January 2015 things

And lo it came to passeth that the year endeth. It already hasseth doneth so in Australia where I guesseth my friends are now offeth to sleepeth after celebrating. The Berliners are preparing for the event with family parties and a big gathering at Brandenburg Gate plus lots of fireworks - as per usual!

I chatted to Colin over coffee and Christmas Stollen early afternoon. He jetted in via Los Angeles yesterday. I am sure you will remember that he is Johanna's cousin. He decided not to spend the New Year in sunny, hot Sydney but in cold, wet, grey Berlin. Well yes, everyone has their priorities. Mine would be for Sydney!

During his stay, we shall meet for trips to areas around Berlin and within the city. We have already drawn up a plan to drive to Canberra from Sydney when I am there in February. One of my priorities in January is to buy a large scale map of south-east Australia to help me plan my travels. I am sure Colin will help.

I told you I would get more cards after the 25th and I did. I got a total of 34 cards this year. I also got a small packet. Inside was a card from Sven and family and these nice presents. The jam was made by wife Milka and Nevena, who is their 8 year old daughter. Nevena also enclosed some soap she had made in the shape of skull and crossbones! What a talented daughter :-))

Who has a birthday in January 2015? Peter in Canterbury starts the month with his 55th on the 5th January. Hannelore will celebrate her 72nd with Peter at their home near Nice on the 13th. Harald in Berlin has his 51st on the 21st and Prof. Dr. Peter von Longlegs will celebrate his 31st in Potsdam on the 24th. Ending the month is Paul in New Zealand who will celebrate his 30th with his family on the 27th January.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL!!

      -------    Happy New Year to my readers and I wish you good health in 2015    -------

Rehearsal

Yesterday afternoon I had another pleasant meeting to end the holiday period. It was with Birgit F. She is a long time friend but we hadn't met for ages. Telephoned but not met face to face. Lots of talking over a glass of sekt then coffee and cakes.

I went to the Komische Oper this morning. Yes, in the morning for it was a rehearsal for the New Year concert on 1 January. I can't make it then so Angelika smuggled me into the opera house. I really enjoy watching rehearsals for most people who see a performance never get the chance to see the (dress) rehearsal.

I like seeing how the sound engineers work with the conductor/players, and this time there were people  from a TV company. Part of it will be shown on local TV. There was not a lot of changes to be made to how the players performed. They are professional and have worked together for years. It is a  really pleasant way to move gently from morning to afternoon. Try it if you get the chance!

I took a photo with my mobile phone camera. Even with enhancement via Photoshop it still leaves 'a lot to be desired'! No substitute for a 'real' camera.

Snow and pasta

Last Saturday it snowed heavily during the night. Berlin looked very clean. It was also quiet as people stayed at home, or left their cars at home.

My garden looked very nice with a new layer of snow. The building site was also clean and quite!

On Sunday I visited Max. I have talked about him before so I shall not repeat myself. It was our first meeting since our birthdays in May. We had talked about meeting but other plans, holidays and his study projects kept pushing meetings back. He called me just before Christmas and we fixed up the meeting.

I finally found his place and was pleased to enter a warm flat with the smell of food cooking. Max is an expert on Italian food. He cooked a dish he had developed from Spaghetti Bolognaise by adding more spices, mushrooms and some green round things!

Very tasty indeed and we sipped a full bodied Spanish red wine. That was my contribution. Lots of catching up on news. This included seeing lots of photos of his climbing holiday in Croatia. We plan to meet again in one of his favourite restaurants - yes, it is Italian - before I leave in early February. 

Just one of the pleasant events I had over the holiday period.

Snow

Dear Silsdeners,
It snowed yesterday afternoon in Berlin. Earlier I checked BBC News and heard it was snowing in the Pennines = where you live! Shortly after I looked out of my window and was surprised to see large snow flakes falling. I wondered if they had come from the Pennines!

During the night the temperature dropped to below freezing so we still have snow on flat surfaces. It was -4°C on my balcony earlier and I had lots of condensation on my windows/sills so lots of 'mopping up'.  It is now only -2°C. I wrapped up warm and went for a bicycle ride in the park not far from where I live. I was not the only one!

