Anyone who's actually reading this sort of has Julia to thank that this next entry has even come as soon as it has...

So our first "Probewochenende" (which was actually not a real "Probewochenende" because we were still in Berlin) went well... Wow, it seems like ages ago now that I'm finally getting round to writing about it! I managed to top off a bit of a bad day with falling up the stairs on the way to rehearsal, though I like to think that every cloud has a silver lining, as it at least gained me a new friend! After the Friday night rehersal I went round Mette's for the evening, where we somehow managed to finish a tub of ice cream while watching a film. I'm SURE she ate most of it... :P Then Saturday continued with more orchestra, and brunch in the middle (soooo much food. I LOVE brunch!), and then (of course) our second weekly dosage of partying in the cellar. With soooo many people, so much beer, left over brunch. Ah. Good times. And I met Annika, a flautist, who turns out to have done a gap year in New Zealand - pretty cool! I ended up going with her to meet some friends after the cellar (on a cheeky dosage of some vairy strange coffee tablets (urgh, coffee!!)) to an Indian restaurant, where we somehow decided mooore food was in order. And cocktails, of course. Yeah :) So that topped the night off nicely! And then on Sunday I met up with the Danish girls, Lucas and Vicky for what's definitely becoming a Sunday night tradition in Al Hamra. Gotta love the open mike session! Always a good way to end a good weekend :)

However, the partying always brings consequences at some point... Well, not consequences as such, but you're bound to get tests/exams in your modules at some point, is what I guess I mean... Monday brought the first (of probably many) Grammar tests, which I somehow seemed to survive (phew!), and then I met up with Evamaria to introduce her to Mensa Nord (having been a tad naughty myself and going with Mette and Anna on Friday... :S ). The evening brought Horn Quartets (because everyone knows I'm a sucker for horn chamber music!) followed by more orchestra :) (and I'm taking the conductor's saying nothing as a "yes, I'd love for you to play in everything you want to play in and whatever parts you want to play") and of course the standard cellar visit. This time Annika and I decided to try our hands at Kicker. As I promised her, I definitely leave a lot to be desired in a teammate, though I like to think I at least provide entertainment value! I also managed to help a few other teammates loose, but I reckon I got better each time! And I possibly managed to win (by "I" I mean my teammate) one game. But it's a while ago now, so I can't promise that's true...

Wow, looking back now, it was quite a Mette filled week! Wednesday we met up again for a film and dinner (I love have dinner with other people, it definitely provides variety for my distinct lack of cooking skills!) and then we went for a walk in the forest/park (clearly always a good idea!) and managed to find a playground - we're all children at heart! Plus playgrounds seem to be where some of my most memorable moments come to pass, since going back to Birmingham after Easter last year. I'm getting very attached to them - maybe I should be worried...

Thursday brought more Mette and a rather eventful evening in Alte Kantine... Having decided it was time to go out again, Mette and I set up a pre drinks at mine, and when my flatmate arrived home he greeted the idea vigorously. After a few drinks at home (which included dancing therewith) we set off to meet Mette's dad and girlfriend (who were obviously staying in a flat near the club), bumped into Henrik on the tram, had a beer with Mette's dad (with one of the night's highlights being Arne's fascination at the "black" washing machine) and set off for some 90er Hits! (Something getting to be quite second nature for me and Mette.) The club was quite small, but the music was just what we needed, and there were some rather snazzy dance moves going on between the three of us. Gaining of a free beer = always a good move, however unfortunately we weren't to dance the entire night away, with Mette and Arne leaving rather too early for my liking, and my only realising later that staying in a club by yourself is generally a silly thing to do (though at least nothing bad came out of it!).

Friday brought yet another Mette night. Having slept one hour before my 8.00 (Germans are crazy!) seminar I crawled back into bed for a few hours before Mette came over for our planned horror night that evening! An overdose of pizza and chips unfortunately mean that the Ben and Jerry's ice cream Mette kindly provided are still in my freezer to this day. But I'm sure we'll sort that out soon :P We horrored ourselves out before eventually going to bed for a much longer sleep than the night before!

That evening I met up with Evamaria and Sabine for our first "night out". Having shared some wine (including some homemade raspberry wine, courtesy of Sabine's flatmate) we set off for our destination... Found it, rejected it, and ended up having an amusing night anyway (though an agreement we reached prevents me from revealing the details...)! And then rounded off the week with the usual Al Hamra session - standard!

The next week brought my first German party - a tad more classy than most in England seem to end up, but vairy nice (hence the spelling...). Almut invited a few of us round for a bit of food and drinks, and we were supposed to be going to Zosch afterwards for a bit of dancy time, but we ended up spending the whole evening in her flat, dancing away, Kai and I sang her a Polish birthday song, and I (being a clever bean) managed to stay past my last S-Bahn, and hence ended up sleeping there, and catching the S-Bahn straight to Uni for my 10.00. Which I also almost missed. But I didn't!

