The park that never ends - Tempelhofer Feld

This weekend my friend Jan was visiting from Hamburg. Because the weather had finally taken a turn for the better, we ventured out to a new part of the city for me: Tempelhofer Feld.

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As I mentioned before, Berlin is 44% park. After going to Tempelhof, I can see where 43% of that green space comes from. If you've flown into Berlin before 2008, you might have a different view of Tempelhof -- the view from inside the terminal. Yes, that's right -- the park is an AIRPORT.

It officially opened its doors in 1923, and was named Tempelhof after the Knights Templar who made it their stomping grounds waaaay back in the day. It was busiest from 1938-1939. Not surprising.

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Tempelhof was closed in 2008 in an attempt to centralize air traffic in Berlin and make Schönefeld the main airport. At the time, there were 3 airports in opposite corners of the city -- not good for noise pollution, and probably making air traffic controlling a nightmare.

The airport remained unused except for the occasional tradeshow or fair, which were held inside the hangar.  The rest of the time, the huge space was left untouched. So, instead of expensive development projects, in 2010 Berlin decided "What the hell, let's just make it a park."  In true lazy Berlin fashion, everything was left exactly the same -- they took down the barbed wire on the fence around the airport and put up a sign saying that it's a park, and that's about it.  The airport itself remains, and the hangar continues to be used for trade shows and raves. There was actually a rave that day, and the thumping bass of the techno rolled over the park from the hangar.  Nevermind that it was 4pm -- when Berlin parties, it's a weekend-long affair, sunlight be damned.

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In addition to the ravers in the cavernous hangar, day-living Berliners were rollerblading, kiteboarding, and biking on the runways and picnicking on the grass. Tons of people lugged little portable grills out with them and were roasting various kinds of meat and sausages à la Germany.

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There are some important lessons I learned about visiting Templehof, which I will share with you in case you ever get the chance to visit it in the hopes that you will learn from my mistakes:

• We were meeting a group of Jan's coworkers who also happened to be in Berlin this weekend. They arrived before us, and we mistakenly thought we could just give them a call and meet up. No way, Jose. We forgot to take into account one very important factor: the park is a freaking airport. After walking all over Berlin earlier that day, we were looking forward to sitting down and resting our tired feet. We arrived at the park..and had to walk almost the entire length of the thing just to get inside the nearest entrance. And THEN, once inside we were confronted with the massive airfield. We wandered around for a while, moving from one picnicking group to another and finally realized that we could do this all day and never find them. Using Whatsapp, his friends showed us their location in the field. And we realized that they were clear on the other side of the park, a good 40 mn walk away. I actually stopped to sit and eat an apple for some quick energy. According to runningmap.com, we walked 2.36 miles -- just to get to where his friends were. Lesson learned: plan where to meet and enter the park through the closest gate.

Our journey to find Jan's friends

• The weather was super nice and sunny, so we dressed accordingly -- short sleeves, etc. Years of living in San Francisco taught me to be prepared for everything, since going from one neighborhood to the next block often meant a drop of 10+ degrees and a wall of fog. I quickly learned to always bring a light jacket with me. Inside Berlin the buildings block most of the wind, but the huge expanse of Templehof is devoid of buildings. Chilly winds constantly swept across the field (probably why it's so popular with kite skaters) and I was constantly pulling on my jacket and taking it off -- even sometimes wishing I had brought a heavier one with me. Lesson learned: wear layers, regardless of how warm it is in your neighborhood.
• The bathrooms are real bathrooms - full plumbing, stocked with paper, and even a cleaning lady. It's a nice change from the bushes that most European parks provide. HOWEVER.. I may have mentioned earlier that the park is huge. This therefore means that bathrooms are about a mile away from each other. How do you find one? Look for where lots of people are camped out with their little portable bbqs, and then hike for half an hour. Lesson learned: park your picnic close to the bathroom, or go when you see one -- you never know when the next one will come around.
• One of Jan's friends brought his dog along. The dog was some kind of hound mix, big but so chill -- off leash he just sniffed around and hung out. And then he got the idea of exploring on his own while the owner was chatting away. No harm done, just some wandering and sniffing. But all of a sudden we heard a yell and a whistle, and two park officials came over wearing bright orange windbreakers. I didn't get everything but it was obvious that the dog was not welcome and should be kept near us at all times. "Clean up all this when you leave, too," they added for good measure, indicating our picnic supplies and beer bottles. Then they stalked off to rain on someone else's parade. Lesson learned: keep your dog nearby, no matter how well behaved. Or else you'll be given a stern scolding from the Park Patrol.

