On Friday Joseph and I went to see Prophecy of a Nameless Eskimo at the English Theater Berlin, previously known as Friends of the Italian Opera. The venue is what its name says, a theater dedicated to theater productions in the English language in Berlin. It shares an address with Theater Thikwa, and the entire complex, due to its address being Fidicinstrasse 40, is known as F40.
If you want to do a dinner-and-theater evening but do not want to splurge much more than you have to and/or are short on time, then I would recommend ordering some lasagna from the neighboring Imbiss Wasserturm, a hole-in-the-wall-esque cheap-eat stop located at Fidicinstrasse 43. There's another restaurant if you're approaching from the direction of the U6 subway line, and probably some others earlier on, but there isn't a huge abundance near the theater, and quite honestly I was very happy with my veggie lasagna from the Imbiss. Joseph ordered the one with meat, and it was quite yummy, too, and the whole thing only costed, what, €7,00 or €7,50.
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Prophecy of a Nameless Eskimo is set in the future when the earth becomes overpopulated, and supposedly in order to make sure the natural resources are not rapidly drained and allow for posterity to thrive, one must submit to death duty. Each month the social security numbers of thousands of people are announced, and they are given a three day span to either kill themselves or find someone else to mercy kill with a good reason as to why. The protagonist, Norah Proud, has her number called and utterly refuses to mercy kill another, which utterly frustrates Grace, her lover. At the same time, she knows she must live according to the visions she has, where a nameless Eskimo is her sole companion, and tells her that she is the one to find the truth behind this sinister scheme.
While I was not exactly satisfied with the ending, I would still recommend it for the drama that leads up to it, as well as the humorous display of weapons available to the public for a humane death, whether it be one's own or someone else's. The story also manages to draw in the relationships that Norah and Grace have with their respective families, which not only deepens each character but also brings up questions about love and loyalty in the most dire of situations. It probably will bring some unpleasant thoughts to mind, such as one's own willingness for self-sacrifice for complete strangers and if one would actually mercy kill because of a grudge, but pondering upon such tough questions can be a good thing at times. And it's not as if this fictional scenario would actually come into being (right?).
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The bus is your friend
Unlike in many cities I've been to where you more or less have to memorize the full bus schedule if you want to know where you should get off, Berlin - and other cities in Germany - has buses that include a visual display and a clear audible announcement in German. By the time you get to the terminal stop there will be an accompanying announcement in English along the lines of "this line terminates here". There are also English announcments when you are approaching a stop where you can connect with buses and trains to the airports. Moreover, the city transit authority also has a very nice website that you can use that tells you exactly what you have to do to get to where you want to go.
With an extensive and much faster subway system, buses seemed unnecessary, but one definite advantage of the bus is the ability to enjoy the scenery, and a lot of it. Berlin is flat enough that rarely do under- and overpasses enter the equation, and while the U- and S-bahns can run over or under, unless you're on the S-lines that run east to west through the center you probably won't see much.
But of course, an even better reason to get on the bus is that since it makes such frequent stops on less traveled routes, it is worth the wait if it allows you to avoid the undesirable terrain in those hard-to-reach places. Moreover, the winter is not only depressing but cold as well, and what better means of traveling a short distance quickly is there than the bus? Ok, yes, there are bikes, but as bike-friendly as Berlin is on the whole, the winter is not.
That previous paragraph may seem a strange juxtaposition, but allow me to explain:
Last semester I was taking courses at the TU Sport building on Dovestrasse, and I was coming from the area near the Zoologischer Garten station. The route I took lead me into Ernst-Reuter-Platz where branches out to Otto-Suhr-Allee, where in the winter the creepies come out to play. No, that's not their official name, and quite frankly I'm not that curious to find out what is. Then on the intersection of Otto-Suhr-Allee and Cauerstrasse (which then becomes Dovestrasse and then Helmholzstrasse without giving much of a warning) is the Scientology Church, whose building actually reminds me of a really big Barnes & Noble. You get an idea of what Germany thinks of Scientology, as every other big church in the city is marked on the maps, but this one isn't.