Thursday then brought the second pre-drinking experience with Evamaria and Sabine (with both of them complaining at my supposedly high tolerance of alcohol...). We got ourselves prepped and set off for the "Semesteroffnungsparty" (in week 5?!!) in Edelweiss, which was alright, but the music... left a bit to be desired for me... Natalie and I went on a mission to meet new people (which, I guess, was only partially successful), but still made for a good night. On the way home, however, I was unable to find my night bus (it definitely wasn't at the station where it said it was!) and ended up walking to my next tram instead. In my defence, I think Evamaria did the same!

I don't generally feel the need to mention all my skype conversations, but the one held with Jade on Friday made me laugh far too much, with our invention of Hanns Holzfäller, who lives in the woods in Berlin, that I feel it would be a shame to not even mention it at all - thanks Jadey!! Then that evening I went for dinner (falafels!! Gotta love DaDa Falafel!) with the Danish girls before heading off to a live concert in Werk 9. We had a few laughs with the bouncers (standard?) before going in, rather excited about seeing Rider's Connection for a full length set, instead of their couple of songs every week in Al Hamra. I left before the others, however, as my dad was arriving the other side of town early the next morning, and promised the bouncers ("are you leaving all your lovely friends already?") that I'd be back at some point!

Dad's visit brought out the tourist in me once more as we toured the town - new museums, old museums. Yeah. Gotta say, I'm still in love with the Deutsches Historisches Museum, though the Pergamon Museum really does have a lot of amazing things to offer too... Either everything in there was taken to pieces and then set up again inside, or the museum MUST have been built around quite a few of their exhibition pieces. Wow. So yes, if you're ever in Berlin... Obviously, with University always fitting well around your personal life, I managed to land myself in a few exams while my dad was here - perfect! But I made it through, so I won't complain too much right now!

My first German film in the cinema (this time round) was "Tim und Struppi" (why he couldn't still be called Tintin in German is beyond me...). In 3D. And in probably the smallest cinema room I've ever watched a film in! But very nice. And probably helped by the ice creams Mette and I indulged in... Because that's just the way we seem to do things nowadays!

The next day I met my Tandem partner, Süley, for the first time (having signed up online about a week before). We met in a cafe and just chatted for an hour, getting to know one another, which was nice. Then I went on to meet the Danish girls and Katja (Anne's flatmate... Well, ex-flatmate now :'( ) for pre-drinks - we were all set to head off to a 90s party (story of our lives...). Having told Nini she could do what she wanted with my hair, if we all drank enough, the night was off to a good start. The others were lucky enough that ring of fire was out of the question (I'm not sure they all appreciated the Erdnuss Flips last time), and so instead we drank shots. From Denmark. But they were only half shots at a time, because otherwise we'd possibly all be in trouble... Yes... Anyway, Nini ended up staying home, and the rest of us set ended up near Warschauer Straße, dancing away for the next few hours (Mette and I having good intentions to meet up with Henrik, Natali and co. for a bit of musical fun the next morning). So, leaving before the others, Mette and I set off home for what was inevitably to be not a lot of sleep before some music jamming. Sound painful? Yeah...

Well, the music jamming went ok, anyway, though I definitely decided not to play too much, and I'm not sure Mette was 100% there from the start either :P Realising that I would not be functioning properly for the WG Party I had lined up that evening without a nap, I left earlier than the others, though somehow the much needed nap didn't seem to happen (story of my life). The WG Party was good all the same, though I still query the morals of the person who brought his dog. That's not right/normal, is it? But I met many a lovely German (also managed to share brain waves with a girl who loves fancy dress (you have no idea how limited people on those brain waves are in Berlin/Germany!)), and got in a few other talking points, I like to think! Weekend then topped off (as per) in Al Hamra, with Mette and Henrik singing a Danish duet, dedicated to Anne, who was to leave on the Wednesday :( But it was a very nice evening anyway, despite this grey cloud hanging over us.

The dreaded week of Grammatik Hausaufgabe was upon me. For those who don't know yet, Linguistiks is fast becoming the bane of my life in Germany. It's just one of those things that I cannot do to save my life, despite all the help in the world Julia gives me. Thankfully, despite the many mistakes, the lecturer accepted my Hausaufgaben, so I can continue attending her 08.00 Friday lectures, not understanding a thing. Hopefully the exam will be more successful...

Obviously, being a Monday, we had orchestra (and this week some Strauss Kammermusik beforehand), followed by some fun in the Cellar. I feel like I gradually get to know more and more people through the Cellar, so I'm loving this tradition. Sadly, as aforementioned, Anne was to leave us on Wednesday, and as such we all met up in Train, a cocktail bar in a train carriage (or something similar) for her leaving drinks. Mette and I did our standard collecting postcards from the rack outside the toilets thing, as well as making full use of the Happy Hour in the bar. After saying our goodbyes to Anne and the others, Mette, Henrik, Lennart and I moved on to another bar, to see the results that would come from our attempts at playing pool. Whilst my pool skills (or possibly any sport that involves an extensive amount of hand-eye coordination?) also leave a lot to be desired, I am very proud to boast (because you have to once in a while, right?) that the only game I lost was when I paired up with Mette to make a team. However, I'm not sure you can judge me by this, because Mette was the only person to loose every game... Sorry, Mette! With Henrik and Lennart having come direct from band practice, Henrik obviously had his ukelele with... Which meant that a reproduction of our singing around the camp fire after playing volleyball and barbecueing was in order. It may sound like a bad idea to all the Englanders reading - surely it could only end in being turfed out for rowdy behaviour/the thought that you're too drunk, right? Oh no, not in Berlin, not in this bar! The bar lady loved us, serving us another round and a shot each on the house! Plus she asked us if we'd come back some Fridays! Unfortunately that hasn't been managed yet, but we've got until April, so we'll see! Having stayed later than the last S-Bahn (seems to be becoming a habit!), it was lucky that Mette's place wasn't too far away, and as such Mette and I stayed at hers for the night, passing a playground on the way (I'm noticing a pattern here...).

