Super dickmann's

From the strange German food files: 

Coffee setup

And this is from Thursday, I think. Just a picture of my coffee setup. I worked from home, so it's probably the most exciting thing I saw all day!

Half a selfie

I've been posting on the go a lot - from my phone, over the cell network - and I haven't double checked to see if they went through. This week, two posts disappeared. I thought if they didn't actually post, they would have saved, but no.

This one is from Wednesday, pulling into Haptbahnhof (main train station) during my commute. And yes, I am still holding my kindle.

On another cloudy day

I'm not sure if it shows up in this picture, but since it's so cloudy out, the buildings lining Frankfurter Allee looked much less mono-tone than usual - there are actually different shades of stone all along the building.

And since it's the weekend, I have time to tell a story:

I took this picture on the way to the Geldautomat (ATM) to get some cash, but when I got to the bank where it's located, the lobby area (with the usual machines) was closed. Through another set of glass doors I could see a small room with a few promising-looking machines, but there were also two men sitting on the floor, looking like they were camped out. 

I immediately decided I could go to another ATM. While these men were likely just cold and harmless, I'm risk averse.

As I was walking away, a woman walked up to me and asked me something - once we switched to english, I realized she was offering to go into the little glass room together. She also needed cash, and she suggested we support each other. She walked ahead of me up to the door, but after looking at the men inside, she actually changed her mind and started walking away. 

And then another woman hurries up to us. After a rapid exchange in German, they lead us all back up to the door and head in. As the first woman gets her money out, I linger in the door and hold open because I've realized that one of the men is actually smoking a cigarette, sitting cross-legged on the floor. As I look around the room, I also notice a third man, tucked behind another machine - hopefully it was cozy back there.

I'm last at the ATM, and I am not sure I have ever gone so fast - I didn't even push the buttons to translate to English. My supports stay (one of them hands one of the men a Euro) and then we all hurry back out, eager to get on our ways. 

Mystery Cow

I don't know why there is a cow statue outside this biomarkt, but there is: 

Surprise sun

The forecast for this week was cloudy, so imagine my surprise at the sun this morning!

Grey

From yesterday's commute: grey skies in Berlin:

And Babelsberg:

Soup!

Sorry about two food pictures in a row, but this weekend has consisted mostly of relaxing! This is my lunch this week. 

A US dinner

Open face veggie burgers and potatoes, hooray! 

Lonely bear

This bear is just chilling on the sidewalk - he looks lonely!

Sorry for the late post! I took this yesterday, then forgot all about it.

Around town

I took a picture of this building the other day, but here's another angle: 

I liked the painting on these buildings:

And I took a walk by the Eastside Gallery - it looked amazing with the sun and snow:

Foxy!

Today, we saw a fox wandering through the AIP campus!

Sunset

When I walked out of my office at 5 today, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't fully dark! It's still pretty cold, though. 

Balloons

There is a new restaurant opening nearby, and to celebrate they have balloons out! I think they look strange with the snow on them.

Snow!

There's a light dusting of snow - everything looks just a bit prettier!

In the snow!

David got this computer case from a friend moving away, and I helped him ( via moral support) take it home via the tram in the snow.

Research mascots

These characters have followed me from desk to desk, ostensibly to assist me with science. 

Except Jane Austen. She helps with writing.

Less scenic

Here are two pictures from a rather long walk I took today. First, the space needle and the sunset (scenic) in the background of the road and power lines and gas station (less scenic).

And then a slightly blurry picture of a cool building:

Pickle

Going through heathrow airport, David had his first pickle and cheese sandwich. This experience was so magical that he searched Berlin for a British grocery store where he could find pickle: 

Back in Berlin

I'm not even sure what building that is, but the combination of new construction and refurbishment of an old building feels very Berlin. I'm back!

Jet lag

A belated post for Jan 11: most of my first day back in Berlin was spent chilling in this chair, trying not to sleep.

A genuinely large plane

Flying back to Berlin in this:

There's no place like home

I'm back in riverside, enjoying my ruby slippers that were a Christmas gift. While I have been visiting plenty of places that are home-like, I'm looking forward to getting back to berlin!

The end of the conference

I'm pretty tired after several days of conferencing. My final conference-related picture is the AAS logo display:

Scenes from the astronomy conference

More hotel ridiculousness

Koi pond:

Card games

I ended up playing card games with Kepler people late at night; this is my card for werewolf. 

Absurd

Now at a conference held in the most terrible convention center: Gaylord palms in Kissimmee, Florida. My room is located in the vicinity of this decoration:

Mountains!

We've had beautiful clear weather in Seattle, so the mountains have been out:

Tomorrow: back on the road. 

Conveyer belt

We have been on a movie watching rampage and wanted a quick and easy dinner near the theater. Solution: sushi on a conveyer belt. Hooray! 

Old year

On the last day of the year, we got ready to toast in the new one:

And finally saw Star Wars!