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September 01, 2008
Moved in in Berlin
OK, now, finally, I'm all moved in and stuff. I think. No, really, I mostly am.
So today I met my landlord, got the keys, and moved into my new digs here on Raumerstrasse in Prenzlauer Berg. It's just about exactly what I was expecting, maybe even a little bigger. Not that it's big or anything, but for a studio it's fine for me. A nice, airy main room and a separate kitchen that's got everything (nicer than my old kitchen but not as nice as my new one back home). I'm on a little courtyard that seems nice and quiet, families and such for the most part from what I can tell.
Today I've been doing mostly moving in and getting settled down stuff. I went and got my cell phone activated finally, although it's not cheap to pay as you go, it'll certainly work. On the plus side, in Germany (and most of the civilized world) I don't pay for incoming calls, only for outgoing ones, so that's nice. It turns out there's a pretty big mall just one U-bahn stop up from me, so I went to the t-mobile store there. I also bought a fan. I'm having some electronics issues, in that only my laptop here actually seems to work with the plug adapters I've got. No wait, my blackberry works too. But my DS really doesn't, and it's sadly out of juice. I gotta figure that out soonest, because I need my Civ Revolutions time before bed.
Yesterday i went to a Democrats in Berlin event, a picnic in Rosa Luxemberg Platz for Obama. It was a lot of fun, and I met some cool expats, some of whom have been here for decades. They helped me figure out everything I need to do to get my absentee ballot, which was also cool. All I gotta do now is take the form down to the US Embassy and drop it off. I'll do that sometime this week, probably tomorrow.
The night before that was the Long Museum Night where a bunch of museums stay open 'til 2 AM. I wandered about Museum Island for a while and took in the chaos and excitement, although the long lines meant I only went into one actual museum. My favorite, The Pergamon Museum, had a line that went on forever and didn't seem be moving. Luckily I've already seen it, so I decided no point in wasting time in line. I got on one of the shuttle buses at random and then ended up in a neighborhood I knew so I got off and went to this sort of art gallery/bar/collective/performance space that's mostly outdoor behind this five story bombed out department store. More on that place later.
So life is good. I like the neighborhood and all the little things that aren't quite sorted out yet are little, little things. Tomorrow I start back to work on the writing, which I'm very much looking forward to.
Remember, pics here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickdakan/
Posted by rdakan at September 1, 2008 09:59 AM