The search paid off

I am no longer flat hunting! Just yesterday I got the keys to my new flat and I expect to have moved in by Sunday.

I'm moving to a cosy little flat in Friedrichshain that might be a bit smaller than where I live now but instead it's in a more lively neighbourhood and it's closer to work.

The flat hunt that led me to this flat was rather short lived. And yet again an add on Craigslist was all worth it. Which proves that even though there are a lot of scammers on Craigslist, it shouldn't be ruled out in a search for a place to live.

But I am certainly not planning on moving again before January where I'll either find something more permanent or go back to Denmark. I know I said it before, but this time it's going to last, I hope :p

Flat hunting .. again

Just as I thought I was all set for the rest of my stay in Berlin, I find myself flat hunting again. I got the news that I had to move again just as I had started to feel at home in my Weissensee flat and had finally started to get settled with my new routines. As I've mentioned before, this flat was supposed to be it. This was where I was supposed to live until January. But quite unexpectedly my subletter has cut her travels short and has returned to Germany after only three months abroad.

I've have been flat hunting for around two weeks now, but only seriously for about five days and I have a couple of leads already. During the next week, I am going to two viewings and I have already had a look at another flat this week. So I am pretty hopeful and rather confident that I will find somewhere else to live and I am counting on leaving my current flat during the next couple of months.

Although, moving again certainly was a part of my original plan, I am staying positive and hoping that this will lead to something good and maybe even something better :)

Ich lerne jetzt Deutsch

So it's about time I post an update. I've been a little preoccupied lately for reasons I will return to in another post, another day.

For now, I am going to focus on my improving German skills. I've been going to Sprachenatalier twice a week for the last four weeks now. So far I'm liking it. And even though it's slow progress with a lot of repitition, I feel like I am getting something out of it. I understand more of what's going on around me and I am getting a basic understand of the language. Of course it's a huge advantage being a native Danish speaker, since so many aspects of the two languages are similar. In one area the two languages differ greatly, though, and that area is grammar. But since languages (albeit not the German language) is my profession I don't find the grammar that difficult, at least not yet. We haven't gotten to me complicated parts yet, but so far so good :)

So all in all, I must say that I am very satisfied with my choice of language school. And who knows, one day I might be able to blog in German :p

Tourist in Berlin

This Easter my parents came to visit me here in Berlin. With them came the opportunity to do some sightseeing. Not that I haven't had the time to do it sooner, it's just not the same when you do it alone. So anyway, I spent parts of my Easter as a tourist. Here are some photos to document my experiences ;)

A Sunday afternoon in Weissensee

This afternoon, I took a walk around the neighbourhood (which yes, does include a small lake). The sun was out most of the time and even though it was a bit windy it was it was great walk! Spring in Berlin isn't bad at all :p

Here are some photos from my trip:

Pretty, pretty flowers!

These pretty daffodils are currently decorating my Berlin flat :)

After 4 years of living with a guy that claims to be allergic to daffodils, I am finally able to buy these lovely things. To me daffodils are an essential part of spring and not having been able to buy them have maybe not been torture, but it certainly hasn't been nice. Because look at how pretty they are :) 

So that's at least one positive side effect of living apart. Now I just have to remember to clear the flat of these yellow flowers before Mr boyfriend comes to visit ;)

Life as a commuter part II

As mentioned earlier, I was not used to commuting before I moved to Berlin. Which of course means that I have no grounds for comparison. I have however made some observations that I find odd and even a bit rude.

Commuters in Berlin generally behave well. They wait to get on the bus, tram or train until everyone has gotten off, they offer their seat to the elderly and so on. But there's one thing I find strange. It might just be me that has a different idea of good public transport behaviour, but I think it's only natural when sitting in an aisle seat and the passenger in the window seat gets off to move to the window seat. This way other passengers wanting to sit down won't have to crawl over you to get to the seat. But apparently that's not how it's done, at least not in Berlin. Everyday, I see people having to squeeze past other passengers to get to an available seat.

An other thing that I have noticed is that no one seems to want to vacate their foldable seat when it's gets crowded. Doing so would free up some space and make room for more passengers. Plus it can't be all that comfortable to be seated while everyone in your imidiate vicinity is standing rather close.

I'm not saying that commuters in Berlin are bad commuters. Because as I mentioned before I don't know how commuters behave everywhere else. I'm merely making an observation.