The last day in November brought my first Berlin concert - players from the HU orchestras got together in chamber groups to provide a chamber concert for members of the public. Far too many high notes in my parts meant that I obviously HAD to go to the cellar with the other players afterwards, where our conductor bought a round of beer, and I introduced Amelie and Corinna to the weekly rituals :P

One concert followed another, and the first of December brought my first German Adventskonzert. I met Theresa and her family for a Harmonic Brass concert - a brass quintet from München, with many of their own arrangements - quite a start to the festive season, let me tell you!

Having seen a poster for a 90er Party, where the Vengaboys would be playing live on Saturday (and managing to get free tickets!), Mette and I met up Friday lunch time for Falafels and to attempt to find something 90s to wear (and, to be honest, failing quite epically... Though we did manage to find more free postcards for our walls... And Santa costumes...), and as such hitting first the biggest second hand store you'll probably ever see - five floors! Blimey! After this shocking fail at shopping I met my Tandem partner for the second time - in a rather pretty Weihnachtsmarkt in front of the Schloss Charlottenburg, very nice! We drank Glühwein, looked at all the Verkäufer had to offer, and also heard the brass ensembles playing Christmassy tunes :)

The weekend was a rather full one - meeting the girls (and bringing Amelie and Sara along to meet them too) to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt in Rixdorf - which many people had advised me as being one of the best Weihnachtsmärkte in Berlin. Despite the rain, they were right, it was rather quaint, though the rain definitely prevented us from staying longer (though it didn't stop Natali from dancing!). We headed off to Natali's WG to enjoy the luxuries of home cooked Glühwein, before Mette, Mark and I went back to mine to have something to eat before going on to see the rave that would be the VENGABOYS!! So, I introduced them to a bit of English student culture (pasta bake...), we drunk beers, Mette discovered that my internet was (thankfully) too slow to frape me, and then we headed off to effectively the other side of the earth for the paaaarty! After a rather melodious tramride (seems to be rather a recurring theme), we arrived in Karlshorst (where?!), and whilst Mette and I twirled our way gracefully into the club, Mark was rather unable to blag his way on a free ticket, and as such paid rather more than either of us... But yes, what a party! As previously mentioned, Berlin is not quite the same as England. The "girl" near us spent far too much time without a top on and with quite a number of men - giving Mette and I something to scorn... However, when five girls were to be chosen to dance on stage (warm up act for th Vengaboys), Mette and I were (of course) among them, as was (unfortunately) this "girl" and two of her friends. Leaving Mark with free range over my camera, Mette and I strutted our stuff (fully clothed), and were definitely the real attraction to the stage... Or I like to think so at least! And then it was time :) And I know Jade told me that I shouldn't be proud of this, but I have to say, this wasn't the first time I've seen the Vengaboys live in concert (having had the honour last year in Birmingham with Pete, Emily and Jack), and I'm all over them like a rash! Plus Mette and I definitely also managed to get a few photos from the official photographer as well - again, main attraction of the night ;) Upon eventually leaving, however, the other side of the earth thing was definitely realised by all of us, as, despite transport running through the weekend, S-Bahn bus replacements and glory only knows what else meant that the journey home was possibly the longest journey home in the world! But we got there eventually, even if we did freeze on the way... And then, of course, the weekend was ended in Al Hamra :D

Of course, when one Hausaufgabe is due, another is inevitably on the horizon! However, the Sprachgeschichte was always bound to go better, so that wasn't too bad! Monday evening brought Horn Quartets (with the full intention of a Weihnachtsmarkt appearance on Wednesday) followed by orchestra, and (of course) the cellar. Unfortunately Wednesday brought rain, rain and rain, which rather prevented our attempts of horn quartets in a Weihnachtsmarkt, although we did go out for a beer instead, which partially made up for it. And discussed Christmas traditions (with Ryan doing a teaching certificate, and as such having to give a lesson on Christmas in England that week)...

Mette and I somehow got into our heads that our stability on our feet was worthy of an ice skating attempt... Bringing some other people with us, we head off for a try. I would like to state now, officially for the records, that Mette fell over far more times than I did! And I would also like to claim that the SINGLE time I fell over was due to Henrik. Right, that's that out the way! Nini was a great help (how did she get so good?!), guiding me round the ring for the most part, and when I didn't have Nini I at least managed to steal a penguin (yes, there to help the children), so I was rather chuffed with myself! Being in a Weihnachtsmarkt, we then obviously went for a little bit of Glühwein (I <3 German things!) and a bit of a ponder through the Weihnachtsmarkt.

