Last day of the year

2007 has been a weird year in some ways. Dear ones died, my mother-in-law in March, my sweet tomcat Gustav in October. We buried his ashes in our garden this afternoon. My health was getting from bad to better, back to worse. My shoulder, broken in November 2006, had been operated on in July and is healing, but will never be the same. Teeth, hearing and eyesight are those of an elderly woman. Sigh. What happened to the laughing, young girl I felt like 365 days ago? Last week I was called a grandma for the first time in my life. Yeah, well. You live and learn and grow.
Still: I'm back to work with a new job and nice collegues, my kids are the best you can ask for, making me proud of them every day, Emil is purring besides me whenever I'm with him, and family and friends are calling and writing, staying in touch even though I'm far away. That's not too bad, is it? Actually, it's great!
So, 2008: Here I come!

Cheer up in 2008!

Here's how:
1. Give yourself the permission to be human
2. Simplify your life
3. Exercise regularly
4. Focus on the positive
Happy new year to you all! :)

One week is not enough

It's been a week and a day now in Stuttgart for Emil and me. We enjoyed our time here that much, we decided to stay longer instead of leaving tomorrow, and I bought a ticket to ride back on January 1st. Kurt called this evening, and offered to meet us at Berlin station. So nice!
Now we'll spend more days (and nights) relaxing at home, cooking and eating and drinking, talking, walking doggies, reading books, and watching movies. Family life can be so great!
We had our traditional get together on Dec 25th and homemade cheese spätzle with my former husband (and the kids' father) Roland, his partner Sabine, and brother Uli who came from Lake Konstanz. Since everybody had a wonderful time, we invited them to brunch in our house on Dec 26th. Amazing to see what our fridge holds to make a delicious on the spot brunch for seven from scratch! Caviar, salmon and champagne included!
What a lovely Xmas! We even had some snow!
Today I met my friend Tina in Kunstmuseum downtown Stuttgart to catch up on our lifes lately, whilst Volker and Anna were cleaning his flat and getting everything sorted for his flight to the States. He'll be staying and working in Texas and New York until spring. Lucky guy!
And now on to another winter weekend, getting ready for New Year's Eve. Last year I was partying and celebrating in Helsinki. This year is a lot quieter somehow. But still - I like it, for a change. :)

Xmas cards

This year I decided to send Xmas cards to all my friends (ok, not ALL, but a lot), either by mail or by e-mail. I managed more than 50! Well, piece of cake: I sent this sweet Hoops and Yoyo card to most of them. And I got lovely wishes and greetings back! Thank you all, especially Meenzer!

Merry Xmas!

Fröhliche Weihnachten - God Jul - Glaedelig Jul - Häid jõule - С Рождеством Христовым - Feliz Navidad - Vrolijk Kerstfeest - Buon Natale - Wesolych Swiat - Bom Natal - Joyeux Nöel - Veselé vánoce - Boldog karácsonyt - Καλά Χριστούγεννα - Весела Коледа - Noeliniz kutlu olsun - Hyvää joulua!

When I was a little boy

Erich Kästner wrote a book about his early years, comedian Walter Sittler made a theatre show out of it, and Anna invited us to go to "Theaterhaus",and see it with her. Our first Xmas present this year!
Alex, Volker, Anna, and I enjoyed the evening, the show was done wonderfully, Anna bought the cd, and the actor signed it for her. What a nice start into celebrating Xmas!

Holidays with cats

We made it safe back home just before midnight, and fell asleep soon. Alex had offered his room and moved into mine for these days, which is a lot easier with Emil. My dear tomcat seems to like his new home, and is curious to get to know all the house and its cat owners Felix, Emily, and Justus. But we're afraid we'll have trouble with them fighting to decide who's the boss. So he'll stay inside, and we're visiting him ever so often.
All day today we were shopping for Xmas, wrapping up gifts (Emil helping a lot with paper and string) and made it just in time to post the parcels to Düsseldorf. My sister's family's presents arrived today, too, we put them underneath the beautifully decorated Xmas tree.
More letters and cards came from my friends Tina from Stuttgart and Susanne from Kaarst, and mails from Audrone from Lithuania and Christine from Switzerland. So nice to have friends remembering me every year for the holidays! :)

Driving home for Xmas

Bag is packed, Xmas gifts included, a small backpack holds Emil's food, medicine and water, and Emil's huge cage is set up to host him for the trip to Stuttgart. So we're ready to leave. Anna and Volker will meet us at the station at 11 pm. Home for Xmas! :)

Ready for the holidays!

Monday was my last day in the office, shared with Kurt whom I gave a book for Xmas, a funny story in the frankfurt dialect, and a few others, too("Erna, der Baum nadelt!"). Tuesday I worked some more on our website, but at home, and then was ready to forget about my job, and turn all my thoughts and deeds to the holidays.
Well, my tooth wasn't, nor my stomach. So off to the doctors, again. Sigh.
But all's well that ends well, and here I am back in my flat with my cat, packing my suitcase for Stuttgart. :)
Oh, Frosty! I met him in a shop. Cute guy. And smart, as well. Just the right outfit with the cold outside now!

