A sc-hairy decision!

I don't consider myself to be a particularly vain person. I mean, I like to look good just like anyone else, but I don't spend hours in front of the mirror, looking at myself, analyzing what I am wearing, wondering if it makes me look fat or skinny, wondering what people will think of me. However, I do like my hair to look good, or at least, not out of control, which is not always so easy, as my curls are often unruly, and grow much faster than I would like!
One of the things I dread the most when I travel somewhere for a long time is the time when I will need to go to the hairdresser and get my hair cut. It is at that moment and only at that moment, that I wish I had straight hair, because I think (and I might be wrong here) that cutting straight hair is easier than cutting curly hair. My hair is much longer when it is wet than when it is dry and I am always scared that I will end up looking like a sheep because a zealous hairdresser cut off too much of my hair! It is hard to find a good hairdresser in a new city, especially when you have such a good one at home.

There is no lack of hair salons here in Berlin. Actually, there are a remarkable amount of them, but the question is, which one can I trust with my hair? There seems to be two kinds of hair salons here in Berlin: the smaller, fancier ones, that use professional products like Aveda or Redken, that offer you a Latte Macchiato or a Cappuccino, that give you a little head massage while they are washing your hair and that charge you a small fortune for your cut, and then there are the ones that offer a simple system of cut-and-go. Let me explain this system, as it is completely foreign to us. First, when you come in the salon, you need to take a number. When your number is called, you head to the sinks, where your hair is washed. After that, you go sit down again, towel on your head, and you wait for one of the hairdressers to be free. When one is free, he or she will call you, and will cut your hair. Once the cut is done, it is up to you to dry your own hair. Once that is done, all you have to do next is pay. As you can imagine, such haircuts are quite reasonably priced (on average 10-12 euro) and I think such salons are popular among students and men with short hair. I was not courageous enough to try such a place, but my friend Rebecca (who has straight hair) did, and she was very satisfied with her haircut.

I had my hair cut twice since I have been here. The first time, I went to my roommates' hairdresser, and although the cut was good, I was not particularly impressed with it (and it was very expensive!). The second time I got my hair cut (on a whim, because my hair was driving me nuts and I was ready to pull out every hair individually- does anyone else ever have that feeling?!), I tried my luck at a small, friendly looking hair salon that I found on my way to work. I was very satisfied with the cut that Verena gave me, and the next time I need to get my hair cut, I will be sure to return to her.

The name of this "hair salon" says it all!!!

Another example of the cut-and-go hair salons found all over Berlin

McPractical!

I love the German people- they are so practical! Where else can you go to McDonald's, eat your Big Mac and fries and then cross the street to go work out at your local McFit gym?!

It's simply McPerfect!

Berlin is bear crazy!

My mission for today was simple: apply for a tax number- it's a long and mostly un-interesting story, so I won't bore you with the details. After successfully completing my mission, I went for a walk around the neighbourhood where my Finazamt was situated. Orientating yourself in Berlin is not so complicated: all you have to do is keep an eye out for the Fernsehturm. Walking towards the TV tower will bring you to Alexander Platz, which is basically downtown. So even though I was unfamiliar with the neighbourhood I was exploring, I kept an eye on my favourite tower ever, and I knew I would not get lost.
I love exploring unknown areas, because you are bound to fall on something interesting, and today was no exception. As I made my way towards a church that looked worth a picture, I came across a bear pit!!!! You read right, a bear pit, in the middle of the city, next to a church and a children's playground. But the best part is that there actually was a bear in the bear pit! (In the excitment of finding a bear pit, I completely forgot to take a picture of the church that led me there in the first place, how typical!)
Let me introduce you to Schnute, Berlin's official City Bear. Schnute was born on January 18th, 1981 and lives in the bear pit with one of her daughters, Maxi, who was too shy to come out today. The two bears live in this pit all year round. The pit is surrounded with water, although in the winter, they remove it, as brown bears don't actually go into water during the winter. I have to admit that although I enjoyed looking at Schnute, there, in the middle of Berlin, I also felt a bit sorry for Schnute (and for Maxi). Their living area is not very big and it must be boring for them to be stranded there on that island. But maybe it's better than being in a zoo? I'm not sure.

Berlin is bear obssessed!

Berlinale review

The hype is over, the stars have gone home, and its back to "normal" movies for us here in Berlin- the Berlinale ended on Sunday with a "remise des prix". The Golden Bear was awarded to the Brazilian movie Tropa de elite, which tells the story of an elite police squad's battle against the drug barons in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. I didn't see that movie, but I suppose if it won the first prize, it can only be good! I wanted, in this post, to review the movies I saw during the Berlinale, but to be honest, I suck at reviewing things! Unlike many of my friends who can give you concrete and detailed arguments about whether or not they thought a movie/cd/play/etc was good (or bad), I can only tell you if I liked it or not. Don't ask me to tell you why- I can't put it into words! It is thus a good thing that there are "professional" movie/cd/play/etc critics, although if you ask me, everyone should make their own opinion about whether one likes or doesn’t like something. So, because I am not a good critic, I will instead summarize each movie I saw (don't worry, there are only three!) and tell you whether I liked it or not.

