Back in the game!

Here are my new running shoes - a last minute purchase on my way out of Columbus. I didn't have the time or energy to run during the move, but today I had enough of both to go on my first run in Berlin! In the future, my running pictures will be much more scenic.

Temporary Kitchen

We had visitors today - some of David's friends are living in Milan and decided to come explore Berlin for two days. We showed them around and saw some new corners of our neighborhood that we hadn't explored yet. I kept delaying taking a picture though, because it was mostly things I'd seen before. When we got home, I realized I missed my chance.

So we're left with a picture of our kitchen here in the Wooga temporary housing. I'm not a huge fan of it - and I had to think about it to figure out why. First, I thought it was tiny. It's smaller than our last kitchen, but it's not actually very small and is pretty well organized. Then I thought it might be the lack of appliances. No microwave, toaster oven, or dishwasher, and a half size fridge. But we're not cooking a lot, and I expected to be missing some of those things.

The reason I don't like the kitchen is that it's not mine. If it was, I'd have found some bins for recycling, some extra shelves for the counter, and I'd be seriously thinking about a spice rack. Since we'll be in a different kitchen in 2-4 weeks, those things could be completely wrong for our new space. So I just have this pervading feeling of being in someone else's kitchen until we get our more permanent apartment. Hopefully soon!

Bike Polo

In Seattle, we frequently walked by a bunch of people (hipsters) playing bike polo on the tennis courts in a nearby park. I didn't realize it was such a big deal until we spotted these flyers on our way back from dinner.

Glass Recycling

There are nearly 10 different ways that we are supposed to sort our garbage and recycling. Some of the glass should be walked to the end of the block where you deposit it according to its color: braunglas, grünglas, and weißglas.

Berlin Cathedral

This is the second (of at least three) times that we need to go to the bank as part of our move. On the way back from our Duetsche Bank branch, we pass over Museum Island, where I took this picture of the Berlin Cathedral and the TV Tower. While some people might artfully try to exclude construction from their scenic photos, I usually get excited about the juxtaposition of old/historic/static with new/modern/changing.

Around the neighborhood

I walked a little north of our current place to check out a part of our current neighborhood that seems to have a few interesting apartments for rent. Many of the buildings were painted creatively and there was tons of graffiti everywhere  - I couldn't always tell the difference between paint job, street art, and graffiti. This building caught my eye - the nature scene on the bottom with the various layers on top. But it also captures (to some extent) that apartment buildings here just look kinda different then those in the US.

My first beer in Berlin!

David and I started taking a German class at Wooga and went out to dinner afterwards. It was a delicious place that specializes in hummus with various toppings. To go with dinner, I ordered my first beer (meine erste beir) in Berlin!