once you go Barack...

It’s taken me two days to fully recover from
Tuesday night’s celebrations; I can only imagine
what the atmosphere is like back home and in the US.
In Berlin’s city center, hundreds of Democrats
gathered to watch the election at the Babylon theatre.
When that sold out, the rest of us congregated
at a bar down the street and when that closed at 3am,
we rallied to watch the results projected
on a screen outside the theatre.

Our entourage included people from around the globe,
united in our support for Obama, drunk on his success
as the votes rolled in. At 5 am, when his victory had been
announced by even FOX news, we didn’t want to go home
and the day after we couldn’t tear ourselves away
from articles, news coverage and discussions
rehashing this historic achievement.

I have heard lots of mixed feelings about Obama since
being here, they seem to have a love-hate relationship
with him, unsure of what his presidency would mean
for European-American relations. For one, during his
somewhat contentious speech given here in the summer,
he eluded to the fact that he’d expect a higher European
presence in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, the general feeling
here since Tuesday has been one of genuine delight and relief.

The expats we have met feel like they can finally be
proud to be American, a sentiment echoed around the world, I’m sure.

I am not naïve enough to think that change can happen over night, but watching his victory speech brought tears to my eyes and corny as it may seem, hope to my heart. We will see what the next few months and four years bring, but right now let us rejoice in this momentous event.

craigslist scams

Our first attempt at finding a flat almost had us wiring 350 euros to this woman, Caroline, who claimed she was out of the country. After we sent the money, she would send the keys. She even went so far as to tell us she was a 'God fearing' woman and would never rip us off. By creating a fake email address and posing as another potential renter, we caught her in her scam. Since then, more than a dozen others (including Caroline again) have tried to get us to wire money (using the same emails, word for word). Lesson learned, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Below is her initial e-mail, had the high-lighted part been there to begin with, perhaps we would have been a bit more skeptical.


Hello,

Glad to know that you have interest in renting my flat. For now I
would not want to disclose the exact location of my flat for some
personal reasons.My flat is a 2 bedroom flat fully furnished and very
beautiful.

I have just recently moved to Africa, Nigeria precisely on a
voluntarily mission with a non profit organisation I have been a
voluntarily worker since last year assisting people and since I left,
my apartment has been empty and
this could be bad for the furnitures and other items
in the locked flat if they are not used.

For this reason I will be renting my flat to you just for your
monthly budget. It includes everything you need,
a fully stocked kitchen, Internet,
electricity, gassheets,towels, and other miscelleneous expenses
Unfortunately I wont be able to show you the flat as
I have left with keys of the flat with me
and the flat is currently locked since I have traveled.

Well I want you to know that the flat is well furnished just the
the way I left it, it is clean and needs no repair of any kind
and I hope you would take good care of it. But you would have to make an upfromt payment for the first month of the rent, please be informed this initial deposit will be deducted from the house rent.

After which I have received the upfront payment I will send down to
you the keys to the flat and other documents of the flat so you can
move in at your own time.

I await your reply soon,
Caroline

working gal

After months of being a woman of leisure, I have decided to buckle down and look for work, actually I don't have a choice. I'm happy to report that within a week of sending out 2 applications, I had two interviews and two offers. I am back in the system, I have a job! (See below for position I accepted).

I know most of you think I'm a nerd for being excited about work, but this fall when I saw all the kids and their new Spongebob Schwammkopf backpacks, I missed school. I missed being the biggest person in the room, I missed knowing all the answers and I especially missed getting sick on a regular basis (although on a very happy note, no seasonal allergies in Germany for me.)

The interview was like nothing I was prepared for in Canada- I had to teach a sample lesson to 26 kids, then have an hour long interview with the principal, curriculum developer and a parent from the parents committee. Isn't that great? They actually care about the credentials of the people they hire, instead of guaranteeing a job to anyone who completes university and sticks around long enough to get a tenured position. (Teacher friends, this comment is not directed at you, but you know what and who I mean!) .

BERLIN _____________ School is looking for a primary school teacher

• starting January 2009
• mother tongue English, preferably with some knowledge of German
• with a primary school teaching degree equivalent to the German “Staatsexamen”
• with teaching experience in the age group 5 to 8 (years 1 to 4), preferably in mixed-age groups
• subjects: English, topics/environmental studies, social learning; teaching experience in physical education, music or arts welcome
• willing to contribute to the organization of a newly founded primary school on the basis of the school concept

home for the holidays

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I know I just started this blog all about my adventures in Berlin, but I also just booked my tickets home and I'm really excited! The prices are unbelievably high around the holidays, so I booked the best deal...

I'll be flying into New York on the 13th of November for about 6 weeks. I leave the 31st of December from NYC too, so I'll be celebrating 2009 with a bottle of airplane wine in seat 11f, hopefully beside a giant football player! Beat those New Year's plans!






Autumn along the Spree river

back in berlin

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This summer, a trip by land and sea through Japan, Russia and the Baltic states brought me back to Berlin, the city of my early childhood. After a 26 year hiatus, I am here looking for a job, an apartment and something new.

When you first arrive in the city, you aren't struck by an incredible skyline or flashy architecture but there is a certain charm to it that makes everyone who comes here fall in love with it. The clubs and cafes, the people, the rowdy football fans, the history, the small neighbourhoods, the abundance of live music and the bike paths are all part of why I'm here. But there is more to it than that.

It's exciting to not understand everyone around you and to have to learn a new language by completely immersing yourself in it. After a short train ride (choose any direction, any time) you are in another country with different food to taste and a new language to massacre. Flights to Moscow, Barcelona and Dublin are 30 Euro each. Quebec city and Ottawa are fun and all, but I've seen enough tulips for a life time!

It's true that I have no friends here but that's why God invented Skype and airplanes. There is an Ultimate community that I've yet to tap into because I can't understand when they meet, but that will sort itself out. There are plenty of people on Craigslist who are looking for strictly platonic friendships and most don't seem creepy at all. There is also a young expat crowd (mostly artists and freelancers) who organize events around lonley newcomers. Plus I'm not ready to have a baby and that seems to be a theme back home these days! Hopefully Lucas will find work too and stick around so we can form a couple cocoon and each be the only person the other one knows (see the my next posting entitled " How to Slowly Kill a Relationship". )

All kidding aside, I think this is going to be an incredible experience (there will be tears!). Stay tuned...