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All in all it's a really unique place -- where else can you rave inside an airplane hangar and rollerblade on a tarmac on the same day? The huge, flat expanse of the park ensures that there is more than enough space for everyone, but is not for the mobility-impaired. Unless you are sticking to the tarmac, in which case you are golden. Just be sure to come prepared and park yourself in the right place, with an eye out for the Park Police.

Springtime False Alarm & General Update

Just when I was starting to get used to the warm sunny days, weekend afternoons in the park, and carrying a light jacket just for the nighttime commute, clouds rolled in and the temperature plummeted. Unfortunately I'd gotten acclimated to the warm weather already (I'm a Southern girl, so I naturally prefer being too hot vs too cold). I've spent the day wrapped in my comforter with my hoodie on -- and yes, my hood is up.

I don't have any topic in particular, so this is going to be a general "catch up/highlight" post.

Last week I attended an online conference about meditation. It was actually really cool -- they streamed each session for 24 hours after the original broadcast. There were all kinds of speakers -- 33 in all. Each session was about an hour, so I had to pick and choose which ones I wanted to watch. But I learned something from each one. Each speaker started off with how he/she got into meditation and then the impact of his/her particular kind of meditation on their lives. It finished with a 10-15 minute guided meditation led by the speaker.

It was a really great, calming way to start my day. I found that I have a lot of pent up emotions that need to come out. I'm the queen of compartmentalization and burying things because it's easier than dealing with them, but I learned by listening to the sessions that it's really not a good thing to do. And it was obvious when I was meditation. After just a couple of minutes, tears were running down my face.  Not because I was sad, but because the emotions were finally getting a chance to surface.  I am going to try to meditate each day, but it's so hard for me to just sit and try to clear my mind. I made a goal to work up to 30 minutes at a time.

The effect it has on my work is great. I had some bad news about my team fucking up last week, and I was furious -- it was affecting multiple people at the company, and it was DESPITE us having had an hour long meeting about the subject. Not only did it make us look stupid, we were also putting other people behind.  I decided to get off the train early and walk the rest of the way to the office to clear my head and avoid ripping into everyone as soon as I got to work. On the way, a German girl dressed in a sari stopped me. She represented a temple in the city and started talking to me about karma and life. The timing was almost funny -- after my meditation conference, and just when I was struggling to put what I learned in the sessions to work in the real world. When I walked away from her, I was calm -- I had the new perspective that the team's fuckup was just a fleeting moment in the grand scheme of things, and that although it was a problem that needed to be dealt with, it wasn't worthy of such a huge surge of negative emotion. Life is cool sometimes.

Speaking of work, we just moved into a new office. It's so cool. I feel like we're in a legitimate company now and not just working out of an apartment. The floorplan is open and airy with high ceilings. We have a couple of balconies, a ping pong table, and couches for informal meetings and working together. There are even some big outdoor beanbag chairs, perfect for lounging around on the balcony.  Before the US team was stuffed into a tiny meeting room that faced the building's inner courtyard. It was cramped, dark, and when we were all on the phone the noise was almost unbearable. There's still noise in our new spot (we are next to the Brazilian team, and they tend to speak loudly and emphatically) but we can see everyone and get some sunlight, which does wonders.

I was really struggling to deal with the new responsibility. Not because I wasn't able to manage the team, but because I was trying to do everything at once. Be a top seller, a leader, and tackle side projects at the same time. Finally I realized that if I kept that up, I'd get burned out quickly. I had two options: be a hands-off manager and try to outsell everyone, giving them something to aspire to -- or to be a hands on manager and let someone else be the top seller. I chose the second option -- I'd rather have a team of happy, balanced sellers who can focus on performance, have all their questions answered, and have their needs met. Once I made that decision, it's become so much easier. I still have my own accounts but if I have too many meetings one day, or if we have a new trial hire for the week, I don't beat myself up if I can't meet my selling goals.  And to hear the CEO tell me that I'm doing a great job is the icing on the cake -- ultimately I want to make him happy, and to hear that what I'm doing is working is such a relief and gives me energy and drive to keep going.

Also, I started seeing someone new. I met Dingens (not his real name) for the via Tinder back in December, but then I met Mir, and stopped seeing Dingens although we kept in touch. He's so German -- studying engineering (civil), tall and blond, and not from Berlin. It's still really casual but it'll be nice to see where things go with him.

Also, thank everyone who wrote me about my mom after reading my last post. It really means a lot to me to know that I have people around the world who are with me in spirit. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart!

I leave you with some pictures of Berlin in the spring.

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