After my lovely (*cough cough*) 8am Seminar on Friday I met up with Emma for another bit of Weihnachtsmarkt visiting (because, let's be honest, if you're in Germany, you've got to do as much of it as you can!), having been tipped off that the Weihnachtsmarkt in Spandau is also rather a nice one. Definitely one of my favourites. Being so far out, there were far fewer people there than there were in all the Weihnachtsmärkte in Mitte, and we were able to roam the streets as we pleased. I think Emma still blames me for the mushrooms, though, which were amazing, but veeeeeery garlicy... I loved it! Having randomly mentioned I had a fancy dress at the weekend (which I still wasn't prepared for...), Emma revealed that she had just the clothes she needed for what I wanted to be! Perfect :) so we headed back to her's for a cup of tea and a bit of clothes collection. That evening I met up with Amelie and her friend, Ulrike, to finally make use of my Classic Card. We went to the Comic Opera (which looks far better inside than out...) to see "Im weißen Rößl" (all in dialekt. Wow. Because German isn't hard enough anyway!), which was niiiiice! Except that the man near us was really drunk, and we had to get a steward to ask him to move, and then he just moved to the row infront of us and fell asleep (=snoring. Not so good.). But yeah, apart from that it was good!

Feeling the need to continue in the Christmas spirit, Katja and I agreed to help out with tickets for Sophie's concert Saturday afternoon (=free entry - definitely still a student here!), Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium, Kantanten I-III, pretty good, can't complain! Not sure I've ever said "Dankeschön, viel Spaß" so many times before, though. Or that I ever really want to again... Then we headed back to her's to prepare for the upcoming Couchsurfing fancy dress bar crawl - quite something! So, after eating and getting changed, Wally and Micky Mouse head off to try and find a few other wannabes, and oh boy, did they! There was the spaghetti man, among quite a few other inspired ideas! Wally was unfortunately found far too easily through the night, though (s)he wasn't really complaining :P The first (/second) pub we went to we definitely weren't welcomed too warmly. We were told they weren't serving food (?! Ok...?), and eventually the bar woman opened the door to bring in a draught to try and make us leave! We headed off to the second (/third) pub with all good intentions, where Katja and I managed to meet two middle-aged locals ("wir sind beide single. Hässlich, ja, aber wir wissen wie man Spaß hat" being one of their sleezier lines), who mocked Katja for her Swabian roots (and thus wine consumption), and as such we spent a fair bit of time avoiding them (soooo.... Sweets and smoking in the other room with Peter?). We then moved on to the final pub, which was pretty cool, and had loads of upside down pictures and stuff, as well as nighties hanging in the windows :) And, after experiencing yet another sleezy chat up line for the night, so sleezy I have to insert it here (in English):
- Do you ever wear high heels?
- No, not really
- Why not?
- Because I'd probably fall over - I'm not really used to them
- That's a shame, because then it'd be easier to kiss me
- Oh. Shame.
I think the night was just full of weird chat up lines... Katja introduced me to the crazy German shot things called Brause. VERY strange. But still somewhat good... Then the barmy French/Austrian people entered the bar - that's when things got even weirder! So basically it turns out that Wally isn't called Wally in every country. See, in France he's actually called Charlie. Anyway, so these random French/Austrian guys come up to me, and ask me if I'm Charlie. To which I, obviously reply that I'm not, I'm Ren. So they go away. Then five minutes later they come back, saying, no, you're Charlie, we found Charlie!! Ok, so finally it clicks. Then they start singing... Apparently they've searched years for Charlie, and finally finding him... Well, they have a lot of songs. They had a girl with them, and I think she was embarassed... Eventually we decided it was time to move on, and as such a group of us Couchsurfers ended up at a WG Party somewhere (obviously we knew where we are, but I spare the specifics...). Quite an amazing WG - they had a weird bar thing and a Berliner Kindl lamp above it. Maybe you had to see it. There was also a "zu verschenken" box in the stairwell, where I may possibly have gained quite a few books. And an "Alkohol. Know your limits" T-shirt. Definite win for the night!!

Sunday brought a change to our traditions. After having gone to a couple of Christmas markets with a few MuWi Erasmus students (and Lorena) I met Katja again and we set off to meet some of the girls at Inna’s WG for a last Christmas get-together, which was lovely. Food, Glühwein, Plätzchen – everything was there that you could possibly need. As well as a (courtesy of Mette) map of Europe, hand-drawn on a makeshift whiteboard. With chalk. Nope, definitely nothing missing that day!

Next week: pretty standard. Test in our Sprachkurs Grammatik class (yay, fun!), followed by Christmas tunes... Satzprobe before orchestra (still bumming Mahler), then followed by our Weihnachtskellar. Mmmmmhmmmmmmm :D So basically it consisted of everyone bringing Glühwein, us cooking it (yes, in the cellar), a bit of Kicker, a lot of chatting, drinking, singing (I'm so glad a couple of other people knew the descant Weihnachtslieder lines...) and daaaancingg :D I want more regular Weihnachtskellars!! Though I doubt that'll happen somehow :(

Linguistiks on Tuesday finally brought a bit of relief. Rather easily persuaded, we finished early and headed off to a nearby Weihnachtsmarkt to fill our stomachs with Glühwein :) Pretty much sums itself up, really!

