Artists and friends

First I was working a lot on articles and websites (and loving it), then on to have my hearing aids adjusted (my hearing is a lot worse, especially my left ear, but the hearing aids are fixed accordingly, and now I can even follow talks in the middle of a crowd - what a relief!), and from there straight on to the exhibition opening at Mediengalerie, the gallery of my union. "Migrarte" is one of the many events in Berlin around International Women's Day on March 8th.
I knew my dear old friend and collegue Anita Frei-Krämer would be there, so I was looking forward to meeting her again after eight years. We got into talking the very first second. And I met quite a few nice women I had never seen before, all artists, of course. Looks like I found new guests to my flat in Berlin.
I was especially flattered when Anita told me I hadn't changed at all, still open, bright, curious, and in a way standing tall as a dancer, except for being more mature and even distinguished. Hah! Who would have thought!
Sonja Marko from ver.di did some round table talks with the artists (see her at the pic, she's the bright looking one with the multicoloured scarf round her lovely black hair).
And I bought a painting in a spur of the moment. Potsdamer Platz, of all places! It's great; even though the place is ugly and hostile, the painting gives credit to its weird beauty. I'll try and take a pic soon to show you.

Dining with the Lord Mayor

Last night, I had dinner with the Lord Mayor. How comes? Let me tell you, it's a kind of a long story.
Volker had come for a short visit to Berlin, to meet his friend and boss Bernard John Buecker (called Ben) from last year in San Antonio. Of course he stayed with me. He arrived late in the evening, we shared some barcelino and chatted until midnight, and got up for a very early breakfast after barely six hours of sleep.
Ben, honorary consul of Germany in San Antonio, was head of a delegation of his city council to Germany, and took the chance to meet all the german advocats who had worked with him over the years. Volker was especially dear to him, and was invited to join the delegation in Berlin - to the offices of the chancellor and the Berlin Lord Mayor.
When Ben learned about me, he invited me, too. How very nice! Unfortunately I had to move office at ver.di that day, and was occupied for hours creeping around the floor to fix cables, moving books and files, and fixing our hard- and software. But I managed to get home, take a shower, dress up to the occasion, and arrive at the red town hall in time to the meeting with Wowereit, the Lord Mayor of Berlin.
He didn't turn up, though, but sent another mayor. At least we were sitting in the parliament room, around the huge table and in the posh chairs, and I was seated right besides the Lord Mayor - of San Antonio, Texas. Actually, all the germans thought I was a member of the delegation. ;)
The talks were very interesting, indeed, giving insights into the way the americans see their future, now with Obama being president they hope for quite some changes to the better. And listening to what Berlin senate members think about their city and its future, came as a surprise in some ways, as well.
Later we had dinner at "Letzte Instanz", a very old tavern from 1621 in an area of cobbled streets and low houses, surrounded by courts, famous with tourists, but not up to the expectations in my opinion. I left shortly after 10 pm, but Volker stayed on, and came back home to my flat hardly two hours before he had to leave again to the airport. It was nice to have had him!
And chatting with Phil Hardberger, the Lord Mayor, and his wife during the dinner was enjoyable!

The bag

See the bright red Berlinale bag: I bought it early this month. It's nice and spacy to carry around whatever you have to carry around from home to work and on to fitness and some shopping, then back home: books, socks, bananas, water bottles, whatever.
And it's such a lovely reminder of this year's Berlinale. Makes me smile whenever I sling it over my shoulder, even though it's usually quite heavy with all the items I throw into it.
Well, these last February days are filled with work and taking up exercising again in the evenings. The few pounds I had gained since Xmas melted away with my newly taken up cholesterol diet and the fitness program, and I'm feeling ready for spring - and some new dresses, too. ;)

Back to Crellestraße

Sunday, it was time to get back to Berlin. The week of vacation has gone, work started today.
Late in the evening, after a tasty dinner at newly opened nepalese and ayurveda restaurant "Himali" (I managed to take a pic last week when they were getting ready for the opening celebrations) with Eva Stotz and a few other couchsurfers, I hosted an almost-public viewing of Eva's award winning documentary "Sollbruchstelle".
Holger aka Aquamarinus came, too, I hadn't met him since almost two years. What a great evening we had, so cosy and warm amidst friends with the cold winter blues kept outside!