Cosy corners in posh Mitte

Sunday was even colder than the days before. But the sun was shining brightly, so after a few lazy hours in the morning I left flat and cat and went downtown. The new bus M85 took me right to the main station, where I checked where Emil and I would have to get into the train to Stuttgart, and where we could spend the time between arrival by taxi and departure by DB. Since it's gonna be even more freezing then, a restaurant seems the appropriate place to go and warm up a bit.
Everything arranged nicely, the next s-train took me to Hackesche Höfe, and - another Xmas market. Sophienstraße market is well known for it's handicraft and ecological stalls, I had been there years ago and loved it.
To warm up, I felt like having a bite to eat, and fried sausages or african spicy food (wonderfully delicious normally) did not attract me, or rather my stomach. I wondered where to go in posh Mitte, and discovered a small cosy cafe just to the right of Starbuck's. A friend of mine had taken me there for breakfast when I came to Berlin in summer 2001 to check whether I should move there, but since it had been a lot warmer then we had stayed outside in the small yard.
"Cafe Cinema" in Haus Schwarzenberg is a place I loved from the first second, dark, with candles on wooden tables, a piano, a couch that looks like it's seen 100 years, and still feels comfy to sit upon. It reminds me a lot of the cafes I used to go to in the 70s. The customer's age was the same as mine then, too.
A big bowl of hot soup and a slightly smaller bowl of camomile tea later, I left and walked slowly back to Alexanderplatz and my bus. On the way I discovered a spanish tapas bar, "Yosoy". It looked just like a tapas bar in Spain, even the guests, and they all spoke spanish. So I have to get back one day and check it out. Hmmmm, tapas! It's a pity there's only one spanish restaurant at Crellestraße, and "Pasodoble" doesn't do tapas the way I like them.
Talking of my street: A new pizzeria opened up this weekend, "Mauro", just across the road. The owner has won prizes at the annual world wide pizza competition in Italy, he's the best pizzaioli from Germany. Wow! The pizza is tasty, and for 1,50 € for adults really cheap, kids only pay 1 €. They sell great italian espresso and cappuccino as well. Sigh. I wished my diet was over and done with...

A lovely winterday

It's cold outside. Around freezing point during the sunny hours of the day, and a lot less at night times. So just right to stroll around the streets wrapped up in woollen sweaters and trousers, hat, gloves, a down jacket, thick socks and warm boots, avoiding the hustle and bustle of families rushing past with bags and parcels. I almost managed.
Another castle, this time in the west of Berlin: Schloss Charlottenburg, world heritage. It's the first time they have a Xmas market there, and a beautiful old fashioned one, as well. Quite lovely, with old fashioned shops selling old fashioned Xmas decorations, cookies and presents, and carefully chosen food stalls.
No tasty chocolate salt sticks nor mulled wine for me, instead I bought some tea leaves: camomile, greek mountain tea, and sage. But I had to try the ukrainian borschtsch at the russian house with wooden handcrafted decorations and the waiters done up like russian soldiers - hmmmmm! lecker! I wished I knew where they found the brown bread in Berlin, it was mouthwatering!
After a trip back downtown on one of the many crowded busses, I enjoyed crisscrossing Berlin center, which seems to have transformed into one huge Xmas market. All afternoon I surfed the shops for Xmas presents and cards, it was fun, but exhausting. Late I went back home for a quiet evening on the couch with a cup of my new tea, and fell asleep soon, Emil snoring by my side.

Xmas with the collegues

Friday was a day of Xmas meetings at ver.di. In the afternoon, Kurt and I were surprised by our "boss" Hartmut with a short speech thanking us for all the work we had done this last year and being the nice collegues we sure are. We both got a lovely book, and Hanne was given a klezmer cd. What a sweet surprise!
We felt a bit sad though, since we had not known before, and had no chance to give each other presents as well. And it was the last day of all of us working together this year! Let's see how I can make up for it...
In the evening, all of us working at ver.di with Frank Bsirske, our general secretary, had been invited to a wonderful concert in the Köpenick castle church, and a delicious dinner in the cosy castle cafe, with beautiful cuisine. Just to thank us for last year's efforts, and to wish us happy holidays with family and friends, away from ver.di.
I sat at his table, and told him about my travel adventures last year, and how I miss it and making friends all over the world. Even though I really love my new job. But with a sick cat travelling can't be done easily. Thursday we'll give it a try and go back home to Stutgart. Looking forward to Xmas with the family! :)

Have a laugh, have a neologism!

Ever tried to find new meanings for well known words? Well, the Washington Post does, and readers compete to find the best and funniest. Here's a few winners!
Coffee was No 1, by the way: the person upon whom one coughs. :)
(The photo has got nothing at all to do with today's topic. It's a wooden handcrafted huge nutcracker at one of Berlin's 60 xmas markets. Why people call it "more than lifesize" I have no idea. Never have I seen a living nutcracker, leave alone had a chance to check how big it is. Or small. So far.)

