Meine Wohnung

I haven’t even blogged about where I am living yet! Let’s rectify the situation.

I have rented a room in mid-sized apartment near the Alexanderplatz, a major city center in the region formerly known as East Berlin. I live here with Katja Lehmann, a 27-year-old student of economics and English, and her reserved, long-haired cat, Maußi.

Now this wouldn’t be any kind of an apartment post without a picture of the actual building—a cool old blocky structure, built by socialists, for socialists. Your typical apartment-dweller would have to actually bundle up (it’s about 40 degrees here), go downstairs (I live on the 7th floor), and cross the street to obtain such a photo, but luckily for me, I have an identical model right outside my window:

And another one right next to that!

And yes, there is a fourth version of this same building next door to me, so we have a perfect square of perfect squares. And yet, for all its planned economy regularity, the whole complex is not oppressive or boring, just…orderly. These buildings are refreshingly frou-frou free and big without being monumental; though very much planned out with a T-square in hand, these are still human structures. The big trees on the boulevard help as well. Oh, and my building is actually a pleasant minty green instead of industrial grey.

Now for a quick photographic tour of the joint:

Here is my room. It is much larger than I expected—apparently when Germans use the word “cozy,” they mean “homey and comfortable,” not “incredibly cramped”—with all the furniture a man could ask for. There is also a television, which I should probably try to watch sometimes for the language practice.

The living room, with tulips. The winter here has been unusually long, cold, and snowy, and the spring is off to a rough start—a sudden sleetstorm came out of nowhere just now, for example—but one can still buy fresh flowers at little stands and markets all over the city.

The frustratingly tiny kitchen. This apartment has three spacious bedrooms and a nice big living room, but for whatever reason the kitchen is the size of a shoebox. But it is a kitchen and the appliances work and the table is stable, so I can’t complain.

Maußi remains mysterious. She is one of those cats who seems just barely here on earth, as if she exists mostly on some other plane. I don’t know if she is in contact with spirits, or working for aliens, or like tuned in to the worldwide communication grid, but she is clearly operating on more information than the rest of us. She doesn’t like to be touched anywhere besides the head, and even ear-scratches are strictly off-limits if Maußi hasn’t formally petitioned for an ear-scratch. We’re still feeling each other out, but we have had a couple of nice sit-n’-pet sessions.

OTHER THINGS:

A view of the Alexanderplatz in all its well-lit nighttime glory. The blue glow on the left is a huge electronics retailer, the blue glow on the right is an elevator down to the U-Bahn (subway), and the red glow in the back is a massive mall.

A view out the front door of the study abroad center where I have been working through a German course with my 40 or so fellow students. The building with the big HOW LONG IS NOW mural is full to the top with squatters, mostly artists peddling their wares. There is also a bar and a theatre. The other night I made my way up to the top floor, where a the painter Alexander Rodin, 60 year old Italian man with a full beard, was drinking red wine, playing youtube opera at a very high volume, and singing along in a booming baritone. I bought a print of one of his huge, intricate, very bizarre paintings.

P.S.: NERD ALERT: I have started writing down new German words I encounter through during the day. When I get home I look up the definitions and make flashcards to study on the train.

Today's list:
surgeon--der Chirurg
psoriasis--die Schuppenflechte
well known--wohlbekannt
befogged--benebelt

P.P.S.: I have too many photos to display them all here. Maybe I will set up some sort of online photo album in addition to this blog. Will update as the situation develops.