Christmas in the Stenberg family.

The other day I talked to Jake about Swedish Christmas. He was surprised at what we do. Specially at three o'clock (every Swede knows what I'm taking about) so I though I would write about a typical Christmas in my family.
Noted, none of my parents where born in Sweden but I would still say we celebrate a pretty Swedish Christmas.

Christmas is on the 24th, Christmas Eve, this is when we celebrate.
I wake up in my childhood home, in a small town close to the Baltic Sea, Trosa, and the whole house smells like food. A traditional Christmas food in Sweden is ham (julskinka, Christmas ham) that is cooked in the oven for almost a whole day on low temperature.
Breakfast is rise pudding (also known as Christmas porridge), with cinnamon and milk. This my dad always has ready for us when we get up. Sometimes there is an almond in the pudding and the one that gets the almond gets a wish or it is said that they get married next year. Some families gives a present for the one that gets the almond, but that's not that common in the Stenberg family. And my little brother Tim always gets the almond anyway.

After breakfast I help my dad with the cooking. Since I'm a vegetarian/vegan I cook all the veggie foods that I want on the Christmas table and dad cooks all the meaty stuff.
There is ham, pickled herring, eggs, homemade bread, salad with anchovy and eggs (my mums favorite), there are porkkanalaatikko a Finnish carrot pudding kind of (my favorite), salmon, eal (my brothers favorite) and so on. We drink julmust, this coke like soda that is always drunk around Christmas. Of course there is also snaps, a little shot of alcohol now and then during the meal.

A traditional Stenberg family Christmas table.

 We eat and eat. Then three o'clock strikes.
This is when everyone (or at least many) in Sweden move from the Christmas table to the TV. Here is what Jake was so surprised about: we watch Donald Duck.
To quote the article Jake was reading about Swedish Christmas, Funny as it may sound, Swedes, young and old, gather in front of the TV to watch Christmas-theme Disney cartoons, the decorated Christmas tree glittering in the background. This program has been an indispensable part of the celebrations ever since the 1960s.
It's something we always do, and I forget that other nations do not do, but I guess it's a bit strange. A tradition is a tradition.

Then it's time to open presents. We don't have a Santa knocking on the door anymore and the presents are under the Christmas tree. My mum hands them out and we open then. After that is done we have some glögg, mulled wine and play with our open presents. For me this usually mean that I start reading or at least turning pages in the books I've gotten.

The six o'clock comes around the it's time to turn on the TV again for another Christmas TV tradition, Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons julafton, which is a short film from the 70s about Karl-Bertil who gives away the rich people presents to the poor, thinking he is Robin Hood. Take from the rich and give to the poor. He works at the post office and on the 24th he takes all the presents sent to directors and other fancy titles, goes to the bad part of town and gives the poor people the presents.
Karl-Bertil's father finds out that Karl-Bertil has done this and makes him go around to everyone that he has taken a present from and apologize. Instead of people being angry for not getting their presents, they praise Karl-Bertil for giving it to the poor. The poor getting gifts like Satre in French, glass vases and other things.
It's about 20 minutes long and if you're curios you can watch it the first eight minutes, in English (I can't find the whole thing in English, I'm afraid), on youtube if you click HERE. (Jake, click and watch!) In English it is apparently called Christopher's Xmas Mission. I guess Karl-Bertil doesn't fit in a English speakers mouth.

After that Christmas Eve in my family is pretty much over. We drink more glögg and might watch a movie or play a game.
Next day on the 25th, we celebrate again with the food that was left over and big brother (Fredrik), big sister (Teresia) and her amazing daughters (Tove & Sofia) come around. They celebrate the 24th with their mother/grandmother. It's pretty much more eating and more present giving.

Little brother Tim and niece Sofia, Christmas 2011.

That it for Christmas. It is common that on the night of the 25th, after overeating, family and all, you go to a bar with your friends and drink beer.
Aren't we Swedes crazy? :)
This year my family, mum, dad and Tim are coming to Berlin to celebrate Christmas. I don't know what we will do yet but I think we will have a nice time. It will not be as traditional but still.

I'm off to work. Happy holidays!

Book recommendations.

Working in a book shop means I get to recommend books to costumers often. And when I'm not working - I read, so I have some recommendations to share.
Maybe a good Christmas tips for a last minute present for someone or for yourself. Or some books to put on your to-read list.
I'm not going to sort by who you should give the book to, because I feel that tagging books to a certain person usually doesn't work. It's all about the person and what they like to read.
I will try to keep it short and not get to excited writing about book I really like.

Brick stones:
In Swedish we say brick stones about tick, long books. I know this doesn't translate to English, but it should. Winter is the perfect time to pick up a +800 pages book.

A Game of Thrones - George R R Martin
Not a fantasy fan? Neither am I but I couldn't stop reading this book. Winterfell is one of the Seven Kingdoms in this medieval land a guarded by a wall. What exists on the other side is of the wall is unsure, but sometime dark and that you don't want to let in. You get to follow several characters, from children to women and lords in all parts of the Seven Kingdoms. There are battles, death, sex, family problems and so much more.
I recommend this book to everyone. It's a great read and when you start is hard to stop. This is a first book of the A Song of Ice and Fire series so while Winter is coming you might as well be reading.

The Passage - Justin Cornin
I'm currently reading this book and it's amazing. Cornin starts writing about Amy and her mother that live very poor and because of that the mother gives Amy away to a nun. Amy is a very special child. She doesn't speak that much. Everyone feels something when they're around her, something they never felt before.
When Amy goes to the zoo panic among the animals break out when and Amy get's kidnapped by the police and get to a medical testing center. There 12 other are kept and watched 24 hours a day. The 12 don't eat or do anything, except get to you head. So much that they, some sort of un-dead vampires, get loose and start spreading this disease all cross America. The story starts in 2014 and then describes the post apocalyptic US 94 years later.  Great read (so far, I'm 700 pages in). This apocalyptic world that the US turns in to, everyone scared of these virals, trying to get though nightly attacks and somehow get by is so exciting to read about.

The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakow
This is my all time favorite classic. It's about 100 years old, Urkranian, but still works good today.
A spring afternoon two men meet the devil in Moscow. They of course doesn't know he is the devil until he stars to talk about being part of Jesus crucifixion and other stories that he shares. After this Moscow is filled with black magic. Crazy things starts happening all around and the only ones that can make this stop is the nameless Master and Margarita that get involved in the devils games.
I know, it sounds weird but trust me, it's so good. So far I haven't meet anyone that didn't like this book. From all ages, 15 - 90. Highly recommend to everyone.

Funny books:
Christmas and winter can be hard at time, at least in northern Europe. Sometimes you need books to make you laugh.

The Second Coming - John Niven
God takes a holiday from creating life. He goes fishing. But since time goes way slower in Heaven then it does on Earth, when God leaves somewhere in the Renaissance (when everything still is going good) and is away for a short time in Heaven time; time on Earth flies by and when God is back it's 2011. And he's pissed of all that has happened. 
God decides to send Jesus back to Earth to spread the message Be nice and try to make everything better Down there. Jesus, or JC as he is called, has no idea what to do but likes to play the guitar and sing. Somehow this makes him a part of American Idol.
A witty, well written book which I laughed a lot to. Apparently not a hit among believers of God, but to everyone else a crazy and funny read.