The best xmas market in Berlin

So far it's the Neukölln one, for sure. Spandau, one of the biggest xmas markets in Europe, tonight wasn't bad at all, but Rixdorf market at Richardplatz yesterday evening was lovely and romantic and topped it all, with hundreds of market stalls underneath oldfashioned street lamps and windows and balconies decorated with thousands of lamps, mistletoes, xmas trees and branches, red ribbons, the lot. All of the stalls were done by charity organisations, schools, churches, and congregations. The decorations and goodies they sold were handmade, cheap, and the money went to people in need. I left with ten books for 2 Euro, one of which was a mistery and crime story about my neighbourhood (!). So it was a nice long evening on the couch with a book and Emil, after all.
No mulled wine, though, the doctors had told me I had to cure my heartburn. I wonder what I'm gonna have for xmas dinner, without coffee, wine, cookies, chocolates, oranges, roast meat, well, anything roasted or grilled.
It was a bit hard to find something delicious on the xmas markets that followed the diet, but I managed, and had a wonderful pumpkin soup. Soup and oats is what I'm gonna live on these days, until the heartburn stops. Hopefully before New Years Eve. No champagne then? What a boring way of starting 2008!

Too busy/lazy to write

Quite a few days passed since my last note. Work as usual, in the evenings a goodbye party to a collegue, sleeping a lot, and phone calls with Anna. She got her exam certificate on Wednesday in Stuttgart castle. I'm very proud to announce she's 38th out of 518 in Baden-Württemberg. :)
Weekend started with Hanne coming to my place to check my wardrobe, and leaving two hours later with three bags full of lovely sweaters that look great on her and didn't on me lately. Another bag went to Humana, the second hand shop round the corner. A few more hours of having a good look on my trousers and t-shirts, and I'll be rid of stuff I don't acutally need any more. They looked nice on me 15 years ago, though.
Christel came yesterday early afternoon for a walk around Berlin xmas markets I had promised her weeks ago, since she's so sweet to look after my flat and my plants when I'm off for a week. She had been especially caring for Gustav in October. Without her I wouldn't have been able to leave.
So off we went to the jewish museum first, just in time to the lightening of the candles at chanukka market. Then on through the dark night (at 5 pm!) past Unter den Linden and the big fair to Gendarmenmarkt and its posh and expensive xmas market. Strolling around and enjoying the special program was fun, but we wouldn't think about buying anything there. When we left, hundreds of people were queuing up to get in. We would have hated to be stuck in the crowd!
Instead we thought about going on by bus to Potsdamer Platz, but so did lots of others as well. In the end we preferred to walk it, crossed Brandenburg gate where the demonstration to save the climate had finished a few minutes ago, families and people of all ages carrying lanterns they had been given on the demonstration passing us, skipped the xmas market, and decided to have a hot drink and a hot meal inside instead. "Maultaschen Manufaktur" was just the place to go, with special suebian food and lovely hot tea. Perfect when it's cold outside!
I was back home to my purring cat around 7 pm - and it felt like 10! Winter is here for sure. And today? Another xmas market maybe? Or a day on the couch with Emil?

Happy birthday, Knut!

The cute little polarbear grew a lot these 12 months, and now he's a biiiiiig youngster and will celebrate his birthday tomorrow. Here's more news on him, plus a Knut advent calendar. Enjoy!

Bright days, dull days

Sunday was a verrry bright day, for sure. First to the swedish bazar, where I won a huge xmas teddy first thing, before even having the chance to drink some glög and/or eat the famous home made peasoup (with mustard, of course). Midsummer had been great at the swedish congregation, and xmas was even better. The courtyard and the many rooms buzzed with merry people selling and buying traditonal decorations, art pieces and more. It felt like surfing a market in Sweden, with all the specialties and women dressed up in country clothes. I couldn't resist a few postcards (featuring cats), and almost bought a lovely warm blanket with elks from the norwegian stands which had found their home at the swedish neighbours (would have been my umptiest).
I skipped the wizo bazar this year, but went for the big xmas markets around opera house and along Unter den Linden. They have a fun fair and bands playing as well. The picture was taken at corner Friedrichstraße, looking towards the huge wheel. The townhall tower and the Berlin flag are peeping thru the blinking trees.
I didn't even mind the heavy rain - there's no bad weather, only bad clothes. Mine were definitely up to german so-called winter.
Monday on the other hand was totally different. Emil refused to eat his medicine, and neither minced meat nor his favourite titbits could make him change his mind. He hid underneath the bed, and even growled at me. I managed somehow to grab him, and force the tiny pills into his mouth. Luckily, tonight he felt better and loved his turkey, with or without medicine.
Me, on the other hand, felt lousy, and I still do. Since a few days, tooth aches were coming and going, and I had to see the dentist to have it cured. Now it's worse than ever. But she promised my tooth will see 2008.
Even at work, nothing went the way I wanted it to. Except for lunch break, when Hartmut got us some nice desserts for a treat, and Heinrich, my boss from IG Media starting times about 20 years ago, told us about his speeches on tv and the "International Day of Solidarity" to support US-american authors on strike. That cheered me up no end!

