28 November 2011

USA vs. Deutschland: Practical and Cultural Differences

Silver Future, Neukölln, Monday Night       

It's Monday evening, just after 7, and I'm sitting in Silver Future, my favorite queer cafe in Berlin, sipping a mixbier (light beer with lemon and sugar) slowly, trying to kill time until I go to the Sandmann around 9 pm to meet Annette and Sara, two of the artists I ocassionally model for.  I've got some studying to do for my German class and a hat to finish, but I thought I'd make another list first.  This one is:

Practical and Cultural Differences: How Berlin is Different than the San Francisco Bay Area
 
1. Alcohol is not taboo in Germany.  You can go into a Spätkauf (convenience store), but a beer, open it in the store and walk down the street drinking it.  You can also ride the Bahn with an open container. No one cares.  Surprisingly, things don't get too out of hand.  Folks are, for the most part, responsible with their drinking in public (comparatively.)  I think I could live here for 20 years and the thrill of walking down the street with a completely visible open container of alcohol would never wear off.
2. Dogs may ride public transit unmuzzled.  People are expected to take responsibility for their animal companions in public.  Can you imagine?

3. Police, Ambulance, and Fire Engine Sirens sound different

4. You don't get free plastic bags at the Supermarket. You are expected to bring your own bags to the grocery store.  If you forgot, you can buy a plastic bag for a few Euro cents.  The exception to this is the many Turkish groceries around.  They will put your things in plastic bags for free.

5. You have to request ice in your beverage. That's right! Whether it's water, OJ, or Cola, you must specifically request that you want ice or you don't get any!  The exception may be McDonald's, but I haven't been to a McDonald's in Deutschland, so I don't know.

6. You cannot buy baking soda in the grocery store.  You can buy Back Pulver, which is a combination of Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and maybe some salt or sugar.  But pure Baking Soda, called NatriumHydrogenCarbonat, you must buy in an Apotheke (pharmacy.)  And it ain't cheap!  It's sold for health problems and also cleaning.  Lately, it's really helped me with stress-related stomach issues.

7. One is not expected to smile all the time.  I have heard that many people find this disconcerting, but I love it.  People don't expect you to be happy all the time and they don't smile at you if they don't totally mean it.  I love this.

8. You can get cash back for your beer and soda bottles at the grocery store.  You can collect all your glass beer and soda bottles and take them to the supermarket, put them in a little machine, and get a reciept that you take to the cashier and then you get money!

9. The majority of smokers use rolling tobacco, not pre-rolled cigarettes. The smoking culture here is very interesting. Some people have fancy little kits of rolling tobacco, papers and matches or a lighter that they tote around with them.  Folks will ask each other for a cigarette and then they have to sit there and roll it.  Conversations start.  It creates more sharing, I think.  You have to think about how much tobacco you need to get through the day, week, etc instead of just looking at the number of cigarettes you have and then deciding to share or not share.

10. You can get better food for less money.  I love the visible drinking without societal shame.  I love not feeling a societal pressure to look happy when I'm not, but possibly my absolute most favorite thing about day-to-day life in Berlin is that food is CHEAP!  Fast food, like McDonald's and Burger King are actually relatively expensive, but when you can go to the grocery and a few days worth of food for 7€ or less, that's a good feeling.  Meat and fish can be expensive, but vegetables, cheese and eggs are relatively cheap.

and finally,
 
11. (This list goes to 11.)  Fresh bread is easy to get, and just as cheap, if not cheaper, than packaged bread!  At Lidl, which is an inexpensive chain grocery in Deutschland, the actually make the bread there (I think) and you can get it while it's still warm.  And it is CHEAP! A little roll (called a schrippe) is 0,15€. A loaf of fresh bread with sunflower seeds all over it is just over 2€.  Incredible!  Mmm, bread!
I did not take this picture.  I ripped it off of some webpage.  I keep forgetting to take my camera to the grocery store.  But soon, I promise.  Americans, prepare to be amazed.


If you think my observations are inaccurate or want to add your own observations, I would love to have your thoughts in the comments

27 November 2011

Fact or Fiction: Six American Stereotypes about Germans

TV Tower with Menacing Clouds


I've been in Berlin awhile and have decided to stay.  Life has normalized itself and I have switched modes, from a traveling troubadour to a struggling artist and language student.  Though I still can't understand a lot of what is being said, my Deutsch is generally good enough to get around (get directions to a place, find what I need at a store, ask how much something costs, etc.)  I have begun to ask people working in cafes and bakeries to speak to me in German instead of English.  (Berlin is very accommodating to the English speaking world.  This is a good or a not-so-good thing, depending on your perspective, but I'm not going to get into that now.)
I really enjoy making lists, so I thought I would make a few!  The following is a list of stereotypes that Americans have about Germans and whether they are (in my experience) Fact or Fiction.  Coming soon, cultural differences you wouldn't think about if you weren't here

