We Go to a Cafe Because...

"Of course, we in Europe can answer this question with ease, since we have the beloved coffee house, without which, in my opinion, one cannot live. If one is in a German city, one needs to telephone friends, with whom one makes an appointment in a coffee house, and thus the wheel of intellectual or social conversation comes full circle. The coffee house spares us from an apartment, which one does not necessarily need to have, if there is a coffee house. That is what we Europeans miss so much when we go over to America."

- Egon Erwin Kisch, "Wir gehen ins Cafe, weil..." in Hamburger Illustrierte Zeitung, no. 11 (March 15, 1930), 5.


Scratch out "America" and put in "Britain" and these are my sentiments about living in the UK. Except for the bit about not needing an apartment. Perhaps dear Egon was behind on his rent, but I wouldn't want to sleep in a coffee house. 

Hello again, dear Flist. Don't worry, Emo-times have been abandoned in this journal. It's time for a good ol' spring cleaning in all areas of my life. I am in the library, busy-beeing away at an essay (granted, it is due tomorrow and I've only just started) but life is good! Especially when you have spicy ginger biscuits and a fat book on Weimar Berlin in front of you - my new fascination, because Decadence and Silly Cabaret Songs are awesome. 

Since quitting my job at the Irish Bar From Hell, I have applied to 38 jobs and have had 11 interviews. And I am still unemployed. Is there perhaps a rich benefactor on my Flist who would like to help me? Thought not. Interview No. 11 today was perhaps the most ridiculous I have ever had (other than Interview No. 7, where the job didn't even exist). The employer confused me with a Ms. He - easy mistake to make, I know us Asians all look the same... but then he flatly refused to believe that I could be Ms. Micheler. That is not an Asian name! Show me your ID! So I did. AND HE DIDN'T APOLOGISE!

Yeah, I didn't get the job. Am not too cut up about it either. :-)

I saw these two pigeons in Victoria coach station in London. They were just hopping along, pecking at crumbs, dive bombing tired people who were crouched low in the black plastic seats, too tired to even bother twitching at their wing beats. The two pigeons stayed close together, and their unusual camaraderie made me look closer. They were both missing their left leg.

On the four hour bus ride to Cardiff, in between naps, I kept thinking of those two pigeons. How had they lost their leg? And the same one for both? A crazy coincidence? An Eastend rat gang defending their turf? A hungry Pied Piper?

After spending a few days with my mother in Cardiff, I forgot about the pigeons. I was too busy wrestling with the realisation that I live in this country now. Breakfast will now consist of toast, not decent bread. I will ride my bike on the left side of the road now. I will order pints. I will use pounds. I will change my accent so people can understand me.

It was only when I arrived at university in Norwich, that the loneliness struck me. That oozing black ball that had hidden in my stomach since I had said goodbye to everyone in Germany. It had awakened and begun to spread its poison. I arrived at my new apartment, with its grey cinder block walls, its narrow, creaking hospital bed, and the constant drone from the street outside my window, and I knew what those pigeons feel like. That sick, lurching feeling of a vital part missing.

I feel it constantly, whenever I think of my boyfriend M, whenever I wake up in the morning to find myself in this prison cell, whenever I'm walking through town and all I hear is English.

Of course, the homesickness is made drastically worse by the fact that I am constantly cold and hungry. Cold, because they haven't turned on the heating in our flat (I'm sitting at my desk wearing a winter coat), and hungry because I have no money.

It's not all bad, though. At times, I almost feel positive about the future. Almost. I feel like a completely different person now and completely out of my depth. All that's keeping me going is that M is coming to visit in November (by which time I will have bought a new bed that doesn't snore louder than he does) and that my classes are starting on Thursday - the whole reason why I came to this wretched place, so I could finally study what I really wanted: Literature and Creative Writing, and maybe, if I was really lucky, meet Ian McEwan, who studied here at the University of East Anglia.

So this is me starting a new chapter of my life. The Freiburg Years were the best of my life, here's hoping it gets better.

What I've been doing lately...