Whether the creepies and the "church" are related, I'm not sure, for I try to cover this stretch as quickly as I can with the least amount of incidence. My hunch is that they are, for I've walked along other streets branching from Ernst-Reuter-Platz, and they're all just fine. In addition, my most recent encounters with them were in front of said establishment. Eeeee!
The creepies I refer to are these people (or really, just this one woman) with a clipboard who comes up to you, and rather than asking you to take a survey, donate money, or test out a product, ominously inquire, "Haben Sie Angst?" ("Are you afraid?!) By the way, the correct answer is 'no', even if it's not the truth (for which I can't blame you).
Perhaps now that it's nice and sunny nearly almost everyday and not past sunset the way it was in winter from the 17:30-19:30 stretch when I would be out, I could just take the bus when I'm feeling too lazy for a 15-minute walk, and I usually am. But boy do I wish I knew about the bus I take now way back when.
So remember, the bus is your friend. The BVG is, too, even if it doesn't always act like it.
With an extensive and much faster subway system, buses seemed unnecessary, but one definite advantage of the bus is the ability to enjoy the scenery, and a lot of it. Berlin is flat enough that rarely do under- and overpasses enter the equation, and while the U- and S-bahns can run over or under, unless you're on the S-lines that run east to west through the center you probably won't see much.
But of course, an even better reason to get on the bus is that since it makes such frequent stops on less traveled routes, it is worth the wait if it allows you to avoid the undesirable terrain in those hard-to-reach places. Moreover, the winter is not only depressing but cold as well, and what better means of traveling a short distance quickly is there than the bus? Ok, yes, there are bikes, but as bike-friendly as Berlin is on the whole, the winter is not.
That previous paragraph may seem a strange juxtaposition, but allow me to explain:
Last semester I was taking courses at the TU Sport building on Dovestrasse, and I was coming from the area near the Zoologischer Garten station. The route I took lead me into Ernst-Reuter-Platz where branches out to Otto-Suhr-Allee, where in the winter the creepies come out to play. No, that's not their official name, and quite frankly I'm not that curious to find out what is. Then on the intersection of Otto-Suhr-Allee and Cauerstrasse (which then becomes Dovestrasse and then Helmholzstrasse without giving much of a warning) is the Scientology Church, whose building actually reminds me of a really big Barnes & Noble. You get an idea of what Germany thinks of Scientology, as every other big church in the city is marked on the maps, but this one isn't.
Whether the creepies and the "church" are related, I'm not sure, for I try to cover this stretch as quickly as I can with the least amount of incidence. My hunch is that they are, for I've walked along other streets branching from Ernst-Reuter-Platz, and they're all just fine. In addition, my most recent encounters with them were in front of said establishment. Eeeee!
The creepies I refer to are these people (or really, just this one woman) with a clipboard who comes up to you, and rather than asking you to take a survey, donate money, or test out a product, ominously inquire, "Haben Sie Angst?" ("Are you afraid?!) By the way, the correct answer is 'no', even if it's not the truth (for which I can't blame you).
Perhaps now that it's nice and sunny nearly almost everyday and not past sunset the way it was in winter from the 17:30-19:30 stretch when I would be out, I could just take the bus when I'm feeling too lazy for a 15-minute walk, and I usually am. But boy do I wish I knew about the bus I take now way back when.
So remember, the bus is your friend. The BVG is, too, even if it doesn't always act like it.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Monday's are bad, even when I'm not there.
Apparently, missing one day of work can bring lots of surprises. I come in to work and one colleague tells me I'm going to Hamburg when I'm not even in the country, and another one tells me I have to confirm an account online for an experiment session I didn't even realize I had for experiments I didn't know I could do. But after dealing with this during the first half of the day, my advisor came in and cleared things up, and while I won't be going to Hamburg (although my samples will), I will be doing some pretty neat supplementary in-situ stuff :-)
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For the Englischer Stammtisch today, Bohnengold, the bar on Reichenbergerstrasse 153 in Kreuzberg that doesn't in fact have a sign (maybe we just call it Bohnengold when it's really something else) has closed for refurbishing. It seems everything is closing for refurbishing. The local (and perhaps only one in Berlin) hot pot restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg and Volksbuehne are also currently revamping.
