Bubble Tea and who knows what else...

Oh gosh. As if it were possible for me to get any worse. I should really have given up being rubbish at my blog for Lent or something. But I thought of that too late, so oh well...

So, on Friday I met Mette for lunch and then we headed off to meet Anna and her sister so that we could sort some things out for her birthday party the next day. We went to the crazy charity shop at Frankfurter Tor (the ridiculously big one with like a zillion floors. Well, not a zillion, but like four or five or something crazy like that!), and got down to work in our attempts to “Berlinify” ourselves... I'm not sure we actually found that much, but it's always a fun experience there anyway, so that didn't matter too much! Then Mette and I headed back into town to actually Berlinify me, finally finding a green skirt and tights that completed the look :) We then went a bit crazy that evening, deciding to go out, but watching a film (and obviously eating ice cream – we learnt our lesson to eat the ice cream before the pizza this time, so as to ensure you have room for ice cream!) first. Which induced a nap. Much needed... We then, of course, missed our tram, which meant we went to the off license and sat there with a beer for a while, almost missing the next one too (we've gotten quite used to running for trams recently...). But we made it before midnight, meaning we got in free (with it being ladies' night) and received our three drinks vouchers. Always a good start. However the club was rather empty, and at this point I have to take back some of the things I mentioned in a previous blog post... So Mette and I decided we needed to pass the time until more people got there (for dancy times), and we found a room with loads of pool tables... And I definitely lost. A lot. We also put chalk on our noses, as well as those of some of the people near us. I'm not sure they were impressed. After an hour of me losing we went back for some fancy dancy times, which were very dancy, and lead to a silent disco as well. Always a good thing. Ah, it's all coming back to me now! So the tram between me and the Kulturbrauerei happens to be one of the few non-metro trams around, which always sucks when it comes to going home! So I bought chips (with ketchup, of course) for the walk, and Mette and I went our separate ways. I was definitely too involved in the chips, however, as I just wasn't looking where I was going, and I bumped into someone (really hard), spilling ketchup all down me, apologised, looked up... It was a tree. Great. And it broke skin and all! Guess that should probably teach me a lesson or two! But it was totally worth the night out :)

The day of Mette's party Nini came round for some baking fun (there have been some DELICIOUS cakes during my time in Germany so far!), with inspiration taken from our favourite song ;) This was followed by pizza and chips (perfect day after going out cure) and a piano duet session. Of Christmas songs. Epic. I think the neighbours probably love this flat. Actually, they definitely do, but I'll get onto that one later! So after quite a good session at mine Nini and I set off to help Mette set up her flat for the party party party. Banging. So yeah, it was a good 'un. There was SO much cake, and then more cake, brownies, snacks, beer. Yep. Everything. And Mette and I were obviously the best there :) Without a doubt! (Sorry other guys. They were good too, but obviously nothing beats us ;) ) Mette and I made rum during the party, which obviously led to a paint fight, and some swapping of clothes and just a general bit of mischief! I left rather tired with Amelie, needing the same transport most of the way, and managed to go to sleep on the S-Bahn. Amelie Woke me up when she left (probably about two stations before me), telling me NOT to go back to sleep. Which I did, but still made it off at my stop. Very green and red, and getting quite a few odd looks!

After a few skype sessions the next morning I met up with Natalie for our first allgemeine Musiklehrer revision session (not sure I've ever started working for an exam that early before!), definitely a good shout! And then, of course, that evening we went to Al Hamra (me taking all Mette's clothes I'd stolen the night before with!), and Mette decided to swap clothes there as well. What a freak :P

Not much of interest going on the Monday – more orchestra, some exams... Yeah, standard. Then on Tuesday we had a get together for Evamaria's birthday. And I was introduced to Tabu. So imagine playing Articulate. But with forbidden words for each word you have to describe. In a foreign language. I can assure you, I was the source of much amusement that evening! But it was very good all the same, even if we definitely lost!

Wednesday I skyped with Emily P in the morning (love that girl!) and then went off for my horn lessons. I have to say I'm a little bit (platonically) in love with my horn teacher, even if there have been a few comments since Christmas... I'll give you a few examples... So my first lesson after Christmas he commented on my new haircut. “It makes you look twenty years younger.” Question is, did I look really old beforehand, or do I look really young now? Or something between the two. Another time it was “you remind me of my daughter.” His daughter is about four, I think. Yippee! Oh well, the love is still there! Then I met my Referat partner to go over some Wagner bits and bobs, and start sorting out our presentation... So much reading for that! And saw Natalie afterwards for some more hardcore revision, with church scales, transposition and other exciting things... Followed by dinner and an evening in Hangar 49 – a jam session near Janowitzbrücke, which was pretty cool. Natalie is REALLY good at improv singing! Jealous.

