The Garden of Discordia

Trying to write something. It's not working, so I thought I'd blog.

/procrastination ahoy/

Yesterday I went with a friend to see Die Mausefalle, the Berliner Kriminal Theater version of Agatha Christies über-classic The Mouse Trap. Because I am a Christie n00b and also never remember the plot of crime stories unless I read them like twenty times, I was totally surprised by the ending.

It was fun to go and the theatre was very nice; small intimate room, we sat at the very last row and I still had no problem making out the character's facial expressions. I think it might be some kind of old factory building or something, because there was a lot of naked steel and high roofs in there, which worked very well with the classical red theatre curtain.

The acting wasn't overwhelmingly great but solid enough. Otoh Christie doesn't really write characters as much as types. And it was nice, a cosy evening with a good play and some really funny moments.

Also easy to understand even if your German isn't overwhelmingly good, so it's definitely a theatre I'd recommend to visitors who want to take part of a bit of Berliner culture but aren't certain if they can follow a play. And really, the 19 € places are absolutely spiffy (just don't sit too much in the middle, the pillar will be in the way).

Wouldn't mind going back and seeing perhaps a German crime play, or Arsenic and Old Lace.

In Germany, they're in the process of switching out the federal president, after the old one got caught in a severe scandal. There was a lot of media hounding but, from what I've heard from sensible people, also very reasonable complaints against him and illegal stuff and whatnot. Election for the next president is coming up, though from what I can understand, the presented candidate is a pretty sure win. Okay.

In Sweden, the crown princess just had a daughter. I don't care all that much, although of course it's nice for them (and, heh, part of me went 'yes a girl, good!'). But it also brings up the obvious discussing of whether we want to keep a monarchy or not.

Now, on one hand, I do feel that all humans should be born equal and that it's quite odd how the court doesn't have to tell anyone where all the money they get goes to; I don't insist on knowing anybodys pocket money, but if they really use most of the sum for upkeep of historical castles and parks, why not show that? Everybody else who is statefunded or pays taxes has to do that. Certainly people who get social security money need to show proof for just about every little expense, so, uh, why not the people who get the biggest "social security" payment of them all?

But, tangent. I still don't neccessarily feel that we need to get rid of the court, because we'll still have to pay someone to do the ceremonial greetings and stuff. And, looking at the German situation, even picking an older person with experience is apparantly totally not a guarantee against them doing stupid shit.

But it was very funny when the announcement came out. I was sitting in a café with some German people from my project seminar, when someone checked their smartphone. Twitter was talking about the (then) very receant reveal that the president would resign and they all broke out in spontaneous cheers :)

One of the best things at the Humboldt university, is how many people seem to actually care about politics, in multiple ways.

In completely unrelated news, I've got a couple of new icons. That pic of Zoro? Might as well have been me this week
/was sinfully lazy and enjoyed it so

Asxfjglhfzzt.

Had my first and, if I may hope so quite muchly, last written exam in German. 90 minutes of stress - Grammar? Spelling? Hah, who has time for THAT when I'm trying to get down my thoughts for the four essay questions one of which asks about a topic from a lecture I completely missed so I'm pulling out all my random knowledge and making shit up and hoping that I'm not completely off

So, uh, yeah, this ain't gonna be a nice shiny 1. But I think I did well enough on the first two questions that I should at least pass. Or so I hope, have no clue how Madam Professor actually grades but those two I did answer in a correct (and hopefully coherent) way.

Anyway. Now I have like six weeks free (!!!) except for the two 12-sided essays I need to write. Which I shall start writing, promptly the week after the coming one because omg do I need a bit of vacation.

And after faaaaar to many years, I am going back to Animagic the (afaik) largest anime con in Germany. It'll be the very last thing I do here, since the con runs 27th-29th of July, and I have to be back at work the first of August. Not too shabby a way to say ~auf wiedersehen, Deutschland ^___^

And I'll be joined by setsuna_jiba, whoooo \o/
My last Animagic (which was, what, in 2004? They were still in Koblenz at the time) I was mostly alone, since my German friends were working as staffers. Still had a lot of fun with the shows and the cosplay contest etc, but having another crazy fangirl as company is always better. And Set-chan is crazy in the very best way ♥ ♥

We're also planning to cosplay, aw yeah!
    ...soooo does anyone know where you can use a sewing-machine in Berlin? Preferably for little money? Yeah, no, didn't think so.

