2013 in Review Part 2

So, I returned to SF in March.. And everything went to shit. I hadn't been motivated at work for a while and with all the changes at the office, it was time for a change. And then my relationship with B fell apart and I had to jump back on a plane to salvage it.

I fostered the world's best Boston, Bacon, for a week.  And I quit my job on 1 April. It was scary to just quit without having a next step already in place, but it was a very freeing experience at the same time.

B came to stay with me for 3 months, the maximum duration for his tourist visa. We were in SF most of the time, but traveled a bit as well.  We visited my cousin in Hawaii (which I would have said is one of the most beautiful places on earth if I hadn't just spent a week in Phuket), and went to Vegas and LA.

We decided that I would go back to France with him. I enrolled in a French university and started tying up my loose ends in SF.  At the end of May, we packed up our things and turned the apartment over to its new tenant, then went from one coast to the other -- back to SC.

We had just over a week in SC, and there is never enough time to see everyone and do everything. We took a spontaneous road trip to Charleston and Savannah so he could see the South. I showed him my university and the town where I spent 6 years of my life. We spent lots of time with my dear grandmother.. And then before we knew it, time was up. We said goodbye and headed to NYC for one last trip...And then to France.

What I remember most about the summer in Lyon -- the oppressive heat that smothered everything, that forced you to close the shutters tight all day and turned you into a vampire, sitting in darkness until the sun finally set and you could venture out again.  I remember lots of Italian cooking, family style dinners, visits to Parc Miribel, and the apartment hunt that never seemed to end.

And then summer was over and it was time to go back to the US to get my student visa.. Except plans changed, and suddenly I found myself single and unemployed in the US. After a month of moping around I started to cheer up a bit and decided to use my return ticket to France to have a crazy month of euro tripping before starting to look for work in the US.

Lyon, London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Munich, Merano (Italy), Kitzbühel (Austria), Hamburg, Munich again..And finally Berlin.  It was a wonderful two months and I got to reconnect with so many old friends I haven't seen in years!

I had pizza and beer for dinner in a rooftop jacuzzi surrounded by snow-covered mountains and a beautiful starry night sky. I did a bike day trip up a 6500ft high mountain. I cooked new things with old friends. I spent an afternoon lying in the grass under a warm sun next to a beautiful man. I went into a sauna -- naked! With strangers! I saw a peep show in Amsterdam's Red Light District. I drank wine wrapped up in a blanket on a fake beach watching huge ships move in and out of Hamburg's harbor. I rode a bicycle through the twisting, tree lined streets of France and had foie gras and wine for dinner next to the Rhone. I learned that a casual relationship is ok, and can be really fun. I found solace from my breakup with B (and resulting life-implosion) by wandering alone through new cities, and reminded myself that I am my best friend.

And all of that stuff I just mentioned in the previous paragraph? Yeah, it was only from 1 October to 15 November, not including my time in Berlin.  It was an amazing year, filled with so many different events and emotions and languages... It's bittersweet because I feel the ending of the year is like the door closing on everything I had to say goodbye to this year. San Francisco, my life and my friends there.. My friends and family in SC, whom I only briefly had a chance to be with in September.. B's family in Lyon, who welcomed me into their family and homes with warmth and love, and B himself. At the same time, I am so excited to see where I will end up next.

Much love, 2013... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times!

Bacon, the Boston Terrier

French Alps

Sailing in Hawaii

Hawaii sunset

Vegas!

LA

Brooklyn bridge

Lyon, France 

Summer wedding in France with B

Big Ben, London

Amsterdam

Hamburg

Kitzbuehel

Merano, Italy

Settling in for a long night on a train

Berlin wall

2013 in Review Part 1

So, tomorrow is the big night.. The last day of the year. Let's have a recap about 2013, shall we?

January: On my BIRTHDAY -- had the worst injury of my life thus far. Severe and instantaneous swelling inside my right ankle, which was breaking apart the ligaments, tendons, and bones from the inside out. Had 9mL of liquid removed using a very large needle which went all the way through my leg, and I felt all of it because the local anesthetic wasn't working.  Pain? Yeah, now I know I can handle pain.

Best birthday ever. Not.

Missed out on a trip to Hong Kong because of that, but made it to Phuket for a very fun company Sales Kickoff. The kickoff was a pivotal point for me -- I realized how much I hated working for my manager and that I wouldn't be able to stand it much longer.

Thailand!