Mette came round on Thursday to discuss her moving in with Arne, and also to sort out my bank transfers for uni and stuff. What a babe. Then Anna came round and we all ate dinner together, before being massive geeks and reading through our German grammar homework/exams together. Yes, geeks. But then Peter rang and saved us from our geekiness, and Mette and I went to meet him in Pony Saloon for a beer, why not? Always nice to try out a new area and pub anyway :)

Friday evening we met up with Amelie and some Uni friends, and decided to try our luck in the Oscar Wilde, which inevitably led to Karaoke. Mette was a bit of a cruel friend here, signing us up for “Barbie Girl” without my knowing! But it's all about the unknown, so that was fun! We also sang “Yellow Submarine” and Mette went all crazy and amazing and sung some solos as well. Mette also made friends with one of the other singers, which amused us quite a bit ;) Anyway, clearly we were fantastic, as the DJ guy asked us to come back the next time Karaoke was on! I still haven't been back yet, but Mette has!

There's nothing written in my diary for the next day except for skype. So clearly not a very going out and meeting people day, so I like to think it was productive instead. Which it probably wasn't, but lets stay under that illusion, yes? And Sunday there's nothing written there except Al Hamra. But we all know that was good. And we persuaded Peter to come as well. I love it when new people experience the greatness. And Monday only has orchestra written. That's something I have to write about, actually. The cellar is NO MORE! You have no idea just how upsetting this is. It's... Upsetting... Yes.

The next day I finally gave the dreaded Referat. Was definitely not the best thing, but oh well, it's over and done with! Then in the evening I met up with Adrian for cocktails in Train, being joined later by Mette and Henrik (very jealous of Mette's free tickets to the Philharmonie that evening!).

More revision/exam learning with Natalie the next day. This makes me sound as if I did LOADS of work for that exam. I definitely didn't do as much as it seems, honest! ;)

Mette and I met up for lunch the next day. It's been quite nice meeting up every few Fridays for lunch, I'm going to miss that next semester :( I am, however, enjoying having a few connections here in Berlin. Mette and I managed to get free tickets to go and see Apassionata at the O2, which was rather cool (there was a girl in my Sprachgeschichte Lecture who's mum sings in it at the end). We were upset we weren't given a table at the front with food and whatnot, but you can't have everything! We did pet some horses at the end, though ;)

On Saturday Jamie and Ros arrived in Berlin (though I didn't actually meet them until the next day), and Mette and I went to a singles rock Karaoke event at Pfefferberg 13, which was interesting, to say the least.... We were given nametag hearts upon entering, and the aim was to find the matching name, which would gain you a free shot... So I was Bianca, and Mette was Guitar... Bit weird, but whatever... Mette found her partner (Bass), but for some reason they wouldn't give him a free shot. Which actually worked out rather well for me :P Then Mette and I sang “I kissed a girl” (probably the worst version of it you've ever heard), which got no applause whatsoever... So that was embarrassing! Oh well. Then we found the Bernhard heart on the floor (definitely ripped off when they saw us singing!), gaining us another free shot each. Bingo. Meeting up with Jamie and Ros at 9 at Potsdamer Platz in the morning I decided to stay at Mette's (her flat being two stops away from there and mine being about forty minutes away), to allow me at least four hours of sleep...

So I got to Potsdamer Platz at 9 (having showered etc.) and it was soooooo cold that my wet hair actually froze. No jokes. And Jamie and Ros were late. But totally worth the wait :) We had hot drinks to warm up before I started showing them some of the sights of Berlin. We walked through the park, passing the statues of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn (I think...) before embarrassingly turning up to the Reichstag an hour early (a miscalculation on everyone's front) and refused entry until our designated time. Whatever. So I showed them my uni and stuff first, then we went back to rave it up in the Reichstag. Then I showed them loads of town, including the chocolate shop near Gendarmenmarkt, Gendarmenmarkt itself, and a walk along the East Side Gallery as well as a few other big points. We ate dinner at mine (fajitas are always a winner!) and then I introduced them to Al Hamra as well. They were all over it. Like a rash. Yes.

The next day I decided I'd rather meet Jamie and Ros for lunch than go to my lecture (the worst lecture you've ever visited, and pretty much nothing to do with the course it was part of!), and then we went to the Topography of Terror, which is always interesting, there's just so much there! Followed by orchestra times. Woop woop!

On Tuesday we had our final test for modelle grammatische Beschreibung, and with it being Hannah's birthday we also had a bottle or few of Sekt, as well as cake and chocolates and epicness. It was GOOD.

On Wednesday I had my first horn lesson in the Conservatoire (Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik), which was rather cool. They have a crazy concert hall there. I love it! Then in the evening we had Emma's leaving do, which was rather upsetting, but still fun. Bowling (I can't bowl to save my life!) followed by a few cocktails. And we were even joined for the cocktails by none other than percussionists who play in the Berliner Philharmoniker. I was definitely loving life that night!

More revision and working with Natalie the next day in the Dorotheenstraße Cafe (man are we fleißig!), and that evening we went to a lecture on the “Berliner Philharmoniker und Wiener Philharmoniker während der Nazis”. Sounds incredibly interesting, right? Only problem was that the lecturer came from Switzerland and lives in Austria, which meant his accent was... interesting, to say the least! I just remember that halfway through Natalie (whose German, having been here about two years now) turned to me and the whispers went a bit like this:
-”Do you understand anything?”

-”No, do you?”

-“No...”

