Jason's Daily Notes

Manuel was up early and off to Hamburg. I joined him for a quick breakfast and a bye. For the rest of the week, his room would be mine. The weather was getting sunnier and warmer, so I went out.

I took the U-Bahn to Jannowitzbrücke and walked outside. I followed the river to Museuminsel, taking pictures along the way. I ended up doing a lot of walking - to Friedrichstraße, Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, the memorial to murdered Jews, and all the way to Potsdamer Platz. By the end of it all, I was hungry. I figured why not get the awesome Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap. So I took the S-Bahn one stop to Anhalter Bahnhof and walked (a longer walk than it looked on the map) to Mehringdamm. There was an insanely long line at the kebap stand, and also at nearby Curry 36, so I suddenly changed my mind and decided to go back home. I bought a tantuni, a type of Turkish wrap, from the kebab shop just nearby.

In Berlin (and Germany overall), each apartment doesn't have a number, but is instead identified by  name. Everyone is also very concerned about keeping things orderly (such as recycling bottles to get the pfand deposit back). Unlike London, people here generally don't cross the street unless the light is green.

I arranged to meet up with Topi, who was now living in Berlin (since September, after his exchange time in Barcelona). I was still sort of hungry, so I got a currywurst from Konnopke's Imbiss before heading to his place which is in between Alexanderplatz, Mitte, and Prenzberg. Topi had had a job, which he just left, and so was searching for a new job, and he was also relatively new in his current flat, having had some flatmate chaos (girlfriend making the bf aggresive, etc.) He also had a friend who had just attempted suicide, and so he was making an effort to reach out to that friend. We chilled for a little bit, having a tea, etc.

I had arranged to meet Steffen for drinks. He had plans to watch the Dortmund (Champions League) game with friends, so Topi and I joined. We first got a falafel from a vegetarian little restaurant near Schönleinstraße (where Topi had been living). Then, we walked to Brauhaus Südstern, where Steffen had reserved a table. Two of his friends joined us. We had drinks and enjoyed the game (though they weren't playing the bigger game - Real Madrid vs Man U).

After dinner/drinks, Topi and I walked all the way to Martin's place. We chilled there, after walking to Görlitzer park. Topi ended up returning with me to my place and crashing on the floor.

Berlin. I woke up with Manuel, who had a full day. We had breakfast (eggs, bread) and I said bye to him.

I had plans to meet Maria (who had just moved to Berlin) at 12:00 for lunch/coffee. I rushed to the Mauerpark area, and since I arrived there a little early, I walked around and took pictures. The day was brilliantly sunny and felt warmer. As I rushed to the cafe to meet Maria, I took off my coat to cool off!

Maria was right there waiting for me. I also met her friend Martin, who is an English teacher in Duisburg. I told him that I was waiting to hear back from a possible job in Düsseldorf, and he offered for me to crash at his place as I would get settled in. We wanted to eat outside in the sun but the tables were all full, so instead we opted for waffles at the café. I had a chocolate banana waffle - yum.

Maria's shoulder was in paid again. She had just had the metal plate removed, but a couple days later, she felt it rip and since then it had been throbbing and inflammed. We walked around, searching for a pharmacy and another café to hang out at (and get more food). We found a pharmacy and ended up getting Thai food. We ate the food at Maria's, and then helped her rearrange some furniture.

Around 5pm, we walked outside, Maria getting a key copied at the Schlüsseldienst, and Martin needing to leave soon for his train. I said bye and took the tram to Alexanderplatz, where I took some pictures before heading for home.

Manuel was preparing dinner, and I got some things to contribute (cheese, rice) from the Edeka near Hermannplatz. He returned and we started cooking an assortment of vegetables in a frying pan. We seasoned it simply, topping it with feta cheese and servig it over rice. Eva (the flatmate) joined us along with her coworker/date Sariah (sp?). We had a good chat during/after dinner, about the world, linguistics, the global food supply, etc. We arranged to have a hot dog eating contest on Saturday!

Spent the morning/day at Nicole's, getting my things organized and eating. Nicki made schnitzel; yum!

My train from Hamburg to Berlin was in the afternoon at 16:20. I needed to be at HH Hbf at 16:00 - I said bye to Nicki and left a couple minutes too late: I forgot my British phone at the apartment. The bus was there, so I took it to Altona and caught the S-Bahn from there (due to construction, the S-Bahn between Sternschanze and Hauptbahnhof so I had to take the other S-Bahn line).

I got to the Hbf with a few minutes to spare, bought some croissants to snack on, and waited to meet Thomas, the rideshare coordinator. There were several other people also sharing the train ride; something like 10-15 in total. They had multiple tickets for all of us. It was very confusing and hectic as everyone piled into the train at once.

The journey was 4 hours in total, with a change in Schwerin.