Thailand

Thailand

Tiger Club night

After Phuket, I visited my then-boyfriend in France. We traveled to Rome, which is when I got my first stomach virus. Definitely not the best place to get sick. I spent the weekend in the hotel bed, but my boyfriend took care of me and explored the city by himself while I was bent over the toilet.  BUT.. We arrived the day that Pope Benedict abdicated! It was a crazy time. News crews everywhere.  We also visited my brother in Naples and had amazing food courtesy of the landlord Ugo, my brother's adopted father.

Roma

Camera crews waiting for the new pope to be announced

I met Bruno's family for the first time. We visited his mother and stepfather in Condorcet, in southern France. They are very New Age, very into spirituality and healing and being at one with everything. I've never felt more at ease and relaxed than the days I spent at their home. Crazy as it sounds, they helped heal my ankle which was still messed up from a month earlier.

Then we went to Lyon, where I went to my first soccer game!  It was freezing cold but it was so much fun to jump and yell and cheer and sing the team's songs.

Olympique Lyonnais! ALLEZ L'OL!

Then at the end of March it was back to SF...

My view of the city on my way home. Little did I know it would be the last time I'd see it from here

 After my return home.. Everything changed. Literally. More to come in Installment 2

Roommate love

I've been here over a month now, and I have to say -- I'm in love. With my roommate.

He's the kindest, sweetest, most generous person I know here in Berlin--and he's in the top 10 worldwide, at least within my circle of acquaintances.  Fede and I skyped once before I came to move in, and I instantly felt that he was the "one." I had other apartments to see, but I wrote them and said "Thanks but no thanks!" And I don't regret a thing.

From the first time I stepped in the door, Fede made me feel at home. "Mi casa es su casa" is the motto here. We clean together, we cook together, we drink together, we party together.

I love you Fede! You are an amazing person and I am so happy to have you in the next room :)

Italian lessons after several bottles of beer..I have no idea what's going on here but I'm sure that it made sense at the time

Left for me the following morning. There may be some truth here

Italian culture at its best

We share the same taste in music (rocking out to NIN)

One of the first meals we made together - homemade gnocchi

Drinking buddy

We take care of each other

Party animals forever

I love you Fede! Someday I'll be able to tell you this in Italian :)

You find it when you stop looking

I met you just a week ago but it's already like you're an integral part of my life here. You're rough around the edges, unpolished. You're more at home in a hoodie than a dress shirt. You have permanent bed head and stubble. You work with your hands and you're content where you are. You are the opposite of me, the high-heeled, laptop-toting girl who takes off across the world at a moment's notice, who always wants more, who is uncomfortable in her own skin. You are the opposite of the men I chase..but your smile warms my heart and you leave a void when you're not here. You've been in my life for a week and you've already snuck past my defenses and dug in. Was it your smile? Your scruffy, don't-care Berlin ways?  I don't know. I wasn't looking for you, but we found each other anyway. And I'm happy.

Christmas Cheer

Ok, so my holiday wasn't the best this year, to be honest.. Many of the people I know are expats from other countries, and all returned home for the holidays.  Of the friends who were left in Berlin, most already had plans. Either having their own dinner party, or being hosted by another.. And I was hesitant to invite myself along.

I had an amazing brunch with an amazing person.. But that only takes up so much of the day, and I was back home around 6pm.

So, on the 24th, I listened to Christmas music. I tried (and failed) to call my grandma. Several times.  This technology thing only works if you pick up the phone, Grandma! So after leaving her a holiday voicemail, I made a healthy dinner and hunkered down in my bed with my laptop-fueled Christmas movie marathon and a bottle of wine.

Was it kind of sad? Yes. But as an expat in a totally new country and city, sometimes these things happen. As an expat you have to be self-sufficient and not mind doing things alone, at least some of the time. So while a bit sad, I was still happy knowing that I am here in Berlin, that I have friends and family who love me from afar, and that I am fortunate enough to have a nice warm bed to snuggle into.

Honestly, I was more disappointed that it has been unseasonably warm and we didn't have a white Christmas. Heck we didn't even have a rainy Christmas. It was just kind of overcast.

The 25th was better. My roommate woke up and we had a bottle of wine with lunch to celebrate Christmas ("My breakfast!" he said, toasting me). Then we took a nap and woke up to prepare dinner for my ex coworker Andy, who was in the same boat as me -- an expat with nothing special to do on Christmas Day.