How to Talk to a Widower - Jonathan Tropper
Dough lost his wife in a plane crash. He is 29 and a widower. He feels sad and angry. He can't really make himself leave the house. This after a year of his wife's, Hailey, death. He drinks whiskey and is in a pool of self-pity. He writes a column for a magazine how his widowed life is and has book contracts at his door step that he doesn't feel like talking, because he doesn't feel like doing anything.
Dough's twin sister Clare is determent to get Dough out of the house and start meeting women again and starts sending him on dates and tells Doug that he has to trust her.
At the same time Russ, Heiley's son from a previous marriage, want Doug to take care of him instead of his stupid dad.
All this makes Dough's life to look totally different from what he wants.
Dick-lit at it's best. It's sad but Tropper has also given to story a lot of humor. The sibling relationship is one of the best I've ever read. 

Naïve.Super - Erlend Loe 
Erlend Loe is one of my favorite writers. He's Norwegian and write in a simple but yet in a funny and interesting way.
In Naïve.Super the 25 year old nameless main character loses to his brother in croquet and has a life crisis. He takes a break from his studies and watches his brother's apartment while he is gone. He sends fax(old school!) to a friend. He reads about time. He writes lists about things he likes, have seen, wants to do and so on. He also gets a ball and children's hammer bench that he plays with.
The story ends in New York and I have read this book many times and still think it's great. I might not sound as it, but you laugh a lot while reading it. With most books by Loe you do.
First sentences: I have two friends. A good one and a bad one. And there's my brother. He might not be as friendly as I am, but he is OK.
Read it, please!  


Short and good:
A short book can also be good.

All my friends are Superheroes - Andrew Kaufman
All of Toms friends are superheroes. Tom's not. He has fallen in love and married The Perfectionist but at a party her ex-boyfriend Hypno hypnotizes her so she can't see Tom anymore. Tom tries to make her see him again and The Perfectionist waits for Tom to come home.
There are also great superhero descriptions about the other superheroes, like Falling Girl and The Couchsurfer among others. Read parts of it here.
If you all ready read this book I can also recommend one of Kaufman's other books, The Tiny Wife. In the same style, funny and quick read too.

The Housekeeper + The Professor - Yoko Ogawa 
A housekeeper starts working for a (ex) mathematics Professor that had a bad accident years back. The Professor can only remember things for 90 minutes at the time. He remembers he's math but new things, like having a new housekeeper he forgets. Every day he puts on a jacket that has notes of all the he should remember pined to it. You have a new housekeeper is one. The Professor has a hard time talking about feelings and instead he talks about math. This books is about 200 pages long with math problems in. I don't know much math but I really enjoyed this book. It's beautifully written and the story is sad at the same time as it is heartwarming.

Dystopia: 
Dystopias is something that I really like to read so here are some favorites.

Kollocain - Karin Boye
A Swedish classic. This book was written in the 1940s and is a great, dark dystopia.
This book has been compared to Huxley's Brave New World because they are both drug dystopias. Kollocain is a drug that is used is a truth drug to see if people have rebellios thought about the totalitarian states it's set in.
The book is Leo Dall's, a loyal citizen and inventor of the drug Kollocain, diary that we follow. A society of brainwashed and controlled people that can be reported to the police if they show any unusual behavior.
Recommended to everyone who likes classic dysopias like Huxley or Orwell. This is a must read.

I am legend - Richard Mathson
I didn't really know where to put this. Maybe you can call it a classic, at least I would say that it is in the sci-fi genre. Many might know of the film that came out a couple of years back. I never saw it but all I heard is that the book is better. Of course it is.
This book blew my mind. I couldn't stop reading it after the first couple of pages. 
I'm not going to write what this book is about at all. Open it and read. That's how you will experiences this book the best. For everyone. Young as old.

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbary
A book burns at the temperature 451F and Guy Montag works at a fire man, which means he burns up books. People don't need them any way.
Montag can't remember having any feeling really. He can't remember how he meet his wife even. A wife, Mildred that taking popping sleeping pills like candy and watches her "parlor wall" entertainment all the time. Montag can't even answer the question if he is happy. After some talks with the 17-year old Clarisse Montag starts feeling different. He saves a couple of books from the fire and says to Mildred that they should read them and see if they have any value, if not, they will burn them and never talk about again.
The other fire men found out that Montag has books and comes to burn his house down. Montag flees trying to get away from the concecenes that will happened to him if he gets caught..
Noted that the temperature isn't the right one this short book is one of my favorite dystopian books.
Exciting, greatly written and genius social critic. 

Crime/Thrillers:
How about some crime and thrillers in the winter darkness? Yes I say.

Before I go to Sleep - S J Watson
Christine wakes every morning with no memories from the last 20 years. There is a man lying next to her in the bed that she has never seen before. He tells her he's her husband  and that they have been married for many years. Christine doesn't believe him.
Christine had a bad accident which lead to this memory loss that she has.
Every morning starts like this. Then she gets a call from her doctor that tells her to read her diary and tells her where she put it yesterday. She starts to read it and write what she experiences every day. Slowly she finds out what has really happened to her.
So exciting! A page turner and super hard to put down. You just want to know how it ends. 

The Chemistry of Death - Simon Beckett
I read this book the other day and it's also a real page turner. In a small town England, Dr. Hunter works and lives. Mysterious murdered female bodies are found and the police asks Hunter to help solve the case of the the women that have been murdered in a brutal way.
It has a crime novel needs; blood, death, love and mystery.

Black Coffee - Agata Christie
A classic Christie with Hercule Poirot.
I think this book a book of Christie that not so many read. She wrote is a play and it works wonderfully as a classic mystery story.
Hercule Poirot and a friend are asked to visit a famous physicist, Sir Claud Amory, but Sir Claud has been murdered upon their arrival. The plot revolves around a stolen formula, with Poirot deducing which of Sir Claud's house guests/family members is the killer.


Young Adult:
I don't really know what to call this section or these books. They are called young adult, but I think they are for everyone.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
This book is one of my favorite books I read this year. And The Fault in Our Stars, but I get to that one later.
This book is written in letter form to the reader that teenage "Charlie" writes. He writes about school, about friends and about the books he reads. He has a pretty special mind and starts out like this shy and unpopular guy. Chbosky's way of describing the characters and Charlie's messy head is genius  Is a book that is hard to put down and really makes you care.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green
Hazel & Gus meet at Cancer Kid Support Group, both terminally ill. They start to read each others favorite books and since Hazel's favorite book isn't really finished they decide to go on a trip to Amsterdam to find the author and ask him how it really ended.
The language! The characters!  The story! I laughed, I cried but most of all I really cared for both Hazel and Gus. I like their families and in this cancer darkness they can still find laughter. How Hazel and Gus speak to each other is perfect teen and I just want to have them as my friends this second.

Have a great Christmas and New Years!
Hopefully you will have time to read a lot. 

Eat, work, read, sleep and repeat.

