Spring has Sprung! Alas, only in the confines of our centrally heated apartment.I’ve been buying lots of flowers, not only to brighten up the place and because they’re so bloomin’ (why yes!) cheap here, but because I imagine that their timely death acts as a sacrifice, which pleases the weather spirits,  who will ultimately grant us The Warmth. One of my favourite ‘floral bunches’ is the cherry blossoms, which you buy as a heap of boring-looking sticks with tiny buds, but which gradually bloom into very lovely delicate flowers. Not merely pretty, but also makes me think of an episode of M*A*S*H in which the team are all huddled around outside, on a clearly freezing cold day, whilst Radar unveils a cherry blossom twig to ceremoniously mark the first of spring (which has been raised in a hot-house). Much like Frühling in Deutschland. We’ve seen the first of spring by the calender definition, and also by the more scientific ‘somewhere near the 20th of the month’ definition, and, I have to say, that at minus …

I’ve been ‘visited’ by a nasty cold which has seen me miss the majority of work this week in favour of fevered fetal huddling. Luckily for you, this post does not revolve around disgustingness that has been fermenting in my poor  lung… instead: Physical human guests of an invited type. James came to stay with us at the start of Feb., which was perfectly timed, as Andy was becoming increasingly bored of being a Hausmann. Possibly not as great for James, who’s kindness we abused by getting him to carry a washing machine from our friend’s cellar to the brand new apartment (to add insult to injury, we then couldn’t work out how to use the thing in time for him to do a wash before moving on). Similar enforced roles included hefting a footstool that we found on the side of the road all the way back home, cooking several Jamie Oliver style feasts, and even putting together the Ikea pots and pans needed to make the meals. Yeah, we’re pretty much the worst …

On Saturday, after living in our new Wohnung for about 5 or 6 weeks, Andy and I finally got around to having a flat-warming party. I may have ended the invitation with: Please respect our culture, and remember that the traditional housewarming gift of Australia is the presentation of small live kitten(s) to the Man of the House. Which explains this: and this…  and even this:  but does lead to some confusion when considering this:  and also this: EXCELLENT!…. It all gave me great amusement, especially the way everyone solemnly presented their cat related items to the HausMann! I should note that the mouse is actually a cat toy, which is filled with catnip, so presumably we can just put it outside for a few hours and the kittens will come to us? In a similar vein, Marta, Magda and Kris also gave us some cat grass (photo now with bonus fingerpuppet!): (Cat grass in a CAT POT!!, very good show!) Here’s what was in the kitten bag- hopefully not at all related to cats (although there were …

This post, powered by Ditsch. For all your recommended daily intake of saturated fats, and so much more: And by delicious sugary buttery things with crumby shortbread stuff on the top! But for the fear of litigation, I would suggest this is The Breakfast of Champions… On with the story. Last weekend we went to an art gallery, called the ‘me Collectors Room’ in Berlin. We actually planned to visit a couple of galleries- but the majority of places we saw in the area were more ‘private spaces for selling (overpriced?) art’ as opposed to perusal places. And the other legitimate location was in the process of moving premises. The Cheek! But it was a sunny day, so the wandering around didn’t do us any harm Some may even suggest that it was TOO sunny. It’s Berlin- so there’s plenty of free art everywhere, but I’m still super glad we committed the 3 or 4 euros to get into the gallery.It was… strange.In an awesome way! I think this guy, situated at the entrance, set the scene …

(Next time, more exultation!, more head tilt, less clothes). In what I can only assume is a snub at Certain People for trying to break my Spring is Coming Spirit (‘Spring doesn’t start until the 20th of the month ChickenCounter’), the 2nd and 3rd of March were, at least at intervals, gloriously sunny. Because of this, and also because a certain someone had to digest his magnificently large weekend helpings of sausages and Ditsch, we went a-walkin’. There’s a park that bounds the Havel river just near the Potsdam Hbf, and it’s filled with plants and and children and ducks and play equipment and sculptures… Also hipsters: … And tricksy trees that look suspiciously like wattle from a distance: But are almost more Grevillia-y on close. The combination of the bright yellow and the blue sky is the most Aussie sight I’ve seen in months!  Although the hat and scarf are a bit of a give away that we are not in the Sunny Southern Hemisphere. … We saw people fishing:  .. and a giant throne, clearly designed …