Yesterday afternoon my guests arrived on time and bearing lots of gifts. They were mainly food and drink. Well I did tell you that it was part of the deal in my last post. We settled down to K&K and I had a really interesting time. We talked about many things including holidays and plans for next year. They left after 10.00 pm with smiles and still talking.

To help me relax after the excitement of their visit, I opened one of my Christmas presents. A book from Johanna. It is a 'who-dun-it' novel and written in an easy style. It is about finding out why a middle aged man kills an older man. The killer refuses to give a reason.

The book is about finding out why. Should keep me busy on my local train travels. It was written by a man who lives in Berlin and is in fact a defence lawyer when not writing such books. Three of them have been/are in the process of being filmed. Happy reading if you also got a book as a present.

Waiting for.....

No, I'm not Waiting For Godo :-))  A brilliant play. I saw it in my first year at uni and have never forgotten it. I'm waiting for some Oldies to arrive for K&K. This means Kaffee und Kuchen = coffee and cakes. I expect them to arrive exactly at 3.00pm!

We decided to share the work so mine was to provide the room and  K&K. They provide the rest = wine and supper. Not a bad division.

How was your day yesterday? Happy and healthy I hope. Also thanks to some of you who looked at this blog. I had 20 visitors yesterday. I was surprised for I thought everyone would be too busy tucking into turkey and unwrapping presents. I guess some of you wondered 'What is he up to'? and read the blog.

I received some nice and unexpected presents. One stands out. This was from Marita. Pity you can't see her smile then hear her big laugh as she handed me the present with these words. "You don't need to buy a diary for 2015. If you want to know the day then just look at your feet!"

In case you are still wondering, the package contains 7 pairs of socks with the days of the week printed on them. Nice one, Marita :-)) Now, I wonder what my guests are bringing for supper and to drink?

It's all about

I've just raised a glass of cool, light sekt to toast my family and friends around the world. Although it is 1.00pm here I always raise it at noon UK time. Old habits die hard!

I also opened my cards. It is a wonderful experience to do so and read the messages in different languages and see the images. Here is a great one from I&B to share with you. I think the five words sum it all up perfectly :-)))

I got 29 cards and I am sure a few more will arrive when the post service starts again. Here is one from my great-nephew Henry. He is all of 5 years old and in the first class at school. He loves music and has a beautiful singing voice. That's what his parents told me :-)

What do you think this budding singing star has created? Is it a penguin or something that resembles one? I really love those thin spindly legs and wonder how the penguin can move on them. And what is that thing at the back of Mr. Penguin's head? It looks like a cricket.....or is it a flea, and why has he only got one eye?

Receiving things like this are part of the unexpected pleasure of this holiday period. Enjoy the rest of the day with family and friends. Prost!!

The week before

The week before the Christmas over eating/drinking days began with a SPD meeting last Saturday morning. I arrived late but still understood what was happening.

I later checked the weather. It was not good. I decided not to go to the 'Wintersonnenwende' with Stephan and Peter. Being in the rain and cold for hours was/is not my idea of fun. I went to Angelika's opera house instead!

Sunday was a lazy day and I slept late. I needed it for as you know there is a building site opposite my flat so I can't sleep late/longer except on a Sunday. Marcel left for Hungary early that day to spend the holiday with his family before flying to Manchester to have a weeks holiday with his sister.

On Monday and Tuesday I went to my Training Centre, did my Christmas food shopping and visited Marita for a pleasant meal and chat. We had a splendid light, tasty meal with Proseco and interesting discussions. I also borrowed her serviette to share with you. She loves cats. I wonder if it comes under the heading of 'Kitsch'?

This morning I went to Johanna's 'Schloss' for our Christmas breakfast. It is now a tradition. At noon we opened a bottle and raised our glasses to toast Colin. He is Johanna's cousin and lives in Australia. I shall meet him when I arrive there in February. We sent this photo of us to him with our best wishes for the New Year.

And so we arrive at Christmas Eve, Berlin time. I shall have a relaxing evening perhaps with a DVD for there is nothing on TV that interests me. That goes for tomorrow and shows the gulf between my taste and that of millions of others. But then that is not new!  Enjoy your evening with or without TV :-))

End the week

The week ended with lots of appointments on Friday. It started  at 9.00 with a business meeting with Mathias and a pot of coffee. I then rushed to meet Kerstin and my Keep-Fit Gang for training at 10.00 am.