I think the headline says it all, because this is all I feel like I'm doing right now.
I wake up, eat, read on the way to work, work, eat, read on the way from work, eat, read in my reading arm chair in my room, sleep. Next day is the same. Repeat for five days a week. Two days sleep-ins and more reading with more coffee then usually and you have my week.

With that written, I can't say that so much interesting is happening in my life at the moment. Most of the things I spend my time with are book related. I still see friends, go to social events, write in my diary and try to sort out the mess, that feels like it getting bigger for everyday, in my head.
I'm having bad days most of time it feel like and I'm kind of struggling with a lot of things in my every day life. I don't feel bad, but I can't say that I feel that good either.
I go from feeling overworked and overwhelmed to feeling I'm not doing enough and underwhelmed. I'm tried. I'm homesick. I'm confused about most things. I'm emotionally unstable changing mood all the time.

I feel that's enough of the the workings of my inner brain. More you don't need to know at the moment. I'm not going to break or anything.
I do feel good about reading and I enjoy talking about books all day trying to find a great book for a costumer. I enjoy that I read and that I'm taking time to write more then before. Even though it might just be a couple of words a day. Some days are pages long.
I'm back in book club after a couple off month of and love it. Right now we're reading the first female Nobel prize winner in literature, Semla Lagerlöf. She won the Nobel prize in 1909 and was the first woman selected to be in the Swedish Academy, the ones that choose the winner for the prize among other things.  This years before women could even vote in Sweden. Many might know about Nils Holgersson underbara resa genom Sverige or as it's called in English The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Anyhow, in Sweden you kind of grow up talking about her and since I haven't read anything of her, except a child version of Nils, I suggested her for book club under the theme Nobel Prize winner. In our very democratic book club everyone gets to suggest book but my suggestion won. So we're reading The Treasure(1903) and I really like this book. It's a ghost story in winter Sweden; what's not to like? And it's also really short.
It also has giving me a short break from reading just books we have at work. In Swedish! And getting to talk about it for hours!

I guess I'm kind of boring at the moment.
I like spending time at home. I like spending Friday evening at 20-21 streaming Swedens hardest quiz show, På Spåret, and answering the questions I know the answer to to loud for myself while following the twitter feed about the show. I drink heaps of coffee most of the time. I always look forward to Super Sunday with brunch and friends. I like talking Finnish with my friend and mentor in Finnish, Vinski. I like drinking beer on a Thursday with Nanna when we both have frustrating days and so on.
I feel very calm most of the time and this makes me feel like I'm not doing anything which isn't really true. I don't think I do anything really that feels write-able.
I'm unsure if this is even something that is write-able or readable/interesting for you.

Since I just ate, I will now read. I'm reading about vampires at the moment (no, not Twilight) and it's getting super good 300 pages in but it might make my dreams go crazy bad so I might just read about God going fishing and coming back, seeing that earth is going to hell. After reading comes sleep. Do it you too. :)
Read well and good night. Puss. 

Ps. Anyone who can get which books I wrote about above gets so many plus points. Specially if you know both the author and the title. 

Super Sunday.

Sundays are my favorite day of the week now since Super Sunday was established.
One Sunday many weeks ago I was to lazy and tried to even try to make myself breakfast so I send a text to Fabien, asking if he wants to go to brunch. He called me up and we decided on a place.
From that week on it's been Super Sunday. It started with just me and Fabien and expanded with Nanna, Mark and Jake.

Super Sunday always starts with brunch at one of Berlin's very many brunch places. We have been to a couple so far, both vegan and meaty with veggie food. From all vegan to an american dinner and a fancy small portioned restaurant. We update each other on what happened during the week. And laugh a lot. We're such a goofs and they always make me laugh.
Jake makes limericks about everyone we know and two weeks ago we made a brunch manifest, first rule: no limericks. Jake needs boundaries. Fabien talks about economics and people at work. Mark bitches about work or talks about the science articles he has tweeted about. Nanna asks questions and talks more generally about her week. I'm, as always, talking about books which always leads to talk about work.

After we had brunch we try to do something together. I write try because even if we are able to chose a brunch place every week, we're not organized enough to find something to do after brunch a head of time.
So we end up at the movies, at Fabien's and have mimosas, at Jake's couch with beer and more food, on (a Shearwater) concert(s), playing pool, having coffee forever, hang out so long that we also get dinner together for example.
I'm guessing we will end up ice skating (so not my thing) on Sunday since everyone else wants to do it.

Sunday has because of this planed but still so unplanned day, become my favorite day. I know I will have fun. That I will have good food and that my friends are amazing. It's (almost) always an adventure too. We never know where we're going to end up which can end at running around Berghain to find the right entrance or eating Mexican food outside in November among may thing. I also like these long hang outs that are a whole day. Sometimes when I think of all the things we're done, it really helps me though the day if I'm having a bad one and makes me look forward to the next Super Sunday, like I am right now.
Sunday, please be here soon. Ich freue mich schon.

I'm sorry for not writing so much lately. I would like to use the excise that I'm busy, but I'm not to busy to spend time by a computer. I just do other things, like read (there are so many books I want to read and should read) and write my diary. I've started several post that I haven't been able to finish do to the lack of words. Or the way I want the words to come out isn't working or going the way I want. I'm going to try again. And try to be better at updating. Bis nächtesmal!

Pause machen.

Tegel is an international airport but for being that it feels tiny. Little brother described it as Bromma flyplats in Stockholm, this tiny airport for domestic flights. I think he's right about that.
As I work at this airport I've tried to find my place to have my break. There are two fancy restaurant,  a coffee place and some other places where I could sit, eat something and have my break. I don't though. There is not any vegan food to get at the airport. At all. I mean, if I could live on coffee I would, but I like food so I bring my own.
So my favorite place to have my snack/meal is on the second floor, right by the big departure/arrival sign, between the coffee place and one of the fancy restaurants I sit.
I eat and I watch the people below. Some stressed running to their gate, some are drinking a beer or relaxing. Airplane personal that come in looking all focused with their little carry on suitcases on wheels. Big groups with a guide or something that have way to much luggage, rushing to customs to get their tax free money back. Excited travelers with a big smile on their faces. Families. Backpackers.
Well dressed business men and women in the lounge across from where I'm sitting, with laptops/pads or with a phone to their ear. Confused newly arrived tourist. Walking slowly, looking around with what seems to be no goal, trying to find an exit.

I like sitting from my spot seeing them all. On the way somewhere. It calms me by seeing them all rush or whatever they do, which I always get while being around people.
Like I like to read when there is people around, at cafés for example because of the sounds of others.

I sold a non-fiction book to a guy in the bookstore that told me that he had way to much time to kill since he left the city to early and needed a book. On my break I saw him siting in the fancy restaurant below reading. One earphone in his ear and a beer on the table. Even though he was sitting down and reading, he looked stressed. His eyes lost focus from time to time. He took a sip from his beer, looked around almost nervously and I wondered what his story was. Maybe he felt watched. With all right, since I was watching him for a while.

So if you happened to be at Tegel when I'm having my break, you might as well be watched as you pass to see which gate you have to go to to catch your flight. If you see me - wave. 

1 million Euro.

