Berlinfusion

Patriotism and Internationalism

Since arriving in Berlin I seem to have become more patriotic.

Not in a 'Britain is the best country in the world' way, but more, 'Britain has more going for it than I thought over the last few decades.' way.

Perhaps absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder. I usually prefer 'out of sight, out of mind', to be frank.

Actually, I think it's more because I'm missing the easiness of life there. The language, the familiarity, the food - how I miss the food! Don't get me wrong, I'm not homesick at all - mainly because I don't like our home over there - but there are aspects of British life I do miss.

Like the food... did I mention the food? I'm looking forward to a full English breakfast (at any time of day) and fish and chips. And clotted cream. And understanding what's on the labels.

We've also had a few problems getting TV programmes since the leaves came out on the trees! The TV just stopped working as the dish couldn't get a signal through the canopy! So Tim relocated the satellite dish to the end of the garden pointing through a slim gap in the woodland and now we can watch all sorts of British television. There's not much on, is there?! We mostly use it to catch up on old programmes that we've missed over the past six years. And quintessentially British programmes such as the Antiques Roadshow.

This patriotic feeling has intensified over recent weeks due to a number of external influences: mainly all the Britain 2012 stuff. With all the Union Flags on display in every online shopping site it's been hard to miss. It's rather a pretty flag, don't you think?

Then came the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I make no apology for being a staunch royalist so avidly watched all the events over the Jubilee weekend. It was wonderful, although I heartily agree with all the criticism of the appalling BBC coverage.

We also went to a Jubilee party where we had mountains of strawberries, mini scones, a gigantic cake and champagne. That was a very good day.

Meanwhile, Rhiannon's school were planning their annual International Day and I had volunteered to help out on the British stall. I thought there would be a few of us, but no, just two; me and a very nice lady. Over the past few weeks we've been working our Union Jack socks off getting things to display on our stall. Neither of us had ever done this before so had no idea what to expect. We were told to bring our country's special food and wear our country's cultural clothing. Umm... what is Britain's cultural clothing?

I bought hundreds of sweets - Lovehearts and special, tongue-colouring Jubilee sweets. I also spent hours and hours writing a recipe booklet of typically British recipes; created bunting out of pictures of British icons, wrote quizzes, creating a slide show of beautiful photographs of Britain and goodness knows what else. We got some posters from the British Embassy. The other lady baked a ton of Victoria Sponge and a hundredweight of scones and provided flags and bunting.

The Visit Britain poster campaign

Apparently we were also expected to provide Pimm's.

As Pimm's is a British speciality (and one that locals seem to think we always drink) it is naturally impossible to find over here. But we had a breakthrough and found a posh store that sold it. For 20 euros a bottle! We bought one each and diluted it a lot.

International Day was last Saturday. It's a day to celebrate all the nationalities who attend the school. There are a LOT! Thankfully the torrential rain of the previous week  dissipated and the day went well.It was a bit windy and most of our stuff had to be tied down.

So many nationalities had stalls: Canada made maple syrup pancakes (next to our stall, drool!); Mongolia with amazing outfits; Pakistan handed out the most wonderful food and had a fabulously designed stand. Korea gave colourful displays of dancing and drumming and Israel even brought their own beach! And one of my favourite sights of the day was a tiny child playing in the sand in front of their stand, oblivious to her surroundings.

It was exhausting though. And the Pimm's didn't last very long.

So what did I wear? Well, I was in the frame of mind to be rebellious so dressed as a punk. This caused a few raised eyebrows and several comments. What they couldn't quite work out was if I was dressed up or if I normally looked like that. The answer is it was my normal clothing, with added safety pins. Rhiannon also wanted to wear something similar and looked far better than me.

And finally, in the spirit of patriotism, and as a total afterthought, I should mention that other, typically English event... England losing the football on penalties, yet again.

And that is all I shall say on the matter otherwise I shall launch into a mad, anti-football rant. I loathe the game, but Tim's been watching it so I haven't been able to avoid it.

 

Bringing You Up-To-Date

I'm now going to round up the past couple of weeks now so I can start blogging in real time. It's confusing my readers to have all this retrospective stuff going on and it's frustrating to me too.