So that was interesting... We got a bit of it, but definitely not as much as we'd have liked! Oh well... Mette moved in that evening, which was nice :) We shared a bottle of wine in celebration, and watched the most amusing DVD we had, which had us both in fits of laughter and had us sorted for the evening (“but I do have to actually do some work at some point”... You can probably guess whether or not that actually happened!). Changing the sheets for her bed were also a bit of a challenge with the height and everything, but I think she's getting used to all that now :)

The weekend (starting early with Friday) brought our orchestra Probewochenende in Neuendorf, which was always bound to be a good thing! Especially when you bear in mind that the year before the police got called by the residents when they had noise complaints... So we got there, and I'm not sure I've ever been so cold in my life! (Ok, that's a lie, as most people who visited my house last year will know, but still!) There was snow EVERYWHERE, but whatever... Much rehearsing, followed by the standard beeeeeeer (actually, that started when we were waiting for the bus, but whatever. Plus I gained a hat from Wiebke. Win.). Bear in mind that there were people on beer duty who were in charge of buying and bringing crates with. There were many crates in that hallway. So after rehearsal all the chairs were cleared to the side to make room for socialising and dancing, and the night just hit off. Immense. You take a beer from the fridge, tally up next to your name on the chart and just pay at the end. Epic. That would definitely never work in England, because most people (and I would quite possibly be among them) just wouldn't tally and pay. But it works perfectly in Germany! So yes, beer and beer and dancing and dancing. Makes for a perfect night. The next day included most of the same activities, but with the added bonus of horn quartets and a walk down to the frozen lake (Corinna, Theresa and I made snow angels, woop!), which was amazing. Apart from the massive scary moment when we were all walking on the lake and there was a massive crack. And then we had discussions about how best to save people who went through the ice... Not to be morbid (or, as the Germans say, paint the devil on the wall) or anything... Then that evening there were many games (werewolf, Kicker, and some crazy game which is difficult for foreigners, and involves spelling words with people and those people each having personalities.... It was a whole big word thing...), beer and dancing. It was rather enjoyable! The next morning, however, was as if hell had broken loose! With me being me, I slept through my alarm, and only woke up when a girl asked me five minutes before rehearsal if I didn't have to get up... You try playing in that situation. I've never felt more like my head is about to explode, and with it being Schubert first there were only two horns, so the others watching were gaining quite a lot of entertainment from this experience. Definitely not something I'm planning on doing EVERY again. No no no. But at least when I got home that day there was a Mette to greet me (and watch films with me instead of working), eat chips, and skype the lovely Rozzy (and as such discuss a possible trip to Brummieland. Which happened, for those of you who don't already know...) and also Emma, actually. And then more TV...

So, there have been many an exam that I've missed out during this writing, but also bear in mind there've been quite a few of them as well! And the next day there were two more (which is why it's such a bad thing that Mette and I just watched TV on Sunday!), as well as orchestra in the evening. Other than that, the week was filled with house plans for next year (Lucy is a hero for sorting pretty much everything out!), and we've got one! Still can't quite believe it! Plus I've got a loft room :) Though it has bad connotations for nights out... Tuesday was filled with the dreaded Sprachgeschichte exam (you have no idea just how much that one stressed me out!), and then not a lot afterwards! A bit of sorting out of my Transcript of Records (there are so many documents which I never want to have to go through again after this year – it's also a shame that I even have to do it again next semester! The music department here is definitely so much easier that the German one...), but other than that... Wednesday was more revision with Natalie, Thursday was effectively nothing... Maybe I actually did some work... Ha!

On Friday I decided that a Generalprobe would be more beneficial to me than the Linguistics Seminar that I would normally visit (I'm not a massive fan of the 8am Grammar Seminars which don't actually seem to help me in any way, shape or form...), and the “Very British” Program (Britten, Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams) seemed rather fitting, with people asking me which pieces were being played at which time. Which I definitely got right – go me! Then I met up with Natalie for some more hardcore revision, and also (randomly) a visit to the Turkish fruit and veg market... Then in the evening I met up with my tandem partner, Süley, for dinner and then a drink in some weird American diner... My and Mette's house party (not at ours!) plans were foiled by a wrong number, though that was possibly for the best, bearing in mind the state we were in!

The next day we suddenly realised how much work we still had to do, so Anna came over in the morning, we all had croissants together and then got down to some epic working together time. Which was pretty good – I wrote one of my Mozart entries (we have a website! I would tell you to look at it and give you the address and everything, but my entries really require a bit of working on still!) and made a bit of a start on the other one, so I'd call that quite productive. Bearing in mind it's all in German, sources and everything...

With it being Phileas' birthday on Sunday I met Evamaria at the end of a (very) long journey (j.w.d.!!!) to Lichterfelde West for some cake and champagne – rather civilised, if you ask me! I think some people in Berlin may be shocked at the states of English birthdays... Then in the evening I skyped Jess and Amy, and organisation for the summer sort of began – Amy and I are hoping to walk the Coast to Coast, and Amy's coming to visit me at the end of March, so the planning will begin!! (Little plug for people to sponsor us right now! I'll probably try and do it for Scope, my standard charity, again, and I'm not sure what Amy's planning on yet...) But those skypes were lovely, bringing back the old days. And Amy's fancy dress box. (The next fundraising possibility (/probability) was also discussed, but I won't go into details right now...