• Playing Tansy in Larry Shue's The Nerd with the English Department theatre group.
• Working an ungodly number of hours a week.
• Enjoying my last summer in Freiburg.
• Arguing with paramedics on the phone while trying to get a drugged up stranger to tell me where it hurts and who she is.
• Partying way too much, but hey I'm still young. Although I'm turning 21 in a few weeks.
• Making plans to go to England in September to study English and Creative Writing BA at the University of East Anglia.
• Getting over a break up.
• Still trying to deal with my parents.
• Making new friends. Dreading having to say goodbye to them at the end of the summer.
• Writing silly songs inspired by random lines in The Nerd:
  

( I Lost My Baby to the Great Big Train )

I live in a shared flat with five of my friends in student housing. It's chaotic, small and shabby, but generally clean, unless we've had a party (which we haven't lately, because we've all become dreadfully mature and focused on our studies.)

For the past few weeks I've been walking past a cheery poster in the hallway reading, "Found a pet rat. Owner please call 0176/12345678." I wondered who had not only been silly enough to get a pet rat when it's against the rules but had also promptly lost it. I thought the caretaker had probably called the finder and taken the rat, and thought no more of it.

Last Thursday, Good Vodka Guy came to the student bar, giggling so hard he had trouble getting onto the bar stool. I plonked a shot of Good Vodka down in front of him. "On the house if you tell me what's so funny."

And Good Vodka Guy told me the story of ( Willie and the Rat )

Lost my keys last night.

I've checked all over the flat: my laundry basket, under the bed, all my drawers, the bathroom, the kitchen (my family is notorious for keeping keys in the fridge), the toilet, the living room. My flat isn't that bloody big, it can't be that difficult to find a ring of keys!

I'm sure they have to be here somewhere - well... pretty sure. I know I got back into the flat after the party last night in the flat above us. Wait - I left because I was pissed at Carsten. That was at four - so I still had my keys then. Then I changed my mind and went back upstairs to drag him home with me. Did I take my keys??? Did I open the door or did Carsten?? No, Carsten was too drunk. Did I leave them hanging in the lock? Did someone come by and take them? Did I drop them in the stairwell or somewhere in the flat? I HAVE CHECKED FUCKING EVERYWHERE.

Maybe I have to be in the same state of consciousness as last night to find them again. That would mean getting horribly horribly drunk again.

Damn it, it costs 60 Euros to replace my house keys, 50 Euros for a new bike lock, and don't even ask how much the psychiatric clinic keys cost to replace!

Maybe Carsten took them. Or the key fairy.


EDIT:
Eva: What is that shiny, key-like thing under the kitchen table?

I am such an idiot.

Things I currently hate:

• Junkie bastards who steal your handbag while you're grocery shopping.
• The fact that, as a woman, my entire life was in that handbag, not to mention the fact that the handbag itself cost 60 Euros.
• That strange, naked, and oh so wrong feeling you have when you're without your mobile phone.
• Police station waiting rooms.
• Flat bicycle tires.
• Vodka (particularly when mixed with Ginger Ale, pineapple juice, orange juice, lemon juice, and frozen hands.)
• German bureaucracy.
• Tuition fees. And bills, bills, bills.

Things I somewhat dislike:

• Dating. To be more exact, not-really-dating-but-sort-of-hanging-out-and-flirting-subtly-in-a-really-German-way, and also, dating another person completely by accident and not realizing it until it's too late.
  
• Lightbulbs.

Thinks I like very much:

• Gin & Tonics.
• Brunching.
• Snow.
• Tinsel.
• My flatmates.

... without doping, no worries :)



A more thorough story of our adventure is to come, as well as some fantastic pictures of the towns, the beaches and the Alps. Also, more background on why a lemon was the hero of the day, and how Couchsurfing and crazy coincidences led to us taking the trip in the first place.




In other news - my broken wrist is all healed (I fell of my bike, embarrassing, I know - but I. Was. Not. Drunk. The street was wet and my bike slipped. Hmph.) Going to Ikea later with Nici to get some furniture and other stuff - we're making as much use of the Smart as possible, before she has to give it to her sister. Then dinner with Michael, a birthday party on Saturday, driving to my Grandmother's on Monday for a week, and somewhere a long the way, trying to meet up with my old schoolfriend Jack, who's currently in Germany.

Busy, busy Ella. But first I'm going to eat something.

Going on a road trip to the south of France with Nici. I'll be back in a week with a tan, lots of pictures, and maybe even an affair to remember.

Although it's more likely I'll be bringing back lots of cheese instead.

Went Irish dancing tonight at the Isle of Innisfree Pub - until now, I'd always thought it was pronounced 'Guinness-free', because I'd only ever heard happy drunk people pronounce it. Needless to say, I was very excited, since we usually go to O'Kelly's (for karaoke) or The Dubliner (to get drunk).