I was walking to the movies with Fabien last Sunday. We talked about a lot of thing but this is what sticks with me.

Fabien: So you find a million euro bill in your pocket, right now, what would you do? GO!
Me: Eh... I don't know.
Fabien: You take a cab and pick up your good friend Fabe. Go!
Me: Yeah, I would do that. Pick you up.
Fabien: But it's right now, so I'm already here. What would you do?
Me: Eh... Probably buy something ridiculous.
Fabien: You can't. It's Sunday. ("Everything" is closed in Germany on Sundays)
Wouldn't you check in to a hotel or something?
Me: Would you go to the airport? I wouldn't. Yeah, I would probably check in to a nice hotel. A suite.
Fabien: I might go to the airport. A suite? I wouldn't do that. I just go and check in at hotels. I love checking in at hotels. I wouldn't stay there. Or maybe make a big night out and the see which hotel is closest.

This conversation lasted while we where walking from Friedrichstrasse to Potsdamer Platz (about 2km) so we said many thing that we would and wouldn't do.
I said I would buy an apartment to have some safety and not have to move around every now and then and that I would go to work the next day.
Fabien said a lot of things that he would do. Like start his own business and asked me if I would open my own bookshop.
I told him that I'm not ready to do that. I don't feel like I have enough experiences yet and I would like to learn before I start my own bookshop. He told me to that I could hire people to help me but I was still not ready to do it.
He told me that I was the most boring person for not knowing what to do with the money and that I was going to go to work the next day.

Fabien: I might buy a place in Paris and move there. Get you a job in a french bookshop where you could work once a month. So we have that settled.

In comparison to Fabien, I do sound boring.
He had grand plans. Also plans that include me.
I have nothing. Mostly because I'm so zufrieden at the moment. I like it here. I don't feel the need to move somewhere or to quite my job. I don't really want to do anything grand. I'm happy here, right now. I have plans on things to do next year and them I still want to do. I have no stress to change my life over night.
I think of this as a very good feeling; that I'm doing what I want to be doing. I'm happier then I've been before and my life here feels stable. Right now, here is so right even if I found a million euro bill in my pocket.

Happy dance.

Lately I've been coming home, running up the stairs with headphones in my ears and doing a bit of a dance when I come to my room. I have a lot of space to happy dance in.

There is need for happy dances at the moment. I had some great weeks.
When it comes to work I got a promotion after just a couple of weeks at the job. I got a raise, more responsibility and more hours. I now work five days a week and have a lot of things learn. I really love working in a book shop and my boss noticed that. I was flying on clouds when I got the promotion. There's is many things I have to learn and now that a colleague is quieting we're short staffed. Still reasons enough to happy dance.

On the baby sitting job the children and I get along better then ever. Baby sitting just once a week makes me look forward to it and we have fun. Oskar and Jonas are great and I care so much for these guys.
I did have to quite because the promotion but we still have hung out some before it's over. I have laughed so much with them and it's going to be a bit sad not to see them anymore.

Other things that are great are my friends. I have a social life that I love. My friends are awesome. All from dinner parties, b-day celebrations, brunch Fridays, art looking, cooking together and all the other things we have done recently puts a big smile on my lips.
There is so much great here in Berlin and people here just make me feel more at home then ever.
Coming home from a night out is good reason enough to do a happy dance when you hang out with the wonderfulness of my friends. They are really the best.

There has been and will be many happy dances in public and in the privacy of room. 

Fabien.

This post will be dedicated to that Aussie guy I'm hanging out all the time with. Also known as my new best friend, Fabien or Fabe the babe as Sinead genuisly nicknamed him.

About two months ago I went to a couchsurfing meeting, a späti crawl. Spätis are all night little shops that you can find everywhere in Berlin. Basically you go in there to get beer on the way somewhere.
I thought that a crawl of spätis was a good idea so I went. I didn't know a soul when I got there but since all where couchsurfers I easily mingled in the group with about 50-60 people that attended. Somewhere between a späti to another it started to rain and there in a späti in Kottbuser Tor U-bahn, I met Fabien.

The späti crawl was about to end so some surfers, me and Fabien ended up in a bar in the Kreuzberg area. Nanna joined at this point and Fabien was dead set on all of us going clubbing, so we did.
I didn't really club. I sat by a bonfire most of the night and chit chatted with people. Fabien came of as super ironic hipster guy that night but somehow I still put my number in his phone, as Jenny the Swede.

Two days later we drank wine together. He answers questions without a right answer just right. I really enjoyed hanging out with him.
After that day, Nanna's birthday week is up and Fabien was invited. This leads to an intensive week of hang out almost every day.

Since then we been hanging out a lot and I really like this guy. He can still be very hipster ironic at times but we can always have serious talks. He blabs out stuff that doesn't make sense all the time and he is probably the person I hit the most.
All is so easy with Fabien. He is smart, funny, pays attention when you speak, has a great memory and is himself all the time.
We spent four hours playing boardgames one night and all we did was laugh and Fabien calling me the worse boardgame player in the world. Which I of course hit him for.
We've drunken many beers together, been to a Jens Lekman concert, had dinners, talked about a lot and just hung out intensely. I feel like I know him quite well concerning I've just known him for such a short while.

He's also a quote machine at times.
Saying things like That's why I keep you around. You're my scarecrow. (I apparently scar the bad times away.) And If I got a cent for every time we meet we would be in some weird relationship where you pay me to be your friend.

On his birthday I showed up at his work, got into his office and sang happy birthday and had balloons with me, even though he said he didn't want to celebrate his birthday. I know that he liked what I did though. He laughed and send me a text saying that I was a good friend to have after I left.

All and all, he is a great friend and I'm sure I will write other posts about our adventures together.

Big sister misses little brother.

Tim in Berlin, 2009.

Sometimes I miss home. Or I miss my friends and family. Stockholm or Sweden I don't miss that much. One person that I miss a lot is my little brother, Tim.
The other night I was thinking a lot about him, telling my friends some stories that involved him and then I just missed him more. I took up my phone and called him.
He didn't answer and sent me a text saying Va? /What?
I call him back and this time he picks up. I tell him that I was thinking about him and that I miss him. We haven't talked in a while so I told him to call me when he can. He's the busy one going to medical school and all that.
He answered that he didn't feel so appreciated before and now that I told him he felt very appreciated. He said he would call some day soon and we hung up.

It was great to talk to him, even if it was just for a few minutes. He's the best person I know. I love him more than I can say or write.
Sometimes I just need to hear his voice so I know that he's okay. He is so big sister can chill and look forward to the next time we talk.

Canadian Dance Moves.

This has nothing to do with Berlin, but I still think people should watch Stina and Liam do Canadian dance moves on youtube. And also this song is super catchy.
I know I will swing (at least) the 'maple leave', 'the friendly tourist','the curler', 'the lumber jack', and  'skate the pond' the next time I'll go dancing. No joke.

In the song I also like:
Britain got the monarchy
The US has the money
but I know that you want to be Canadian
The French has the wine and cheese
Koalas chill with the Aussies 
but I know you want to be Canadian.