Monday the 13^th was Mette's last exam, so we met up afterwards for a tad of shopping in Alexa. And I'm proud to say that she confided in me that this was her “Lieblingstag in Berlin”, because we had massive chats, really really getting to know one another (if we can even get to know each other better than we did before that!), and we sat in a cafe and just talked for quite a while, and then later went to get Bubble Tea (a crazy but epic invention, which Mette always drinks too fast!), continuing with the chats, and it was just a very lovely day. Aaaaw <3 Then I went off for our last proper orchestra rehearsal, which was also good!

Valentinstag. The last three years I have spent this day with a girl with red, curly hair. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Except that now I have to find a new one for next year, and it's going to take quite a lot to match up to the last two of these :( But Mette did quite a did take over from Rozzy, I got home to a postcard with a picture of us as Ampelmänner on it in the postbox, and dinner ready. She really is a babe, and I'm so glad I've found someone like her (and so early on, too!) in Berlin, and I just hope I'm not too lost when she's gone... So yes, lasagne, chips, salad. EVERYTHING. It was very very lovely. I don't say this often, but gingers are the best.

The next day we finally had the concert we'd been working towards all Semester. And it was good. I don't think I've ever seen so many people at a student concert before in my life! The Konzerthaus seats 1200 people, there were 300 tickets left on the day, but when we were finally sitting there, there was barely an empty seat to be seen! My small, but fine fan club (Mette, Anna, Nini and Adrian) were there to cheer me on (not that I could bring myself to even look at them in the first half!), and hopefully in their eyes we did Schubert and Mahler justice. Because in my ears it was quite amazing. Just yes. And the horns were stood up in both halves, which always makes me feel good :)

Evamaria had a friend to visit for the weekend (a long weekend...), which meant that on Thursday we met up in the hopes of seeing “Tanz der Vampyr”, which unfortunately only had cheap tickets for people as young as myself (students in Deutschland are not as young and... immature?... as those in England), so we left that behind us and headed off to Ku'damm instead, and went to the Kömodie to see “Fettes Schwein”, which was very good, and I was very happy (and impressed) at how much I understood! But yes, very good, advisable... If it ever hits wherever you guys are... After that I took Evamaria and her friend to crash the orchestra party (obviously in the University building, another thing that would just never happen in England), where there was a lot of food and beer available. So that was good, live band for a while (where we realised Sabine was actually playing), and after that still plenty of music for dancing, it was all the rave! There was a lot of horn section dancing and laughs going on, which always makes me happy, and it was just generally a lovely night. Yes.

The party did mean, however, that I decided my 8am Grammar Seminar (the last of the Semester) was definitely not worth the early tram drive into uni (I mean, come on, if you've already sat the exam, and that's the only thing you have, would you really go in for it?!), so I stayed nice and warm in my bed, which was definitely the best decision! And then in the evening I met up with Evamaria and co. for a few more cocktails and games (Tabu was definitely on the agenda again), followed by a trip to Frannz in the Kulturbrauerei, which I found quite nice! Apparently I went crazy and English, though, and starting elbowing anyone I thought was stealing my dance space... And there was a guy who was pretty drunk and kept trying to pick me up, which was a little bit “Awky T” as Emily B would say. And then the guy who wouldn't leave us alone, even when we all claimed to be married or engaged, and got our rings on. But whatever, it's got nothing on Birmingham in the ways of strangeness/freaky guys!

Nini's upcoming departure was soooo close, which obviously meant a party was needed! So on the Saturday we all got down to hers for a bit of fun and games (and amazing chocolate and banana cake, not to mention peanuts (and, unfortunately Erdnussflips...)), and then off to more dancing at Christian's flat, which is strangely just a few floors down. And has a bed in the kitchen, which I still can't quite get over.... You'd know what I mean, if you ever saw a bunk bed in a kitchen. Trust me on that one! The party was epic, despite a sleeping presence, which amused us slightly (and may have been the reason/inspiration for a few photos...), but who's judging?!

With Mette moving out in April ( :( :( :( ) I had dinner with a girl (and her cousin...) on Sunday, to see if she'd maybe want to move in here. Note to everyone out there: I can still make lasagne. Even if I do nearly cut off a thumb in the process, but who really needs thumbs anyway?! (Actually, bearing in mind the valves on my horn, I do!) But dinner was epic (even if the girl isn't going to be living here as things turn out), and then I obviously headed off to Al Hamra to meet the gang for a few drinks and live music. Perfection in bar form.

With the absence of orchestra (and my exam the next day...) Natalie came round mine with a few beers for a final revision sesh. Which ended up in our watching Youtube videos and getting annoyed with certain types of people and voicing views on certain things rather loudly. But, you know, sometimes revision just goes that way!

After my allgemeine Musiklehrer MAP on Tuesday (final exam – woop!) I bought some games from Dussmann (the games having been kindly introduced to me while I was in Freiburg), and then headed off to the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Gymansium to pick up some music – my first paid horn job in Berlin was imminent! Ah, there's a(n amusing) story to add in there... So when the woman rang me up, she told me to find her in room 007. Should be easy enough. So I was standing next to a plan of the building, with all the rooms written on it, and I though, just to be certain, I'd double check with some boys who were walking past. Well, anyway, the conversation went something like this:

-”Could you tell me how best to get to room 007? I'm meant to be meeting someone there.”

