I realized I never shared the geography of Berlin!  (Pictures will follow soon!).  So, Berlin is broken into like a million neighborhoods and a few boroughs:

MITTE
translates to "middle"
Like any Midtown, it is chock full of big buildings, center of government and all the museums and major sites, but Mitte here is HUGE. Some of the most popular spots in Mitte are the Brandenburg Gate, Museuminsel (Museum Island), Potsdamer Platz (with the Sony Center; I haven't been here yet), and Alexanderplatz (big malls for shopping).

PRENZLAUER BERG (actually located in Pankow, I think. Thank you, Wikipedia!)
I haven't been here yet, but I hear it's Park Slope. I hope to go on Sunday and report back!

KREUTZBERG
This is a really fun part of town (Checkpoint Charlie is here and also the Jewish History museum), and it has a super large Turkish population.  There's really good restaurants and funky stores and resembles Lower East Side or East Village, the streets are pretty narrow here compared to the rest of the city. This part is right across the river from my office.

FRIEDRICHSHAIN
My neighborhood!  A fun mix of East Village and Brooklyn, this is where all the students live and where the clubs are.  It used to be solidly in East Berlin and you can still see a section of the Berlin Wall set up as an art gallery (conveniently called the East Side Gallery).  Friedrichshain is HUGE, and is made up of littler mini-neighborhoods each called a "Kiez".  So, Germans have words for everything, even superspecific things. My friend, Laura e-mailed me this amazing word, 'weltschmerz" which roughly translates to "that depression you feel when reality doesn't live up to one's expectation." Wow, German, just wow...  So, a "Kiez" is a micro-neighborhood surrounding a cute street with community.  Maybe the closest English word would be "quarter", according to Wikipedia.  Either way, I live really close, or in, Simon Dach Kiez (near Simon Dach Straße; by the way, that ß is pronounced "ss", in case you wondered.)

THE OTHERS
Okay, there are a LOT of others that I haven't yet visited, so they will get their own post later, but they include Charlottenburg (JWan's friends live here and really like it: the Palace is there!), Wilmersdorf, Lichtenburg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Pankow, Reinickendorf, Spandau (like Spandau Ballet!!!!), Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Templehof-Schöneberg, Treptow-Köpenick and Wedding. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm not allowed to go to Wedding.  Despite its matrimonially positive name, it was described to me as "a bit rough. Don't go there" and if Berliners say that, I will listen, I think. :)

So, more to follow.  I have few updates, as I still don't have internet in the apartment, nor do I know when it's coming. I seriously got a letter in my postbox that said I would receive a letter telling me when they might arrive.  TIG, my friends, T.I.G.*

*"This is Germany", a reference I picked up from Justine that was popularized by the movie, Blood Diamond.  We usually use it to lovingly mock our experiences in India and US. ;)

It has been a whirlwind few days since I started work. I jumped headlong into a very jumbled group with a lot of new people and we are all trying now to figure out our jobs. I am glad I'm not the only one, but I will admit that I feel a bit like I'm in the remedial room. Everything was in German (my computer, my phone, my Flickr Account!) and everything was new. They turned off my US e-mail address altogether and assigned me an international work e-mail, which made me a little sad (and also makes it so I have to resubscribe to every listserv I was on. Yuck.). I hope to get my mobile phone today along with my "chip", a little disc that lets me enter the building on weekends and also gives me discounts from the canteen, and access to all the site software and drives I need. I was a bit shocked that everything was perfectly set up, given all I had heard about this so-called German efficiency. This is not efficient at all!

This, of course, has also extended into my personal set-up, too. I have no internet access at my apartment and so the ordeal of setting that up has been just that. Then, there is my bank account and my health insurance. Even getting a copy of my signed lease has been a nightmare, and I had to reschedule my Burgerämt (apartment registration) appointment to 10 days from now. I urgently need this to apply for my work visa so I can stay in the country and also get paid. Argh.