I made it in time to join them in the warm up movements. After the session, we prepared the conference room for our Christmas Fest. Each person had to bring something and the 'Keep-Fit Oldies' are very good at organising such an event. My task was to bring 2 bottles of Sekt - which I duly did.

We started our Fest at midday with delicious food and a glass of Sekt. Lots of chewing and talking. It was interesting to note when all chewed and so there was silence, and the opposite when you could hardly hear yourself think!  I was asked about my future plans and told the group about the next few months.

I left them still talking, eating and drinking to head into the centre of town and Potsdamer Platz. I think I have told you before that there is a cinema complex in the Sony Centre. I arrived a bit earlier so had the chance to telephone Marcel and organise our meeting.

He wanted to see The Hobbit film number 3 at the Sony Centre because it would be shown in English. We had seen the earlier two films there, so he wanted to see the final one. We settled into our seats as the film started.

It soon became clear to me that the film was based on 'milking' a few pages at the end of the book via lots of battle scenes. Lots of action via Photoshop type playing around with images and so the film went on....and on... and on!

 Not a lot of meaningful dialogue, but then perhaps that is what the audience wants now. Not me - for I read the book years ago and could see how the story was 'over-milked'!!  Marcel had not read the book but thought the same! See it for yourself and decide!

Finally, this is how part of my flat looks. I put the lights around my pictures and took a shot. Note the fir tree branches on the left and a candle in the middle of the photo. I shall light the candle at midday on the 25th December when I raise a glass to all my readers :-))

Start the week

I started the week with a training session. Later I changed into a suit, tie and white shirt and set off for the SPD-Fraktionssaal in the Deutscher Bundestag. You probably know it as the German Parliament building.

Why did I go there? The answer is that I got an invitation to a special SPD meeting with Andrea Nahles who is the Bundesministerin für Arbeit und Soziales / The Federal Government Minister for Work and Social Policy.

Her/SPD policy for a Minimum Wage comes into law on the 1 January 2015, so it was an evening of presenting the future law. The place was full of SPD members and representatives of trade unions who had lots of questions. She answered them with no problems! I really enjoyed being in the building again and being part of the debate.

Next day I went to my SPD 60 plus Christmas Festival including coffee and cakes. There were also presents, speeches, sekt, red-white wine and beer plus crisps/snacks. We also had a special guest. Her name is Birgit Monteiro. She is the SPD candidate to be the next Mayor of Lichtenberg.

It was a really interesting session. Of course, Birgit had the support of all the Oldies, even before she gave her speech saying what she would do and asking for our support. I also enjoyed listening to the Oldies using 'Berlinisch' and noting how they responded to each other. A good start to the week!

First walls

This week the builders installed the first walls in the building site opposite my flat. I thought they were for the garages, but on seeing the size and shape I realised they could not be. You can't get a car into such a small space - not without knocking the walls down with the car :-))

I think they must be for cellars. I have one. It is a place to put all the things I don't know what to do with or don't want to have in my flat. I then throw them into the rubbish bin or give them away! I am sure you do the same!

I've had a nice lazy day. Some shopping this morning after cleaning the place then settled down to reading my book about Ideas and updating computers. During the latter, I looked at what was showing at the cinema in Potsdamer Platz. I discovered 'Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' was on show. I decided to go during the week. Perhaps on Tuesday for it is 'Film Day' which means the prices are reduced!

It is the last of the three films blown up from a rather thin book. I read this and all the other books years ago, but I have to raise my hat to those who have made the films by expanding the texts into three entertaining films. I hope I do not have any very overweight people stuffing themselves with popcorn and cola in front of me again. If so, I shall be just as unpleasant as I was last time to get them to move!! 

Here are the recent photos of the building site. I included one of a shot in the evening and you can see the first walls being installed. Work has stopped on removing the last of the sand for a house nearby developed a deep crack in a foundation wall. Ooops! I wonder how that will be resolved.