-”Yes, sure [directions...].”

-”Ah, thanks!”

-”But are you sure you mean room 007?”
-”Yep, she definitely said 007 on the phone.”

-”Well ok, it's just that 007 is the washroom for the men's toilets.”
-”I could, obviously be wrong...”

So that was amusing on pretty much all sides! Turns out there are multiple buildings in this Gymnasium, so whilst she had definitely said room 007, it was in the main building, and not the one I'd always been in if I had lessons there. At least I know for next time! Then I headed off home to start figuring out my life for the Spielabend that evening, which included booze, more Tabu and a bit of Saboteur...

Having skyped with Hannah for the first time in about a decade we set up for a bit of an English evening. As Evamaria was lovely enough to read through my Mozart entries she came over for a home made pizzas and a film in English session, especially as I feel a bit bad that our so-called Tandem never quite happened in a two way direction... Inception was probably a bit hard to follow (I watched it for the first time in German, it's quite a brain-challenge!), but we did quite well. We also played piano duets, which I always find enjoyable :)

Thursday was rather a full one, with a horn lesson (at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik again) followed by form signing for the semester of music here, a talk from people at the Konzerthaus about working in the music world and then my first rehearsal with the Gymnasium orchestra. I'm not going to lie, they are amazing. Obviously I realise that it's a music school and everything, but bloody hell! Yeah. I went to dinner at Nini's that evening (quite an epic lasagne session, something I'd been having a lot of recently!) and then met up with Sophie and some uni people in Aufsturz in the evening. (Aufsturz is a really cool bar on Oranienburger Straße, which has almost every type of beer and ale and that sort of thing you could possibly imagine – very good for trying something new!) After an attempt to get into Sage on the guestlist (Sophie had put us all on it, but for some reason the request thing didn't go through) we went to what is supposedly one of the oldest Punk Rock bars in Berlin, which was pretty cool, played some Kicker (from memory I won all the games, but I definitely wouldn't trust my memory so far as sporty things go...) and had a few more beers before heading home for the evening.

I had the first concert with the Gymnasium the next day, which went rather well, if not quite long with the addition of two choirs... Afterwards I headed off to Sophie's for a bit of socialising with her, one of her flatmates, and some of their friends from school. This also included some strange Tabasco and vodka shot things (there's definitely a real name for it...) as well as cocktails, which is always a welcome end of exams celebration :)

The next day I managed to wander into the wrong Dom in Gendarmenmarkt for the Gymnasium concert, which caused quite a lot of confusion on my part. And also on that of the security man, seeing as I somehow managed to wander in without paying – I think I found an unlocked sidedoor, or something equally ridiculous... So, after being late to the rehearsal (which was actually no problem, seeing as I only played in two of the pieces anyway!) we put on another rather long concert, and then I headed off to Natali's, whose birthday it was, so we had a bit of celebrating times in her flat, with SO much cake and other types of snacks, which was rather ravetastic.

Al Hamra Al Hamra Al Hamra...

Another rehearsal, and even longer concert, though this time we played in the first half, so the other hired in horn and I were able to go home at the interval, which was SO much better. Plus we increased our horn contactness, which is always a good thing.

With Roswitha (my school exchange partner) being in Berlin with her uni for a few days I met up with her for a bit on the Tuesday, just having chats and her hotel and then going into town with her, and it was a much welcome catch up – definitely planning on a visit some point in the upcoming months! As Mette had a visitor, Iselin, from Denmark, we went on a bar crawl that evening, where we met a few... interesting people! We each took a pseudonym from Black Books (I somehow managed to be the only woman in it!), which amused us for pretty much the entire evening! We were introduced to some pretty cool bars, including Dr. Pong (which I've been wanting to go to for quite a while now!), and the Yesterday Bar, which had a flying cow from the ceiling. So yes, quite an alternative bar crawl, if ever there were one!

My début in Matrix occurred the next day (with Mette having gone with Nini and Oguz the previous Friday), and it was a bit of a call back to Birmingham clubs, which made me feel almost immediately right at home. See, there are a lot of random clubs in Berlin (it's very alternative), which I really do enjoy, but every so often I do need a bit of a call back to the Brummie way of things. I know what I mean. You possibly don't... So yes, Matrix, many dance floors, chart music, old music, ladies' night, two-for-one drinks, a cage, rum being made. Not 100% standard, but pretty similar! There was a lot of dancing going on before one of those tram journeys where Mette and I just fall asleep on each other. Which actually is 100% standard...

Realising that my laptop hates me and is now refusing to open word documents (definitely at the worst possible time, seeing as I have to be researching for and writing my Birmingham year abroad essay) I was in uni the next day sorting out my essay plan (which was due with my personal tutor that day), and trying to get out a few books for (which turn out to be reference only – great :/ ). Then on a phonecall whim I met up with Peter for a coffee (by name only – I rather dislike coffee, and he had some weird semi-Australian thing, flat white or whatever it's called (disgusting, probably even worse than coffee!!)) and biscuits, which was followed by a walk and ice cream, even though the weather really wasn't up to ice cream standard, but whatever. And I have to say, the ice cream was the most epic thing you've probably ever seen. It was in a massive wafer base thing, three ice cream flavours, flakes and wafer, cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate chunks on top of that. Quite something, I can assure you! Going home for my skype meeting with Hannah (incredible that we've even managed that many!), and this was then followed up by a Spielabend at Lia's, with pizza, breadstick things, games and nattering. That's when you suddenly realise that there's still quite a lot you can't contribute to conversation – when there's a discussion of law cases going on, for example... But helped me learn a fair bit, and that's what it's all about.

