In which Helen goes to the cinema

Last weekend I suddenly had the slightly scary thought that I might have to head to the cinema alone to see the new Harry Potter film just like a paedophile might. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any qualms about going to the cinema alone – it’s not really a social activity to be honest. I don't usually invite my friends over and suggest we sit in the dark and not interact for a couple of hours. But when there’s a film like this you want to share in the excitement with people who understand.

There is a (generally) wonderful website called Toy Town Germany. I mentioned this to you in my F-you post briefly, but you probably stopped paying attention. Basically it’s a website run by ex-pats living in Germany giving a whole host of advice about moving here, links to English speaking jobs and a forum where people can arrange to socialise, ask questions about their experiences, and get irrationally angry at people they have never met. I debated making a post on their Berlin forum asking whether anyone wanted to go and watch the film, but decided that since it was late I should wait until the next day… and then I forgot about it.

Pensieve Sequence (or ‘flashback’)

I met Jason through the 'new to Berlin' section of the forum, and we went for a coffee. Afterwards he convinced me we should head to the weekly Toy Town meet-up which is held each Thursday and invites anyone and everyone to come and meet... well, each other.

The first one we attended was held in Prenzlauer Berg (P-berg), which is the most gentrified district of Berlin, full of coffee shops and amazing restaurants. I get the impression that it used to be the social hub – the delinquent child who was staying out late and experimenting with music and drugs, but now it seems to have decided to grow up, get married and raise a lot of young families. However, it’s pretty important to note that Berlin is a little like Neverland, not because Michael Jackson abused a child here (although he did hang his baby off the balcony by the Brandenburg Gate), but because nobody really grows up. A Berliner’s version of settling down is just working a little bit harder in between playing in a band, or constructing an art project, or raising a child who has a babysitter once a week so you can still attend an alternative night club. So I guess you can never write off a Berliner, and you can’t write off P-berg. 

This social was held in a charming little café/bar with owners who happily served drinks until the sun came up the next morning, and I met a lot of interesting* people including many Americans and, as is mandatory when talking to Americans, discussed a lot of conspiracy theories.

Almost two months on and I have returned several times to this weekly event, always held in a different area of Berlin, and in the process I have slowly picked up a excellent supporting cast for my Berlin adventure. (I get to be the main character because this is my blog.)

There is Jason, an American man, who is obviously gay because he’s friends with me, and it doesn’t matter where I go or how much I move to Europe, some things never change. He has a pretty awesome sense of humour and takes amazing photographs, which is useful, because I don't - here is his Berlin Gallery. Look at it. Look at it now! Oh wait, read the rest of this first since you're enjoying it so much.

 

There is Nicole who I spoke to for a couple of hours before realising she was in fact a German masquerading as an ex-pat. She has the convincing disguise of an Irish accent, and she likes hanging out with English speaking people because she lived for five years in Cork and apparently didn’t get enough of it. She is especially useful for clarifying German words and phrases for us, and then laughing when we get German horrendously wrong. (Note to self: take some pictures with Nicole in!)

And there is Jess who I accosted as she was attempting to leave. I couldn’t really remember why, or what we’d talked about, but I knew I’d persuaded her to meet me at Mauerpark the following Sunday. We went, she found the market hilarious, the karaoke entertaining and the company absolutely terrific so the rest is history. Very recent history. She is in Berlin for three months writing a thesis on cultural regeneration, which means she has to hang out in art galleries and trendy bars, and she should definitely stay forever! 

So on Tuesday our little crew (including Sophie and Eva) gathered to join Toy Town people in their regulars drinking session on a Tuesday on Wiener Strasse. We had been there for some time when Nicole turned to Jason and I and asked ‘so, are we going to arrange and to see the new Harry Potter film?’. I was very excited by this. hear reports that I yelled ‘I love you!’ loud enough to shut everyone else in the bar up, which sounds pretty plausible. Jason and Nicole are officially awesome enough to have read the Harry Potter books, so we made plans to go and see the final film.

We saw the film in the only cinema in Berlin which is showing the original version because Germans like to dub films. I’m not a fan of dubbing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Germans should all learn English so that they can get better jobs and communicate internationally (although they probably should), but why on earth would you want to watch a film which is has been dubbed? I couldn’t even stream all those episodes of Heroes where the sound went out of sync because it drove me insane that their mouths were moving at a different time to the sounds I could hear. And I can’t imagine a version of Amelie where Audrey Tautou isn’t delivering the lines!