And now:
American Stereotypes about Germans, Fact and Fiction

1. The trains run on time
Fiction. While the Bahn system is quite reliable in Berlin, it is quite often that the S and U Bahn will be a few minutes late.  Also the buses, while more reliable than the SF MUNI, seem to show up when they want to.  It is always around the time they are scheduled, but they may be a few minutes early or late.  The night bus, which runs all night during the weekdays after the trains shut down, really tends to have a schedule of it's own that has not so much to do with any printed information.

2. The German language is harsh sounding and ugly.
Fiction. While the German language has many sharp consonants and uses a few sounds we don't use in the English language, I actually find the Deutsch language gentle.  Of course any language is going to sound harsh when it is spoken like this:
 

4. Germans are always on time
Fiction. Oh, the falseness of this.  Again, I can only speak of Berlin, but in my experience, the German people in this city have only a slightly more rigid idea of what it means to be on tme than they do in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Then again, I don't know anyone with a 9 to 5 office job here, so I may be wrong.  But to my foreign sensibilities Berlin seems a very relaxed place.


5. Germans have no sense of humor
Fiction. This is a very common stereotype that is simply not true.  Not one little bit.  The German sense of humor, much like the British sense of humor, is dry and somewhat satirical  Then again, a lot of downright silly.  I know a lot of Germans who have a terrific sense of humor.  This country has a long history of clowning and comedy.  One of the great German comedians, Loriot, recently died, but here is a sample of his work:
 

6. Germans are rude and unfriendly.
Fiction. German culture is direct.  Many Americans may mistake this directness for rudeness; however this is simply not the case.  Rudeness, to me, implies a sort of judgement, while directness is simply the easiest way to say what you want to day.  An example of this would be this morning when I brought my friend his laptop.  He was in his bedroom and the computer was on the kitchen table, resting on a piece of bubble wrap.  I neglected to bring him the bubble wrap as well.  While one of my American friends might have said, "Can you get the bubble wrap as well?  It keeps the computer from overheating because the fan is on the bottom of the machine," Robert said, "Oh, no.  This is wrong.  I need the bubble wrap also because otherwise the computer gets too hot." And he pointed to the vent on the bottom of the electronic device.  

A month and a half ago, I would have felt scolded.  (I am occasionally still overly sensitive to this cultural abruptness, but I like it.)  But my friend was not judging me, he was just explaining my error and why the padding was necessary.

Traveling really forces one to look at their stereotypes in a critical manner. I suggest it to everyone.



22 November 2011

German Class at the VHS (Deutschsprache Kurs auf die Volkshausschule)

I started my language course, Deutschsprache A1 (beginning level German) at the Volkshausschule yesterday.  I was really excited.
Yes, the class is 4 hours long and begins early in the morning 5 days a week. This will not deter me.  I am a good student and I really want to do well.  I need to learn these basics in order to start talking to people.
I take the S41 to the U8, walk a block and a half, and show up early and ready to learn.  There are maybe 14 people in the class from all over the world.  a guy from Scotland, someone from France, a girl from Macedonia, a few other Americans, Spanish, Portuguese, a Kiwi.  An international crowd.  I can't tell if anyone else is excited.  But I am.

The teacher is 15 minutes late.  He is tall, thin, wears glasses, needs a haircut, and seems to lack any sense of joy.  The humor he does have is backed by sarcasm.  He is bored with his job.  He wanted to have a prestigious, tenured position at a Universitat in Berlin.  He wanted to translate great literary works, to have a few freshman who would bring him fruit, flirt with him, make him feel important.  Instead he is teaching beginning German and doing by the book, teaching old-school style out of a tired text book.
Our workbook, Schritte +1, is as drab as the teacher, with canned dialogue that we read aloud.  Here is a brief sample:

-Firma Teletee, Iris Pfeil, guten tag.

-Guten Tag. Mein Name ist Khosa.  Ist Frau Söll da, bitte?

 -Guten Tag, Herr...
-Khosa. 

-Entschuldigung, wie ist Ihr Mane?

-Khosa.  Ich buchstabiere: K-H-O-S-A. 

-Ah ja, Herr Khosa.  Einen Moment bitte... Herr Khosa? Tut mir leid.  Frau Söll is nicht da.

-Ja, gut.  Danke.  Auf Wiederhören. 

-Auf Wiederhören, Herr Khosa.

