Update on Updates

My Mom let me know there was nothing on my blog - I actually thought I'd posted two things by now! One was an ipad error, the other just a mix up on my part.

I'm planning (at least) two posts a week - Monday I'll post weekly pictures, and Wednesday I'll do something more narrative - this week's is on my moving experience with the service we used, and the next four weeks after that will be a series on installing my own kitchen!

The posts I meant to put up on Monday and Wednesday will be up shortly....

Am I back?

This has been a good time to take a break. I had about a week of the worst jet lag in a long time, and my phone has been constantly complaining that I don't have any space to take more pictures. I have seen a few stunning sunsets, but there would have been more pictures of things like our new fan and the neat file box I got to put all my important papers in.

What will I be posting from now on? I think there will be three main categories:

I will be posting at least a picture a week. Not exactly sure how many I'll be posting, but having the goal of putting up a picture does cause me to look at the world around me for the beautiful, absurd, and otherwise notable. It also helps me stay in touch with everyone!

I'll post a few summaries of the past year. I've long been meaning to do a kitchen retrospective, but I also want to gather some of my best (and maybe worst) posts all in one place. I might add to this a bit of advice for traveling to Berlin or moving.

I also plan to post more writing. I'm not sure what form this will take - essays, reviews, opinions, advice, complaints, or ramblings, but stay tuned!

One Year Gone!

I didn't actually get a chance to mark my one year in Berlin. It was either June 26 (departed the US) or June 27 (arrived in Berlin) and those were much busier than average. Given how much I've traveled over the course of the last year, it is typical that I spent neither of those days in Berlin and instead was very busy traveling to and working at the Sloan Digital Sky Survey collaboration meeting.

I'm going to take a short hiatus from blogging - probably a week or two - and then I will most likely start up again. I doubt I'm going to do anything every day, but I appreciate having a creative outlet and something that helps me stay in touch!

In other words, stay tuned!

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. 

Hope For Peace

Around noon, I got an email from my choir director asking if anyone would be willing to join a small group to sing Le Marseillaise in front of the French Embassy this afternoon. I agreed to go - I wished (and still do wish) to do something to show support for the victims of yesterday's attacks. David came with, and he took today's pictures.

The French Embassy is located by Brandenburg Tor, on Pariser Platz. As we approached, it became clear that the square, which is usually full of tourists, was playing host to a sort of impromptu vigil. The mood was somber, and police and news trucks were all around. I didn't expect the crowds when I headed over, but maybe I should have. 

The embassy itself was blocked off, and people were gathered by the barricades, gathered to light candles. We formed a small circle up by the front. As someone had pointed out that the words to La Marseillaise are rather warlike, some of us felt more comfortable simply carrying the melody. I think we'd originally expected people to sing along, but instead the silence seemed to grow more profound. After we sang it through once, a single voice continued from the crowd - either a repeat or the next verse, and we joined again near the end.

And then the singing was over. I felt this sense of expectancy from the crowd, like we had got everyone's attention by singing, like we had asked a question - but we didn't provide an answer. I had no idea what it was, so David and I cut out of there. Now, after thinking about it all evening, I wish that we had continued - not with a repeat of La Marseillaise, but with a song of peace.

Because I have profound sympathy for the victims of the attacks, and that was what I meant to show. But I feel there's a dark side to national anthems. I don't think that nationalism is the answer to stopping terrorism, and I don't stand with France if her next move is to close her borders to refugees. And I am worried about a resurgence of Islamophobia - a resurgence of racism. I am worried about the hate and war than might ensue. Let us all hope for peace.