My Japanory blog is still missing two years worth of memories, but it feels very wrong for me to write trivial stuff on there now with all the devastation of the earthquake still horribly fresh in everyone's minds. I will update it when the time feels right.

So here are some of the events and thoughts and randomness over the past couple of weeks to date:

The school holidays have started and I'm counting the days until she returns. Rhiannon hasn't really been to school since 9th March. She was off sick when the earthquake hit in Japan and her school was closed down, opening for a few days just before we moved here.

Trying to keep her entertained with none of our "stuff" is nigh on impossible. We can't cook - no scales, ingredients, cookware; we can't paint, draw or make things; we don't have any TV apart from German terrestrial and a few over-watched DVDs. The garden does keep her occupied for a while. We've tried exploring the streets, but this soon wanes for her as she doesn't share my interest in the beautiful architecture and well-tended gardens. We've tried a bit of gardening but the soil is so uncultivated I can barely dig an inch. I need to pull up about a thousand oak and beech seedlings very soon.

We now have a trampoline in the garden which gives Rhiannon another reason to play outside. She still wants company sometimes; the only drawback of being an only child, in my opinion. If she had a sibling they'd be forever falling out over nothing anyway. Besides, I find it fun to bounce too - yes the trampoline is strong enough to take my weight! So does the swing, but the seat is a little small for me...

And, of course, there is the still unsuccessful search for a post office.

We've also had to wait in for various people. A group of three visited to assess the possibility of putting up a dog-proof fence. One of them used to work in Tokyo and I was under "orders" to give him a hug from an old friend. He was happy to take it.

There was much excitement one day with the planned delivery of one set of our baggage - the items we sent by plane. Unfortunately, after waiting in, I was called to say they'd cancelled and would deliver the next day instead. Disappointing. But it arrived in good time the next day and occupied me and Rhiannon for the day. Most of it was Rhiannon's stuff anyway, with my main joy being reserved for the arrival of my computer. No longer did I have to write on my minuscule laptop with the Korean keyboard.

Another day, while we were walking Kita, someone left a note in the letterbox. I fed the many-lettered word into Babelfish - Schornsteinreinigung... it was a chimney sweep! I wasn't even aware we had a chimney. She came back today. I had to help her open the loft hatch as she was a little too short and I can't find a pole. Rhiannon had an image of a chimney sweep from "Horrible Histories" and "Mary Poppins"... so this girl blew that image out the window. She was gorgeous and I could see the cogs in Rhiannon's brain finally realigning from her polarised view of female / male jobs.

We're transforming one of the basement rooms into a den for Rhiannon in the hope that we can keep all her crap belongings away from our living area. It would be so nice to live in a clutter-free home (although I have more "clutter" to come, it is tasteful clutter. Honestly!) She chose vibrant orange and turquoise paint for a couple of walls and painted a huge sun on the turquoise one. We still need to get a carpet though as the room is still not cosy enough to tempt her to stay down there yet. The plans look fabulous though. I hope they come to fruition soon.

Yet more shopping to do. Which is a pain in the butt, because we only have Saturdays in which to do anything like this what with shops closing on Sundays and all over Easter.

Another waiting-in time was for Rhiannon's new school uniform to be delivered. Thankfully that arrived in good time and it all fits. All I need to find now is a jumper and some shoes.

So, this coming Saturday will be spent shopping.

Before that though, a major event is happening today. Our heavy baggage is due to arrive!

Finally, we will see all our possessions again, albeit in 107 boxes to start with. We haven't seen it since the efficient packers scooped it all up on 1st March.

I do hope my precious Imari porcelain has survived its long sea voyage. The thought of having all my own cooking utensils back fills me with rather worrying pleasure. It will be nice to have more than two changes of clothing too. And my books. Oh how I have missed my books! Goodness knows where they are all going to go though. I had a painful cull before we moved but there was still 4 large, full bookcases to send. I only have three smaller bookcases here. Hmmm.

Today will be exciting, yet stressful as we desperately try to find space for everything. And a bit like Christmas in many ways. Especially as I packed a few little unopened presents for myself in there.

Jet Lag, Giant Dogs and a Janitor

Wednesday 13th April

I awoke at 5am again after spending most of the night in the bathroom.

