End of an era

So, farewell then, New Order. Thanks for the Hacienda. And for all the great tunes.

Pauli v Union

A trip to see Onion play St Pauli resulted in a 2-0 scoreline to the home side.This will not stop St Pauli's inexorable rise. If only Leeds could emulate 
them. 

Pestilence

A poisonous virus has been spreading itself around Berlin like a toxic cloud over a Russian power station, striking down young and old and making for a cacophony of coughs and sneezes everywhere you go in the city. Perhaps this is a little taster of what bird flu may be like - an unpleasant thought that makes you immediately hanker after a move to a small uninhabited island somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I can't remember the last time a bug took so long to shake off, although this could be due to the nature of freelancing, which allows you to take at most one or two days off sick before you realise that you won't be able to pay your rent.

On my recovery, I went shopping for some kitchen utensils in my local 1 euro shop, and was surprised to note that they actually stock porn videos. Do these Germans really have no boundaries at all?

Ich ziehe um

My wunderbah zwischenmiete has sadly come to an end. After a very fraught search, have taken a peculiarly furnished new place in Neukolln. It's meant to be just for a month, but despite the Old People's Home chic I may have to stay there, as I'm not sure I can cope with dealing with utility companies in Germany ever again. Phone trees that finally connect you to call centres with undertrained staff are annoying enough at any time, as all of us who live in this globalised world know, but I've always managed to stop short of being abusive to the poor sods who have to work in them. However, add German inflexible bureaurocracy into the mix and you find yourself attaining new levels in your communication development as you state in English 'you know what, fuck Freenet' and put the phone down.

Racial

The racism debate sparked by big brother in the UK has been interesting to watch from the shores of a near but very mono-cultural European country. To witness the kind of casual unthinking racism that is directed at many people (particularly Asians) in Britain by the likes of the Jade Goodys of the land was sad but no surprise. However, at least the resulting fuss and bother show that India has really become a ‘global player’ whose people have to be listened to. The outcome of the show itself appeared to demonstrate that on most levels of British society people know enough to say that such a carry on is far from ok, which is as I would have hoped it would be.

The most insane aspect of it all was seeing the very tabloids who form the likes of JG’s opinions with their anti-immigrant rants attempting to get on their moral high-horses, while Channel 4, of all people, tried to deny it was racist to tell someone to ‘fuck off home.’

Here in Berlin it feels like it was in Britain 20 years ago. The overall percentage of non-white immigrants is very low, and the only really sizeable community is the Turkish one. I’m finding it harder and harder to listen to educated, SPD voting German telling me what a ‘problem’ the Turks are and what terrible difficulties poor Germany has as a result of their being here and their ‘refusal’ to integrate. I’m not even supposed to say anything to challenge this racist claptrap, because I’m a foreigner myself. It’s like the bad old days in Britain, where you can’t believe that you’re having to explain once again that which to a non-prejudiced person is glaringly obvious, i.e. that integration can only ever possibly be a two way thing. And that if you really want the people who’ve come among you to be integrated into your society, then to spit offensive stereotypical insults at them has never been and will never be the way to pull it off.

Had the new experience of cycling through a blizzard today. Not sure exactly how to describe the sensation, but 'picnic' is not one of the words that springs to mind.

Heimatlos

As impending homelessness looms, I'm seeing all sorts of peculiar places in my as yet fruitless search for an unbefrist furnished flat. Went to a one room place today which numbered among its features a door in the front wall which opened onto a sheer five floor drop (a metal barrier had been stuck across it, but only to about mid-thigh height) and a single kitchen unit into which both the (electric) cooker and the sink had been built. The electricity cable appeared to run between the hot and cold taps, falling something short of the levels of health and safety you might expect from the engineering minded Germans. I'm also spending lengthy periods trying to decipher messages left by an estate agent with what I thought was a serious speech impediment, but which turns out to be a strong Brandenburg accent.

I was very happy when the rain came back and melted away the frozen snow yesterday, as it meant that I could get my bike out again. I didn't feel safe cycling on the ice, especially what with the local habit of turning the traffic lights off to save on electricity.

How to embarrass yourself

Shamed myself today. I was talking to some people and at the same time fidgeting with a pen. Suddenly the lid decided to flip up in the air and drop with seemingly precision guided technology right down the middle of my cleavage, causing great hilarity and cries of "goal" and "can we try?" To make matters worse, I then couldn’t locate the bloody thing. As my ferreting was being followed with keen interest by my audience, I decided to attempt a casual shrug and a “well maybe I’ll just leave it there for now” but this prompted several of the men to offer to help me to find it, so I had no choice but to carry on. By the time it had been shaken out onto the floor I wasn’t so much red as vermillion.

What is happening to my beloved Leeds? Can we really be heading for Division One?