 
 All I can say is LANGWEILIG!  (Boring!)  And did I mention the guys sitting on either side of me both have the jimmy-leg?  (Jimmy-leg:  This unconscious jiggling of the leg that seems isolated to the male gender.  It's a sort of fidget.  Who knows why it happens?  All I know is it is a bit disconcerting when one is surrounded by it.  Like a mini earthquake just for me.)
I think this class is useful to a point, but the instructor doesn't correct our pronunciation or let us talk enough.  It's all book work.  Although I do need basics.  My next step is to find a native German speaker does not speak much English (good luck in Berlin! Everyone speaks English here!)and wants to trade practicing English and Deutsch.
I will make it happen.
Language should be fun.  True, it is a giant, but it can be an enjoyable giant. I am currently working on translating the original "Mack the Knife" (Die Moritat von Mackie Messer) into English (the literal meaning of the words, not the American lyrics) then memorizing the German, looking at the English and translating it back from memory.  After I finish this I think I'll pick a monologue by Bertolt Brecht or Georg Büchner to tackle and go through the same process.  Theatre and song are the way I learn other things, so why not German?

I have heard there are some very good teachers at the VHS.  I, unfortunately, did not get one of them.  But I will tough it out.  Bored instructors have never sopped me from learning.

18 November 2011

Sprache, Technical Difficulties, My Beautiful Life

I am getting pretty weary of speaking only English.  Still, I see my progress.  I travel at a snail's pace, put I travel nonetheless.  Language is a giant, a mountain I must climb.  I am finally to the point where I realize that nobody minds speaking English with me, but my life will be much easier if I start to speak Deutsch a little better.  Last night I was in a room with Robert and three of his friends.  Two of them spoke very good Englisch.  One was French and fluent in German but spoke very little Englisch.  She started speaking to me in Deutsch, very slowly and simply and nobody helped me.  It was fabulous!  I spoke with her!  I tongue stumbled.  I was not eloquent.  But I spoke and she understood me.  A small triumph.
I begin Deutschsprache kurs on Montag at 8:30 am and I am SO EXCITED about this!  I feel that a little formal coursework will help me a lot!
I have been dogwalking, working as a life model, and even working as an overnight nanny in order to machen das Geld und die Miete zahlen! The overnight nanny gig was intense but somewhat rewarding.  The child, a very sweet 2 year old, was still 2.  Heard of the phrase "the terrible twos?"  The little girl's favorite words were "No," and "Mine."  Mostly "No!"  But we had a great time, full of face paint, the spielplatz (playground), eis, und storybooks. 
I am almost done gathering all of my paperwork for my visit to the Auslanderbehörde.  I have been using this page as a guide and it has been really helpful.  All that's left at this point is to print out a few pages and buy some health insurance.  I don't think I can technically buy the insurance until I have a Visa, but I have paperwork from an insurance company saying that they will insure me when I have my Visa.  We will see if this is enough. 
I have begun work on a new performance piece, not sure what it will be like, except that I will use some text and movement.  But that's all I know so far!  Beginnings are exciting!

My external hard drive with all my media and back ups on it stopped working yesterday.  It still shows up in my disk utility but refuses to be repaired.  It's not the end of the world, just the end of my itunes until I figure out how to transfer the music from my ipod back onto my computer.  Luckily it's Western Digital, which they have in Deutschland, so I can most likely get a replacement drive.  I still have the HE documentation from Berlin on a mini-dv tape.  And I have most of my important documents in google docs as well as on a hard drive in America.  So it's annoying, not tragic.  Still, this disruption of my fragile world is distressing.  Robert thinks he may be able to recover my files for me.  Everything will be okay.

I guess I have been here for a while, because I don't take my camera with me everywhere anymore.  Still, I am due for a photo expedition sometime soon.  All of you who read this deserve some photos, right?  
Asia is on her way over for some theatre work, so I guess that's all for now.  I'm glad to have a new collaborator.  Still, I really miss Eve and the way she would snap at me, "Harvey!"  and then everyone would laugh...
Eve, Me, Robert, outside Sandmann on Reuterstraße

09 November 2011

AdSense, gross or necessary?

For those of you that read my blog, I just added Google AdSense.  I'm not sure whether to feel disgusted about this or not.  I intend to keep up this blog proect, post more, and hopefully create some revenue.  I'd like to be able to choose the ads displayed on my blog and am working on figuring out how to do this.  I'd like to support small and medium-sized independent businesses and organizations I believe in.  But for now, there's Google AdSense.  Will this keep you from reading my blog?  Will you click on the ads because you know I get money if you do?  Please leave your opinions in the comments. 
Vielen Dank.