Getting Ready

I've been getting ready for the over-eating session called Christmas. I cut back on food this week and lost 1 kilo plus increased my visits to the fitness centre. I hope to continue next week, but I have even more invitations to Christmas parties involving eating and drinking!

On Wednesday evening I went to my local SPD  Christmas Fest at a local restaurant. We also had the pleasure of talking to our candidate to be the next Mayor. The evening ended with more drinks to the tune of the James Last orchestra :-(( At that point I got out quickly :-))

This afternoon I met my Photoshop Gang  for our "Weihnachtsfeier". As 2.00pm approached the place filled up with 'Oldies' including some with Zimmer-Frames, crutches and sticks. Brave of them to struggle to the event but they clearly enjoyed being there. Lots of singing along to a live music band and waving their sticks/crutches to the music!

Here is a photo of my invitation in red, some Christmas 'greenery' I rescued from the table :-)). Behind these you can see a calender prepared by Stephan. Notice the front page for it was created by ME!! Thanks for that Stephan!

Finally, here is a photo of the first Christmas present from me to me. Yes, I was down to one white wine glass so I galloped to Lydll because they had a special offer for different glasses. My guests will no doubt be happy with my choice - depending on what  I pour into a glass!

Nothing special

I hope you have had a happy, positive week with something new. My week was okay but with nothing special to report. It started with a visit to my Docs. New tablets for vien problems, thrombosis risk and recent pains in the left of my heart. He also gave me an "Überweisungsschein" to see a specialist. I called the specialist for "Kardiologie".

The nurse/secretary/telephone person said the earliest day for an appointment was 14 April 2015 !! Yes, you read correctly. I asked this person what I should do if I had a problem and was told to go to the Accident and Emergency department at my local hospital! It would seem that the public health system is heading in the same direction as that in the UK = downhill!

Next day was a visit to the dentist for minor work and in the evening I met Johanna and Jutta to go to a meeting hall called 'Urania'. There we listened to Dr.Dr. (yes, he has two doctor titles!) Eugen Drewermann talking about 'Turning points: What does Christianity really mean?' It was part of a series about Religion, Spirituality and modern life. He is a critic of organised religion. From listening to the question in the QA session, it was clear to me that many in the audience did not understand his lecture.

I did some teaching, went to my Oldie breakfast on Thursday and later went to my keep-fit centre. I have decided to increase my visits through this month. It is a period of sitting around with friends eating and drinking too much (nice!) so I decided to increase my visits.

Yesterday started with a Kerstin fitness session followed by the last meeting of my Photoshop Gang. It included 'Kaffee und Kuchen' and a glass of Sekt. My contribution was the sekt. Here you can see me pouring it out - photo taken by Stefan on his phone-camera.

Ideas and Shadows

In Berlin we are now into minus temperatures, but with no rain or snow. Time to stay in, put the heating on and find a good book to help you through to Spring. Try this one. It has 1015 pages plus 100 pages of references and notes. That should keep us busy during the dark evenings.

What is really good about the book is the structure. Peter Watson has written 36 sections organised within 4 themes. This means you can jump around and read any chapter you want in any order. The alternative is to start at page 1 and stop at page 1015!

I read the introduction, conclusion and then chapter 35 called 'Enemies of the Cross and Qur'an - the End of the Soul. It's about the loss of faith in the 19th Century and the rise of science. We start with David Hume and his 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion' published in 1779. Hume reminds us of Kant and his statement that concepts such as God, Soul, Immortality can never be proved. What a pity that millions of 'religious people' don't know this!

I then jumped to chapter 10 called Pagans and Christians. Did you know that Pagan comes from the word 'Paganus' which means 'villager'.  This chapter is about the decline of Rome and influences there on the development of early Christianity. Did you know that the early church stole the 25th December from the Mithras cult? It was the Feast Day of Mithras then celebrated in Rome.

I didn't read the book on Friday afternoon for I was enjoying time with my Photoshop Gang. We returned to the theme of 'Shadows'. We took a background photo of Karl-Marx-Alle where it runs into Alexander Platz. We then added a photo of Helga and Maria. The difficult bit was to then add a shadow of them. After a few mistakes, we got there. Here is my masterpiece.  Now back to my book!

