I've found some accommodation for the next three weeks in a really friendly flatshare in Friedrichshain while I continue my search for somewhere more permanent.
I'm taking the room of an Italian guy while he's on holiday, and the remaining housemates are a Belgian, a Brazilian and a Persian.
One of the pleasures of not having yet found anywhere permanent to live and staying in a hostel is that I get to hear some great multicultural conversations. I overheard this classic meeting of minds between a German guy and an American girl. The topic was vegetarianism.
AMERICAN: So I'd been eating meat my whole life until I was 12, and then I did a complete 360. Just didn't want to eat the stuff any more. So I haven't touched it since.
[GERMAN looks puzzled.]
GERMAN: I'm sorry, but you'd still be facing the same way.
AMERICAN: What?
GERMAN: A 360 turn would take you the whole way round. So you'd still be eating meat.
AMERICAN: But I turned all the way round! Like as much as you can!
GERMAN: That's a 180 turn.
AMERICAN: OK, so maybe it's like a 365 degree turn. Like all the way around and a bit more.
GERMAN: No, you'd still be facing basically the same way. A 180 degree turn is the most you can do.
AMERICAN: Maths was never a good subject for me.
GERMAN: It's a 180 degree turn.
I love the Germans for their precision.
Umm... So it appears they're lacking black actors in Germany.
The review I read said Joachim Bliese makes an astonishingly realistic portrayal of a black New York pensioner. I think he looks like a dead man dunked in Marmite.
The view from the window of the cafe I'm sitting in to escape the torrential rain looks like a black and white photo. Berlin is a grey city today.
My first day of flat hunting and still only one solid response received:
Hi to all nudists or anybody, who would like to become one, our mixed nudism flat community is searching for a new male roommate, who is open.minded and seriously iinterested, without any obscene thoughts or sexual interests. Please send us a message, if it fits, tell something about you und send a photo of you, only without clothes please. We are discrete. Thanks, Jose.
I'm curious: how does a nudist community function on a day-to-day level? What's the deal with cooking (especially shallow frying and using the oven)? Does everybody cosy up on the sofa? And what happens when the doorbell rings unexpectedly?
I'm reassured that they're asking for a photo. This is obviously a carefully aesthetically engineered group of nudists. I've sent them this, and will let you know how I get on. Perhaps they'll pull me up on the specs.