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 6

No 6: Expire your stay. Especially if your children ask you to.
Anna fell ill last Wednesday, she felt bad all day Thursday at work, and had to stay at home on Friday, with a bad cold, headaches, the lot. (Don't I know those aches and feelings.)
Volker and I took good care of her, forced her to stay in bed, have lots of hot baths and hot drinks, vitamines, blablabla. You know what I'm talking about.
This morning, she asked me to stay a bit longer, and since I had the chance to do so without spending too much money on any tickets (Lidl-tickets being 55 Euro only both ways, and no dates fixed), only for reservations (which I was lucky to get), I agreed. We didn't do nothing special, really, just were couchpotataoes, watching movies ("Drei Männer im Schnee" by Erich Kästner), and enjoying our company.
When she went to bed early, I found Alex had "Darjeeling Limited" on dvd, a movie I had tried to watch all summer, so I had a great time watching it now.
Anna thought it funny that in such a small house as ours, but with four floors, on every floor there was one person watching a movie by him- resp. herself. Well, it was. And we liked it, for a change.
We watched the new episodes of "How I met your mother" together, a few days ago. That was nice as well.
So family life in Stuttgart is a mix of having the chance to eat and chat and do stuff together, and be on your own, if you wish to do so. Nice. I like it that way!
P.S. No, this is not my daughter changed extremely by her illness. It's a small girl I met close to the townhall today. Cute little witch. :)

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 5

No 5: Meet your friends! If it's in the evening: Before the meeting, visit some places you always had wanted to see, but never had had the chance to. So far.
Bettina and I had agreed to celebrate her birthday Friday evening. I had suggested "Trattoria da Loretta", where we had met last year, and it had proved a nice choice. Since it opens at 6 pm in the evening, I had lots of time to see one or two or three exhibitions. In the end, I was too lazy, and since the weather had turned to rainy and grey sky again, I stayed at home most of the time, and went to Hegelhaus in the afternoon only. Finally! After 30 yeas of planning to do so! And it was worth a visit, for sure. I'll have to be back to see it once more. At least. Soon. I hope.
Bettina told me later, she still hadn't seen it either. And always had meant to, as well. :)
We had a great evening, of course, chatting and eating and drinking. (No time to take any pics.) And promising each other we'll meet again next month, celebrating my birthday, for a change. At "Hüftengold", so appropriate for women who like good food, good drinks, and good company.

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 4

No 4: If it's Carneval, join the fun!
If it's happening at Wieverfastelovend aka Schmotzige Donnschtig (meaning Thursday before Carneval high time), and the Carneval crowd take over the town halls all over Stutgart as in many other cities all over Germany, take a scissor, cut off any tie you can get hold of, and go to cheer the besiegement and taking of the town hall.
Living quite close to the Vaihingen town hall, I went there this afternoon. All the other town halls in Stuttgart had been taken already, ours was the last. The Mayor tried his best to keep the clowns out of the reach of the town hall keys, but in vain. Supported by the fire brigade, the witches, birds, and other Carneval people climbed into the Mayor's window and forced him to give over the keys. How they did it, we couldn't see, it was inside the building.
From now on until Tuesday night, the fools are ruling. The tradition says. Sometimes you might think, it's the other way round, and the fools are ruling all through the year but for this short time. ;)

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 3

No 3: Go shopping! And in between browsing all those department stores and shops in Stuttgart center, take a break and a look at one of the many exhibitions.
As per usual, I started at Oxfam for great bargains, helping those in need and myself at once. Then on to the brand new Gudrun Sjöden shop (nice and swedish and good quality and design, but somewhat expensive), and of course Breuninger and Peek & Cloppenburg. Where I found this most lovable, posh and expensive looking spring jacket for the astonishing prize of not even 50 Euro (49,95 now, was 199,95). Size 34. Incredible.
And in between, according to my advice, I went to see the latest exhibition at Institut für Auslandsbeziehugen, Charlottenplatz: Bamako.
The choice was hard, what with the newly arranged Staatsgalerie, open for free until June, and the new exhibiton "Triptychon" at Kunstmuseum. Sigh. I'm lucky there will be a "Long Night of the Museums" on March 21st, just in time for my next visit.
Ahhhh, Stuttgart: small, compared to Berlin, but holding everything you need in a nutshell. Family and friends included. :)

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 2

No 2: Make sure there's a Couchsurfing Meeting close by. To meet friendly people and make new friends.
I was so lucky, today the Stuttgart CS community had their monthly meeting at "Maulwurf", my favourite pub in Vaihingen since I live in Stuttgart. Must be more than 30 years now, quite a while, come to think of it.
Times and owners changed, the 80s crew who believed in cooperative work and mutual ownership left a while ago, and the new crew is nice, but definitely 21 century.
The rooms didn't change that much, even the newly painted walls give the same colourscheme, and the interior is mostly the same, too.
I took the pic before the friendly crowd came. As soon as the clock struck 7 pm, couchsurfers flooded the pub, and we had talks and chats and laughter galore. Pity my hearing is getting worse, and I hardly understand anything at all when there's lots of people talking at the same time. I left quite early therefore, and walked the few meters to my small house. Happily. New friends found, and a chance to practise my english and french. Great!