If anyon else lives in the area and wants to say hi, gimme a shout! We'll probably also have Thursday to look at Bonn, so if you know some nice spots, please rec them. I've got no idea about about... anything, regarding the city, really.

We had snow! It's not much left now, but the cold is definitely here. This means I really should get out and buy more warm sweaters (lost one during my Christmas vacation, one is frankly fugly from age and the other two get used a bit much) but since I hate shopping, I've so far only managed to grab yet another Die Ärzte sweater from the fan-merch store round the corner. Oh well, at least it looks warm and cosy.

Exam period is coming up, which means I need to do ALL THE STUDIES and I also have two presentations to do. Bohoo, stressy... That's one verbal exam, one written and two essays which I think (and hope, good lord) that I can hand in after the actual term is over.

To that, there is also the very last bit of the paperwork to extend my stay at Humboldt, but at least I'm guaranteed a place here now ^_^ But I had to print a paper, sign it, then I gotta scan it and send to the insurance person, then get a reply and lastly show that to the administration here. Uuuh...

Because I have so much to do and so little time I got a haircut. Not a complete waste of time, because it was getting messily long, and I was too tired to study more than the two hours I did today anyway. Now, no more haircuts until February has passed! If I can affordid then, however, I'll take the time to dye it in March.

And lastly, an anime blog I want to read in the future when I have time (hah): Karaconner. I need to catch up on the ANN editorials that I follow too and probably buy the latest volume of FMA. So much to read, so little time...

Yesterday I went to see Das kunstseidene Mädchen (The Girl made of Artificial-Silk) in the Aufbau Theatre. This is one of Berlin's many small private theatre companies, and it just so happens that it lies about one block from my apartment.
Which, I'm sad to say, totally proves that they need a better PR-responsible, because I pass the building where the theatre is every morning on my way to school, and we're currently studying the book (written 1932 by Irmgard Keun, quite worth a read) and I knew neither of the theatre nor this play. Luckily enough, one of my fellow students has stronger Google-fu and informed the class about the play last week.

( The play: Girls shouldn't be made of fake silk, because it wrinkles so easily )

The day before Das Kunstseidene Mädchen I also did things, I barely know how to keep my head straight with all this sudden social life ^_^;;;

Anyway, two other exchange students had, inspired by the fact that it was Australia Day called together an event called Australia, which turned out to be a very nice gathering of Australians, Germans and exchange students from other countries to learn about post/colonilism from an Australian perspective.
We gathered in the cellar of a pub and there followed an evening with poetry readings (Oodgeroo Noonuccal, some others and new poems by one of the organisers), historical information (the dictation test and the ethnic cleansing of the Tasmanian peninsula, both completely new things to me) and looked at the works of a photographer whom is involved in the struggle for indigineous rights and whose name I have utterly forgotten. There was supposed to be a film showing too, but considering we discussed until a bit after midnight, that didn't really work out. Still, a lively discussion is both something less solid and more engaging than even a really good movie, so I think it all worked out quite well.

Otherwise, I've spent most of the week thinking of a poem by the East German poet Karl Mickel, which I'm supposed to present on Monday. With a few clear and well-formulated interpretation theses. orz

...and apparantly while I'm sitting in a library writing this post, there's a load of police cars and whatnot outside of work in Stockholm, in the aftermath of a robbery on a nearby goldsmith o.0

So I'm a geek. Nobody is surprised about that, right? Thus, now that professor Nosferatu has returned to America (this is not a joke, but it is a bit of a long story) my Tuesdays are free from twelve o'clock. Since I know myself and know that I'll just bum around if I go home that early, I have decided to dedicate the day to Culturally Improve Myself. Or, in other words, geek out at some of Berlin's many museums.


Charité

Because I was extremely exhausted today, I thought I'd visit one of the smaller ones, and thus headed for the - as it turned out - very well-hidden Medizinhistorisches Museum. The reason the museum is so well-hidden is that it's located on the Charité grounds; the old university hospital of Berlin. That Google maps tells you to go to an entrance to the Charité area itself, which has less than no signs about a museum, doesn't exactly ease the navigation.
Since I'd already tried to find it once before (and then ended up at the museum for Natural History, so no big loss), I looked very carefully at the map this time. And still got lost once, but I could round back with no huge loss of time...