Meeting Julenisse

Another lovely day of decorating the flat with branches, candles, xmas ornaments, and browsing the xmas markets to soak in the mix of happy people, candies, mulled wine, carols, and presents-to-be. At Brandenburg gate I met Hartmut, my boss from ver.di, and his wife/friend Heike. They treated me to hot spicy drinks, whilst we admired the norwegian tree being illuminated (it's an 18 year old tradition, the tree is a gift by the people of Frogn close to Oslo), and listened to famous scandinavian singers Siw Malmquist, Gitte Haenning and Wencke Myhre making the crowd join into the scandinavian xmas songs. It was fun indeed! We even met Julenisse, the norwegian Santa Claus, who gave us some delicious norwegian xmas cookies.
Then my friends went on to dinner before an evening at the opera, and I went on to some more xmas shopping. We might meet again today, either at Winterfeldt market, swedish bazar, or the WiZo bazar done by the jewish community.
It's a pity though the temperature rose, so there's no snow, but rain. That would have made it just perfect!

Advent calendars

Today is a very special day. Dec 1st is every year: the first day of Advent, when you start opening little parcels or calendar windows numbered 1 to 24, to help waiting for Xmas. Anna and Alex (plus Volker and all the cats) had sent me a parcel with a lovely calendar and lots of delicious home made Xmas cookies which I'm supposed to enjoy one each day. There's more that might be sent on demand, they wrote. Dear kids!
Doesn't it look lovely? To make these days before Xmas even better, I bought some xmassy books yesterday evening, and will have some hot winter tea or even mulled wine when reading them, Emil purring on my lap, and a fire crackling in my chimney close by (on dvd). December is so much better than rainy and grey November!
More advent calendars online I found on the web. I'll even try the rather challenging one on mathematics. And now off to a weekend of more Xmas markets... ;)

Days of work and Xmas markets

This is how I spend these days: First working at ver.di, trying to improve the history website ;) Then back home to Emil the cat to feed him (took me ages to discover he likes minced meat best to hide his medicine in - and turkey), and then back to Berlin center and one of the more than sixty (60!) Xmas markets.
Yesterday it was the one around Gedächtniskirche, where I saw the tree being decorated a few days ago. It's lovely, with people strolling around the cabins, drinking mulled wine, buying presents for their friends. They have all kind of handicraft, and traditional Xmas cakes and cookies from all over Germany.
Today I'll try Potsdamer Platz, and tomorrow most probably the very best, well, at least the poshest: Gendarmenmarkt.
To have a glimpse into all the Xmas markets (not only Berlin, but all over Germany), click here!

Xmas in Finland

Sunday it took me only 45 minutes to get to a finnish Xmas market. No flights needed; I walked it. The finnish congregation had organized a lovely bazar in the Finland center in Kreuzberg, with delicacies I had missed so much lately, and even traditional finnish Xmas dishes. I had to have it, all of it, the ham and the liver pie and the carot pie, and the herring salad. And to top it all, the joulutortut with freshly made glögi - mulled wine. :)
I was pondering whether I should buy a handwoven carpet, or some decorations, or a mumin calendar, but only took some Paulig Juhla mokka, Fazer rye bread, and Auran sinappi (mustard). And some homemade pulla. I enjoyed talking with nice people, all in a xmassy mood, had a great time, and should go there more often. Definitely. Maybe even learn the language there?
Afterwards I went to the Baden-Württemberg wine tasting at Tempelhof airport. It was for free, and it was a lot. I chose a few wines I had never drunk before, like pinot blanc de noir, and lemberger weißherbst. Not too much, though, the glögi had been quite enough already. ;)

We are soooooo funny!

Worldwide studies about laughter and jokes show that Germans laugh most. Incredible! But have a look and a laugh for yourself (especially when from Germany) here.
And check the Quirkology site by the same scientist as well! Pretty surprising experiments showing a lot about your personality. I did a few tests myself. There's a test running right now on people and pets. Join in!

Eat more chocolate and save the planet!

Chocolate is a wonderful thing, but how can it help combat global climate change? Cocoa trees — the source of chocolate — grow well in rainforests, and rainforests store carbon. So researchers are working to help preserve the forest and to grow more chocolate. Check here.
And I'm helping by eating lots of chocolate, so they need more cocoa, and grow more cocoa trees. ;)

Once upon a time

Not long ago, less than 200 years, when there was no photography yet, it was hard to imagine what had happened around the world. There were of course newspapers writing about it. But without pictures or paintings!
So early in 19th century, when lithography had been invented, smart printers in Neuruppin decided to use this new method which allowed easy and cheap printing, to have drawings of historical events and interesting topics printed, coloured by women and children working at home (for very low salaries), and sent to shops all over Europe where they were sold for 3 Pfennig the piece. Not much, but a servant or a farmer's maid had to work a day or more to buy one.
So they were very proud to have one or two of these prints in the family, and were envied by the neighbours.
The publishers made a fortune, and Neuruppin became famous throughout Europe. Unfortunately they were well known also for their poor knowledge of foreign languages. Even today in Denmark very poor danish is called "ruppinsk". ;)
But have a look for yourself and admire the often marvellously drawn, printed, and coloured pieces here!
How comes I know about all this? I went to an exhibition at Mediengalerie in the printers' house at Dudenstraße last night. And they told me!