Several weeks ago now, the lovely Mercedes took us to see Orpheus in der Unterwelt. When we were growing up, my sister was obsessed with Greek mythology, so I felt pretty well acquainted with the concept of Orpheus: a man with a musical talent, who manages to woe the King and Queen of the underworld into giving him back his dead wife. (Christian Gottlieb Kranzenstien Stub: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxicmppBsj1qbhp9xo1_r1_500.jpg) Of course he screws it up, and loses his wife forever. Happy endings are for Disney. In any case, this was.. not that Orpheus. But it was absolutely fantastic. It’s technically an ‘opera bouffon’, and played out very much as the name suggests- with a mixture of the operatic and the slapstick/farce. It began with a man (Orpheus) and woman (Eurydice) stuck in a loveless marriage. (Note- I couldn’t take any photos, but all the ones below are taken with the same main cast, scenery and costumes) http://www.operanews.com/uploadedImages/Opera_News_Magazine/2012/3/Reviews/InReviewBerlinOrpheehdl312.jpg She’s busy having an affair with a Shepherd, who, naturally, is actually Pluto, the god of the underworld. http://www.klassik-in-berlin.de/bilder/opern/sto-orpheus1658-600.jpg Also naturally, he has a slightly …

It’s the 24th of Feb., and the weather forecast to the end of the month looks relatively mild. Mild of course means in the high minuses (or low minuses? I’m not sure how counting negatives really works)… and seems at this time of year to come with the disgustingness of Sleet- the worst infliction of the heavens’ upon the people. Snow is cold, sure, but most of the stuff this winter has been fluffy and delicate, and dancey (I think I’ve already abused Tchaikovsky enough previously in creating this image.. so if you’re not getting the image you must go and scold your parents for raising you in a deprived environment featuring an absence of ‘Fantasia’.. and then go and watch Fantasia… obviously). Sleet is more of a ‘going straight for the eyes with tiny pinpricks of frozen pain’ type of monster. Nonetheless, what with Nature’s current plan of things, I don’t think I’m being overly foolish or chicken-counting in asserting that:                               …

Complete with Andy modelling… (*warning: rather dry post for those not caring about the intimacies of our living space) Welcome to the visual tour of our new Wohnung: You come into the apartment, to the Flur… you can see in this photo the front door handle sticking out to the very right hand side. The current view is through to the kitchen, with the photographer’s back to the bathroom. I’m kinda in love with that little chest of drawers, which we also got from the Spanish people. The shoe rack and big corner plant are from the Kaufland, and the shelfy thing that the plant is sitting on, and the baskety things that the ivy is in we found on the side of the road. Germans seem to really embrace this ‘trash is treasure’ concept: unwanted items are put outside for others to pick up. Last night I saw one of those portable clothes racks and the night before a pair or rollerskates! Going into the kitchen: (here you can see the edges of the …

Apart from the obvious: All kinds of wurst; Cabbages in their infinite varieties including juice;101 uses for a potato; Pork and the delicious smoking thereof; Socks with sandals (seriously- my supervisor is loving this look);and, according to our ‘secret blogger’; dogs in stores, Germans have another ‘secret’ obsession. Germans. Love. Kangaroos. It’s possible that I have some sort of confirmation bias/Baader-Meinhof thing going on.. but I have to say, I’m  pretty sure there is a LOT of Kangaroo based stuff going on here. If you were to divide the occurrence of kangaroo insignia, over the probability of every finding an actual real kangaroo in the country, I’m going to put my money on Germany coming out the winner (or maybe a close second to Austria, who has that whole ‘we-are-not-as-cool-as-Australia-no-kangaroos-in-Austria’ chip on its shoulder). And I know it’s an exotic. And I know that the idea of perpetually sunny Australia is enough to make Winterlanders froth at the mouth (as a side note- we have a 37 degree room in the institute for growing bacteria- I’ve started replying to the ‘it must be nice …