Anyway! I did find it, finally, and also got to look at the quite nice old buildings that form the old Charité (where they ttly have the best-looking university eatery, it could almost belong to a hotel from the outside. And we have a tent, bah).
These aren't the first buildings, but they've still got a good two hundred years on them. As I learned today, the entire thing was built in preparation for a non-occuring plague epidemic right at the beginning of the eighteenth century, after which it became an army hospital and a place where the army surgeons could hone their skills on poor people - who, in turn, got the dubious honor of receiving the best free healthcare of the time. Which, as anyone who knows anything about medical history knows, was a mixed blessing at best... At least the surgeons were truly among the very best when it came to operating, setting bones to right and other such more concretely "try and repair the broken bit" medicin.

There are so many lovely old buildings in Berlin. Cool new ones too, one of the things I truly love about the architecture here is how mixed it is!

( Cut for discussion of medical exhibiton )

Only worth a visit for those with an interest in the theme and not too easily squicked by human remains, but I'd recommend a walk through the hospital area to anyone. It's not that big (unless you're trying to find the museum without a map), there are lots of nice brick buildings and once you've passed through it and reach the river, you get a very nice view of the main station. Following the river, I also got a good view of the parliament buildings, among those the Kansleramt. It was great weather for a walk, cool but sunny, with ~dramatic~ cloud formations and a fresh wind.


Berlin Hauptbahnhof

This was a field of gravel, some half-finished tracks and a lot of cranes the first time I visited Berlin. Now it's a quite fancy central station, though they're still building all around it. One of the things I love about the city is how it changes every time I return.

After a spot of lunch in the train station, I decided to walk along the river. This walk turned out sliiighlty longer than planned; the first bridge I passed was right next to the station and I continued on, but the second bridge turned out not to be open to the public and the third one was all the way down by the Victory Column. Still, it was nice and I saw a lady playing with her dog, which was full of that special doggy enthusiasm that they get when you throw fake-bones (hot pink fake bones, even =) for them to fetch and it ran until the feet almost blurred. Aww

Walked back through a very gray Tiergarten and then pretty much stumbled home and into bed. Dinner was oranges, a yoghurt and a donut today.

Maybe next week I'll finally go to the Technical Museum, sooner or later I'll make it!

Going home soon. I haven't missed home much at all, but as Christmas grows closer, I find that I am getting very excited about seeing my family and friends again. I'm also very much looking forward to some special food things.

For one, Swedish water. It's not that the water here in Berlin tastes exceptionally bad (though it's super-duper-mega hard, my goodness. We've had to de-calcify the electric water boiler twice since I got here; I've never de-calcified a water boiler in my life).
But tapwater at home tastes, well, tasty! It's not just acceptable, it's fresh and good straight from the tap. I much prefer it to most bottled waters on offer, although, for instance, the fresh spring-water from Nacka is markedly more tasty.

I'm gonna drink a bucket as soon as I get off the airplane, I'm telling you. I'm also going to order tap water in every restaurant I have a chance to visit, just to enjoy the privilege of actually getting free tapwater (they're dreadfully reluctant about giving you a glass of tap-water here).

I'm also missing some food my grandmother makes; not that I couldn't make Hungarian beef stew myself, but it's grandma food. It tastes better at her place. Otherwise, since I cook a lot for myself, and the food from the university cantina tastes almost scarily like the stuff served in my highschool (with certain Very German exceptions, like Spätzle and whatnot), I haven't really been hit by any amazing food cravings.

Except perhaps lussebullar, since our oven is Teh Suck, and I'm not going trough the hassle of trying to bake my saffron-buns only to have them turn into pale, dry things in our non-hot oven.

But water. Nnngh, I didn't know I could miss tasty water so much

So, a few people asked if I wanted to write a bit about my studies in Germany. All comparsions will be to the Swedish university system, which I shall simply except you to know. If for some reason someone who isn't a Swedish student has questions, do ask and I shall do my best to answer

Since I currently possess the IQ of a mashed potatoe (Tuesday is the Long Lecture Day) you'll get it in chronological order, because everything else would be too complicated.

