FB isn't always evil.

I admit it. I sing the praises of Facebook. Sometimes. While I completely understand the reluctance of some to succumb, I have willingly joined the ranks, and in the process, have managed to both maintain and re-establish contact with people from my past who I otherwise probably would never have seen again.

Prime example of this: my best friend from early high school. I’ll take you back to 1993, the start of Year 6 for me. Rather than sticking out another year of my own personal hell at my local primary school, I bailed and traded it for my future high school, a small private girls’ school in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. This school, although without a doubt elitist and snobby, introduced me to something that would have an enormous impact on the rest of my life: the German language. Yes, that’s where it all started. Year 6C. Ah, the memories. The other great thing about 1993 was that I met one of my best friends from my primary school days. Ingrid. From about two weeks into year 6 until the end of year 7, we were nigh on inseparable. We were at first united by our common love (based on our shared talent) for German, and a strong friendship grew from there: we had tween-ish nicknames for each other, knew each other’s families inside out, spent many a weekend together, helped each other to cheat on our Year 7 German teacher’s evil vocabulary tests, and even created our own Calligraphy club at school – consisting of her and me.

Anyway, unfortunately at the end of year 8, her family relocated back to Sydney, and somehow, despite our closeness, we lost contact. Sure, we heard bits and pieces about each other from friends of mutual friends, but nothing significant.

Then came FB. I noticed about four months ago that Sarah, a friend of mine from way back – we went to kinder, primary school and high school together, and even the same uni – had added Ingrid as a friend! Well, there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity. I added her also and so the reconnection process began. We emailed, messaged and compared “what-I’ve-been-doing-for-the-last-ten-years” stories, and discovered that we’d both changed an incredible lot since high school. Figures. Anyway, she had recently got married, and was headed over to Europe with her husband, and they were planning to go to Turkey for Anzac Day. Coincidence! So was I! From there, it was a no-brainer that of course we would meet up in Istanbul. We traded mobile numbers and went from there.

Imagine my surprise when, while waiting in the security queue at Anzac Cove, my phone rings: the display reads Ingrid. I answer, and discover that she’s already inside the security area, and bored, so we arranged for her to come down to security and meet me there.

And seriously, it was as if no time had passed at all. I recognised her instantly, and after sticking with my group for a while to secure a place in the grandstand for the overnight ordeal, I found Ingrid and her group and settled in with them for a good chat for a while. It was great to catch up, and I discovered that although we hadn’t seen each other in over a decade, nothing much had really changed: we got on just as well that afternoon in Turkey as we had all those carefree afternoons in 1993 and 1994 in Melbourne.

Auf Wiedersehen Berlin.

Seriously, I have no idea where the last 10 months have gone. It seems like just yesterday I was still at work in stationery with Zoe. and the team, counting down the days until I escaped for Germany and a year in Berlin, and now it’s the end of May, and I’m packing up again, but this time to move within Germany. And on that topic, it is truly incredible how much junk you can accumulate in a year. The paper rubbish alone has filled four of the trusty green Coles shopping bags, and the other random rubbish – yes, it’s taken me about two weeks, off and on, to pack up my flat. Made all the more difficult by the magnificent weather outside in Berlin, the hundreds of “end-of-the-year-and-probably-the-last-time-we’ll-see-each-other” shindigs with the other assistants, and yes, travel too: well, wouldn’t you do the same thing if you had 10 days off in the middle of May, three eager travel buddies, a few hundred Euros saved, and return flights to Morocco were less than 200€ return? Yes, you know you would.

Anyway, it’s my last weekend in Berlin – last full one anyway. Last night we went out to Russendisko, the Russian disco in central Berlin, a truly unique cultural experience. It’s so much fun, especially last night for some reason – the atmosphere was electric, and the entire place was jumping. There’s a theme song for the place, “Moskau, Moskau”, and playing that at Russendisko is like playing Land Down Under at a Socceroos match; the entire crowd goes absolutely wild. I completely love this place, as do two of my best mates in Berlin, Tim and Sam, so it was clear that we would go there last night. I really hope that Hamburg has something similar… doubt it though, but if not, there’s plenty of other options. And hey, Berlin’s only two hours on the train away. Yes, I’ve already warned the boys I’ll probably be crashing on one of their couches for most of the weekends in June, and possibly July, until they leave. There’s just too much going on here.

I’ve got mixed feelings about the move to Hamburg next weekend. I will definitely miss Berlin. This city is unlike any other in the world, and it is without a doubt my favourite city in Europe, and my second favourite in the world – I could live here for the rest of my life but Melbourne will always be my home. Berlin though – there’s no explaining it. You just have to come here. And for those of you who have had the incredible opportunity to live here, you know what I’m talking about more than most.

But for now, it’s a new city, new job, new flat, new friends – it’ll be a challenge, and I know I’ll be busy for the first month – actually, for a lot longer than just the first month, but I can’t wait. I’m definitely ready for a change – school’s been pretty boring for the last few months, with over half of my lessons being cancelled for some reason or another, and I’m looking forward to leaving. I’ll miss my table buddies in the staff room – Simon, Christa and Conny, and some of the other staff, and definitely some of my classes, but I won’t be half sad to leave like I was in Kusel. I’m ready for some serious work – something I can get my teeth into, and from what I’ve seen of the Berlin branch of the company I'm joining, there’s definitely plenty for me to do. I can’t wait to get started; I’m also going to get an English conversation class running there, which should be good. We’ll see how it goes.

This week, it’s all about Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin. A total of four classes – if they’re running – and a lot of socialising, and some packing, but apart from that, it’s all done. So basically, by this time next week, I’ll be in Hamburg, albeit in a youth hostel for the first few nights, but as soon as I have an address, I’ll let you guys all know – and hopefully this one will work! So, until Hamburg, auf wiedersehen! -J

Welcome, allerseits!

Welcome to the grand premiere my very own blog. Regular requests from many of you and a significant amount of guilt have motivated me to follow the genius advice of a certain Blonde Canadian, who is neither blonde nor Canadian, and to set up a blog for myself.

So, here goes nothing. There’s a whole lot of stuff that most of you haven’t heard about, mostly because I’ve been flat out like the proverbial lizard for the last three months; travelling, occasionally teaching, travelling, sorting stuff out, and yes, some travelling. Those of you on Facebook would be the most up to date. I think the last time I sent out an email was in February, but don’t quote me on that. Yes, just checked, and that’s the latest. So, February, March, April, and May. I'll get to most of it eventually, but for the moment, we'll start small. And I love the comments almost as much as I love Allens Strawberries and Creams, so tell me what you think! :)

Los gehts!