So how do do you live in this beautiful country? Well I've got some steps for you to follow.
Step one: lose the gun.
Step two: buy a canoe.
Step three: live multi culturally.
Step four: you're ready: there is no more.

This video is the greatest. Liam and Stina does a great work and I kind of want to be Canadian or at least go to Toronto.

Carrying a pallet.

Sometimes I think I'm way stronger then I am and that carrying things, big things like a 800 mm x 1200 mm pallet that weighs 25kg is something me and a friend can easily take with us on the u-bahn and transport from one place to another.This is not true, but this happened today.

I helped Rose to pack before she moved the other week. We packed up her room and she wondered what she would do with her big pallet, that she's been using under her bed, now that she's moving. The new place has a bed and she didn't want to throw away the pallet either since it's still in good shape. Someone might need it.
Do you want it? she asks me.
No, I answer. What would I do with it?
She says nothing and we continue packing. This is when I start thinking that maybe I do need a pallet. I have no idea what I should do with it, but it feels like something I should have. I know, this is weird but that's kind of how my brain works when it comes to free stuff. I just think I might need it sometime or that I could probably do something with it. Somehow someway.
And then, as I pack Rose's shoes that she has in another pallet (that she has two is just her. She's a collector of stuff. She had so much to move.) it hits me - I don't have a wardrobe or somewhere to hang my dresses. I need that pallet to hang them on. This is a genius idea, I think and tell Rose that the pallet is mine.

After that I don't think about the pallet more. We move Rose from one apartment to another and all seems good. We have pizza and beer and all is good.

Then last Friday, Rose comes up to me at the British dinner party we're at. That I went to a British dinner party is a topic for a future blog post. Rose and I chit chat for a while and then she reminds me of the pallet and wonders when I can come to pick it up. I say I will pick it up on Monday, ergo today since I will have Sinead(friend that used to live in Berlin and is now visiting for a couple of days) to help me. Easy. We can do it.

Today comes. Sinead and I get up from bed, have a big breakfast and then head to Rose's (old) place. Rose lived and still lives in Wedding, as I do, and it's not that far away at all. Walking distance really, but also just two stops with the u-bahn.
We get there. We see the pallet and it's way bigger then I remembered it. I still think this is doable. And then we start to carry it.
    For you who don't know me and Sinead, we're not strong. I have sticks as arms and Sinead is tiny. All of her. Somehow we make it down the three flights of stairs and regroup when we've made it. Rose laughed at us, glad that she doesn't have to deal with it I think.
Sinead and I talk about how we're going to do this. She has already started to complain about it being heavy and it being hard to carry. I stay positive. We can do it. Girlpower, independent women and all that. Who needs men anyway?  Or muscles for that matter? We're strong enough to do this.
So we start carrying it again. It's hard and heavy, yes, but we still do it, thinking it's not that far to the u-bahn. We make it about one or two blocks until Sinead wants a break. I agree.
We look at each other with tired eyes. I know that Sinead hates this.
Then it happened! The best thing ever happened!

As we're standing there a man walks by and asks if we want help. Before we answer he gave Sinead his water bottle and has taken the pallet on his shoulder and started to walk to the u-bahn. I blabbed out that's the way we're going and say thanks and he walks with fast steps, the pallet doesn't seem to weigh anything for him and in a few minutes he has taken the pallet down to the platform of the u-bahn. I told him on the way that we can help or if it's to heavy we can take it - no problem. He says it's not a problem and does it himself.
I thank him a lot when we're at the u-bahn. Sinead gives his water bottle back and he leaves. I look at Sinead. She looks at me. Then we say, almost scream: Det där var det bästa - någonsin! That was the best - ever!
We are so thankful that we almost are chocked that what happened just happened. We're more then happy that we didn't had to carry the pallet there and just look happy. This man looked like a building worker and if so, maybe he's used to carry heavy things, like pallets at work. We think that this man might have the best karma ever and wonder how our karma got so good that we by chance ran into this helpful and great man.

All just feels easier after that. We make it up the stairs from the u-bahn. We have a better way of caring the pallet and it's just the a little bit left until we're home and done.
I live close the the u-bahn and three flights of stairs up. These stairs worry us on the way but when we're there it goes so well. We almost run up the stairs, pallets between us. We get the pallet into my room and lay down in the bed, tried from the mornings hard work. We're sweaty and tried. We do not carry pallets all day else. We laugh at ourselves and give each other high fives, happy that we made it.

Picture of the pallet (so you really understand how big it is) will come as soon as I get the picture from Sinead's phone.

Was this, now that it's done, a good idea?
Not really, but we made it.
Will I learn a lesson that carrying heavy stuff like this is to hard for me?
Probably not. I have carried other heavy stuff on the u-bahn before and it's always been hard but I still keep doing it. Always thinking it will be a piece of cake.
Is the pallet going to come in use?
I think so. I need to get some hangers but then my dresses will be nicely hung up. I'm thinking about painting it too so it would really be a nice piece of furniture(?) in my room.
Now I don't have to work out this week. My muscle work is done, and I would not be surprised if/when I'm sore tomorrow.

Popular books.

This is a long post about books I've read for work. It's going to be about Jonas Jonasson's The Hundred-Year-Old Man That Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared and also (writing this a bit shameful) Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L James.

Since I started to work in the book shop I feel like I have to read more so I can do my job better. So I can recommend books and talk about popular books with my own words and not just what I've read or what I've heard from collages for example.
I looked at the top 10 list at work and thought about what I wanted to read. My collage Annika, also Swedish, was at the time reading The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by the Swedish author Jonas Jonasson. This book was really popular in Sweden when it came out in 2009. Everyone was reading it or at least talking about it, but because of that I never read it even though it was in the apartment. This happens to me sometimes when a book is to popular - I get totally uninterested in it and sometimes even trash talk it without reading it but reading about it. I know, it's wrong and I'm not really a literary snob like that. People can read what ever they like, as long as they read.

The Hundred-Year-Old... has become really popular in Germany too. It's on every book top list there is to find almost. Both in English and German. In Pocket Shop, where I work, it's number four at the German top list and number two at the English.
Annika had the book in Swedish so I asked her if I could borrow it after she was done. I could and I read it.
The title says what is about. It's about a Hundred-Year-Old man who climbs out of his window on his hundred year birthday and disappeared. Easy as that. You get to follow Allan, as the hundred-year-old is called, on his journey from his home until he disappears and all the turns on the way. Since Alan is hundred he has a lot of stories to tell about his long life and what he's been up to. You get to read the most funny stories about what he has done in his life. Meeting presidents, being a prisoner in Gulag and escaping, walking for years though Asia, blowing up bridges during wars and so on. It's a very different way, and funny way to read about history. Many compare it to the movie Forrest Gump (1994) which I think is a pretty good comparison. The book is of course different but it's an easy way to compare it that people that hasn't read it yet get.

I enjoyed this book, specially at the beginning when I think the stories from Allan's life are more entertaining that they are later in the book. Also the present time story I found funnier in the beginning. I laughed a lot when I was reading it. It's a funny book and Jonasson writes it in this easy and funny way so it feel like the pages are almost turning themselves. Towards the end though I felt it got a bit to long-drawn and it was kind of hard to keep my interested up for it. Circa 500 pages is, for me, a bit to long for this kind of book. Overall I liked it though.