Santa Claus at work

Lunchtime at ver.di means everybody is going down to the cafe to enjoy a good meal, either traditional, vegetarian or healthy.
Now this week we had special treats like goose, potato dumblings, and cabbage, and a very special person to give them to us: Santa Claus came to work here, and the lucky ones even got some sweets since we had been working so hard. ;)

Xmas market at ver.di!

Monday and Tuesday I was not in my office, but learning how to use the new windows programs they gave us in a school close to former Checkpoint Charly.
So it was quite a surprise to me to find there was a xmas market in our entrance hall at ver.di. They sell lovely decorations made by disabled people at "Mosaik".
I had to buy a wreath decorated with red ribbons which looks great on my office wall. Maybe I should bring some candles from home and make working in dark November and December evenings cosier. Maybe a few cookies as well?

Turkey in Schöneberg

Lots of my neighbours are from Turkey, in my street more than half of them. Almost all the bakeries and fruit shops are owned by turkish people, and quite a few stores selling wedding dresses, lamps, you name it, they got it. Not to forget the restaurants and döner places selling delicious dishes to reasonable prices.
Kreuzberg and Neukölln are known around the world as famous places for turkish people to live in Berlin, you almost feel like being in Istanbul when you walk around there, with all the signs in turkish, not in german. But Schöneberg is catching up fast. Have a look at the sign I saw in front of a new restaurant at Akazienstraße!
I didn't know before the turkish word for potato was almost the same as in suebian: "krombirre", "grundbirne" = earth pear! In northern Germany we call it Erdapfel = earth apple. And it seems to be a favourite dish in Turkey sold at special shops, like Otantik Kumpir. You live and learn...
What I did on sunday? Meet Heike and Andreas from Stuttgart at the main station, sitting in the bavarian restaurant, chatting the hours away. And I met Fernande from Finland (Hämeenlinna - I was there in July 2006) in Spandau. We surfed Berlin a bit later, had great food in my favourite indian restaurant "Rani", and some mulled wine at "Leuchtturm". She's from Düsseldorf, like me. It's a small world!

Berlin is getting ready for Xmas

A short trip downtown to Berlin west city center to do some weekendshopping - and I was surprised to see the Xmas tree is already up at Gedächtniskirche. It was decorated when I passed by.
Everybody is used to Xmas cookies sold as soon as we're back from summer holidays. But Xmas markets used to open around four weeks before Xmas. In Berlin, they are built up already. Well, I wouldnt be astonished to find Easter eggs as soon as the Berlin Xmas market at Gedächtniskirche closes down - in January 2008.

After a week of work

It's nice to start the weekend with a candle light dinner. I had it in the pub "Leuchtturm" across the street, and decided for soul food - maultaschen soup, a suebian dish - to remind me of Stuttgart, my first home. It was lovely, indeed, and made me forget about the problems I had this week.
I had caught a virus and felt really bad for a day or so, like almost everybody around. Emil, my huge, but sweet and shy tomcat, had had a heart attack, and has to take his medicine regularly now. After a few tries how to feed it best, I found his favourite food is ham, and hide the globuli in a few bites which he gulps down with pleasure.
He should live on with this treatment for quite some years, the vet told me. Cross your fingers he will. He's less shy now than he used to be, and even starts to be curious and play. :)
And now: Off to some work in the house, and then on to Berlin shopping life. I'll try to meet a few friends as well. Heike and Andreas are coming from Stuttgart! Great!!

Make it cheap, cheap, cheap!

Dä Hoppeditz is wedder da! Helau!

We made it! We woke him up! At 11:11 h am. Well, the carneval fans in Düsseldorf did. In Berlin, the day was slightly different. I tried to have as much tradition from my hometown as I could get in Prussia. Which meant: Cologne style, not Düsseldorf. Well. Ok. We can manage.
On my way to carneval at Gaffel-Haus, where they would show the carneval party at Heumarkt in Cologne, snowflakes covered me from head to toe. I might have done a snowman as disguise. ;)
Instead, I had put on my Düsseldorf-t-shirt and decorated my curly hair with an easter wreath. Nothing much, but daring in a pub where almost everybody was from Cologne. When they saw me, the DJs changed the music from Cologne carneval songs (which everybody knows by heart and sings with all the feeling he can put into them) to "Altbier macht blöd" (you'll become stupid by drinking Düsseldorf beer). Sigh.
Anyway, my collegue Doris and I had lots of fun, and if you happened to watch tv last night, Pro 7, you might have seen us. Singing and dancing and laughing.
More news on carneval this year? Have a look here. Listen to the music and sing along! Alaaf!