We had a great antipasti course (pickled garlic, roasted red peppers, bruschetta, olives, and cream cheese-stuffed hot peppers) and fun conversation

Cooking hard for the guys

Thumbs up for my dinner.. Chicken and cannelloni beans in a white wine sauce with seared green beans. Plus some bread from the Turkish bakery downstairs, because they were the only ones open on Christmas Day 

Later on we started getting kind of crazy due to the excessive flow of wine...

According to the timestamp, this picture was taken around 2am..? Andy was eating Nutella and got some on his teeth so I had to join in too.  And now I'm putting it on the internet for you to see as well

Company Christmas Party

I work for a startup in Berlin. Apparently it's a pretty normal thing to do in this city -- Berlin has one of the highest concentrations of startups in all of Europe. True to startup form, they do things a little bit differently due to the lack of HR.

We had our Christmas party this past weekend, and wow.. What a party.

First off we began with a presentation (accompanied by beer for the guys and  by the CEO about the past year, the company in general, and the goals for the next year. He used 3 examples to try to make our product more relatable to customers, one of which was an employee who "is with a different girl every night." Although the employee in question was not there, the CEO used this example several times, making for a funny -- but very awkward -- situation because this man slut's ex gf is also an employee and was in attendance.  It was not very cool.

After the meeting we headed out to The Grand, a restaurant/bar/club that is swanky in that chic divey way that some places manage to achieve.  It looks kind of like a rich old person's house, and is huge. There is a fine line between actual dive and dive-chic, and a huge part of that is the quality of service. The wait staff were top notch and the quality of the food was amazing.

We had our own room and arrived in small groups. I ended up near the CEO, the other US girl, and the 3rd in command, S. It was nice to talk to US girl for "real" because normally at the office she is very reserved and work-focused.  S was great, however. We chatted away contentedly for the whole dinner.

Dinner was amazing, a 3 course German extravaganza. You had the option of choosing meat, fish or vegetarian when RSVPing for the invite. Most chose meat, I asked for fish, and the "twins" (two girls who are besties in the office) got vegetarian.

First course: charcuterie & fois gras / salad
Second course: chicken leg / salmon / risotto accompanied by dumplings and various kinds of German cabbage
Third course: a marzipan tart and ice cream

Wine was free flowing during the entire meal. I have no idea how many bottles we drank but it was a LOT.  While we were waiting between courses people were moving around and switching seats. A bit of excitement (among the girls, at least) went around because a rumor was floating around that German actor Til Schweiger was in the house.

My salad

The meat dish's appetizer..More meat

Yummy salmon & chicken on the other plate

dessert

After dinner we moved downstairs to the bar and partied our hearts out. It was still a bit early for Berlin to be out and about in full force. We were one of the first groups in the bar and lo and behold Til Schweiger was taking advantage of the quiet time! I got a picture with him. He was shorter and much more average looking compared to the way I imagined him to be, but I've heard that's the way with actors in general...I wouldn't know, I haven't seen too many.

Til Schweiger, the guy I didn't recognize till someone told me he was in Inglorious Bastards, which I haven't seen.

Once the DJ started everyone was dancing around and taking pictures. We were taking over the dance floor!  For some reason we were all ordering Moscow Mules. No idea why.  They are delicious, by the way

After what seemed like only 5 minutes of dancing, but was probably about 5 hours, we tried to head off to another locale. The only problem was, there were so many of us and we were so drunk.. We just kind of peeled off and went in separate groups despite our best efforts. I ended up at a club called Cookies gate crashing the Christmas party of another startup that the CEO and COO knew about. I was so drunk at this point I have no idea how we got inside.. The CEO was talking forever to the ticket lady and finally she let us inside. It's kind of a blur, I remember getting drinks from the C-guys and then they went off to talk to someone, leaving us girls (S, B, and I) to fend for ourselves. S left shortly thereafter but B and I stuck it out for a while. I spotted a pole at one corner of the dance floor and tried to show off my pole dancing skills. I would prefer to not see how that turned out.

I heard a couple people faceplanted a few times. I somehow managed to stay upright, but discovered upon waking that about a good hunk of one of my fingernails had ripped off. Talk about painful. At first it was bleeding but now it's getting better and the skin is toughening up a lot. On the one hand this is good because I actually have use of all ten fingers now and don't have to wince in pain every time I touch something. On the other (superficial) hand I am doubting the nail will ever really grow back over the fresh skin. My french manicures, should I ever choose to get them, will be forever ruined. Oh well.

It may not look that bad now.. But try ripping off part of your fingernail and see how you feel

Live for the nights you won't remember with the friends you'll never forget, right??