Cranes

One crane is now operating in front of my window. Another is being built. The base is in the sand and the workers are building the metal supports before the concrete is pumped into the base structure.

It is really interesting to see how the work is organised and divided. Each group just gets on with a task regardless of other groups working nearby.

I now have a row of blue mobile container offices outside my window. I wonder who will occupy them and what they will do.

I recently got a call from Stefan Sch. just to catch up on news. In the course of our conversation he said he looked at my blog but mainly for the photographs!

Another photo looker to go with Jan and a few others. All university educated so I still wonder what is difficult about reading a simple text in addition to looking at the photos?

I should have gone to Poland this morning for a shopping excursion. It was called off at the last minute due to 'Oldie Illness'. We may go next weekend or next week depending on other appointments and health.

Meanwhile, have a look at the cranes - if you are unable/too lazy to read text :-))

Another concert

I went to another concert at the Philharmonie this evening. You can see the programme on the card. It was designed to put 'bottoms on seats' = no strange discordant notes or noises! I have told you about this orchestra before. They are amateurs and give any profit to buy instruments for talented children from very poor families.

We started with the Franck piece. I know he/it was influenced by the French-Prussian war of 1870, and that Franck was also influenced by Wagner. You can hear that in the piece. It moves around a lot but it doesn't go anywhere - remember I said that first! Most of the audience were family and friends of the players so it was almost booked out, including coughing Grannies :-((

Last Friday afternoon  I went to my Photoshop Gang meeting and after coffee, cakes and catching up on news, we played around with a few images. We took a background photo of the old inner city airport, added photos of two of our members then noted they needed shadows. We added shadows but it is a secret how we/I did it :-)  As usual, it is not real but looks so.

After creating yet another piece of art, I galloped home, helped Daniel with his English, introduced him to Marcel when he arrived, had a meal with Marcel and then found time to relax before the weekend arrived.

Herr Ober!

Yes, when you are 'dining' in an expensive and traditional German/Austrian restaurant and you want to get the attention of the waiter you say clearly, 'Herr Ober!' Even in less expensive places it is still used and considered polite, but formal.

I said it to Marcel a few times yesterday. He grimaced! Others within earshot stared or smiled! Here is a photo of him being Herr Ober. On his tray you can see my half empty paper coffee cup. Well, he had to carry something to show the boss he was working!

The event was laying the foundation stone for the new building opposite my flat. I was invited and enjoyed the event. Lots of information about the project including that it will cost €20 million, there will be 60 underground garages and 78 different sized flats above them, plus a garden and meeting centre for tenants.

Having duly laid the foundation stone we formed queues for a range of grilled steaks, large sausages, potato and other salads, rolls, cakes, coffee, tea and cold drinks. I munched my lunch in the tent where a group played popular jazz. At the end only Marcel and I remained to applaud the group for the last tune. A really nice time. 

Guess where

Guess where Marcel will be working on Saturday morning? No idea? Then look at this image. No, not cleaning out the workers' toilet you can see in the foreground :-((      Look behind it and you can see a large, white, tent! Well done, you got there!

Where is the tent? Yes, you recognised the area. It is in a corner of the large hole in front of my flat. It is being furnished for an event starting at 11am on Saturday 22 November. I got an invitation as follows: 'Einladung zur Grundsteinlegung'. It means an invitation to the laying of the foundation stone. I accepted immediately!

The connection to Marcel is that he works part time for a catering company. They got the contract to feed and water people like me at the event. He was asked to work there as a ......waiter :-))) He called me yesterday to give me the news. What a coincidence!

Mosque visit

This afternoon I had a new experience in Berlin. I went to a mosque. This is an interesting word for I know it also as die Moschee and Musjid from Hindi, Urdu and Arabic. I have been to many in various countries but never before in Germany.

The event was organised by Michael who is the deputy chairman of the SPD Oldies in Lichtenberg. This is where I live, as you surely know by now. We met up in our local AWO and headed off in three cars. Yes, there were twelve of us.

We finally found a parking space in Kreuzberg. This is a district in the centre of Berlin. It is one of two main districts housing Muslim people. Most are descendents of Turkish 'guest' workers. They raised the money to build a mosque in the 1990's.