I sat across from Marieke, a 21-year-old girl who was studying languages at a placement in Berlin. We chatted for the first part of the train ride. I then napped. I haven't had my headphones for a while, so I couldn't distract myself with music.

The train was delayed slightly as we arrived in Berlin. The journey officially ended at Berlin Hbf, but I took the train further directly to Alexanderplatz (technically schwarzfarhren but saving me some time). I got a week ticket but also didn't validate it (again, schwarzfahren). It wasn't long before I arrived at Manuel's; His place was just next to the U-Bahn station.

We met, and he introduced me to his flat. It's clean and spacious, like many places in Berlin. I had made plans to meet Martin that evening for dinner, so I walked over to his place (yes, he lives a 15-minute walk away!). His friend from Estonia was also there. We had spaghetti with simply raw garlic, oil, and lime juice (I know!), which was remarkably not bad.

I stayed for a little bit, chilling with Martin and talking a bit about business (he's building his startup to launch a version in Berlin).

Another lazy day. I wasn't hungover, though. I had some chili for lunch (cooked together with rice on the stovetop).

The plan for the day kept changing. Nicki had to sell her sofa, and to get some stuff from her old apartment. And we were supposed to meet Conny for lunch and to have a salad. But Conny wasn't feeling well, so that was canceled. Instead, Nicki went to her old apartment, while I went into the city and did some sightseeing around the Reeperbahn and the city center. I took the bus (#5, which is a 3-sectioned long bus) to Nicki's apartment. The weather was dry but breezy which made it feel colder.

I helped Nicki carry some hof her things back from the apartment, including a lamp pole. We walked to Emil's (?) Kebap, the "best döner in Hamburg," where I got a döner with garlic and spicy sauce. It was yummy, especially at the end, when all the sauces dripped down to the bottom.

Back at the flat, dropped off Nicki's stuff, threw some towels in the wash, and popped out to Ekeda for some supplies for drinks. We decided to make an assortment of amaretto drinks. Back at the flat, Nicki's friend (actually the friend of Nicki's boyfriend David) Franzi arrived. We made hot cocoa with amaretto - yum. Franzi couldn't stop talking about her boy problems (she was basically falling for a guy who had lots of other girls, blah blah blah) . We mixed Fanta, Coca Cola, and apple juice each with amaretto. Mattes arrived and then left to a birthday (even though he didn't really want to).

Nicki wasn't in a mood to go out. It was ok - I wanted to go out by myself anyway. But the girls pulled me in for one more drink. I took Nicki's keys with me.

I went out - to the other side of town, riding the U-Bahn around. Lots of drunk people around, it was cool. Sebastian Matysik. I returned to the Schanze. I was supposed to meet with Patricia, but it was too late and she had a morning meeting. We agreed to meet in the daytime tomorrow before my train leaves. I got a falafel wrap, which was amazing, and walked home in a cold drizzle.

It's the new month! And now I'm entering the second month of my exile.

Got up early, around 8:30. Spent some time online. Shared some happy new month greetings. Got a text from Mike - he had just had a successful networking breakfast meeting where everyone was interested in his services.

I arranged my ride to Berlin - I'll be sharing a train on Sunday afternoon/evening.

The pressure was on for my interview this afternoon (it wasn't until 17:00 so I had all day to prepare for/worry about it). I stayed in most of the day, reading up on the industry and learning some key facts and jargon.

Around 2pm I went out for a walk. I needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I walked to Altona, slightly toward Ottensen, and then back.

The interview went pretty well. I didn't make any mistakes, and I think I made a good impression (although neither of the interviewers seemed overtly impressed with me). Oh well. One of them (Jon) will be in Berlin this

In the evening, we weren't sure if Conny was free (she was in surgery all day) to join us for dinner/drinks, but in the end it looks like it was too late.

I left just before 7pm to go across town to Saskia's acoustic performance. It was at a small cafe called Klassenraum by S-Bahn Hasselbrook. The cafe had only like 5 tables and maybe 22 people inside, but it was packed. I arrived around 19:40 and caught only the last 3 songs from Saskia, including a nice cover of "Read All About It" by Emeli Sande.

Saskia's set finished, and we stayed and watched the other singer perform, which included some covers (mostly of soft rock/love songs) and four little girls singing "Price Tag" :) Two of Saskia's friends, Sebastian and Charlotte (the Frenchie), both of whom were around on Wednesday night, arrived. It took some time to leave, but at about 10:15 we did, after Saskia sold and signed some CDs. We took the S-Bahn and munched on some cakes that Saskia brought with her. Saskia also had her guitar with her.

It was too late to make the show at Molotow, where Nicki was. We got there, and just as the bouncer let us in, Nicki and Conny came outside. So, we walked all together down the Reeperbahn to Hamburger Berg, and to Kiek Ut, where we had two Mexikaner shots (vodka and hot sauce) - yum!