Wednesday was a day to make as many people jealous as possible. The musicians among you be prepared to hate me for a short while. So, a few of the HU MuWi students went along to a Berliner Philharmoniker rehearsal at the Philharmonie in the morning, and it was quite something! Unfortunately we were quite far back, so it was a bit difficult to hear what Sir Simon Rattle was saying, but they still definitely did all the music justice – especially Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde! In fact, Wednesday was filled with some of my favourite things. I left the rehearsal and went to my final horn lesson before Christmas, in the trumpet room of the Konzerthaus, for a change. Obviously it’s not as amazing as the horn room (how could it be?!), but they do still have a squashed trumpet on the wall, and plenty of photos for thought! I’ll also put in now how amazing I’m still finding my horn lessons here. A couple of weeks back we had quite a discussion about warm ups, and what horn we use (Bb or F) for what notes, and all that sort of stuff which probably wouldn’t interest a lot of you, but I find totally banging. Yes, I did just use the word banging. And then he lent me some music for Christmas. Music I’ve never even heard of before, but it’s reeeeeally nice as well! Woop. Then I went and met my Tandem partner in the Brüder-Grimm Bibliothek, where we had a drink and a chat, which was good. Also made me feel rather popular, as it was my territory, so I bumped into quite a few people I knew – go me! And then in the evening I met up with Emma again, in a bar called B flat, where one of her friends from Guildhall (who is also, coincidentally, Danish) was planning on playing in the jam session they get going every Wednesday. Well, not just planning on, he actually did. And was rather good – go him!

Our Mozart in Wien session on Thursday was rearranged into a lecture at a random institution that used to belong to Humboldt Uni. Or something like that. It was a bit weird, not sure it was really relevant or anything, but I’ll leave it at that... I met up with Mette and Anna for a bit of Christmas shopping after my last music lecture (having thus finished at Humboldt for Christmas!), and we wandered round Friedrichstraße a bit, and down to Gendarmenmarkt, where we visited both chocolates in the area (wow to the one on the corner of Gendarmenmarkt, just wow! Pretty large models of quite a few Berlin tourist attractions. Made out of chocolate. Oh yes.), which brought on the hunger for them, so we went to a small restaurant near the S + U Bahnhof. In the evening I met up with Sophie and a few other music students (and friends) in Aufsturz, which was rather cool! Quite a lot of drink varieties to choose from there, let me tell you! And nearly all the pictures on the walls are for sale. So yes. After finishing off with some rather strong beer we moved down the road to the chip shop (with a tent outside) for a bit, and then headed down to Zosch for the last drink of the night. As the jazz session which is normally there on Thursdays was already over we took of the stage with a few piano demonstrations before saying our farewells for the Christmas break.

Having had a slob day (or at least I presume so) for most of Friday, I met up with Lorena and Corinna in the evening to go and see Henrik’s concert. Quite a nice way to round off my pre-Christmas Berlin time, couple of beers, some Plätzchen, music, bit of cheeky dancing. Standard. And, as we left the venue it started to snow! Seeing as I had to leave for the airport in about three hours, I turned down the clubbing invite and went back to mine to sort out the last minute whatnots. And to not sleep. Because then I would definitely have missed the plane!

So, arriving in Switzerland at about 9.00, rather tired after about an hour’s sleep on the plane, I was finally reunited with my Julia!! We drove to Wasenweiler for a bit of a nap and some pumpkin soup before catching the train to our 14.30 rehearsal for a concert we were helping out with that afternoon. Let me tell you now, if you’re used to playing on a horn that’s normally in F, it’s VERY strange trying to play a single horn in Bb! But somehow I got through, and (of course) it snowed in the theatre during silent night, which was quite a sight to behold! (Sorry, Ellis, I know that hadn’t happened yet, but it just seemed to fit in there!) That evening I ate my first Raclette with Julia’s WG and friends before supposedly going to a Sociology party, but realistically ending up going to a Uni building to get sparkling wine and then back to a flat for a socialising session instead (which was probably for the best, bearing in mind how little sleep I’d had...). My time in Freiburg was generally dominated with social events – friends came over again on Sunday with food they still had, and I ate my first Bratapfel, a German tradition, and rather nice, if a little unusual! And this of course then turned into a bit of a Spielabend, which was definitely nothing to complain about. And it started actually snowing. Outside. But Julia refused to make snow angels, because there wasn’t enough snow :( maybe I’ll get over that in time... We’ll see.

The next day the snow had settled, and we head into uni for a few seminars, which was interesting to see how the unis differed from one another. Followed by more socialising in the Fachschaftsraum. Where THE DRESS was found. And then Monty Python. Auf Deutsch. Can it get more weird than that?! But, of course, I loved it! In the evening we went to a Pub Quiz, but left early to go and socialise with more people (which is a shame, because our team actually went on to win!), but it was still rather exciting, even if Albert was less than amused at the cheek nibbling...

