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12:11 pm
Neukölln, Berlin (at our new flat)
(See bottom for new personal information.)
So obviously we’ve moved. The last month has been so busy, just hasn´t been time to really send updated info. There is a fascinating feature about our short move. Although we´ve moved but merely one metro stop, we actually live in a different country. We used to live in west Berlin. Now we live in the outskirts of Istanbul. Go figure that such a short distance could make such a difference, but it does. Berlin actually has so many faces, there are many cities within her. There´s the really conservative, rich part with big houses and lots of gorgeous old trees (e.g. Dahlemdorf, Charlottenburg), old city centers (dating anywhere from like 800 years back), modern city centers (Potsdamer Platz), major tourist attractions and national monuments (Brandenburger Tor), lots of foresty parts, hipper/dirtier ‘in’ centers where there is nightlife all over (Prenzlauerberg), white areas, Turkish parts (Neukölln) and artists (Kreuzberg).
Did you know that Berlin has long been the third largest Turkish city in the world? It´s even the home of the ´´Döner kebab´´, not Turkey as most people think. The Turkish people here form an interesting stratus of the city. They function in many ways as the Latinos (often Mexicans) did in California a few years back. They of course fill a much needed level of jobs that most of the longer term residents (Germans and western Europeans) don´t want to do. They also add a lot of flavor (not only in their tasty cuisine) to life here in Berlin. They are louder, more alive, wear more colorful clothes and have a uniquely different passion in comparison to the Germans. Many people believe the latter to be most beneficial for the German culture. The women can often be spotted easily with their head scarves. The younger girls are very modern with loud outfits and rhinestones on their scarves whilst their grandmothers wear the traditional everyone-looks-alike, wool or cotton dark grey/blue robes down to their feet. It´s hideously plain and not attractive, although it does cover their large figures as well as everything else except their face and hands. These older women are such a contrast to their German counterparts who wear modern clothes with brightly died hair. It is very common to see a normal German woman (even business women) who has very bright red or orange hair. In the U.S. these colors are generally reserved for punks, rockers and the lot, but here they are quite common for all women.
Unfortunately I can´t really say I like living here so much. It’s OK since it’s only for a couple of months, but really not a move upward. Our old flat was so comfy, in a nice neighborhood (the exterior of the building was beautifully ornate with blue and white decorations), familiar and, well, home. When we were supposed to move I ended up re-triggering a neck injury incurred whilst teaching at a home school several years back in Kauai. It makes me sad to think that it’s not back to being how I want it still, and I had to spend several days in bed. By the time we moved it was a bit rushed, I caught a cold and was generally kind of drained. Joel (and Sebastian) graciously did all the lifting, but the move left me feeling like I don´t really know where everything is. Plus, since we´ve moved to Istanbul, the neighborhood is so obviously poorer. The building was falling apart so they started to renovate it. So, now it looks better but I must endure constant pounding as they hull out the insides of half the flats and fix the exterior. They start at 7-7.30 a.m. five days a week, and later on Saturdays. Even as I write I have had to hear this pounding for hours already, and as one team of workers in front are on lunch break, I can try to hide from the pounding from the crew at the back by closing all the doors in our long apartment.
The inside of our flat is actually quite nice. We have a balcony with flowers overlooking a kindergarten play area with lots of big green trees. This place has 3 bedrooms, but one is for storing stuff. The nice couple who own it travel a lot to Africa and thus have the place well decorated with lots of interesting stuff they kindly are entrusting to us whilst they run their hotel and another set of apartments down the street. The most interesting feature of the house is the window between the bathtub and the kitchen, so if I want to be served food/drink whilst I take a bath, no problem! Like almost all German (and European) flats the entrance goes directly into a hallway and each room has a closeable door from this corridor (except one at the end of another room). Apparently this is a popular thing to have and some people find our American design a bit funny, since you cannot close the door to the kitchen when you cook. I couldn’t really see the need for a closeable kitchen when one Argentinian / German private student pointed this out to me. She and her German friends apparently find it really weird that we don´t care if our cooking smells (i.e. onion and garlic) drift into rooms where they could be absorbed into fabric (i.e. couch). OK, each to their own………
Outside of our flat there is a noticeable difference. The streets are really old cobblestone. (Oh gosh, it´s like an internal organ milkshake if you ride your bike on them!) All over Berlin there are squares of dirt where the large trees grow. In many parts of the west there are lots of people who use this small space on the side of the sidewalk personally to plant pretty flowers and mini gardens. It´s so sweet. Not only is it amazing to me that no one vandalizes these spaces, but that they will go to so much effort and expense to beautify the city! (One very odd fact is the since most people who live in tall apartment buildings have no garden, some people rent out garden space across the city, so when they are going to do gardening, they actually have drive a car or ride the bus to get to their gardens.) However, here in our neighborhood there is no one who does this, the sidewalks are more narrow, and there is (like most of Berlin) dog shit on the sidewalks.
So we are far enough from the U-Bahn/metro lines that we must ride bikes to get to them on our longer journey to work. Since it is getting hotter (I am happy to report that the weather is finally nice, sunny and hot but not too too hot!) I wear a lot of skirts and dresses. After catching a couple of them in my greasy bike chain I started wearing shorter skirts. This is quite normal in most of Berlin as the Germans are a traditionally very open culture famous for its love of nudity. However over here in Istanbul I totally stick out riding a bike (something good Islamic girls aren´t supposed to do), wearing a tank top and short skirt. Yet, they Turkish people are very polite about it and don´t stare like they do in other countries.
Yet, we are happy to have a home, a beautifully stocked organic kitchen, and a place to organize, rest and of course watch the world cup when we are ready for a cigarette-free-zone! And it´s getting cozier all the time………….
Till next time, love,
Timory
Mobile (cell) # is the same: 49 176 2554 3326
(this is the best way to contact me.)
New address and home phone #:
Address:
Timory Koch
Pflügerstr. 19
12047 Berlin
Germany
Home phone:
international code + 49 30 61309030
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