At the weekend there were a fair few free lectures going on in the Musikinstrumente Museum, so I met up with Sophie and a couple of others for that, which was very interesting, even if there were, again, a few terms I couldn't quite understand (stuff to do with prepared pianos, which I'd quite possibly not know auf Englisch either!), and we went for ice cream in the middle – a very ice cream filled week! In the evening we had Chris' goodbye party (he's going on a world trip, or something equally crazy, who knows exactly?!) in the downstairs room of a pub, which was pretty cool, even if the DJ wasn't really up to his job... We had to leave at about 2.30, though, as Iselin's jacket got stolen the night before, and it had turned up in the men's toilets at the pub they were in (without any valuables), so we had to collect that before her coach back to Copenhagen the next day. So on the U-Bahn on the way there we had a few laughs, as Mette stared hungrily at a guy's pizza. I told him she probably wouldn't stop unless she got some, as a joke, and he gave her a slice! So she ate that, then continued with the staring, and managed to gain another! I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone gain half of someone's food on a night out! When we got to the pub (an Irish one nearish my uni) the manager was outside, refusing everyone entry, as they were shutting, and got quite arsy with me when I tried to explain the situation. Luckily for Iselin, she and Mette had befriended some of the waiters the night before, and upon seeing them through the window, he came out with the jacket for her, so that was good.

Inna, Anna and I decided to try out hand at home-made sushi the next day, and I was actually very proud of our attempts! I don't think I did that much to aid the process, but I'm happy to say I was there and still did something, which is better than nothing :) And it was SO yummy. I always forget just how much I love avocado, until it comes dancing back into my life, so that was happy times. Then we went for a walk through the park and a hot chocolate (a very nice one!) before I headed home to join Mette and go on our way to Al Hamra. Of course.

Anna had her goodbye party on Monday (it's really upsetting when you realise just how many people aren't actually going to be here next semester, I just don't know what I'm going to do, pretty much having to start over all over again!), and we had a Raclette dinner (I <3 Raclette), followed by ice cream, cream and fruit salad. It was incredible. Before leaving to go to Anna's Mette and I realised just how many glass bottles had been building up in our kitchen, so we made it our mission to take them all to the recycling. The only problem being that we didn't actually have a clue where there were any glass recycling bins nearby, even after I'd tried to research it online, and even had a bit of a search through the day. And as we knew there was glass recycling near Anna's flat... We took three bags of recycling with, and I can promise you we got a few odd looks on the way! But oh well. Anyway, back to Anna's. So much food. Then Simon (her flatmate) whacked out the shots (all the booze from the shelves having been brought back out from the cellar since Mette moved out, notice the trust there! :P ) and had a few Brauses as well, just for good measure. A very nice evening.

Having had a bit of a doss day on Tuesday I set off on my way for a bit of reconciliation with my old Brummie life on Wednesday. Arriving at East Midlands Airport, I managed to stress out (anyone who knows me knows I stress out easy in such situations) and miss my bus. Very annoyed at National Express for that, but never mind, I won't go into it too much. So I got a train to Birmingham instead (after a lovely and helpful and inspirational phonecall from a certain wifey), being met at Selly Oak station by Rozzy, that much loved ginger. And so my week in Birmingham began. Having kept it a surprise from all those who didn't need to know for my planning, it was quite interesting to see the reactions I got from the various people. I think the first person who noticed I was there was our very own Jack Lovell, as I was sat (geek that I am) in the Barber Library, and he came in, set up his laptop, about to start working and... Well, there I was! And the ball just kept rolling from there, there are always so many music students in and around the Barber, that the whispers built up so much the librarian asked us to work or leave. That seems to happen surprisingly often to me... But I reckon Miss Chatterbox of the UMS, Emily B, probably has it worse! That evening I went round Lucy's for dinner (pasta bake with cheese ALL over this time! And chocolate fudge cake for desert – mmmmmmm), and met one of my future flatmates, Ellen, who was very nice, so hopefully everything is going to be good! Mike came over for a few games (I think they're probably starting to love “touch the cup” - pre-drinking game of first year for me), and just being standard Mike – scaring Lucy and I as we came out the toilets! After Symphony rehearsal finished a few more violas turned up, and we headed off for what was to be a really good night in Jamhouse. I <3 Jamhouse. SO much. It was just a hilarious night, and I met one of the new violas, Matt, who's going to help me keep the violas on track next year :P And Mike managed to forget his jacket when we left – something which has happened both the last two times I've been out with him, oh dear!

