coot

the way that this video is going to help me learn to count in german

one of my favourite past times when visiting a new place is exploring the grocery store. so the same, but oh so different.

the visual nature of a grocery store assists with navigation, and seeing new products / innovations is fascinating and you can usually start to understand the hierarchy of what's important to the place, culturally.

germans. love, NO. cherish their meat. which is why there is one long stretch of fridges, FILLED floor to ceiling with pre-packed meat. this is, of course, in addition to the meat counter and a wurst aisle (dried/cured/canned meats).

cheese or käse comes in a close second with separate fridges for soft cheese, sliced and packaged cheese and fine cheeses and prices that will shock EVERY canadian who is used to paying $8+ for a small block of cheddar. berlin is known for its vegan scene, so don't worry, there's a whole fridge section dedicated to meatless meats and vegan cheeses as well.

bread comes in at no. 3 with a plethora of options including the freshly baked aisle, the loaves aisle and then the buns, baguettes and sandwich bread aisle. absolutely fresh to death and ready to fill your kitchen cupboards with the glorious odour of freshly baked brot.

the boxed milk that sits outside of the fridge is confusing and shares a shelf with coffee beverages and is back-sided with the dairy free options.

the fridge section full of mayonnaise salads and sauces is a move, along with the fridge section titled 'pudding'. will update once i understand exactly what they mean by pudding. half of the store is dedicated to beer and wine, and you'll also find random aisles filled with home goods and 'kappa' socks amongst the dedicated eggs aisle*, the pickle aisle and the olive aisle.

as i make my way to the checkout line, the candy aisle beckons with the classic light purple of MILKA and gummy satisfaction of HARIBO, the shockingly tiny freezer section says hello and you can pick up magazines or a novel or a bouquet of flowers.

just as you're ready to wind down your journey the most exhilarating part of the whole trip begins. lay your groceries down on the conveyer belt, get your karte and reusable grocery bag ready because the check out is about to begin. grab a last minute carton of cigarettes or a pack of gum, and say hello to the sweet frau, sitting in front of you who is about to show you what german efficiency is all about. u say hallo and 5 items have already been rung through and are laying there waiting to be thrown into your bag. THROW them into your bag, lightning speed pls. tiptap mit karte bitte, and you're done & finished and feel like you've just run a marathon.

common curtesy? put the divider down on the conveyor belt after you're done placing your items, once you've paid grab your stuff and go, otherwise risk holding up the cashier and all of the other people waiting in line (i think they make commission off of how many people they ring through in a day)

and try not to hit up the markt on a saturday evening just before dinnertime. grocery stores are closed on sundays in germany so everyone is running to make sure they have food left and dinner ready and alcohol for the evening...

moving to a new place is fkn scary as heck ESPECIALLY when you don't speak the language, and you've never been there before.

but clearly there's something in my blood that says just go and do and explore and make a hard situation even harder for yourself! why the fuck not! hanging onto the feeling, less about the overthinking.

so what the fuck do you do, when the jet lag has worn off, and you keep having second thoughts and wondering why THE FUCK you decided to end up in here in the first place, and wouldn't curling up on your parents' comfortable couch be breathtaking right now... and to that i give a few tips.

#1: Get up out of bed in the morning. Like PHYSICALLY get yourself out of bed in the morning. This will help get your body's rhythm started and prevent (most of the time) from falling back to sleep.

The jet lag from EST -> CMT is HARD. Even when you think you've acclimatized, it takes a good 2 weeks. In my experience that is.

#2: Take things at your own pace. There is a lot to figure out when you properly move to a new place, and it can be really overwhelming to navigate. I AM SO OVERWHELMED MOST DAYS. So I've really strived to take things at my own pace. No rushing. Let things happen as they happen. If I make it out of the house and accomplish a mere ONE item... SUCCESS. Did I download the transit app and learn how to use it? Damn I'm good. Learning how to celebrate the small things? Important growth.

#3: Explore the city. Be touristy, take the photos, learn about its history, go to the bucket list places, do all the things! Plus, you need to know the sites so you're an ~expert~ whenever anyone comes to visit.

#4: Figure out your neighbourhood. I've been trying to walk around and discover what this neighbourhood is all about. Get a gauge for what it's all about. Try out the different grocery stores, find your fave spots, and figure out where the fuck to get toilet paper. The more I've walked around, the more comfortable I feel.

