Karnaval der Kulturen!

Last weekend Berlin had a huge street party called the Karnaval der Kulturen (Carnival of Cultures..see, German isn't always SO hard).

While the Karnaval lasted all weekend, I heard that Sunday was the best day because of the parade finale. An ex coworker and a current coworker met up to see the event. Words can't express how much I love these two.. They are my favorite people in Berlin. We had so many late Friday nights drinking at the office until 2 am, talking about life and work and everything in between. They both have very different views, but we made a perfect mix. The Three Musketeers, Berlin melting-pot style.  So naturally it was an amazing afternoon.

We started with coffee around 1pm. Then the girlfrend of Jamin, my ex-coworker, joined. She is so chill and laid back and made the perfect addition to our trio. As a happy foursome we left our quiet side street cafe and headed toward the parade. We arrived in time to see the last few floats and found ourselves stuck next to a Brazilian float absolutely blasting samba music, drowning out the poor Southeast Asian group behind it. They had about 8 Berghain-sized speakers on the float, and the little Asian flutes the musicians were playing had no chance. I have a suspicion that it was a sneaky techinque to undermine the competition, since there was a contest for the best float. Who wouldn't win with huge speakers, samba music, and nearly naked dancers parading around in feathers and sequins?

dressed appropriately for the weather

Along the way we stopped to sample (several) capirinhas and daiquiris. It was 95 degrees outside, and there were so many people crowding the streets, blocking any wind. I was practically forced to buy the overpriced delicious cups of ice-filled coldness, I promise.

Bombarded by samba music, we made our way to Jamin and Lil's friends' restaurant -- a tiny foccacia place, more like fast food than a classic Italian restaurant. In the spirit of the party weekend, they had huge speakers and a DJ set up just outside the restaurant. A dull orange carpet covered the entire sidewalk and a hand written sign on cardboard declared the area as a "Dance Floor." Berliners bobbed around in the sun, floating between their tables filled with delicious focaccia/beer and the Dance Floor carpet. A guy randomly wandered over with a hammock, strung it up between two skinny sidewalk trees, and fell asleep listening to the house music. Seriously, I freaking love this city. You can't make this shit up.

After eating and drinking the rest of the caipirinhas, we headed to a spaeti to buy some beer and then went to Viktoriapark across from the foccacia place. It's gorgeous. I was there the weekend before with my friend from Hamburg. The park rises above the street on one of Berlin's only hills, imposing and yet insanely beautiful thanks to the man-made creek and waterfalls that pour down its slopes, topped by a gothic tower. Everytime I see it, I feel like I could be in a Disney movie. Seriously.

goodhardworkingpeople.blogspot.com

We hiked to the top and sat in the grass, enjoying the breeze and talking about the company we work[ed] for. The conversation changed to families and babies, as we were surrounded by them. I guess the festival was a bit too much for the kiddies, and parents preferred a quiet park to the insane streets. Around 6 the lovebirds had to leave. Barbie was long gone, but I wasn't ready to go home just yet. If you've read my other posts, you know that I have no problem with floating around solo. I'm a firm believer that you are your own best friend, and I absolutely hold Charles Bukowski quotes close to my heart (in this particular case, "I had always been good company for myself.") I jumped on the Ubahn and headed back to Mehringdamm, then wandered around the street festival. My plan was to check out the scene solo, hang around until I got bored, then go back to my apt for dinner.

People had set up huge speakers here and there with mini dance parties sprouting around them. I stopped for another caipirinha and found a promising mini party. House music streamed from the big speakers, and a decent crowd of about 100 people bobbed in time to the music under the late afternoon summer sun.

SF or Berlin? You be the judge. Only the buildings might give it away

A party was underway in the 5th floor apartment above the sidewalk and they were filling buckets with water and pouring them on the crowd. The people loved it and screamed for more, dancing soaking wet and not giving a care in the world. I really felt like I was back in San Francisco, albeit a less-costumed version.. But SF vibes were there nonetheless.

A few guys gave me the German "come hither" stare but I was feeling Meh. A few were promising looking, especially the guy in front of me. Small gauges in his ears, aviators, a wifebeater and tight shorts rolled up to the knees. Blond, fit. Typical chill Berlin guy. I checked my watch -- 8pm. I wanted to have a nice relaxing quiet night, so I told myself "5 more minutes, then you'll go." And then one of the guys who had given me the stare did something amazing - he Prosted me. And then, the adventure started.

Coming soon: Part 2

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??

Coworker love

After work I met some coworkers (the ones who work more normal hours). They are absolutely awesome girls -- I knew they would be super awesome after I first met them. Their style, their manner -- I knew we'd be good friends, it was just a matter of time.  Some things are just meant to be, and after talking with them for a little while, I can tell they are girls I can really like. Which is strange, because normally I gravitate more towards guys. They are real and friendly and open and funny and I love it.

They started having Monday Funday after work around 6, and then came back to the office to laugh at us for working so late.  They didn't want to be mean, but it's still hard to be nice in such a situation. They are partying and we are making calls ):  Anyway, I was playing chicken with the founder. Who will leave the office first??? But we ended up leaving at the same time, and I had another test integration, so it was totally worth staying later.

After I left work I hightailed it to Intersoup, where the coworkers were hanging out. It's a cool dive bar in Prenzlauer Berg with multiple rooms. On a Monday it was your typical Berlin hangout -- I have no idea how these people can go out so late on a weeknight but they manage to do it. Tourists?? Maybe. Anyway, it was a cool place. I'd like to see it in action on a Thursday or Friday night, but for now it was OK. More about the company than the location.

There are these 2 girls at my office who are SO cool. I mean, everyone I work with is awesome.. But these girls kind of run the show. They are the nicer version of the Mean Girls team. The hot girls in the office who are untouchable, who make their own rules. But they are real and down to earth at the same time. For men it would be a deadly combination -- at least for American men, they wouldn't know what to make of these girls -- but for me I am so at ease. I've spent way too much time with guys, even if it's the gender I'm most comfortable with.  On the way to the train we were singing "All the single ladies" and it's so true. I need more of this in my life. Uncomplicated, acceptance, enjoying life, not looking for anything.. Just being yourself and enjoying the company of others.

They are so cool.. And I am looking forward to the next time we can hang out.