The Barber Lunchtime Concert the next day brought a whole new wave of people I hadn't seen in a while, which was quite ravetastic. Watching the new head of music perform was quite insightful for what next year is going to be like. We then headed off to Joe's for a quick drink (there's now a Joe's card?!) and chat before I stole Jack's horn for a bit of practice (yes, I still that cool) until Rozzy was finished in uni. Then Fi came round for dinner, and we surprised her with... Well, me, which was pretty cool. Having not been filled up by the Fajitas we followed dinner by a trip to Fi's, where we were presented waffles and ice cream as a dessert. Nothing I'm about to complain about! Then in the evening Rozzy's house, Emily B and I prepared ourselves for a visit to Propaganda, somewhere I'd only been once before, but had had an epic night. Playing a drinking game including speed (always a bad move for me), but which was similar to one I'd played in a Spielabend in Germany, was an interesting choice on their part. Though I hear that they at least don't get as violent as the Dawlish music house, so I guess I probably oughtn't complain! Then we headed off to Propaganda now, the taxi driver not being at all like the usual ones, he didn't seem all that up for chats, which was a bit upsetting! But we chatted to a few people in the queue, which made that partially better. And then we danced the night away, Emily B&P and I staying a bit later than the others, just raving away, as I'm sure you'd all imagine. On the way home I ensured we stopped at Adam's Place, wanting to make up for the months I've gone without cheesy chips. And they didn't disappoint. Mmmmmm.

I went round Fi's for breakfast and chats the next day, and it was very lovely to catch up (as it has been with pretty much everyone in Birmingham, too be fair!), and then I went off to sort some things out at uni before meeting Emily B for lunch – gotta love the Soak – then I went back to Rozzy's and just hung out with Emily P, watched a film before having dinner and then heading back to Emily B's for pres before FAB (another night I haven't experienced in quite a while). FAB, of course, lived up to expectations. Simeon and I raced Sam and Nikki (I think it was them/us...) and there we some people in bubblewrap, and I asked one if I could punch him. I think he regretted agreeing afterwards. Especially as when I asked his friend later if I could he said no... And then I got lairy, but whatever. Dancy dancy dancy. It was fun. And I bumped into MEC, which was also quite a nice reaction to see :) Ah, and you realise some of the rubbish and backwards chat up lines you get from drunk people. This guy, for example, definitely hadn't learnt the chat up line properly (and it probably didn't help him that I'd read it on Fi's wall the day before...):

-”Can I give you a raisin?”

-”You don't have any raisins”

-”Well can I give you a date then?”

It didn't really help that he was convinced my name was something else (which I can't remember), but bless the drunk Brummie students. Being the last ones left, Simeon and Benji walked Emily P and I home (you always forget just how far Warwards Lane can be), stopping off in a playground on the way. I <3 playgrounds. And when we were back we made waffle sandwiches. Student food is just the best. Plus I gained a place in Emily P's bed that night. Double bonus :P We DMCed a bit as well, which always makes me rather happy. But not as much as on other nights, but that's also good.

Emily P and I spent a fair bit of Sunday working, both inside and out, seeing as the weather was rather nice, and watching some guys practising their tight-rope walking skills. Then for dinner I went to surprise one of my old flatmates (having gotten a friend to organise dinner with her that evening), which was gooooooood. She was definitely surprised, it made me happy :) We had massive catch ups, dinner, dessert, and just general banter. Then I went to meet the Phil crew in the Goose after their concert for a few drinks, see some more old faces again, you know how it is. We decided to walk Ingrid home, which (as per) was an interesting walk, followed by playing (/forcing Ingrid and Simeon) to play Wi for a while, very amusing for Sam and I... Then we amused Ingrid some more by sleeping outside her house before taking a “taxi” home. Sam loves his job...

After a bit of practising and horn quartets (all over them like a rash!) Ingrid came round to Rozzy's and Rozzy, Ingrid, Emily P, Sarah and I got ready for the annual UMS Ball, always an event for excitement! I speed-learnt how to do fish braids for Emily P's hair (we spent quite a while looking up hairstyles and watching Youtube videos...) and we all just helped one another get ready – a nice girly session all round! Then the taxi man who came to pick us up was really arsy (pooface), but we didn't let it get in the way of us having a top night. George and Eimear arranged an amazing Ball at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and everyone was there in style. There were photos, welcome drinks, magicians. Just everything. My name was spelt wrong on my nameplate, but I'm so used to that that I won't complain too much :P We had our year photo (nice!), and some magic before dinner with a live band. You always know when you're entertaining music students, because they're the ones who actually applaud the music-makers, even if it's in dinner or anything like that. Our table was, obviously, the “rowdy” one, but perfect, in it's own way :P After dinner the magician did his “thing”, and I managed to get to be one of the volunteers (probably quite strange for all the newby first years who don't have a clue who I am...), doing my best to get shout outs along the way – you know how I am! Then came the awards, with a fair few of the usual suspects getting exactly what you'd expect them too. And then more photos (violas AND horns and crazy times...) and DANCING. Really really nice night. The afterparty happened in the second year music boys' house on Dawlish (MASSIVE house, especially Sam's room → wardrobe...), where I managed to find Sam's crocodile costume... The night contained many catch ups – huge DMCs with both George and Emily P – crocodiles, booze, dancing, Jack and I stealing Pesto, toast and eggs (sorry, Simeon!), and attempts to attach a flying pig to the ceiling. Which, needless to say, failed. At half 5 in the morning Emily P and I decided it was probably time to go home, DMCing all the way, and getting into a cosy bed hasn't felt better in a long time!