What to do in Stuttgart during your vacation - No 1

No 1: See your friends. If they are artists: Admire their art. Since they are your friends, their pieces of art are bound to be admirable.
Visiting Tina was nice, as always, and after a long chat we moved on to the court of justice where they do an exhibition of her latest paintings. Actually, I didn't like them as much as her earlier pieces. Except for the one you see in this pic.
Let's wait and see what she'll do next. Anyway, it's worth a look-see, when you happen to be around.

Living in two cities

A week has gone since my last posting (again), days of work (that went great), world premiere movies at Berlinale (award winners "Gigante" and "Katalin Varga", and - with Sean - "Ander"), and meetings. Paul had invited me to some drinks at Ludwigkirchplatz in between his travelling, Daphne to her Semester Success Stew Party with Jana, Sean and a few other friends, and award winning director Eva took a video with me to apply to german TV ZDF for some help on her new documentary on xenophobia, love, and hospitality.
Delightful days and evenings, and on Valentine's Day Emil and I went back home to Stuttgart to a week of family life and meeting my friends here: Bettina for a belated birthday celebration, and Tina to show me around her exhibition. Heike will not be here for her birthday, she's in Ibiza with Andreas, lucky guys.
It's great to wake up early in the morning in Vaihingen, with the most beautiful view from my little house onto the surrounding roofs and gardens, all covered in snow, white and glistening in the morning sun. Ahh well, I'll have a great week of vacation!

Promise to get better

Now what happened to this blog? I never seem to find the time lately to write here. Does that mean my life is filled with work and adventures and there's no chance to tell you? Hmmm. Well. Maybe I'm just too lazy...
Anyway, I had time enough to swap sweaters with Daphne when she came for a short visit, and took this pic with my new (and her old) green turtleneck then. Nice, huh! I still look a bit on the sick side, hence the blue scarf, but I'm getting better healthwise, too. :)

Back!

I'm back to work and back to life outside my bed/flat. Just in time for Berlinale. I'm watching the opening show on tv whilst posting.
Work today was weird, I had been looking forward to being back in my office, but Kurt was gone, and Hartmut called to tell me he's sick for the week. Poor him, he's got the flu that I only now survived.
In the evening, I went to the Berlinale ticket counter at Potsdamer Platz Arkaden to collect the tickets I had booked online. A crowd was waiting in front of the booths, just like the old times. When I had been here on Monday, there was no queue at all, so I couldn't but buy a few tickets. ;)
So far I will watch "Gigante", "Ricky", "Rage", and "Eden à l'Ouest", all at Berlinale Palace, and all on Sundays. Maybe more after work, if I can make it. I'd love to get tickets for "Milk", "Ander" and "London River".
Most of the movies will be in German cinemas, anyway. But it's so much more fun to enjoy them in the huge festival palace, and meet some actors, too.
The jury this year is great, Henning Mankell, Tilda Swinton, and others from all around the word with different views onto movies. Great choice!
I'll have a ball all these next days!

Fed up

Well, not me, even though I'll have to stay at home for three more days, my cold almost gone, but not quite.
No, Simon's sister's dog is. See for yourself here.
You remember Simon, don't you? The guy with the cute cat? Here's more.

Chicken Soup

What a week! After a great evening celebrating vietnamese new year, the first day of the year of the buffalo saw me staying in bed with a bad headache, throat ache, shivers, the lot.
I hardly managed to go to the doctors on Monday. He adviced me strongly to stay in bed, take the medicine he gave me, and fight the cold with hot tea, hot chicken soup, rising foot baths, and lots of sleep. Let the body take over, and forget about stress.
So that's what I did, instead of working, and instead of saying goodbye to my dear collegue Kurti on his last day of work. We had arranged for a huge party with all his friends and best collegues, and I had taken over the delightful task of decorating the rooms. But no chance.:(
Instead, I was tugged up nice and warm in my bed with lots of blankets and duvets. Hot chicken soup (spiced up with ginger, chilis, garlic, cloves, nutmeg, and paella seasoning) with lemon juice twice daily, hot tea all the time, and hot baths helped rising my body temperature. More detoxing with my infrared lamp, and more energy with my energy light. Quite some busy days, no wonder I had to sleep a lot in between.
I am determined to win this battle with my viruses! Cross your fingers I'll go to work again tomorrow with a restored health!