1. Cela s'appelle l'aurore, Luis Bunuel, France, Italy, 1955/56, 102 min
Presented in the Retrospektive category
The movie takes place in Corsica, where a sympathetic company doctor hides a sacked worker, who has murdered their boss in revenge for the death of his sick wife.

It was OK, but nothing special.

2. Le premier venu, Jacques Doillon, France, Belgium, 2008, 121 min
Presented in the Forum category
French film auteur Jacques Doillon follows his young protagonist in provincial northwestern France. In her love affair with the very first man to come, she seeks an intensity that her bourgeois home withheld from her.

This movie was strange, very strange. Plus, the male lead was sketchy!

3. Full Battle Rattle, Tony Gerber, Jesse Moss, USA, 2008, 92 min
Presented in the Panorama category
The directors of this movie take us to California's Mojave Desert, where the Americans have installed a mini-Iraq for military exercises. In this way, hundreds of people with Arab roots find jobs as extras.

By far the best of the three movies I saw. It is not yet being distributed, but if it comes to a movie theatre near you, you should go and see it.

That's it folks!

Side note: Because there were so many movies being presented one after the other, and because time was an issue, no popcorn was sold at all during the Berlinale festival, to ensure that the cleaning of each room did not take too much time. What?!?! Germans are CRAZY!

Schloss Sanssouci

On Sunday, as it was such a beautiful day, Ronny and I decided to head to Potsdam, the capital of the federal state Brandenburg. Postdam is a 20 minute train ride southwest of Berlin. The biggest attraction in Potsdam is the Schloss Sanssouci, with its palaces, parks, botanical gardens and fountains. It is the biggest World Heritage Site, under the protection of UNESCO, in Germany.
As you can all imagine, we were not the only ones who had the idea to head to Schloss Sanssouci that day- the park was full of couples leisurely walking about, families with kids running around, and elderly couples slowly making their way from one place to another. It is typical here in Germany to go for a walk on Sundays, as most stores are closed that day, although that is slowly changing, which I find is rather a pity. Coming from Montreal, I am used to having everything opened on Sundays and although sometimes it is frustrating not being able to go shopping on Sundays, I mostly really enjoy the fact that everything is closed on that day, and that one must find another activity to occupy oneself. Sundays here are all about enjoying your time with friends and family, appreciating what nature offers us and of course, taking the time, at around 4pm, for cake and coffee! Doesn't that sound like a most fantastic way to spend a Sunday?!

Pour ma maman chérie!

Ma chère maman chérie,
En ce 12 février 2008, jour de ta naissance, je te souhaite, du fond du coeur, un très joyeux anniversaire!
J'espère que tout les bisous que je t'ai envoyé vont arrivé à temps- des fois la poste prend plus de temps qu'on ne le pense!
Amuse-toi bien aujourd'hui en companie de tes invités!

Je t'embrasse tendrement,
ta fille qui t'adore,
Caro xxxx

Berlin- a few pictures 4

The begining of a new season!

I don't want to rub it in, make people jealous or make enemies, but guess what?!?!?!?!??!?!
Spring is here!!!!!! I can hardly believe it myself, but it's true! For a week now, the temperature has been above ten degrees and the sun has been shinning almost everyday. On Saturday, on my way to the market, this is what I saw:

It is so lovely to be able to wear one layer less under your winter coat, to be able to eat outside on terraces, to sit in a park and soak up the sun and to hear the birds sing.

I love spring!

A taste of the Okanagan Valley

I am an avid baker- cookies, muffins, cakes, pies- I love to bake it all! There is nothing like the smell of a freshly baked good to put you in a good mood. Whenever my friends and I have a potluck dinner, I am the one in charge of dessert. That must mean that what I bake is good, right?!
Many people don't have the time/talent/interest to bake their own goods and instead use prepared mixes for their dessert needs. I have never, until now, used such a mix. Baking does not have to be complicated and I refuse to take the easy way out of an activity that can be so much fun and is always rewarding. However, there is always a first time to everything, and even I am willing to give everything at least one chance!

Last fall, my sister, who lives in Calgary, and a friend of hers, who was there visiting her, explored the Okanagan Valley (located in southern British Columbia) for a few days. They stopped in Kelowna, a beautiful region (or so I hear, as I, unfortunately, have not yet set foot there). Kelowna is well known, among other things, for its nature, its wineries and its lavender. There are fields and fields of this purple gold and the seeds of the lavender plant are used in everything from tea to oil, bath products to jelly, without of course forgetting culinary lavender, which brings me to the subject of this post. While there, my lovely and very thoughtful sister got me a lavender and lemon cake mix, which she gave to my parents so that they could bring it to me last December. On Wednesday, I had a sudden urge to bake a cake, and the lavender-lemon cake mix called to me, sreaming "Bake me! Bake me!". How could I resist such an enticing call?The result was a delicious, fluffy, lavender cake. This cake has made me reconsider my view point on prepared mixed. Although they will never be my number one choice when I want to bake something, some of these mixes are actually very tasty and when they include such delicate and interesting ingredients as lavender, who could say no to them?