To the next book. Yes, I know it's kind of shameful to confess but I read Fifty Shades of Gray. Everyone is reading this book(s) at the moment. EVERYONE! From teenage girls to old men. It's the most sold book in both German and English at work, and it's super popular. People talk about it all the time and so many buy it every day at work. I never wanted to read this book, yet I did. Why? I got to curious. Really curiosity killed the cat on this one. The cat being me.
This book sells so much and people are so curious. When the second book came out in German customers just turned out of nowhere super hyped about reading part two.
I get asked almost every time I work about this book. If I've read it and why people are reading it, if it's any good and so on. I've read about this book before I read it and it really has mixed reviews. Just reading the reviews on Amazon made me laugh. Some are really hating this book, writing that if you read it - you can never unread it or just writing that Fifty Shades.. is the biggest piece of shit they ever read and can't understand the hype. Others loves it and give it 5 stars and rave about it. These reviews are of course not as fun to read for my cynical self, so I didn't know why people like it.

Anyway, I was working a day when nothing was happening. I had nothing to do really. No one literary seemed to be flying that that so I picked up Fifty Shades.. and started to read. Do you know the background story to Fifty Shades of Gray?
It's a loosely based book on Twilight and was to a beginning Twilight fan fiction. It's an erotic book with sadomasochistic and BDSM sex, that got popular because it was a cheap e-book that people could read shamelessly on their e-readers without anyone knowing what they where reading. Then it spread like wild fire and got printed and now everyone is reading it. The names of the characters are changed so it's not Bella and Edward like in Twilight but Ana and Christian.

Ana, or Anastasia Steel which is her full name, is a 22 years old, smart and apparently super hot virgin.  She's been kissed like twice in her life and she hasn't really been attracted to anyone in her whole life. Possible? Really? I say no, but let's go on.
She meets Christian Gray, a 27 year old multi millionaire and owner of a big company, when she does a favor for her friend and interviews him for the university newspaper.
She's attracted to him directly and he's attracted to her.
He tries to stay away but Ana's apparently breathtaking and the most interesting woman Gray has every meet, so of course that doesn't go. Gray tells her again and again that he's no good for her, but still buys her expensive things and is totally smitten with her.
They start to have meet of course and then we come to the sex. Gray has never had vanilla sex and miss Steel has never had sex at all. They still do it, a first for both his first vanilla and her first sexual experiences every. She has, of course, never even masturbated. Yes, sure, let's just pretend that we buy that too.
Gray wants to have BDSM sex in his Red Chamber of Pain as Ana calls it and Ana wants to have a real relationship. Gray doesn't what to get to close and he never sleeps with anyone and he never makes love, he fucks hard.

So Gray sends Ana a contract for her to sigh if they are going to continue what they are doing. It's all about what she should and shouldn't do. All from eating to sex. Gray want Ana so submission(sub) to her and he being the the dominant(dom). Ana's not sure that she want to do all the things that Gray want so do, but is still curious and can't keep away from Gray and they start having (light) BDSM sex.
This is in short what the book is about. Every chapter includes sex after a while in some way. Ana being confused but blown away by Gray and Gray trying to give Ana what she needs in form of more, meaning sleeping next to each other and having an emotional relationship.

Do I get the big hype now? Not really. I now know what it's all about but the book is poorly written. It's a fast read but for me very unbelievable. I know, it's fiction but let's face it - really?
The problems I have is Ana, the whole virgin but super hot, never been kissed, never been attracted to anyone and with no sexual experience at all, become so into Gray that she, for example, gets tied to the bed while Gray has his way with her and Ana gets spanked if she rolls her eyes at Gray. Ana can't even eat when she's around Gray because he's so attractive. Come on - really? This might be what I find most unlikely.
Gray is also unreal character, this rich guy who fall for this not that special girl. He stalks her like crazy, tracking her phone and flows her when she goes away for a weekend. Okay? No, creepy I say.  Gray also never have had vanilla sex is explained by him having a sub/dom relationship with one of his mother friends for several years from the age of 15. Gray always clamming that he needs to have a BDSM relationship and that this woman saved his life when he was in a dark place. Gray is also so proper in everything but the bedroom (and other places) and always calls Ana, miss Steel or Anastasia excepted when during sex and when he comes.

I don't know there are many things about this book I find unlikely. I have experiences of a BDSM so I done some things that are written in the book, but I still find it unlikely.
I still read it in a day because I got sucked into it, just like I did with Twilight, and just read the whole thing, having to know how it ends.
This is not big literature, but I have to admit it's an entertaining book if you pretend to buy all characters and the story. The language is easy and repetitive.
Do I find it erotic? Sure, but it doesn't turn me on but I can understand if others get turned on by it. When I finished the book it was kind of a jaha? moment. So? This is it?
I don't think it deserves all the hype it gets and I can't believe that it's the fastest-selling paperback of all time and sold more books then -all- the Harry Potter books done. This is an impossible thought for me. Will I read book 2, Fifty Shades Darker? I'm not sure yet. Reading Fifty Shades... has made me have more to talk about at work so I still feel like I'm getting something out if it. Time spent well reading is also something I'm not yet sure of.

On the phone with mum.

I talk to my mum on the phone once a week for a weekly update. She tells me what's happening home and I tell her what I'm doing here in Berlin.
As soon as mum doesn't have anything to say or can't think of something more to say she says: Är det något annat du vill berätta? For non Swedish speakers that means Is there something else you want to tell me?
My mum trusts me that I will tell her if something is up or new, which I do. This is a way better tactic then my dads three questions he starts every phone call with.

1. Are you busy?
2. How are you?
3. Do you have a boyfriend?

When I write it  it looks like a joke, and I wish it was but no, that's my dad.
Anyway, back to mum. I talked to her last week. We talked about brother Tim, about other people in my hometown, about New York and so on. Then the question comes Is there something else you want to tell me?
I could easily said no, but instead I say:
- I started to live vegan.
- Vegan? What's that?
- I don't eat anything that comes from animals, like milk and honey.
- But Jennita (I have a Spannish native speaker mum so diminutive is something she uses when it comes to me and my brother) , what if you get pregnant?

That this is the question that pops in to her mind after saying I'm vegan was the least I expected. I get it. She wants grandchildren but still. Mum is a doctor so anything, any little thing that can have to do with my health she need to say something about.
I calmly explain to her that if I got pregnant, a vegan diet would be the least of my worries.
We talked some about diets, eating habits and the environment, basically mum trying to make sure I'm healthy. I kind of felt like I had do defend myself, which is fine since I have to do that almost every time it comes up.
We hung up and I know that mum told dad and he went something like Det är väl onödigt/That's unnecessary and think that I was to extreme, which he has been thinking since I stopped eating meat.
Parents. They are a special kind of people, at least mine. Tonight is the weekly update from mum. What she says today is yet a mystery.

Wedding, WGs, new job & Bürgeramt.

I've been busy lately. Reasons: moving and starting a new job.
This post will also include a visit to the Bürgeramt.
Let's start with moving to a WG (shared apartment).