I should perhaps also point out, that this term, I have mostly taken classes in literature history; that is, thematic studies. They looked more interesting and since it's still not 100% certain that I can remain next term, I'd rather do these here and the pure literary analysis classes (which I'll need for my bachelor) in Sweden.

( Overall impressions )

The names of my modules, btw, are "(German) Literature History III (1800-today)", "ERASMUS Module Literary History I, II, III" (though all my seminars are modern-ish, ehehehe) and "Text- and Media Analysis". I've also got an extra class that falls under Kulturwissenschaft (Cultural Studies?), but I'll get to that later.

( Monday: German-language lyric / Crime and Literature / Franz Kafka )

( Tuesday: Literature & Photography / Lost Illusions )

Aaaand because this post is already massive, I think I'll cut there. Wednesdas to Fridays aren't that heavy anyway, but I'll try to scribble them down later in the week :) Have got some interesting classes there too!

I've increased my social life with, like, 245% since I got to Berlin. The downside is that when I'm not doing anything, I'm utterly exhausted. I think the evening stuff go down a bit now that university is starting, although I'll certainly try to be active and do something at least once a week. However, I can also feel a marked improvement in my mood compared to how it usually is in October- ( Winter depression talk cut )

ERASMUS-party
On Friday, the evening started in Steffi's new apartment, where I made the happy discovery that if you mix the sparkling whine from Lidl with peach juice, it is not only tolerably but actuallly good. Considering that the sparkling wine costs ten cents less than the peach juice, I had some serious doubts about the drinkability of the stuff...

After that, we made our way to Kino International, where they had a party evening for ERASMUS students. Since I'd messed up my schedule on Friday and thought I had more classes than I did, I failed to buy tickets before and so had to pay a horrible 6 € at the door.

Entering this club, btw, was a very "German" experience. First we had to show ID. Then they checked the bags. Then a girl took our money/pre-booked tickets, checked that we were students, stamped us and gave us a little ticket. Three steps behind her a man took that little ticket back and finally, once you got up the stairs, you could stand in line for the wardrobe. Despite that, it was pretty efficient (except for the wardrobe, but that is an international problem afaik)

Unfortunately, the music turned out to be less than great. I'm no expert on club music, but I found the beat hard to dance to and the clubbing expert in our group agreed. Hopefully next party will be better, though I think we've agreed to skip the ERASMUS events as they often seem to suffer from dreadful DJ's.

E.G.A.L.
Tonight, I visited an amateur show wherein a friend took part: The theatre troop Stageink's "Eine Gala aus Liedern (und mit allem, was dazugehört)".

It was quite entertaining and the advanced level of tech was a positive surprise! They even had a full live band with drums, guitar, bass, cello & piano. The cello in particular lifted some pieces miles above a playback experience.

My favorite pieces were the (German) Scrubs song, that is, J.D & Turks "Guy Love Duet", or whatever it's called, it was unfortunately not introduced. Several of the Elizabeth pieces were also very good (the singer in top hat had a good voice and an impressive stage presence), of which the only ones title I remember was "Milch". Good song and Oscar, the girl in the uniform did a spiffing job. To my great surprise, I got to hear a very nice performance of the wolf song, from Ronia the Robber's Daughter!! I totally didn't connect the title with that song when they introduced it, but from the first tones all the memories came back (and most of the lyrics too). Impressive, considering I haven't seen the films since I was like twelve. Otoh, I watched it maaaaany times before that ^_^

They also performed the Time Warp, which was alas a bit ruined by the microphones not working for everyone, including the male lead singer. Luckily, they did it again as the extra song at the end, and that time everything technical co-operated much better. (is there an English word for "zugabe"? Or do they use encore, perhaps?)
Which reminds me of the only really negative thing about the evening (except the lack of a program I could buy; Matt, plz improve to the next show? Some of us have a scrapbook to fill ;) - a loudspeaker or something made a really annoying buzzing sound. Sounded like my old speakers, actually, before I manage to ground them. Luckily, while annoying the sound wasn't too loud and during most songs I could forget about it

All in all, the show was varied, entertaining and the singing provess of, well, everyone impressed me mightily. With a glass of champagne, it was quite a nice way to spend a Sunday evening and I look forward to the spring show.

Oh, and from a pure geek bias, I of course approve of opening any gala with two Harry Potter choirs ;)