We entered the mosque to be met by our guide. A large and friendly man with almost perfect German and a very big smile! We took off our shoes and entered the prayer hall. He explained his religion and talked about the mosque building. It has six floors combining the large three story prayer hall, floor for kids, one for women and one for offices.

We did a tour of the building, which we discovered had been financed by donations, and ended up in a friendly cafe, which was also part of the building. My 'Gang' relaxed over coffee, cakes, or a large plate of hot food. Lots of chatting during which I discovered that nearly all had been in a mosque before, and all had positive experiences.Nice to report something positive about Islam in current all too often negative reports!

Living in sand

I live opposite a huge sand pit. Just look at the building site outside my window. All of Berlin is built on such sand deposits. If you remember your geography lessons at school you will know that the whole of north Europe is just one big pile of sand with a thin coating of soil.

From the coast of Netherlands to the eastern border of Poland, you only have to dig down about one foot and you hit sand. That is why only certain kinds of plants and trees can grow. I wonder why there aren't deposits of oil, as you find under sand in the Middle East.


Work on the building site is progressing. You can see that other workers have arrived to set down the floors of what will be the underground garages. The flats will be built above them. It is interesting to see how each group of workers just gets on with their specialist work and ignores the others.

I should have written 'men' for so far I have only seen one women and she drives a large truck to take away the sand. I think she could tell a few stories about only working with men.

I got a really nice postcard from Heike. She was on holiday in Portugal and thought of me. Thanks Heike :-)) I really like the calm you feel when you look at the sunset. I decided to share with you so that you can also enjoy the sense of calm.

Nothing remarkable about last week and the next week looks very much the same. The same routine of teaching, including helping Daniel to understand the English tense system. It is not easy! Meetings with different Oldie groups and SPD meetings. And so is my life at the moment.

PS:  UPDATE Saturday. I told you so!  I woke this morning to the sound of a different machine. I peered out of my bedroom window to see something new. A cement lorry attached to another lorry with an extension arm carrying a pipe. The pipe went into the garage foundation. Lots of brushing to make sure the cement was even and the men and machines began the task of leaving the site for the weekend.

25 years after

Yesterday I went to Cinemax at Potsdamer Platz. I met Marcel and Andreas. We saw the film Interstellar. I can really recommend it. Very clever story mixing science, particularly time and gravity, with fantasy. The music is integral to the film and was composed by Hans Zimmer. I noted 6 composers he had borrowed musical ideas from!

This morning I should have gone to Cottbus in the south of Land Brandenburg. Repairs to lines and building work delayed arrival at the main station so we cancelled. Instead I can stay in Berlin and celebrate the breaching of the Berlin Wall exactly 25 years ago.

A 'newspaper' called die Bild Zeitung published 42 million special copies to celebrate the event and I guess that every postbox in Germany got a free copy! I read it and noted a few points I didn't know about that day and life in the DDR.

In the middle section there is a two page questionnaire. I could only answer about half so I need to ask more questions from friends who lived through that period. One photo shows Helmut Kohl now
confined to a wheelchair following a stroke, which also removed most of his ability to speak. There is lots of praise for his role in subsequent events.

One photo I like is of the Wall with people clambering on it and walking through the breach. Wir sind das Volk = We are THE people, does not have the same resonance as it does in German, but the words and image capture the event.

Another page shows messages from George W. Bush(90) and Michail Gorbatschow(83). I don't think I need to tell you who they are, and were 25 years ago. On the right of that page is a list of front pages from other European newspapers. I think The Sun from London has the best word play with 'It's Wall Over'. Oh noooo!

Finally we have a story/photo from a Bild reporter and photographer who knocked on Margot Honecker's door. She lives in Santiago de Chile in Chile and was married to Herr Erich who was the last 'Boss' of the GDR. She is now 87 and at least the reporter said she looks younger and fit while making a negative comment about her opening the door with a roller in her hair and rubber slippers on her feet!

On realising who he was she said, " Hauen Sie ab, Sie unverschämter Kerl!" Not easy to translate this for she used the 'Sie' formal form in German even though 'door-stepped'. She said, 'Go away/get lost you impertinent/brazen-faced fellow!'  I wonder if she will be watching the celebrations on TV today exactly 25 years after her world began to collapse?