All of a sudden it was winter!

November 11th is supposed to be the time to wake up winter. At 11:11 h precise. He seems to have been a bit early this year.
Saturday afternoon, at 14:45 h, I saw the first snowflakes in Kreuzberg. Half an hour later, when I stepped out of the bus at home, the snow was falling fast, the world had turned white. Later I read Germany hadn't had such an early and heavy snowfall since fifty years.

Old traditions

Today it's the day of St. Martin. A very special day in Germany once, when contracts ended and new started, and taxes had to be paid.
It was a day to have a special meal, as well, if you could afford it: goose, potatoe dumblings, and cabbage or brussel sprouts. They still serve this dinner in restaurants all over Germany today. And it still is very expensive.
But mostly, it was a day for the children to celebrate. When I was about six, I joined the fun for the first time. All the kids of the school and congregation met early in the evening as soon as the sun had set, and had a parade through the town center with self made paper lanterns (only poor families had pumpkins), singing traditional songs. Sometimes a man would ride a horse in front of the parade, he represented St. Martin, giving away half his coat to the poor freezing beggar.
Later we went home in small groups, stopping at all the houses, ringing the bells, singing songs that were only sung with this asking for gifts (called "Grippschen"), and were offered apples and nuts by the neighbours. At home, a plate filled with more sweets and fruit was set up for each child, and we all got a special cake that was only made and given on this day, similiar to a gingerbreadman: weckmann.
More on these traditions, still alive in Rhenania, f. e. Düsseldorf and Cologne, you' ll find here.
And the very next day, November 11th, it's time to wake up Hoppeditz, the fool and winter man, and start the carneval season.
Prussia is not the place for this tradition, originally, it started in Düsseldorf, and is celebrated all over Rhenania now. With all the people from Rhenania moving to Berlin when it became the new german capital and the government went there from Bonn, the traditions were taken over as well. I'm from Düsseldorf, but since I'm living in Berlin now, I'll help doing it here.
So tomorrow, at 11:11 am we'll start singing, dancing, drinking, having fun in the middle of Berlin. I love carneval!

Here comes the sun

A weak winter sun, but all the same!
This is Berlin, seen from my office at ver.di. Quite a view! I always enjoy it when looking up from my desk filled with work.
After a weekend of grey skies, falling temperatures, and Berlin people taking over to iceskating and sledgeriding at Potsdamer Platz winter wonder land, it is all I can wish for.
No arts and events for me then: I fell asleep Saturday late afternoon and woke up again Sunday morning, still rather tired. But it looks like now my cold is almost gone. Nice!

Evenings of songs and arts

Yesterday evening at ver.di, we celebrated 25 years of trade union choir "IG Peng". Their songs on historic fights during those years reminded me of the work I had done in the 80s, supporting fighting for a better life with singing and cultural programs in Stuttgart, in my trade unions IG Druck und Papier and IG Medien as well as with the friends of the nature, "Naturfreunde". I should do it again...
Tonight I'm invited to enjoy arts in the "Nacht und Nebel" exhibitions and performances in Neukölln. I'll be there for sure, and I'm looking forward to meeting artists again whose paintings I had bought a few years ago.
I will not be able to stay until the very late end though, because tomorrow morning there's a ceremony at the memorial center of concentration camp Sachsenhausen to which I'm invited because of my work in the ver.di archive.
Looks like a busy weekend. :)

Days of the dead

The last day in October and the first days in November are the days of the dead in Europe, since more than two thousand years. The traditions have changed over the centuries, and even during the last years. What used to be silent days, families visiting the graves of their ancestors, bringing flowers and candles that burn for days and nights, and praying for their loved ones, changed into party time at Halloween.
Even in Berlin children were given sweets in the shops yesterday ("trick or treat?"), a custom that used to be done in Germany around November 10th when I was a kid, on "Martinstag". Those were the days, and the old customs vanish.
Today, I thought of my dear tomcat Gustav, who died on October 18th, and was cremated last Monday. His ashes were brought in the evening. In a plastic box! Times have changed for sure.

Mail from Stuttgart

Bettina sent me a book she had told me about in one of her last e-mails. "Emerichs Nachlass" by Axel Kuhn, my teacher at unversity more than 25 years ago. He signed the book for me and wrote down a few words from "Hyperion" by Hölderlin, one of my favourite books ever.
Kuhn wrote a fascinating story about Stuttgart and Tübingen, 18th century poet Hölderlin (whom I love and adore) and crime and murder in the 80s, with a few lyrics of Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd in between.
I'm eager to read it right now, so I'll make myself some fresh hot tea with lemon and snuggle up in bed. Early evenings in autumn and winter are a wonderful excuse to do just that! :)

Autumn weekend at home

Instead of going to the late night of shopping, celebrations at German History Museum, or the first readings of Berlin Literature Days on crime and mistery, I stayed at home, trying to get rid of the cold I caught the other week. Even the excellent tapas and spanish wine offered for free at Logenhaus couldn't keep me for long. Home was the place to be, and to sleep a lot - it was the longest day of the year, as well: 25 hrs! So even more time to sleep and get well.
Apples, oranges and lemon juice helped, together with lots of tea, going for a walk every afternoon when the grey sky took a break for an hour or so, and reading Rutherfurd's saga on Ireland.
Emil joined me on the couch, and stayed really close to me all the time. He misses his brother Gustav, and needs special comfort. He doesn't eat much, either. Hope he's not sick.