Bobiy, you would have loved this cake!

My roommates, and myself, thank you again Tootsies for this delicious treat!

The view from the top of the obsession tower!

I was looking through the many pictures I have taken since my arrival here in Berlin and came across pictures I took in the fall, from the top of the Fernsehturm- you all remember the Fernsehturm, don't you?!?! That's Berlin's television tower, the tower that I am slightly obsessed with!
The pictures themselves are only moderately good, as they were taken through a thick sheet of glass, but they give you a good idea of what the city looks like and I thought some of you might enjoy seeing them (also, I had nothing else to write about, but still wanted to post something!).
By the way, if any of you have questions about my life/life in general here in Berlin, or want me to talk about something in particular, please don't hesitate to let me know. I will be happy to answer most of your questions!!!

Behind that big black square building is the Reichstag building

The Berliner Dom

The Neptunbrunnen fountain

Berlinale

Oye, Oye, the Berlinale is here!!!! Well, not quite, but soon! The Berlinale is Berlin's International Film Festival, where films from around the world are presented- that makes sense doesn't it, as it is an international film festival!!!!

This is how the official website for Berlin's International Fild Festival describes what takes place during the two weeks of the festival:

"Berlin - a cosmopolitan, exciting capital, a city of culture with international appeal. In the middle of it all: the Berlinale – not only the city’s largest cultural event, but also one of the most important dates on the international film industry’s calendar. More than 19,000 film professionals from 120 countries, including 4,000 journalists, are accredited for the Berlin International Film Festival every year. The Berlinale is truly a mega event. At the same time, it is a festival of encounters and discussions. With more than 200,000 tickets sold, the Berlinale is not only a film industry meeting. It also enjoys by far the largest audience of any film festival in the world. For two weeks, art, glamour, parties and business meet at the Berlinale."

http://www.berlinale.de/en/das_festival/festivalprofil/profil_der_berlinale/index.html

More than 400 films will be presented this year, and most of them are world or European premieres. It's all very exciting people!

Will let you know what I saw and what I thought about everything in a future post.

Happy Fasching!

Most of you may not know this, but it is Fasching season here in Germany. What is Fasching you ask? Fasching is another name for Karnaval- better known to us North Americans as Mardi Gras. Karnaval is very popular here in Deutschland, especially in cities like Kôln and Düsseldorf, where the whole city is in Karnaval mood and mode for a week or so. People dress up in silly costumes, go out in the streets, participate in parades and party hardy. Karnaval actually officially starts in November and lasts until Ash Wednesday. The high point of Karnaval festivities is on Rosenmontag, which was yesterday.
In smaller villages, like in Lehde, which is a 20 minutes' walk away from Lübbenau, Karnaval is also celelbrated, but there it is called Zampern. On saturday, I participated in my first Zampern and it was a lot of fun. Zampern in Lehde started at 9 am, and as most of you know, at 9 am, I am still FAST asleep. There was no way I was waking up at 8 am on a Saturday morning to get to Lehde in time for 9 am. No way, not even for Zampern!!! Ronny and I only made it to Lehde at 4 pm that afternoon, but it turned out that it was perfect timing. I got to see enough of what Zamnpern is all about to realize that even if I had made it there for 9 am, there was no way I would still be standing on my own two feet by 4 pm. Why you ask? Well, as all of you already know by now, when there is a celebration of any kind here in Germany, it is accompanied by a ridiculous amount of alcohol, and Zampern was no different. What exactly is Zampern you ask? For Zampern, people put on costumes and walk around the village, stopping at every restaurant, guest house and holiday house singing, playing music (performed by the village's Firebrigade, moonlighting as the village's band),dancing, drinking and eating, while at the same time collecting eggs, bottles of booze and money. The eggs are eaten later that evening for the Zampernessen, and the money and alcohol collected during the day are saved for a big village party that takes place two weeks later.
Zampern is celebrated as a way to chase the winter ghosts away and to welcome the spring season.
By the time Ronny and I arrived, the group was in great spirits! I had a great time visiting the last few houses with the group, and although I was not disguised, I was warmly welcomed by everyone- of course it helped that I come from Canada and that I speak German with a French accent!!!!
I love experiencing things like Zampern. Coming from a big city like Montreal, and from such a young country as Canada, celebrations such as this week-end's are not part of what I know and therefore it is super interesting and very entertaining to participate in all of these news experiences.





















A note to my still unknown message leaving friend- are we friends by the way? No, I haven't read "Sophie's World". Do I need to read that book to discover who you are? I really have no clue who you might be!!! Do you live in Montreal or here in Germany? Can you give me another clue about your identity?