#5: Make your space feel like your own. Put up some art, rearrange some lights, buy some flowers, find places for your belongings. Giving yourself a comfortable and cozy space where you can come back to and feel safe and grounded, will help when you have a hard day (inevitable).

it has been a pretty blurry almost week now, since i left my parents’ little hobby farm in rural ontario and flew across the big old atlantic and landed in berlin.

wednesday — quick jaunt through security in montreal and then a glass of wine, poke bowl and the china vs canada curling match. flight was ... no sleep ... babies screaming ... man in front of me had his seat back all the way ... drinking yoghurt at midnight ... just girly things. 

thursday — landed at CDG in paris. had to transfer to terminal 2F. CHAOS at their security line, and almost missing the flight paris 2 berlin. bumpy landing in berlin, and then waited for luggage for 3 hours until the brandenburg airport was pandemonium and i then waited in line for 2 hours at the lost and found desk. i. was. so. tired. 

made it to my flat after a chaotic run-in at ostkreuz bc the berlin transit system is like TRAINS less like SUBWAYS (from my experience thus far)

met anthony who made me tea and had a good first little chat; a lovely middle aged swedish man who’s lived here for five years. 

friday — i slept all day and then went to the grocery store up the street called rewe. funny how grocery stores are so similar and yet so different. and everything is in german (obviously) but !!!! somehow i was so shocked. also... automatic fridges?! you hover your hand, as if reaching for something inside the fridge, and the door OPENS for you. Also fridges all around the outside of the store FILLED with meat and cheese (there was a veggie one too, dw)

i bought seitan steaks... which chopped up and fried with MAGGI... bro... with instant mashed potatoes? they have no right. i’m shockith.

saturday — i ventured out to find my fave store MONKI, and wandered through the neighbourhood and over to Friedrichshain. saw a bit of the east berlin gallery and went to the east mall which was BEAUTIFUL. and so interesting to see that malls, while they host clothing stores, they are more centred around everyday purchases / errands (optometrist, grocery stores, electronic stores, etc.)

sunday — sunday’s are the rest day, and pretty much everything is closed. so i caught up on some sleep and ended up finding the missing piece of my charger. my laptop has power! just in time to get myself organized for my anmeldung appointment the next day. 

monday — after a quick cry in the toilet, i ventured to a scary day. going to get anmeldung without someone who speaks german... fk. everything was ok though. the lady was nice, and spoke english... so i got lucky. then i stormed around neukolln and all the turkish shops, and tempelhof airport and then i stormed in, finally to this cutie restaurant, where the barista let me sit, even though my vax-pass wasn’t working. OOOF. 

but had the best damn meal i’ve had in a WHILE.

tuesday – recalibrated my psyche

wednesday – walked to rummelsburg bucht and passed by the sysyphos (sp?) and then went to kaufland ! still amazed @ the cashiers abilities to ring you through ha ha

thursday – my luggage arrived! hallelujah. just one piece, but still have never been so happy to see a bag…

friday – set out to get my vaccine passport changed to an EU one, little luck. the apoteke said “not for tourists” “can’t do it without doctors’ stamp”

walked up the little trail beside the tracks which was nice! things are starting to get greeeeen (yay) and into and around friedrichshain.

then went to the O2 store to get a sim - the guy spoke english (thank gawd) and asked me if it was true that marijuana is legal EVERYWHERE in canada lol we love getting drug tips from phone guys < 3 but honestly work, and yes to destigmatizing convos surrounding drugs.

and my second bag arrived ! and i unpacked !

and registered for german school (:

hi i'm kate < < < 3

w e l c o m e 2 m y w o r l d.

ultimately insignificant, but i've just set out on a wild lil' journey, and just need a bit of an outlet annnnnnnd i grew up watching rom-coms where writing a blog had an ultimate cool factor, so you could say this is a bit of a 'fulfilling my dreams and destinies' if you believe in that stuff (i do) so here we go.

i woke up to the world and to myself about 4 years ago; but i won't dive in there right away.

basically my walls were cemented up for a large amount of my life, so much that i hardly let myself in! so a lot of self work later, i’m finally jumping into the deep end and moving to a new city, where i don’t know anyone or the language, and seeing what happens.

i'm queer and questioning and fat and finally ready to engage with the world and be v u l n e r a b l e. or just try to be myself and stop worrying about other peoples’ opinions and impressions of me for one god damn moment!

so welcome bebs, hopefully you'll stay for a while.