper mind, I felt like I was being rude, but then these girls told me to just chill.
We then settled down in my room (oh, I need to describe my room in detail), and chatted about MMB and Goethe and exams etc. etc. I realized that since all my German courses were on the weekend, I am not so closely tuned-in to the actual goings-on and politics and rules of MMB/Goethe, since all that is easier to understand when you in the weekday class. Anyways, I realized once again that Ketaki is special, she got a 100 on 100 in PwD in SCHRIFTILICHE and a SEHR GUT overall. Fab! So is Kavita, between the 2 of them i have a virtual dictionary and am wondering how much more i need to study before reaching their level.

We then made sandwiches; tomato, shredded expensive rip-off veggies and onions. Another thing that is confusing for me is this whole ‘use my kitchen the way you wish to’ thing, it would be easier for me, if I could speak to her , get to know her better, before jumping in and cutting vegetables on her kitchen-mantle. Anyways, that done, K2 went home, and I made myself a cup of milk and have only just settled in front of the TV, with my laptop in hand.
Right now, the TV’s playing ‘The Nanny’ AUF DEUTSCH. The light in my room is all yellow, I have never gotten used to these yellow lights in foreign lands, good old Surya Tube light is surely much better than these lights! These somehow always feel like the electricity’s been cut off and we are making do with a substitute.
Anyway, I also bought myself an Esprit jacket; it’s getting to be real cold here, 18-20 degrees and very windy. Considering that we are planning a PhD in wandering about the street, I’d better be covered well. The thing is, I had to leave quite a few jackets behind, due to the luggage limit, I also left behind my cute black monkey-cap L anyways, an Esprit is a good spend, I likes. It was also on sale, so you can’t really blame me. Plus it was in a nice-close-to-wine color, so it the decision was completely out of my hands.
Now, am watching television and must say that I can understand most of what’s being said in the background. NICE! It’s now close to 1 in the morning, I.e., 11th July 2009 and I should go to sleep.
Tomorrow is the class AUSFLUG to Potsdam, and I need to reach class by 11 a.m. will also give the breakfast make-and-eat bit another try. I absolutely NEED to put on weight and my motto is going to be:
MILK: 2
FRUITS: Apple, banana, strawberry/ other fruit
EGG: 1 every alternate day
NOODLES/ PASTA/ TORTILLA, sabji/ BREAD, sabji/ TORTILLA, sabji: lunch, dinner
YOGHURT: 1
We’ll see how that goes.
BIS BALD,

Anya

Notes, points and disclaimers

A couple of things before you start reading any further:
1-. The keyboard is with German characters, so dont be surprised if z and y get substituted. also dont be surprised if characters like Ö) and Ä) pop up :D

2. I have been a bit layz and mostlz busz, so this blog couldgo ahead a few days and then suddenly get back to day1, i.e 6th JUly 2009, where all this began.

3. Parts of the blog may have german words (in bold) will provide translations where reqd, else pls understand them in context ;)