I was super stressed a week or two before it was time to move, because I didn't have anywhere to live and time was running out. I went to see a lot of rooms in WGs, trying to make the best first impression I could ever make so someone would pick me. And finally someone did, for a huge furnished room in Wedding just in my price range. People that are looking for a room mate always say that they will get back to you in a couple of days to let you know if you get the room or not. Nobody those though and they leave you hanging for weeks, which for me is stressful. In the beginning I got a few rejections but continued to look for a room. I saw about eight rooms in three parts of town: Neukölln, F'hain and Wedding. Some rooms where so-so. Some where amazing, like the WG in Neukölln with 14 people living in the same apartment, everyone with their own room, and a huge living-room/kitchen area. I was there for a dinner, which was super nice, meeting people in so different ages and from all over the world.
Some where unbelievably cheap and good, that of course the ones renting it out had gotten over 40 replays on their ad.
Some I got lost trying to find. I'm apparently one to get lost in the area between Wedding and Moabit.

Anyway, I got a room in Wedding and was super happy. I didn't have to stress out about not having anywhere to live and started to pack up my room in Tempelhof.
A couple of days after that some others got back to me to tell me that I got a room in their WG too but it was to late.
I'm really happy for WG life. I don't wake up to children screaming or making other sounds every morning and sleep like a rock. I have all this space that is mine and I gotten all my stuff in order and like it a lot here.

Next part: new job.
I got a job at a book shop in the Tegel airport. Pocket shop the book shop is called and is a Swedish company. They have 70% German books and the rest 30% in English. We are eight people working there. A mix from Swedes and Germans.
My first day was last week and some days before I was pretty nervous, but on my first day I was well rested and felt good about starting there. The first day went by fast and I got a lot of praise from my new collages and my boss. I had a great time. I like working with books and on the English section I'm a good seller. I, of course, read more in the English section so it's easier for me to recommend and advice costumers there.
I helped a 14-15 year old american girl the other day. She was a big reader so we talked about books we both like, I gave here some books to chose from and she choose The Book Theif by Markus Zusak. A really great book by a great author. 
I like this, helping people to find a book or two to have on their way. I think this job is just perfect for me.
Wedding is just eight kilometers from the airport so it's biking distant, which is just how I like it.

Now to the last part: Bügeramt.
Bürgeramt is the place you should go to to register your address in Berlin when you plan to stay, a so called Anmeldung. Then you get a piece of paper saying that you have an (permanent) address and then you can get a bank account or a library card for example.
I have never bothered with this even though I know I should have. By now I should have gone to four different Bürgeramt (ever part of Berlin has it's own) to register my address all the times I've moved. I haven't because I heard you have to be there early and wait for hours to get the piece of paper that I've never needed. Until now. Because I have a job that doesn't pay cash, I need a bank account, so I finally did it.

The Bürgeramt in Wedding opens at eight in the morning and only have open for "spontaneous" visitors on Monday. Else you need to make an appointment and there is at least two weeks waiting time to get one.
So if the Bürgeramt opens at eight, you should be there at eight right? WRONG!
You should be there before, at least an hour before they open to stand in line to the number machine, so that you will have a chance to get in and get helped.
I got up at six in the morning and was at the Bürgeramt 06:45, which was good because round 07:30 the line was so long that it went outside of the building. I heard stories about people waiting for hours and not getting helped before the Bügeramt closed and therefore had to come back several times. Also about the persons working there have been rude and not really willing to help in anyone. Specially if you don't speak German.
I was pretty scared and had two books with me, just in case I had to wait a long time. Thinking about what to say in perfect German.

At 07:45 the number machine starts to give out numbers so I stood just by the machine waiting for an hour. I got number 15 and the line never ended. There was 170(!) people waiting when the Bürgeramt opened. At 08:20 I was helped, I filled all the needed paper work before and had my lease to the apartment with me. Ready to do this. It took about five minutes and then I had this Anmeldung paper in my hand and left the other 100+ people waiting and went home.
This was so painless that I almost thought I did something wrong, but since I had the paper in my hand I was just happy to have made it.
Now I officially live in Berlin. I got a bank account and I registered myself as living abroad to Sweden. I feel very official and ready for an other year in Berlin.

Today it's one year ago I moved to Berlin. It's been mostly a great year and I hope the next one will have many adventures in it. 

Swimming in Berlin.

Summer has come to Berlin so the last two weeks has been swimming weather, at least on an off. I've been super warm biking around in Berlin with a over 25 degrees heat, so it has been the right time to go swimming.
Berlin has no sea and the Spree isn't really good to swim in but instead there are lakes. So far I've been to four different ones. Krumme Lanke, Wannsee, Schlachtensee and Plötzensee. The three first are all in Zehlendorf, west Berlin reachable with S-bahn and U-bahn. Plötzensee is in Wedding with a couple of minutes walk from the U-bahn.

Nanna and Rose goes running a couple days a week somewhere around Mitte/Wedding and invited me to come to a after run swim in Plötzensee with them. I didn't run but I biked there so I was warm when I came there. Plötzensee has a beach that you can pay a couple of euros to get into. There is also the other side of the lake, with no beach but still swimming possiblei. This side of the lake was where we where. It's nice there but it's not beachy. Best for a quick dip. I didn't really like it to hang out, even if it's possible to sit in the grass close to the lake.

I work a day and the sun was shinning outside so as soon as I got off work I called Jake and asked if he wanted to go to a lake with me. He did so we biked to Krumme Lanke. It's about 15-20km to Krumme Lanke from Tempelhof and with Jake's new bike road map we found it pretty well. It took us about an hour to get there.
Zehlendorf/Dahlem is a part of Berlin I've never been in before and it doesn't look like the Berlin I'm used to at all. There are huge houses with many floors, nice parks and all that doesn't feel like Berlin to me. It felt like we left town by being there. It was a wonderful bike ride. We took the small streets there and saw so much of Berlin that we wouldn't else. When we got to the lake it was great to jump in the water and swim away the sweat. Krumme Lanke is a mixed beach (well, there isn't really much to call beach but you know what I mean) so some are nude and some are in bathing suits. The water is nice but it didn't feel like a beach because you lay on the grass close to the lake. I'm used to sand beaches, or at least rocks like it is in Sweden.

Last Sunday was the warmest day so far in Berlin with over 35 degrees. That's weather you just want to be in water in. I woke late, meet up with Fabien and went to Strandbad Wannsee together where we where meeting up with Jake. It took us forever to get there (do to lake of orientation), and when we came there we couldn't care less about the 2 euros we had to pay to come in. It was full of people unlike the other lakes I've been to, on the long sandy beach. We quickly changed to bathing gear and ran into the water being way to sweaty on our way there. There even a slide in the lake that we went on. It was wonderful! We meet up with Jake and spent the rest of the day there, until the beach closed at 20. This felt more then weird for me. I can't see any beach close anytime in Sweden and that they give you a 30 minute warning in the loudspeakers feels so German. It's time to gradually get dressed. The Strandbad is closing soon.
 It was an awesome day and I liked this beach the most so far. If you want to go there I recommend taking the S-bahn to Nikolassee and walk from there. It's closer then the S-bahn station Wannsee. Bring own food and drinks is also a tip since they of course overprice the food and drinks at the beach.