I think most of this is that everyone has the potential to be wonderfully efficient, but it requires a dogged perseverance on my part to harass them into doing what I need. I'm also just tired and impatient. I am ready to feel settled. I think I've taken for granted that this was not just a move to a new apartment and new
office building, though it was. And, maybe this just gives me more time to work on my German. Maybe I can learn the language faster than I settle in!

I had my first day of work today, and it was a little crazy, but I
feel good about it. Everyone is so incredibly nice. I am looking
forward to getting everything settled. One of my coworkers was super
nice and helped me order internet for my apartment. I just have a week
or so now without internet! I will get by with restaurant wi-fi, if I
have to.

Tonight is my last night in my hotel, too. I plan to relax in a hot
tub and order room service. I look forward to officially being in my
apartment tomorrow!

Not much else to report, though I will post more pictures (Check Flickr!)

I think I found an apartment and hope to sign the papers today! We
also went to the jewish history museum. Berlin is pretty enormous and
it's hard to go everywhere (it actually reminds me of LA in that
respect). We landed on Tuesday (it's Thursday morning right now) and
so far we've:

seen an apartment
took a nap
sent some e-mails
gone into Kreuzberg for dinner
skyped with mom and ry
gone to bed
woke up
seen 2 apartments (chose 1 from that)
walked to work & visited (i introduced folks to my dad)
taxi'ed to the Jewish History museum
taxi'ed to the Schneeweis (Snow White) restaurant for Weiner Schnitzel
then I went to bed and dad watched contestants from the Voice of
Germany perform (they are apparently staying at our hotel).
went to bed
work up
am typing this missive

So, it's been productive, but not necessarily tourist productive. But
maybe life productive? It's hard to balance the 2.

Okay, and for my frantic anxiety list. I still need:
a bank account
internet access in the apartment
register the apt

then i can worry about the other things like health insurance and work
visa. Oh, and starting on Monday :)

anyway, until we speak again!

I am, for the next 10 days, unemployed. This is weird. It feels like
vacation right now instead of not working. My flight is in a few
days and then my dad and I will hopefully find me an apartment next
week. Yeesh, it's crazy!

This is just a short post to let you guys know that :)

I moved out of my apartment yesterday, which gave me the supreme satisfaction of checking off a huge section of my move-out checklist. The movers were super nice and it was an altogether painless move. I just have to clean up tomorrow and hand back my keys. It's amazing to think that I won't be living there anymore, so, here's my good-bye note to Brooklyn.

Dear Brooklyn,

You've been a delight, with your cool brunch places and cooler people. You introduced me to the term "artisanal", from handmade chocolate to rooftop honey to nuclear fusion. You entertained me with adorable puppies, judgmental little coffee shops and quirky yarn stores. You had me run into Roger Clark and Rip Torn and you even had Michael Showalter stalk me for, like, 8 months. At first, I didn't know if we'd get along, what with all the teenagers who liked to harass me on my walk down Court St., but we warmed up and wandered around Red Hook and DUMBO and all around Green-Wood Cemetery. And Ditmas Park with all its Victorian houses and pretty backyard bars. And Park Slope with its mommies. And Green-Wood Heights, with all its murder! We walked Clark & Brian's dogs, and drank Shane & Zohray's wine and picnicked with EMal and house-partied at Golbie's and at Stephanie's. You made it possible for me to have ridden every current train line (okay, not the Canarsie shuttle, but every other one!). So, thanks for that. And I'm basically moving to your hipster-er brother city, so it's not really good-bye. Just eine kleine auf wiedersehen!

xo,

Emily

Of course, now, all that's left is the going. I alternately panic and relax about it. The "oh shit I have so much stuff". And, if you've spent more than 10 seconds talking to me about Germany, you know ALL about the "holy shit getting an apartment" and the "great scott- the work visa!" panics. The only thing that stops me from complete meltdown is when I remember how incredibly exciting this is (and holy crap, my friends, your excitement has been helping like crazy, so thank you!)

