While there is a strange twisted element of joy when I’m writing pages and pages of bitching, the horrible bureaucratic period has ended and I no longer feel the same resentment toward Berlin. In fact, I’m feeling quite the opposite (just as everyone probably expected).

On April 6, I met with a graduate student in the Americanistik department to discuss my studies. I was still reeling from the horrible experiences I had in the days prior, so I was looking forward to just talking about what I should expect for the future. I didn’t have a lot to say or ask, I just wanted to get my bearings and make sure I had someone to turn to if I got overwhelmed. I hadn’t anticipated how sweet Manuela would be, and she even too me on a tour Kreuzberg, including visiting an old hospital that was converted to an art gallery. It was right next to where the wall used to be, and it was really cool and somewhat eerie to imagine being a patient in that hospital and being able to see the wall from your window.

This is me, leaning against a strange nose man painted on the wall.

Manuela!

A few days later, I got crepes at Anna Blume with my friends Katie and Jake, who I met through Kustos “cultural training”.

Katie and Jake with what's left of their yummies

Mmmmm it was delicious. And sooo pretty, I wish I had gotten a picture of my plate before I devoured it. Guess I’ll just have to go back. Darn.

Last Sunday, I had my first German flea market experience at Mauerpark with Jake and our friend Pierce (whose name isn’t actually Pierce. But we’re trying to make Pierce stick so I can’t spread around his real name). It was the coolest thing. I see myself going back every single week (I went again today). Here’s a little taste of the experience:

Feather sweater.

This jacket is my new wardrobe staple. Not kidding.

Jake cheesin' in his new jacket

Pierce in a kickass coat. It was unfortunately not purchased. :(

There was also a little beer garden type thing with a sand pit and beach chairs, so of course we grabbed some brewskis and Wurst and lounged at the end of it all.

Classic Pierce.

Man, I feel like this post was super boring. To be quite honest, I did a bad thing by waiting so long to post because the emotions of each day are a bit difficult to recall. Hopefully something exciting will happen in the next couple of days so I have an excuse to write another post. The problem is, the events that affect me the most are always the simplest. Eating doners and drinking beer on a bridge (“the cool people bridge”) with Jake, having a nice breakfast with Julie and Micha, emerging from the U-Bahn station with Katie and always getting lost despite thinking we know exactly where we need to go. These things are my absolute favorite. But at the time, they don’t seem picture-worthy, and I have a hard time explaining what it is that makes me so happy, so it’s difficult to write a post about it. Hopefully I’ll be able to capture the feeling in writing at some point, so I can look back on it.