Schlachtensee I visited on Monday. Max invited me to come there with some of his friends I and biked there. I got lost some times, even if I decided to take the big streets, so it took me about an hour and a half to get there. The S-bahn station Schlachtensee is just by the lake, so it's really easy to get there with public transport. Biking an hour and a half is the best thing to do when your coming to the lake. The water can't be to cold because you are so warm. I met up with Max and we walked to the others. Schlachtensee doesn't have a beach either. There is spots right by the water to sit by rocks and dark sand or something, I don't know what to call it. Even though this wasn't a sand beach I really liked it. It's big so it's easy to find a place for one self if you don't want to share a place by the lake. I feel like I can't write anything about the water, really not in the lakes before either, since I've been so warm every time I got to the lakes, but I think I would remember is it was crappy water.
The weather was a bit unstable so it was both rain and sun, which made me not stay that long. I didn't want to be rained on, at least not much, when I was biking home. I like it though.

I'm a big fan of water and lakes and I could return to any of these lakes again. Now I will find them better it would even be easier. Wannesee I like the most but it feels like a whole day thing going there while the others are more easy to get to and quick dip is possible. Specially Plötzensee, since I hang out much in that part of town.
I hear things about Müggelsee and Flughafensee, and I hope the summer will be long enough so that I have time to go to both. More Sees or bathing places are welcome.

An update.

Time flies as they say.
What have I've been up to lately?
I've been roller skating in Tempelhof, sat by the Spree drinking beer with Nanna, seen They Live by Night (1949) at movie night, eaten a lot of veggie burger, fallen of my bike leaving my legs blue with bruises and my bike a bit messed up, attended a random slumber party at Mark's, feared Germans and drinking games at Benjamin's b-day party, overstayed my welcome, swam in Plötzensee, been to a vegan bbq, learned how to hula hoop, read and written unbelievably little, searching for a room so I have somewhere to live in September, explored Tempelhof with Jake, been to couchsurfing meetings, seen five short and three long silent movies by and with Buster Keaton, being awfully tried while having to much on my mind that spins like a loop, gotten confused by the book The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, sang while biking, been to two sitcom (can you call Futurama a sitcom?) nights, taking care of one year old Jonas and so on.

Kind of same old, same old it feels like. I just work days at the moment so nights off is kind of nice and I'm doing more now. Active myself. Also when you hang out with a one year old for some hours a day you're kind of dying to be with people that responds when you talk with them. Jonas is cool and an easy child to take care. We have a lot of fun but it's not like hanging out with someone you could have conversation with.

I've gotten my languages a bit mixed up lately also. This is very uncommon for me. Since I was a child I've been good at keeping the languages I know apart. I use my Swedish less and less, and it feels kind of strange at times. I even think less in Swedish.

When I realized this I started to listen to Swedish music and (of course) ended up listening to Säkert! on repeat for two days straight, singing along to the lyrics. While doing this I found myself wondering how her song would be in English, translating in my head. Then I found out that Säkert! has translated a couple of her songs to English.
They are kind of translated word by word and it's pretty easy to see it's a non native English speaker that has translated the songs. Idioms are directly translated even if they do not exist in English for example.  It made me think of the blog post I helped Peter with about Swedish Pop Music and Säkert! could definitive be an other example, even though I don't think she is so big outside of Sweden yet. (She has a English artist name Hello Saferide which is popular outside of Sweden).
I thought I would share a song, the same song in Swedish and English. It's one of my favorites, called Influensa in Swedish and The Flu in English. Favorite line in the English version: You must believe there's something epic in you. Enjoy.

Love in Berlin.

Last week I got asked by two new friends how love is in Berlin.
Both times I looked all confused hearing this. Not knowing what they wanted to know.
They of course wanted to know how dating is here and if I'm in a relationship.
I answered that I don't know how dating is here, since I haven't been on a date for a long time. I also said I'm not really interested in my love life at the moment.
Erwan, new friend number 1, laughed and said that most people are. I didn't answer.
Anna, new friend number 2, asked if I wanted my freedom since I don't have a boyfriend. I half nodded, but didn't really know how to answer that, since I never felt un-free in any of the relationships that I've been in.

You can ask me a lot of stuff about Berlin like bars, clubs, parks, vegan restaurants, second hand stores and so on but when it comes to dating I have no clue how it works here. I would say, in my experience, that I Sweden only dated people I've known pretty well before dating or already decided that I want to be with the person before we started to date. We, at least me and my friends in Sweden, don't really date. We hook up and then maybe start to hang out.

Here in Berlin I've been a bit reserved when it comes to dating. Reason: stalkers.
I know this sounds weird but the last guy I "dated" never stopped calling me wanting to meet all the time. The last guy that I didn't know and gave my number to called me 12 times in two days. Not okay.
This was some time ago though so I wasn't really worried anymore. Until very recently.
I'm looking for a room in Berlin for September. I got invited to see a room in Neukölln, so I got to the apartment and meet the guy who was living there. It takes about three seconds for him to start hitting on me and saying that I can move in tomorrow. He asked if I had a boyfriend and said that if I didn't want the room he still wanted to meet me again and soon, the same night.
Here I was to nice for my own good. I didn't say either no or yes. I should have just said no and have it over with. This guy texted me shortly after I left and wrote that I had verzubert (bewitched) him and that he wanted to see me again. I didn't answer.
So he texted me later again, called me the next day and emailed me a couple of times. This is not okay and I've made it stop. I might be a stalker/creep magnet, and if that's true I will not be dating anytime soon. I will at least think twice before giving anyone my number from now on.

So apart from creeps and weirdness, I have nothing to write about dating in Berlin. There you have to ask someone else. I'm sure others have better experience to share then I do.

Silent movie festival - Buster Keaton.

Right now in Berlin is the silent movie festival happening at the Babylon theater, this year with Buster Keaton. They play a short movie and a longer one about three times a day until the 29th of July.
All the movies are accompanied by a pianist playing during the movies. I was there last Sunday with Jake and Mark and we all laughed like crazy people. The pianist that time, Neil Brand, has the last 20 years been playing the piano for silent films. I heard him on the radio the other day, and he said that he doesn't watch the movies before he plays because he rather improvise to get the best feeling across. Brand was amazingliny good. I can't believe that he improvised about 90 minutes of silent film and made it really fit very minute of what we saw on the screen.
This is something I recommend to everyone to do. This is something you can't really do at home and the whole thing is an experience worth it.

I like silent movies, and back in Stockholm I used to go to all the silent movies that Cinemateket, the old movie theater showed. Or at least all the ones I could, and they where always accompanied with a pianist and sometimes also a violinist. They mostly showed Chaplin and Keaton, and Keaton has since then been my favorite of the two, even if I've seen more Chaplin then Keaton movies.
I'm overly happy that my last boyfriend was a cinefile and made me get into old movies, not only silent ones. 

I will go back to the Babylon tonight with a group of friends and I would love to live at the theater and see every movie until the silent movie festival is over. That would be awesome.