I was thinking of ordering a peppermint tea today, which in fact consists of peppermint leaves soaking in hot water, with a touch of honey, but figured that with everything that I seem to have to catch up with in one day, I should probably go for something more sugary.
The bar the Stammtisch moved over to a bar around the corner with the sign Bier aus eigener Produktion, or "Beer from one's own production" roughly translated. I don't drink beer to begin with, but instead went for a (schwarze) Johannisbeereschorle (black currant juice + sparkling mineral water). Ah yes, it did the trick when it finally kicked in about an hour later. Until then, I was feeling pretty hirntot, and while conversing with a friend in German, I kept getting distracted by the nearby English conversations and losing my train of thought. In my last post, you may see that I haven't been having much luck with trains of any sort this week (and it's only Tuesday...or Wednesday if you want to be nitpicky).
What was quite neat and made me happy, in addition to seeing a lot of new people, was that I finally got to meet the new girlfriend of a friend of mine! We tried to meet up twice, once on Walpurgisnacht and then later on May 1st, but both times failed. But at last, an encounter! And she's cute! She's born and raised in China and came over to Germany since she figured that if she's going to study German literature, she might as well do it here. It was my first Stammtisch where I ended up conversing in three languages, and while my German vocab is far superior, I could concentrate more easily on speaking Mandarin. I don't know, but this whole encounter just simply made me happy :-) Or maybe it was just the juice. (Or perhaps even the coffee I had earlier. I don't usually drink that stuff, but today I needed it quite badly. Joseph argues that it's the placebo effect, to which I replied by mentioning that I dumped more than the amount of sugar legally allowed in coffee, and that placebos are sugar pills anyway.)
Eventually we all moved into the bar as it was pretty cold, and it was quite pleasant. Joseph and I wanted to stay out initially because of the smoking indoors, but we eventually gave in due to the cold, and I think everyone was about done with the cigarettes at this point. The interior, albeit small, is quite cozy, and I particularly liked the movie-theater-style seats towards the back. That, and there was no background music, which was great. It seemed to be the first time in a while that my throat hasn't started hurting from talking over some foreign acoustic drone, and while I am still fond of Bohnengold (they'd better be refurbishing the place with new cushy seats), I really kind of liked the new locale.
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For the Englischer Stammtisch today, Bohnengold, the bar on Reichenbergerstrasse 153 in Kreuzberg that doesn't in fact have a sign (maybe we just call it Bohnengold when it's really something else) has closed for refurbishing. It seems everything is closing for refurbishing. The local (and perhaps only one in Berlin) hot pot restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg and Volksbuehne are also currently revamping.
I was thinking of ordering a peppermint tea today, which in fact consists of peppermint leaves soaking in hot water, with a touch of honey, but figured that with everything that I seem to have to catch up with in one day, I should probably go for something more sugary.
The bar the Stammtisch moved over to a bar around the corner with the sign Bier aus eigener Produktion, or "Beer from one's own production" roughly translated. I don't drink beer to begin with, but instead went for a (schwarze) Johannisbeereschorle (black currant juice + sparkling mineral water). Ah yes, it did the trick when it finally kicked in about an hour later. Until then, I was feeling pretty hirntot, and while conversing with a friend in German, I kept getting distracted by the nearby English conversations and losing my train of thought. In my last post, you may see that I haven't been having much luck with trains of any sort this week (and it's only Tuesday...or Wednesday if you want to be nitpicky).
What was quite neat and made me happy, in addition to seeing a lot of new people, was that I finally got to meet the new girlfriend of a friend of mine! We tried to meet up twice, once on Walpurgisnacht and then later on May 1st, but both times failed. But at last, an encounter! And she's cute! She's born and raised in China and came over to Germany since she figured that if she's going to study German literature, she might as well do it here. It was my first Stammtisch where I ended up conversing in three languages, and while my German vocab is far superior, I could concentrate more easily on speaking Mandarin. I don't know, but this whole encounter just simply made me happy :-) Or maybe it was just the juice. (Or perhaps even the coffee I had earlier. I don't usually drink that stuff, but today I needed it quite badly. Joseph argues that it's the placebo effect, to which I replied by mentioning that I dumped more than the amount of sugar legally allowed in coffee, and that placebos are sugar pills anyway.)