No, I wasn't ill, I have a peculiar jet lag symptom - needing to pee every hour or so. Actually, my jet lag is very similar to being pregnant... headache, tiredness, insomnia (yes, they do go together), fuzzy headedness, irritability and nausea. And needing to pee all the time. And eat a lot.

I think the nausea part is still my jishin yoi - earthquake sickness - making its presence felt.

While waiting for everyone else to wake up I was treated to almost two full hours of cuddles from a scarily affectionate Raymi-cat. Most unusual.

I have a pleasant day ahead as Rhiannon is going to be at school all day. She hasn't been to school properly since the Tohoku earthquake on 11th March.

Her instructions are to be standing outside the house a 8.05am to be collected by the minibus. However, it's pouring with rain so we hover in the porch looking out for it before fumbling with the damn keys to let her out of the gate when it arrives. I'm so proud of her confidence. I couldn't have done that at her age. She will be delivered back to the gate at around 4.30pm. Bliss!

Tim goes off car-hunting and I'm all alone at long last. I like solitude. Very much indeed.

I don my coat and wish I hadn't sent my wellies off on the boat and head off for my first dog walk in Germany. I'm a little nervous as I've already seen numerous dogs walking along the pavement off-leash. In Japan, dogs are never off-leash unless they are in a dog run.

Besides, the dogs in Japan wear dresses and are generally the size of guinea pigs. The dogs here are not. They are huge.

Kita and I set off. No idea where we are going but I've seen a lake on the map so I head for that. Kita is understandably skittish after her ordeal and I hope a nice long walk, albeit in the pouring rain, will help. We found our way down to the lake and the first thing we saw as we turned a muddy corner was the biggest mastiff type dog I've ever seen. And it was not on a lead. And I couldn't see the owner. Oh. My. God! Kita obviously thought the same too and didn't know what to make of it. Luckily there was a gate in the way of their meeting. I waited for the owner to show.

Shiba Inus are unusual dogs - very primitive and more like cats in many respects. For example, Kita doesn't go in for butt-sniffing but prefers to sniff the other dog's nose. Our vet in Japan told us that Shibas quite often do not like squashed-nose dogs and I wonder if this is the reason. If a dog tries to sniff Kita's butt she tends to sit down. And if that means sitting on the other dog's head, so be it. Embarrassingly she once peed on a dog who had the temerity to stick its head where she didn't want it. I prayed she wouldn't do this again...

She didn't. It was worse and she showed an aggression I've never seen in her before. No attack, but a full on Shiba scream and bared teeth showed her antipathy. Mercifully the mastiff was very well trained and friendly and just trotted off. I am quite pleased I didn't understand what its owner said to me.

Our walk continued with no further incident apart from a brief, non-contact meeting with an enormous German Shepherd and we returned home absolutely sodden.

Just as I was changing out my wet clothes, Tim phoned. The car was much further away than he expected so he'd be away for some time. Meanwhile, someone was coming to fix a leak in the bathroom, a faulty radiator thermostat. At 10am. It was 10am now so I hurried to get dressed.

The janitor arrived. A charming Polish gentleman who will be a wonderful person to get to know properly. He did his work, told me his life story and, as he was leaving asked, "where is your television? You cannot have no television if you have a child".  Hah! Ours is on the boat. Bless him, he promised to find one for us and deliver it as soon as he could. He came back with one a couple of days later.

Tim eventually and triumphantly returned with our new car and our liaison chappie.

We'd better get some food in, so, following our guide, Tim drove us to our nearest store. 'Kaisers' is the name of a chain of shops that apparently are of good quality.

But it's not within walking distance of our home.

And this is when a slight depression hit me. Nothing is nearby. We're living in a beautiful leafy suburb of Berlin, but there is nothing here, no shops, not even a train station. All shops close on Sundays, many close on Saturday afternoons too. I can no longer pop across the road for milk or food.

And where is everything else? I need a nearby post office if I'm to keep running my business. A vet, dentist, doctor... where are they?

The thought of driving here terrifies me. It's all on the wrong side of the road and I've never driven that way before. Besides, I'm not yet allowed to drive here for insurance reasons so will have to rely on Tim for that. And he will be at work.

I start comparing Berlin to Tokyo and this is not a good thing. I have moments of "I don't want to be here". I must snap out of that but am finding it hard.