I sort of lose track of the days a bit, but I’m pretty sure it was Tuesday that Julia and I went to her weird English seminar. Where I ate a lot of chocolate. The Christmas eating was definitely already beginning – Überraschungseier, Lindt chocolates, Ferrero Rocher... All the best! Going back on my writing now (though being determined not to delete anything...) it was definitely Tuesday (I think...). Because that morning I skipped Julia’s first seminar, and instead stayed home with Miriam, and she cut my hair! Quite a big difference, let me tell you now! And then in the evening I borrowed Julia’s horn again to attend the Uni’s orchestra (Tchaik!), obviously also taking part in the Weihnachtsfeier (definitely also helping out with the consumption of Glühwein), with every intention of going to Elpie (their student club) later. However, it was not to be. Unfortunately on the way home Julia accidentally slipped (though she still claims that it was for my benefit – so that I could experience German medical centers...), meaning that it was a rather painful effort to walk... Despite this, she assured me several times when we were back at the WG that she was still able to dance. I don’t think she could see her own face while she was walking... So instead we played a few games and drank a few beers with Albert.

Wednesday morning was spent in a couple of clinics, trying to get Julia’s foot seen to. Eventually (but probably still faster than in England) she had an X-Ray, and then man (probably a doctor...) bandaged it up for her. While Julia went to work, Miriam and I went shopping. A lethal combination – someone who just can’t make up her mind/doesn’t generally actually buy anything while shopping, and the other who is... Persuasive...? So I returned (having told Julia I wouldn’t buy anything without her) with a new dress (for the WG party that night). We got home just before dinner (the second Raclette of the week), and all dressed up for the party that night. Which was nice. Not really many details to go into there. Played werewolf for the first time. It’s weird. And chatted. And chatted. And chatted.

With the departure of everyone else the next day, Julia and I also went to Wasenweiler for the evening. First, however, we met in Breisach, I ate my first something (wow, the name is escaping me) there (Julia was shocked), and we had a look around the Weihnachtsmarkt. And gained a mug. A nice mug. Then back to Wasenweiler for the night of cosiness in Julia’s bed. Plus a film.

Friday we went back to Freiburg for some Christmas shopping time. Sooooo many people. And definitely not so easy when one of you is on crutches. But it still worked. And we got pretty much everything we needed, as far as I know! And then back to Wasenweiler for the evening.

Saturday – Christmas eve! When they actually celebrate Christmas in Germany :) The tree was decorated (weird that they don’t really do that before), presents wrapped (last minute...), piano Christmas music played, games. It was very nice. We had a cheese fondue for dinner (mmmmm) and everything was very yummy and lovely indeed.

Christmas day brought loads of food (Spätzle = mmmmmm) and a visitation from Julia’s half-sister and her boyfriend, where we played even more games. Pretty much sums up everything! Julia cooked the Christmas meal for the first time (and it was lovely!) and.... Well, yes!

Boxing day in Germany means you visit as many of your relatives as you can, as far as I can tell! We visited Julia’s mum’s siblings, and also Julia’s Grandma (though only very briefly). Everyone was very lovely, and we also went for a bit of a walk by Lake Konstanz, through the town of Horn (YES!).

On Tuesday we again went shopping (/mainly browsing), and Julia and I managed to find some henna for my hair (it had been a while...). In the evening we went to a Thermalbad with Per and some friends, which was a very good experience! Found the outdoor baths rather... Strange, though! But still an advisable try. Then we all went back to the Lovermen’s house for a bit more fondue (it’s been a rather cheesy Christmas!) and games.

Wednesday brought the return to Berlin. Having hired a car, Per and Adrian drove Julia and I for quite a lot of hours (=quite a lot of sleep). After having a brief tour round Adrian’s flat we drove to mine, where we also bought some food, before getting the tram to Aufsturz, where we were meeting Mark, Mette, and some friends visiting from Denmark. I have to say, Mark provided me with one of my favourite quotes from the evening:
-“Why’s there one for the Frenchman?”
-“He’s Canadian.”
-“That’s the worst kind of Frenchman!”.

Excited for the Brummie arrival, Adrian and Per picked up Julia and I in the morning to go and meet them at the coach stop. I’m still VERY impressed that five people from my home uni had the perseverance (I can’t really think of any other word for it...) to get a coach to and from Berlin. Ok, well only four went both ways, but the concept is still the same! My excitement as I saw Rozzy, Emily, Ellis, Mike and Jack in the waiting room was beyond belief, as probably was their surprise at my distinct lack of hair! We went back to mine for breakfast (after spending quite some time in Penny’s deciding what we actually needed to buy), and then met the guys again in town, where we took the bus 100 (for anyone who doesn’t yet know, it’s a bit of an unofficial tourist bus in Berlin). Getting on the stop before all the tourists, we nabbed the front row seats in the top of the bus, gazing in awe at some of the sights. And taking photos all the way. Then we went off to Potsdamer Platz, had a cheeky wander round the Sony Centre, stole Santa from the kids... Standard. And had a brief look in the Philharmonie, before walking down to the Holocaust Mahnmal, where even more photos got taken. And of course then wandered down to the Brandenburger Tor for a few more photo sessions and then heading back to mine for dinner and quite a bit of booze. I think, due to the tiredness, we didn’t quite realise how early we started. Probably for the best. Rozzy and I played a few piano duets which dinner was being prepared, and we, of course, played a few standard Brum games. It was indeed a sight to behold! Heading from the kitchen to my room (having only two or three stools in the kitchen, we had in fact been eating and playing games on the floor) we lounged about on the sofas, people went to get more food from the Döner down the road (coming back with mine being past in a wrap. Very weird), and we chatted. After Adrian and Per went home the photos began. It was quite an event!