Eventually we all moved into the bar as it was pretty cold, and it was quite pleasant. Joseph and I wanted to stay out initially because of the smoking indoors, but we eventually gave in due to the cold, and I think everyone was about done with the cigarettes at this point. The interior, albeit small, is quite cozy, and I particularly liked the movie-theater-style seats towards the back. That, and there was no background music, which was great. It seemed to be the first time in a while that my throat hasn't started hurting from talking over some foreign acoustic drone, and while I am still fond of Bohnengold (they'd better be refurbishing the place with new cushy seats), I really kind of liked the new locale.
Monday, May 11, 2009
From Budapest to Berlin, Without Love
Apparently, Monday's not a good day for the Deutsche Bahn either. Germans are stereotyped as ueber-punctual and very strict. These characteristics apply to their train system, which is extremely reliable, well organized, and quite clean. Unfortunately, today was not their day, and it definitely was not mine.
After seeing my mother off at the train station in Budapest last night, I got onto my train heading to Munich at 21:05, arrival time 6:15 this morning. At 6:00, no one in my couchette cabin except for me was awake; as it turned out we were experiencing a ca. 75 minute delay.
I originally had a connection from Munich to Berlin at 7:20, but by the time I got there it was already gone (apparently, that one was running on time). If things worked out the way I wanted, I would've arrived in Berlin at around 1:30pm, so obviously it was going to be a while.
I changed my ticket at the Reisezentrum for a train at 8:22, which was great! Except that the train was still in the station at 8:40, and then came the announcement that "der Zug ist kaputt," which was carried over by one of the passengers as perhaps the Lautsprecher was kaputt, too.
I got off the train and ended up befriending an Albanian who was on his way to Dessau, but was heading in my direction to a connection in Leipzig, so we finally got on a train that left at 8:55 and got to Nuernberg at 9:50. When we went to the Reisezentrum to get a reservation for the last train (my last, his second-to-last) to Berlin/Leipzig, it was too close to departure time to make seat reservations, but the train wasn't fully booked so there was hope.
And hope there was (kind of) as the seats reserved for physically handicapped passengers were empty, and none had come throughout the ride. Unfortunately - and how could this day go without one last delay - we were still delayed by 40 minutes. He missed his earliest connection to Dessau by about 20 minutes, but I think he could take care of himself. In the meantime, I finally got to Berlin. Except it was already 15:40. And I needed a shower badly. No work for me today!
After seeing my mother off at the train station in Budapest last night, I got onto my train heading to Munich at 21:05, arrival time 6:15 this morning. At 6:00, no one in my couchette cabin except for me was awake; as it turned out we were experiencing a ca. 75 minute delay.
I originally had a connection from Munich to Berlin at 7:20, but by the time I got there it was already gone (apparently, that one was running on time). If things worked out the way I wanted, I would've arrived in Berlin at around 1:30pm, so obviously it was going to be a while.
I changed my ticket at the Reisezentrum for a train at 8:22, which was great! Except that the train was still in the station at 8:40, and then came the announcement that "der Zug ist kaputt," which was carried over by one of the passengers as perhaps the Lautsprecher was kaputt, too.
I got off the train and ended up befriending an Albanian who was on his way to Dessau, but was heading in my direction to a connection in Leipzig, so we finally got on a train that left at 8:55 and got to Nuernberg at 9:50. When we went to the Reisezentrum to get a reservation for the last train (my last, his second-to-last) to Berlin/Leipzig, it was too close to departure time to make seat reservations, but the train wasn't fully booked so there was hope.
And hope there was (kind of) as the seats reserved for physically handicapped passengers were empty, and none had come throughout the ride. Unfortunately - and how could this day go without one last delay - we were still delayed by 40 minutes. He missed his earliest connection to Dessau by about 20 minutes, but I think he could take care of himself. In the meantime, I finally got to Berlin. Except it was already 15:40. And I needed a shower badly. No work for me today!
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