Pilvet karkaa niin minäkin

Clouds are passing by, and so am I....
A beautiful finnish tango from the compilation "Tule tansiimaan" I bought today. You might know it from Aki Kaurismäki's movie.
Even if not, listen to the wonderful, sad songs here! And here! And discover the finnish soul.
I'm a finn inside, definitely!
Besides this, it was a nice week, indeed. Work at ver.di with my dear collegues went on well, some new projects coming up, one about May 1st.
Anna came to spend two days and nights with me and Emil (she would have loved so much to see Gustav as well...), and left today. Some problems on the airport with cancelled flights and busses having accidents instead of taking the passengers to Schönefeld. Anna decided to leave the bus, and take the very next flight from Tegel home to Stuttgart. Good choice!
We had a lovely time together, as always, but way too short. The dinner at "La Cocotte" was delicious! And we loved shopping around Berlin center looking for posh trousers (found them!) and a leather bag (no chance...). She will start working at Bosch next month, in Schwieberdingen, where they invent and develop all the new technologies, so needs some quality stuff to wear. Imagine, she'll get more money to start off with then I get after a lifetime of working! I'm so proud of her!
Now off to an evening of finnish tango and french red wine. And cuddling up on the couch with shy Emil who never got used to Anna even though she's so sweet with cats. Well, we tried.

It's cold outside

Autumn is here for sure. Winter coats and scarfs have replaced t-shirts and summer dresses. Still, the sun is shining, and it's lovely to take a walk.
I would have preferred to visit Kliment in Cologne, with his mother flying in from Helsinki and his grandmother from Sofia.
It would have been great to take the Kliment family to my sister's big party in Düsseldorf. Anna is there as well. But, alas, I can't do it.
I'm still sad, and caught a cold. The vet told me to take good care of Emil the cat who is suffering after Gustav died, missing his brother and friend. Sorrow tends to make you sick with a cold or a flu, she told me. It sure affected me.
So I stay in Berlin, try to cheer up with "Ratatouille", the wonderfully made movie, and a few books like "Wintersmith" by Terry Pratchett, and get ready for work tomorrow.
The first day at ver.di after almost four months of sickleave. I'll take it easy, only three hours per day to start with. They're helping me a lot, changing my work to my health needs, and arranging my working place accordingly. Work might help getting over the sorrow as well. I hope.

He is gone

After a day of enjoying the sun, watching the autumn trees in the garden and the birds flying in the sky, of licking a few drops of water and chewing on the cat grass, Gustav came to sleep close to me on the bed, like every night. He purred and licked my hands, and I spoke softly to him and stroke his fur.
This morning, he was gone, like he used to do lately, sitting on his own on a blanket in the wardrobe. Around 11 am, I called him to handfeed him, and couldn't find him. He had hidden in the darkest corner of the flat, and came on weak shaky legs when he heard my calls. We sat on the soft pillows of the couch, he could hardly hold up his head, so I made it rest on my hands.
All of a sudden his breath became heavier, his body was shaking, he could hardly breathe, and started to scream out loud with every gasping breath. He suffered!
So I called a taxi, rushed to the vets, poor Gustav clinging to the bars of his box like if clinging to life, then again he was just crouching in the back of the box, curled up in agony.
We hurried up the steps to the vet, who tried to help him, but in vain. The cancer had taken over, and the kidneys broken down. There was no chance to help him get better in any way. So the vet told me softly, death from an injection would be the best.
I saw for myself I couldn't let poor Gustav suffer longer through this.
In a small room we were left alone, my dear old Gustav on my lap. I stroke him softly and talked to him when he got the narcotics, and when he finally was unconscious, they took him out to give him the lethal injection. They gave him back to me, his heart had alread stopped beating, but his brain was still working. So I cuddled him up in my arms and hold him tight and hugged him to make him feel my love and help him leave the life he had enjoyed so much.
He's in an animal funeral parlour now, we will get his ashes back soon, and bury them underneath his favourite cat nip in Stuttgart.
I am crying a lot. I miss him. Dear Gustav...

Last beautiful days

Autumn has been wonderful lately, sun shining through coloured leaves. Today will be the last day with temperatures near 20, tomorrow it will be cold and rainy, grey november days approaching fast.
These are the last days of Gustav, my dear old tomcat, as well. All my cherishing love and treatments can't make him eat at all. He still loves life in between long hours of sleep, he's almost his old self then, curious, purring, sweet, but he seems to fade away. All I can do now is try to make his last days as easy and beautiful for him as possible.
I am so sad.