Following a phonecall the next morning I walked over to Simeon and co.'s house the next day (still in my pyjamas, much to the amusement of the men working on the roadworks...) for tea and breakfast. Very grateful for that. After meeting up with Ingrid to sort out whatever stuff she'd left at Rozzy's the night before I went down to Aldi (Sued!!) to ensure that we had all the ingredients needed for the lasagne that night (and buying myself a packet of cheddar to take back to Germany...), followed by Subway to pick up lunch for George and I. And George and I just collapsed on her bed and chatted, which was vairy nice, yes yes. Then I headed off to Jack's to meet Julia, and we just sort of sat in the dark and watched a film, which was definitely needed post-ball in this case! Emma came over for dinner that evening, and we made lasagne (which wasn't ready by the time Rozzy and Kate got back from uni like it was meant to be – sorry girls!) and chips and garlic bread, and it was all epic and yummy. Then we just sat and chatted in front of the TV, something I haven't done in what feels like forever. For those of you who don't realise, English TV doesn't work abroad, not even on iplayer, so it has been quite a schlep the past few months! After Emma and Kate left Rozzy and I went right back to the old days, playing piano duets on her keyboard, which was such a good feeling!

In the morning Emma gave me a lift to the coach station on her way to hospital (she's a medic, nothing wrong with her!), which was lovely of her. Especially as it was ridiculously early, so getting the train would not have been my favourite thing of all time! Managing to catch all the right coaches on this trip I made it to East Midlands Airport without any problems, and then sat in the waiting area messily eating a piece of lasagne I'd packed in for my lunch. Not so easy without cutlery, I can assure you! Mette and I have decided that we should never eat on dates, because it'd be a relationship killer right there. Just bear that in mind. When I went through security the woman at the conveyor belt told me that my liquids weren't in a “resealable” plastic bag (rather ridiculous, because they were in the same bag as they had been on the way to England, which was fine then, but apparently not any more), and made me buy one. Urgh. Luckily for me the girl behind me had to do the same, so on the 2 bags for a pound (ripoff!) we managed a deal. It was also silly, because the woman wouldn't let me leave my baggage there while I walked less than 10meters to the machine to buy a resealable bag. Not impressed – what did she really think was going to happen? So there went my place in that queue. Oh well. Apart from that I got home safe and sound, no hiccups or anything. And right into the arms of a very caring redhead.

Having seen adverts around (and our interest being awakened) Mette and I decided to try and go to an eating competition (despite what I've written in the very last paragraph!) on the Thursday evening, so after getting ready together (weird that we hadn't done so in over a week!) we headed off to the reign of Warschauer Straße and into the Kingdom that is Ichiban. Whilst we had some amusement there, the club definitely wasn't for us, and whether or not the eating competition actually happened we don't even know, because we ended up not staying long enough to see! This time it was my turn to sleep on the tram on the way home (still knackered from my Birmingham antics and lack of sleep), and the tram ended somewhere before our stop, confusing us both, but we made it home eventually!

With the nice weather still blessing Berlin, Mette and I decided to take a break from our work on Friday afternoon, and headed down to Treptower Park, to see what was going on and how much sun we could catch. We spent a good couple of hours on the grass talking and singing, sooooo nice and relaxing :) Through Sophie we managed to get tickets to the Märchenhütte theatre that evening (really really really good, unfortunately they're finishing for this season tomorrow(?), but I'd strongly recommend it to anyone. So long as you can speak German....), meeting beforehand Leo, as I've agreed to do some flyering for a Mini-Mahler concert that's being put on in a couple of weeks, which will hopefully be good. But yes, the evening was really really good, in the Winter season it's in a hut, that's a bit like a tavern with a stage at the front, and they just do it really well – each show includes two Grimm Märchen, and there are only two actors in each one, but somehow it's still really well done!

As the weather reports for the weekend still looked pretty good a few of us decided to join up on a Schönes Wochenende ticket to the Ostsee on Saturday. Unfortunately it wasn't as sunny there as we'd hoped, but we still made it to the seaside, Inna and I went for a bit of a paddle, and the jokes and laughs just kept coming and coming. We spent a fair few hours there exploring the world of seaside Germany before returning to Berlin, and Mette, Oguz and I went to meet Theresa and some of her friends in a ska club, Lovelite, near Warschauer Straße, which I approve of muchly.

Today (gosh, I'm finally up to date! You have no idea how long that's taken!) Mette and I went to a bar for a bit of a meet-up with random people in Berlin, which was quite interesting. I found it quite amusing to figure out what sorts of people come together where and for whatever reasons, and some of the questions posed by other people there were... Interesting! But we made friends with one of the girls, and she was very nice, and turns out to live pretty much on the same way home as us, so there was a lot of chatting going on there, which is made me feel like a new friend is definitely in order :) Mette's at a band practice at the moment (having her big début with them in Friedrichstadt Palace tomorrow, so we're quite excited, and when she gets back we're going to cosy up on the bean bags in her room and watch a film – yay!

Sorry it's taken so long, there were definitely too many “definitely”s, and probably other words too, but I'm sure you'll deal with it. Now back to work all of you, and I'll get back to work tomorrow...