More sight-seeing followed on Wednesday. We met the guys in Alexanderplatz, Mike and I did our best to get in quite a few photos (not sure some people will be impressed when they get them developed) and then we caught the S-Bahn to Warschauer Straße, to show the culture of the East Side Gallery. Under recommendation we also headed off to supposedly get the best Currywurst in town (not that I’d know), and then had a brief look at Ku’damm before going to the Brandenburger Tor again to see some of the sound check for the concert that’d be there the next day. After another bit of dinner at mine, experimented with how many people you can get in a hoodie (standard) and prepared ourselves for a night at Soda – free entry for girls, as well as three drink tokens. And we definitely made it a Brummie night out. Dancing, drinking, getting low on the dance floor – I’ve missed those guys! As well as some rather bad chat up lines... Maybe the Germans just have a lot to learn...? Mike and I went for a DMC outside in the smoking area, which rather confused Rozzy as she tried to find us (having somehow heard on the phone “safety area”, and as such asking the Bouncer where the “Sicherheitsgebiet” was. Amazing. Only a ginger... :P ). Julia, Mike and Jack left at around 3, while Rozzy, Ellis, Emily and I decided we’d do better getting the tram just past 5.00 back. Going to my first silent disco room (Jack having earlier been convinced it was the worst room in the club as there wasn’t any music!), Rozzy requested Maneater, and was so surprised when it actually came on that she went and thanked him afterwards! We met some Irish guys (who have a very weird rule about Smirnoff Ices being pointed to and then having to down them? STRANGE!), danced and basically just explored the club a bit. Shortly before 5 we left, well in time for the first tram. Which turned out to be my bad, because it’s different on Saturdays. Not for another hour! So we ended up getting the U-Bahn to Alexanderplatz and buying McDonald’s instead, and then getting the M4 home from there. I’m not sure Emily was impressed... We arrived home to a Christmas tree in the kitchen. As Rozzy says, it was like a “what’s wrong with this picture” game, took us a little while to figure it out. You definitely know you’ve got Brummies staying when you get home at 6 in the morning to a Christmas tree in the kitchen, I’ll tell you that much! And, I have NO IDEA how they managed to get it there without pine needles all over the floor. Because as Ellis and I took it back out, there was definitely a trail leading from the back garden to our front door (Rozzy was lovely enough to sweep up the ones in the house for us).

Having a slightly longer lie in on Saturday morning, I’m not really sure that we did very much through the day! After craving eggs the night before, Rozzy and I managed to get our wish that morning! Jack was lovely and made us fried eggs and eggy bread – thanks! We had Raclette for dinner (definitely a very German thing), sitting round it on the floor and sharing the pans. Definitely quite a student variation on it! Then we all dressed up (with a Birmingham meets Berlin theme), and Mike did some rather amazing face decoration things for some of us (I was very impressed!). So, equipped with: The Berliner Mauer, Berlin Zoo (x2), the Jewellery Quarter, Selfridges, Big Joe and Gatecrasher and armed with necklace shotglasses we head off to Hauptbahnhof for some celebrations. I warn you now, these are very different from those you’ll see in England! People basically just brought their own fireworks onto the street, and were setting them off left right and centre. It was quite incredible! We delved into our own bottles of bubbly for an entry in the New Year, and had a few sparklers and party poppers each to top it off. And, of course, soooooo many people were asking for photos with us (you should have seen Mike and Jack, they were bumming all over it! “Helfe ich, ich habe mein Haus verloren!”) and we also managed to gain quite a few shots from people, very friendly :) When we ended up heading back home (still gaining shots on the way, I’d like to add!) Mike managed to entertain a German couple on the tram with his monkeyness (I literally think they would have kept you as their pet) andwe met a crazy Danish guy (as well as some rather scary German guys). Then, of course, we ended the night with a few games. Oh yes. And it definitely ended with my housemate coming home to some Brummies asleep on the kitchen floor. She’s probably going to love me forever...!