Irish dancing is fantastic - lots of back-forth-in-out-left-right-twirly-twirl-woah-there-hello-new-dance-partner-don't-step-on-my-feet-plzkthx.

Also, having a cast on my arm, makes it all the more adventurous. And, no, I don't mean 'cast' as in, "The cast of Hairspray have rather orange tans."

I... er... kind of broke my wrist. On my birthday, last Thursday.

Soooo, yep. Been an exciting few days. Sun bathing. Cooking. Eating lots of cake. Seeing Acoustic Instinct in concert. Seeing my boss passed out on the lawn from too much Schnapps. Finding out how little beer Japanese men can handle. Bonding with my fellow insomniac roommate.

Plans for tomorrow (today), the last day of the summer semester: statistic lecture, presentations from the fourth semester students, buying a second hand drindl for the Oktoberfest, walking a dog from the animal shelter, stocking up on my depleted alcohol supplies, then cocktail night and drunken Monopoly at my place.



I wish you all a wonderful Harry Potter-y weekend, even those of you who aren't fans. I shall return on Monday with the story on how I broke my wrist (and will finally reply to comments!)

Lots of love,
Ella and her cast.

So, I've finally moved to my new apartment in the city center. It is fantastic. I have a view of the mountains, it's quiet, and I have the most fantastic roomies: Eva (who laughs at every silly joke I make, even if they're not funny), Marco (a PolSci student and fellow insomniac), Will (who I only ever bump into in the kitchen, where he is invariably making pasta and eating popcorn), Carsten (possibly the sweetest person I have ever met, and who didn't ask any questions when I asked to borrow a hammer while I was cooking), and Olivier (a med student from Cameroon who doesn't mind when I play music at 4 o'clock in the morning, as long as it's not Queen).

They are slowly getting used to my eccentricities, such as baking in the middle of the night. The move went relatively smoothly. My friend Nici helped me, and we used her Smart to move my things (and it is amazing how much stuff fits in that car), and she also had the fantastic idea of stealing a shopping trolley from the local Aldi to move things from the car to the building. Another group of students who were also helping their friend move saw us, then also liberated a trolley. I don't know if I feel guilty or proud of the fact that in my first few hours here, I've already formed a band of shopping trolley pirates.

I haven't fully settled in yet - my room needs a bit more decoration and more stuff from Ikea, of course, but all that has to wait until next week, since I've got a statistic exam this Friday.

News:

• I'm not going back to Phuket for the summer, although I haven't told Dad yet. I'm staying in Freiburg to study for my Bio Exam in September (and that seems a long way off now, but the exam is for my Vordiplom so it is v. important). I'll also be working to heal my still bleeding bank account - another 600 Euros are due in January for tuition *sob* And although that doesn't seem much at all, my government loan barely covers living expenses, so I need to somehow scrape the rest of the money together.
  

• My old schoolfriend Jack is coming to Germany at the end of the month, so mucho yayness to that! :D

• Since my friend Nici and I won't be going to Scotland, and I don't much feel like going on my own, I'm wondering where I could travel to this summer. Paris? Zuerich? Italy? I'll have to visit Gran for a few weeks too, and then there's the October Fest in September!!!! :D
  

• I finally read 'The Time Traveler's Wife' - it is utterly fantastic. Am now reading Leonie Swann's 'Three Bags Full' about crime busting sheep. I really should be reading about Statistic. Na ja...
  

• I went to the MTV Campus Invasion last week to hear the German band Wir Sind Helden, and the Swedish band Moneybrother (what is it with the Swedes and their awesome bands? The Cardigans, Mando Diao, and not to mention ABBA...). I  had a fantastic time, despite the fact that I got hit in the head several times by the asses of crowd surfers. Wir Sind Helden, are possibly the Best German Band Ever, and although Moneybrother is great, I only have one word for them: ARTICULATION. Seriously. I'd like their songs more if I could understand the lyrics.
  

• Going to see Harry Potter on Wednesday. Trying not to think about it too much because ZOMGTHESUSPENSEISKILLINGME!

• This Thursday is my 19th Birthday! :D Too bad I've got a training to go to for work in the morning, and then, of course, studying for the exam the next day, but yayness all the same! One more year, and I won't be a teenager any more! Also, am planning a major party - a joint celebration of the end of the summer semester, my 19th and Marco's 26th. Soooooo, if any of you are in Germany at the end of the month, swing round!