Throughout this process, there are some things I know I am going to miss.  There's, of course, the real things that have meaning: my family, my friends. I'm in quite a state of denial about those. Then, there are the other things, those little things that make life a bit more American, I guess. I've already spoken to a couple of ex-pats living in Germany, and the things they miss are adorably varied.  One person I spoke to warned me about the severe dearth of Cheerios.  Another was vexed over the lack of microwave popcorn.  And another told me to be sure to bring American dental floss and toothpaste.  So, I'm preparing for what I might miss right now.  I don't eat Cheerios or popcorn and I currently feel fairly lukewarm about toothpaste (though I do prefer aquafresh because it's stripey, so there's that).   

 

Here's my list so far, and they seem to be mostly media-based:

Doctor Who

RuPaul's Drag Race, season 4

The Office

the ocean

lower case nouns

 

I think I'll get over most of these.  Or, at least, I'll require steady updates.

 

After flying to Berlin last week to meet the team, I now find myself home and trying to pull together everything I need to do before I leave. I think this process is going to take exactly the amount of  time and emotional effort I let it. I have a list of all the things I need to do, and it's suspiciously short:

Move out of my apartment
Finish old job
Say good-bye to my friends, family
Go to Berlin
Get Berlin apartment
Start new job
Get Work Visa
Be an Honorary German Pancake

That's it, right? Of course it is and so easy! And isn't. See, every single one of the items on this list requires about a berzillion steps, and I'm finding some, if not all, of this process shockingly overwhelming. I know I'll do it (because it just has to get done), but it's a lot and it requires many lists. Thankfully, I'm a chart monkey so this list-making process should and continues to be fun.

In other news, here's my language update: I can now count to 12, still know all my primary colors, can identify members of my immediate family, can say the following terms: eat, cook, drive, bicycle, newspaper, cup, most clothes items, pen, teacher, doctor, police, student, man, woman, boy, girl, some basic food items. I confuse the words for "key" and "bowl". And I cannot, for my life, know when to use masculine vs. feminine articles. For all of English's foibles, we don't really have gendered in/definite articles. So, "ihre/ihr/sein/seine?" No clue! I'm looking forward to German class when I get to Berlin :) Oh crap:

Move out of my apartment
Finish old job
Say good-bye to my friends, family
Go to Berlin
Get Berlin apartment
Start new job
Get Work Visa
Start German Class
Be an Honorary German Pancake

:)

My life is about to change in a pretty awesomelyhuge way: I've accepted a job in Berlin!  The coolest part is that I'll be with my same company, just on the other side of the ocean. I'm so excited to share my stories and my adventures in becoming an ex-pat, finding an apartment, learning German and discovering the world that modern Berlin has to offer! 

Please stay tuned for more, including my recent trip to visit and meet the team I will be joining!

 

xo,

Emily

 

Here are 10 embarrassing facts about me, in no particular order.

1) I own a *lot* of Electric Light Orchestra music. Like, a LOT.

2) I cry at: commercials, news articles, happy couples, perfect fall or spring days, and when I finish reading really good books and movies.

3) I practice booty-bounce dancing in my apartment: I regret that I will never be good at it.

4) I will seize any conversational opportunity to talk about Doctor Who and my complicated feelings towards Amy Pond and my decidedly uncomplicated feelings about Rose Tyler, Christopher Ecclestone and David Tennent.

5) I pretend that 44th street between my subway and my office is a runway. I do this every single time I take the A or C to work. Every single time.

6) I never know what my friends' parents do for a living.

7) I still squeal when I sing the Erasure medley at karaoke. I've sang it at least 15 times, but I'm still surprised to find certain songs included.

8) It takes me 15 minutes to remember that I like being social when thrust into a party situation.

9) I geek out about talented people I like. I sometimes even write them fan letters or fan tweets. For example, I completed nerded out last weekend at the children's book fair at the Brooklyn Museum. You see, Peter Brown was there (he wrote the book "Children Make Terrible Pets") and I went over just so I could shake his hand. Then, I had to explain how and why I would have ever read his book, given I am neither a parent or a teacher. It is very possible I creeped out this poor brilliant man when my answer amounted to me being a children's book enthusiast. Then again, set me in front of Nick Cannon or Kim Kardashian and I will be decidedly more blase.

10) I exclusively make super dumb and/or super pervy jokes. Sorry about that.