As Mike managed to leave his coat at Soda on Saturday morning (how did he not notice?!) we headed back the next day to sweet talk the people cleaning up after New Year to let us in an get it (I really thought he wasn’t going to let us, but the explanation that Mike was due to go back to England that day and Julia’s loveliness seemed to turn him round), and then we got the U- Bahn back to Alexanderplatz, where we ventured into das Partyhaus vom Nikolaus for some of the best chips ever! Then it was unfortunately time for the majority of our party to love and leave us. Taking them back to the coach station, all the buses were delayed and moved due to the number of tourists still waiting to check in – bit of a nightmare, really! But they managed it in the end, and (despite the crazy singing walker people) are now back in England. Or lying to me. As Julia went to Adrian’s with him and Per, I introduced Rozzy to our Al Hamra tradition, and she loved it! We both had halloumi wraps for dinner there (soooo yummy!), and started the New Year in good spirit. Unfortunately, however, the Unis here don’t understand proper holidays, which did mean that Monday morning involved a lovely seminar at 8.00. Not 100% convinced Rozzy and Julia appreciated that! We met up with Adrian and Per for lunch in the Mensa and then head off to uni for some cheeky internet usage. After our internet session (I think the token German guy in the room loved us) we set off to go to the Topography of Terrors – I’ve been before, but still found it interesting all over again. Plus they had a different photo exhibition on. Then, having arranged to meet Rhys and Rike in a pub, we headed back to mine to make dinner for us and Adrian, before meeting the others in the Oscar Wilde for a couple of beers.

Tuesday brought Julia’s departure (my bed just seeming to get bigger and bigger every night), and Rozzy came to my Sprachgeschichte lecture and my Linguistiks seminar (which, thankfully, she found rather challenging too!). In the evening we met up with Adrian, Mette and Henrik again for a bit of time in Train, the Cocktail bar. Yummy cocktails. I’m very happy with happy hour!

With Wednesday being my day free from Uni, Rozzy and I went to Hohenschönhausen, the former Stasi prison. Doing the tour you actually get shown around by an ex-prisoner there, which was very interesting, even if we weren’t quite able to understand everything he told us about. Then we went to Potsdamer Platz to use the fastest lift in Europe (and it feels pretty fast!) – 8 seconds to do 24 floors or something equally ridiculous. Quite a view from the top, though! We had been considering the TV Tower, but apparently it’s closed for refurbishment. Never mind, next time I have visitors! And then we took the S-Bahn to Mette’s area of town, to do a bit of fruit and veg shopping in the market near her house, before getting the bus to Ku’damm to take a look in the Gedächtniskirche and also take our first trip into KaDeWe. We had a relaxed evening zur Hause, making Fajitas (with some sort of other spice mix....) and watching a few episodes of the amazing Black Books.

More Uni on Thursday, with a Mensa break inbetween and then a trip to the onesie shop. Yes, there is a shop here, where only onesies are sold. No kidding. It’s amazing! But expensive.... All the same! After all our lectures for the day we went for our “tour” round the Reichstag – so weird you can go all the way up! Pretty cool, though :) and in the evening we met up for dinner with two of Rozzy’s friends from her weird thing she did last Christmas (I’m not even going to try and name it) and a couple of cocktails in an Indian Restaurant near Görlitzer Bahnhof.

Early on Friday unfortunately came Rozzy’s departure. Far too soon. But I’m very glad she came, even if she had to go again. Instead of my 8.00 grammar lecture I decided to attend the Generalprobe of Mahler 3 in the Konzerthaus – and I’m very glad I did! It was quite amazing. Very impressed. Even if I didn’t quite agree with the conductor’s decision when it came to standing up the choir... In the evening I met up with Mette, Sabine and some friends and, missing our film at the correct time because of the queue, we went for a drink before seeing it at a later viewing time. Some cringeworthy moments, a little bit Awky T, as one short person might say, but good all the same!

Have not really done much today, but am about to go and make dinner before heading off to Mette’s for a night with her and Chris, and friend visiting from Scotland, which should be interesting. But also means this possibly won’t get posted until tomorrow....

And now it is tomorrow. We went to a few bars in Neukölln, which was nice and different! We started in a Scottish pub, which is run by a couple from Chris’ home town (small world!) and then moved on to Weserstraße – first in a (very) small bar with live music, and then in some crazy local bar. Where we somehow gained a free beer and free shots. I’m not quite sure how this keeps happening to us, but I’m not going to query it! So, returning home around 6am you know it’s been a good one! And we found some frogs. Obviously.

And now it’s a few days later, yet again, because the internet officially hates me. I say a few days, it’s more like a week. And I still haven’t managed to upload the blogginess of blogs. SO. Sunday = Al Hamra. Standard. Mette and I ate there, because we’re lazy and it tastes good. Phew. Monday = orchestra. Because I’m cool like that. But unfortunately no cellar, because no one had the key. Tuesday = Mette’s birthday = more cocktails in train = lush. And some good photos. Wednesday = slob day. I did not do a lot. Actually, that’s a lie, I did some work. Yeah, go me! And today I went to a crazy comedy thing with Evamaria and her flatmate Maria. Very strange. Like sitting in on a comedy thing and being those annoying people laughing and coughing in the background. Except that’s what we were told to do. And obviously we weren’t annoying. How could we possibly be?!

Right. I’m sure that’s enough to feed you all for now, so stop procrastinating and go and do some work (Julia)!!!