Baby Boomin'

Perfect German Families, Perfect, German Families, oh my lord! There is a serious baby boom in this city. I have never seen so many pregnant women in a big city as I have here. Everyone's lives here aren't pushed to the same extent as they are in New York...Career! Career! Career! (of course if your taxes actually go towards healthcare and not putting yourself in immense debt due to student loans, this lifestyle becomes much more attainable). People actually use the weekends to take a rest. The streets are virtually empty on Sundays. And it's not like we are in the country or even suburbs here. This is a major, metropolitan city! People are willing to give up working constantly just enough to be able to have a baby. But for those that don't give up their careers in their entirety, I am about to offer my services. I want to start babysitting for a German family so that I can make a few bucks, I mean Euros (note the extra 40%) and continue practicing my German. Cost of living is so much less here that I could actually get by off working only a few days a week and pay my rent, and then still have time to be an artist that makes work.

Oh and did I mention that these families are all gorgeous. I thought I loved Brooklyn hipster dad-babes, but the Berliner fathers win. And don't worry mom this is not me trying to tell you that I am starting a family in Germany. I do plan on coming home, someday.

domestic babes

Anyway I don't have too many crazy stories to tell yet. Full time school has been the major focus of this month. We make dinner together to save money - can't eat out all the time. I'm practically vegetarian because Bianca is, and I have been trying so many cool new vegetables as a result. Bianca is a really good, inventive cook, which is in turn expanding my cooking abilities.

I am utterly amazed at how well the three of us are working out as roommates/lifelines. Jess didn't know Bianca all that well, and I knew her even less, but we really have bonded into great friends, who after two weeks of spending nearly every minute together, pretty much know all there is to know about one another.

our giant monument

Last night Jess and I went out with one of our classmates Serena from Milan. We went into Kotbussertor which is a neighborhood that is comparable to Williamsburg/Bushwick - In other words, it's the place to go to if you are young and an artist. Anyway we went to grab a drink each at a couple different places, and discussed art and politics, all in broken English. She was very inspiring, and I am very excited to be her friend. On the way back since the U-Bahn does not run 24 hours like our superior subway system Jess & I had to walk halfway across Berlin back to our home. Basically a walk that probably if taken directly would have been 40 minutes became an hour & a half. We had a map and we live close to a giant monument but the monument was out of sight where we were, and a map is useless if street signs are non-existent or misnomered. We passed some crazies along the way an eventually got our booties home after many circles by 4 AM...



In any case, I love my life right now, and I am so happy that I am where I am right now. Not to mention I had the best icecream ever, a tiny slice of heaven for 4 Euro. I took a tiny break from writing this to eat in bed with Jess and listen to Patsy Cline / Rihanna.

Well anyway tomorrow is Friday, So I'm psyched for another crazy weekendd!




Today's Vocab Word:

Frauhaus = Wife

We just think this word is funny because it means literally wife.house

Jobst = Job

This is pronounced with an American pronounciation of the 'j' and not a German 'y' sound because it was imported from our language. Go figure!

Was kostet das? = How much does that cost?

I would like to believe that German is just badly spelled English, but unfortunately the language is much more complicated than that. And Germans are supposed to be very systematic and rule-oriented...then why the hell are there so many exceptions to their language rules!