When actors deliver a performance a huge part of that is how they speak, the way Emma Watson has the same intonation for every line, the way Ralph Fiennes does weird voice like he's a dying 60-year old. Acting is probably 80% vocal. Understanding people is the same in fact. Think about it this way: you wouldn't want to have a nice chat with my beautiful face without hearing my beautiful voice too now would you?

(Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes)

Also, you know how in a lot of movies it can get pretty intense? This movie was in 3D actually, so I was right there, in the moment, flying around Hogwarts, zooming in on different fight sequences in the battle scene, starting to get a bit misty-eyed when Fred and George have a little joke about everything being fine. Voldemort has just made some sort of public announcement (he has some pretty crazy electronics wired directly to people’s minds, it’s almost like magic) and then as you start to wonder what Harry will do next…

The film cuts out, the lights come up and everyone starts getting up. Has there been some sort of power shortage? Is it all some money spinner by Warner Brothers in preparation for making a Part 3? No. In their infinite wisdom Germans apparently decided what you really need in the middle of a film is a short break. You know, to stretch your legs, buy more popcorn and forget what’s going on in the movie. Of course, it's not all bad, because it did provide the people next to me an excellent opportunity to arrive late twice, squeezing past me while the film was running twice.

Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that it all pretty much works out and the film ends with a certain finality that the following sentence fails to provide for this blog entry. Spoiler for the future, in 19 years time no one looks any older than they do now - so I'm looking forward to that.

Meet my friends, Sophie and Eva

Sophie

So, there’s this girl (woman? Old woman?) I know from back in the Londontown called Sophie and, well, in all honesty I think she’s stalking me. I mean, we know each other pretty well, but unlike my other friends she has followed me all the way to Berlin*.

She has kept her FLAJ situation pretty tidy, which it actually turns out is not the norm for ex-pats out here. Most people I know are looking for jobs or working somewhere they hate to tide them over, and most people moved here quite whimsically too. However, Sophie has a proper job here which she got before moving over, a flat of her very own in the most amazing location in the heart of Kreuzberg which only took two days of searching to find, a much better grasp of the German language (she is three levels above me in German class) and also this amazing friend called Helen to entertain her here.

She arrived last Sunday and since then we have eaten most of Berlin, and some of Hamburg together. This is less good for my dwindling bank balance and growing waistline, but has been much fun nonetheless.

Sophie is especially awesome at:

·        playing stupid games (my favourite of late is coming up with a word and then singing all of the songs with that word in)

·        gossiping (especially about menfolk)

·        meeting people

·        drinking Prosecco from a can

·        eating exceptionally healthy foodstuffs (and giving me all of the non-healthy ones)

·        being indecisive about restaurant a bar choices

·        travelling all over the world

·        making me practice German

·        having hilarious conversations

·        wearing awesome skirts from markets

She is marginally older than I am and really enjoys it when I speak about this. Oh and also she is sehr schön:

Eva

There is also a girl I know here in Berlintown called Eva. She is extraordinarily friendly and kind and has extended her kindnesses to allow me to sleep in her spare room which has aided my whole apartment dilemma no end.

She comes from that strange like-Britain-but-far-less-good place called Australia and is in Berlin after finishing University. She is doing an internship ('Praktikum') here in Berlin, or as I like to call it, Berlinternshipping. This is an excellent scheme in Germany where companies hire graduates for real jobs but pay them a salary more appropriate for a pretend job. Everyone seems to be expected to suffer through this phase of employment before finding a more suitable job. Eva earns an amazing 80 cents per hour.

While she is here she is also writing a book. I understand this to be some primitive form of a blog, typically involving more paper**, and I cannot wait to it read upon its completion. She is also studying German, which she has picked up in impressive time given that she started learning in November and is certainly good enough to get by and express herself with German speaking friends. (She is five classes above me)

I have discovered Eva is awesome at:

• speaking German
• karaoking
• suggesting awesome weekend trips to Hamburg
• ordering pizza
• knowing things about the Beatles
• meeting people
• cooking excellent meals
• buying funky second-hand clothing (a must in Berlin)
• getting up early in the morning (and sleeping at times more customary for a normal person)
• writing mean songs on the ukulele (but only about mean people who totally deserve it)
• putting up with me blowing my nose as though it’s a trumpet

This is a picture from our trip to Hamburg in which Eva was so excited about the Beatles she became all of them at once:

So now you know these people you have friends in Berlin too. Unless they don’t like you. But that's pretty unlikely, as they like me J