08 November 2011

Partings, Kefir, The Cold

I have developed a taste for Kefir, a yogurt drink my grandfather used to drink.  I remember being young, going to the stuffy apartment in Los Angeles, the shelves laid heavy with tchatskies and candy, and drinking strawberry kefir from a small, round glass. 
Now, I sit in the spacious kitchen on Spittastraße at the round table and drink unsweetened Kefir from a plastic container, it's foil lid crumpled and peeled back.  I look around the space, appreciating the vibrance of this, my temporary home, the high kitchen counters, the orchid in bloom on the window sill, the small, random stuffed animals and figurines placed on shelves without reason or ceremony.  There is ET, a clown fish, and a blue troll/monster that I have named Aristotle.  He's got all the answers.
The air has a bite to it today and while I am tempted to build a fire, I think it would be a waste.  I'll only be home for a few more hours and then it's off to childcare.  I'm doing 4 overnights with a two-year old.  I've never done overnight childcare before.  While I'm nervous about this, I think it might actually be pretty fun.  Also, it is relieving quite a bit of my financial stress.
Also, it will be a nice distraction from my rapidly changing world.  Eve and I had our last show on Sunday at Silver Future, a small queer cafe which is one of my favorite spots in Berlin.  We were well received and after sat for quite awhile with Daniel, Asia, Sharon, Robert and Eve's friend Jakob.  The mood was festive and close.  I felt belonging.  I felt like home.
Last night Eve left for Prague and onward.  She will be flying out of Barcelona back to Canada on December 19th (my birthday.)  So concludes this chapter of my life as a clown.  I try to remember that we are all on our own paths, that everything is temporary.  I think of my favorite Robert Frost poem"
Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923)
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. 
 
It's true.  I accept this.  But this knowledge doesn't make the parting easier.  I feel that with Eve's leaving, I lose a part of myself.  Maybe I lose this one part to make room for another.  Now, instead of focus on clown and performance, I focus on language and immigration.  I start my language class on November 21st and I will be making my first attempt at obtaining my Visa in the beginning of Dezember.  Still, it is hard to say goodbye to HE: A Genderstranged Clown Duo.
 
Another difficult parting is that of Sharon, who is going back to Israel at the end of November.  He does not know if he will return to Berlin.  This really tears my heart in half, but everyone has to take care of themselves, and he is doing what he needs to do.  I cannot imagine Berlin without Sharon.  He was my first friend here.  He is my brother.  I feel an understanding, a connection with him I don't feel with most people.  And I'll miss his dog Zigi also.
 
Everyone does things for their own reasons.  We are all free agents.  We are all temporary.  The leaves on the Sycamores on Türrschmidtstraße turn gold and fall, floating softly to the ground.  Gravity is gentle with them, forms them into large, soft piles that one can jump into, kick into a flurry.  Soon it will be winter.  Snow and ice will cover the ground, the barren trees standing sentinels watching over the world.  
I fasten myself to myself, dry my tears, take deep breaths. Wait.

02 November 2011

To Rise, To Fall




“In love
it is better to rise
than to fall.”
He says,
sipping Bier
by the Spree.
I inhale,
ponder,
disagree.

I have tried my whole life
To rise above like yeasty bread
Turn my anger at the unfair
Into doughy pillows of acceptance,
strength
And better-lucks-next-times

As I swallow
an inability
to move myself freely
from city to city
state to state,
swallowing the bitter taste
of discrimination
based on
lack of car and license
assumed gender
scars on my face.

I rise above these limitations,
Frustrations and breasts
Of no transportation
Alienation
and trying to reduce myself
to an object
of desire.
By rising so high and so far
Airplane across Atlantic
Through the stars
To land and refresh
Lose my armor toward duress
Open to confusion in a country where
Once hunted
Now nobody knows me
Nobody that is
Except the children on the S-Bahn
Pointing and smiling
At plaid pants and dopey grin
They can see
I have ceased to try
To fit in
I am just me and
Terrified in the grocery store
Have to ask the cashier, to repeat the price twice
My ears stuck
In a homeland
Which is no longer my home
I rise like wind waves
Once small ripples
Over miles I grow and crash
Back down to earth
Collecting dreams like surfers on my back
Searching for the perfect curl
Wetsuits and longboards
Trapped in the tendrils
Of my wild and unwashed hair

I have done enough rising
I am Mount Kilamanjaro
Tanzania in the snow
That damn story Hemingway wrote
In between drinks.
My wings
They are tired.
When I imagine love
I want to swan dive
To fall
Dropping like a dead duck
As the floor boards disappear
From under my feet
To be trusting
Unafraid
As my velocity
Toward Earth
Builds
And hope
Just hope
That someone
Is there
To catch me.
-H.