Saskia and her friends wanted to dance, asap because they had to leave early for work in the morning. So we went across the street to Rosi's Bar, which was playing 50s rock-and-roll music. We danced there for some time. There was a petite girl who danced with me; she found out that I was from California and suddenly started speaking to me only in Spanish. WTF.

Charlotte left, and soon Saskia left too. It was just me, Nicki, Conny, and Sebastian. We went to Roschinsky's, where we had another drink and munched on the free pretzel sticks. Shortly thereafter, we left, getting a döner before parting ways. We took the S-Bahn to Altona and changed to another train to get home easily.

Last day of February.

Got up moderately late (11am-ish) and had bread (good, Vollkornbrot) with cheese/meat/spread for breakfast.

Nicki and I made a big batch of chili in the afternoon, but we didn't eat it until the evening. Instead, we made smoothies (banana, apple sauce and blueberries), which were good but lacking in texture IMO.

We went to meet Conny and walk around the Stadtpark. We rented bikes from the city bike share program, which was cool. (I had to stop by home because I left the SD card for my camera plugged into my laptop.) But, when we went to swap the bikes, the system wouldn't let Nicki withdraw two bikes. So we just took a bus to Conny's, which is near the park and close to where Nicki used to live (in a great location with a not-so-great flatmate). We went up to Conny's (on the 4th floor, all stairs, of course - whew!) and then went out to the Stadtpark. It was getting dark, but the air was fresh anyway. It was good to see Conny again - she's now in a kind of unpaid residency stage of her studies to become a doctor. She's doing surgery now, which involves long hours and an unreasonably impolite boss.

We walked around the park and returned to Conny's for a cuppa. She has two (large) cats. We peaced out and then went back home via bus.

I got an email that I would have my follow-up interview tomorrow. Woot, here it goes!

At night, Nicki went to meet her bf David at the airport (he was returning from Lisbon). I fell asleep pretty early (around 11:30) and was out when Nicki returned.

Woke up around 11; got ready and prodded Nicki to also wake up. We weren't so late as yesterday.

We had some breakfast. Stayed in much of the day. I went out, walking to the Sternschanze and then going into the city, to Berliner Tor, where I had a döner. Then, through the city and I then took the U4 (the new subway line) toward HafenCity, a new waterside development. The train stopped at Überseequartier, the second-to-last stop, because the new one was not yet opened. The area was still mostly under construction, but there were already lots of new buildings erected. I walked around the waterfront, taking pictures and finding no wifi on my phone, and I made my way back home via U-Bahn Baumwall, which quickly took me to Sternschanze.

 Nicki had music lessons and band practice in the evening. But after her music lesson, she wasn't feeling too well and decided to skip band practice.

I finally received my German SIM card! Yay. I tried it out, and it works, but it looks like the data coverage is shit, just like my Belgian SIM. Wtf.

At 9pm, I met Manuel at Goldfischglas, a bar in the Sternschanze. It was good to see him again, and he seemed really enthusiastic to see me too! In fact, he offered me a recommendation to work at Apple retail in Berlin. Awesomeness all around. There was a random guy from Turkey who butted in to our conversation, but it was all good. Saskia soon joined, with several of her friends/flatmates. Manuel had work in the morning, so he didn't stay for long. I stayed for a little bit longer, but left just before midnight, so as not to keep Nicki up too late.

Woke up around 10:30. I spent some time online in the kitchen. Nicki was still asleep, so I let her sleep in. (She didn't want me to, though - d'oh!)

Since we had a late start to the day, we just walked around the area, finding the Aldi and buying some groceries. Along the way, Nicki spotted a second-hand shop (Kleidermarkt), so we definitely went in to check it out. It was huge (riesig) and had an amazing selection of good/cool clothes. I took a picture in a coat that I later posted to Instagram and got lots of likes :P

Back at the apartment, we hung out for a bit with Matthes and listened to "Thrift Shop." The plan was for Nicki to make pancakes tonight for a friend who was over. I also invited Saskia over, and she would join us at 20:00. In the meantime, I went out and explored the city in the evening. I took the S-Bahn into the city (Hauptbahnhof) and walked around the Innenstadt. I tried to get wifi (as usual) but to no avail. I took some cool pictures of das Rathaus (city hall) and walked back all the way to the station at Dammtor, which I took home.

I got home just at 20:00; Nicole's friend was already there and the pancakes were already cooking. Saskia arrived shortly thereafter. She brought some CDs of her music, which Nicki wanted to show to her boss. We all chatted together (nur auf Deutsch) and drank a couple bottles of wine. I skyped Mike, which probably was really hilarious for him. Saskia went home around 12 and we called it a night.