Sicko

Poor Gustav! He's suffering from CRF (chronic renal failure), which might kill him if we don't treat him right. We went to the vets every afternoon by taxi last week, they gave him infusion and other treatment. Now it's weekend, I do it myself. The pic is not him, but that's what it looks like. Read more about it here.
Christel came this morning to help me with the first infusion, and since then I'm managing on my own. Hopefully it will help his kidneys to recover a bit. Life won't be easy for him from now on, but hopefully he will still be able to survive and purr a few more months or even years.
I'm afraid he's not eating enough, even though I handfeed him every hour when he's not sleeping. Cross your fingers he'll get better!

It's been a while

since my last post. A week of happy family life in Stuttgart (Anna passed her exam with terrific success - celebrating from left to right: Helen, Anna, Volker, Alex, and I) and a few days of health problems and sorrows in Berlin (Gustav is seriously ill now) kept me from writing. Even now only this short note, and then I'm off to another day of doctors and medicine. Sigh.

Keep on running

No cars on the streets of Berlin center yesterday: Marathon time again! Since the runners passed Kleistpark just around the corner from my place I had to go and have a look, listen to the bands and clap and cheer a bit. People were having fun, both runners and supporters. Way too good to get back home. Instead of just standing around, I moved from Kleistpark to Ku'damm, Potsdamer Platz and finally Brandenburg Gate. It took me longer by public transport than it took the marathon people running there...
Back home I listened to Elsis on air, doing a radio program on latvian music with Radio Helsinki. So nice to hear her voice again, and the songs were fantastic!

Wedding

We had a wedding day in Berlin last month, and now busses found a new destination: Royal Wedding! :)

More news on the protest in Second Life

Yesterday on one of the IBM islands in SL, a woman told me about her blog. I checked it, and here it is. It's about her life and adventures in SL. Quite interesting. She posted a picture of me as well. :)
In real life, it's pouring down with rain 24/7. I got soaking wet twice today, luckily it took me only a few minutes to get back home and change into warm clothes. Summer seems to be gone for sure now. Sigh.

"Real" success for "virtual" protest!

We made it! 2000 joined the actions in Second Life, from more than 30 countries all over the world! A historical moment which we celebrated with champagne in UNI house (see pic, I'm the one in the back with curly red hair).
Read all the infos here, there are links to news from all over the world (we even were on tv), and enjoy the on-the-spot news, pics and videos on our blog.
I'm so proud I was one of them, even though I could never make it for long. I still was one of the first to be denied entry on IBM island, and I was there just in time to the second Mario happening. :)
Please sign our petition, and watch out for more to come!

IBM Union Protest in Second Life

I got mail this morning: The protest of the the italian IBM workers will take place 27th September 2007, all day tomorrow from 10 am to 10 pm, Berlin time. IBM employees from 18 countries will cover activities over the 12-hour protest period, and people from all over the world will support them. I will be online in the evening, to help a bit. More my shoulder won't allow me to do.
Have a look here and then come and join us!

Sunday of the Museums

It's Berlin art autumn these days, and even though it was one of the last sunny days for quite a while, I went to see a few exhibitons and museums. The "New Museum" - destroyed during WW II and under reconstruction now - opened for the public for only three days before the official opening in 2009, it's done beautifully! They had an exhibition of photos of the workers - what a wonderful idea!
The Nolde Museum close to Gendarmenmarkt opened up with an exhibition of pictures on Berlin night life in 1911. And finally I went to the Brice Marden restrospective in Hamburger Bahnhof, the Berlin musueum of modern art in a former railway station. I liked his last paintings best.
In this museum, I found Sarah Wiener's highly acclaimed restaurant, and decided I'll have to go there to try the delicious food. One of these days.
Yesterday it was autumn already, but still bright and warm, so everybody just went outside to soak up the last sunrays. Today it's grey and cold and rainy, perfect to stay at home, do some cleaning and sorting and in the evening cuddle up on the coach to read.
It's Alex's birthday today, I sent him greetings, and promised we'll celebrate next week when I'm back in Stuttgart. And now - off to some exercises at home to help my shoulder healing.

Travelling again

I wished I was! Only in my dreams, because I still have to see the doctors in Berlin regularly. Well, ok, in October I'll go to Stuttgart for a few days. But that doesn't count, it's my first home.
Friends have invited me to come and visit them in October: Quique from the middle of nowhere in Spain (Escalera) to watch deer and look for mushrooms in the mountain woods of the Alto Tajo, not far from Molina de Aragon, Theriel aka Don to his Halloween party in Helsinki, and Helge to his wedding with Monica at a paradise beach in Grenada.
If it wasn't for my shoulder, I would have taken a vacation this month anyway after the ver.di congress, and would have been able to travel to all of these friends and occasions! Life can be so unfair sometimes... :(