deconstructing mark
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Thursday 24.4.03 | RATHER tired due to the excesses of the last few days, but it's been good. Seeing B and Gary off at the airport this morning made me notice that I harboured a twinge of jealousy for them - going back to their friends, their language, their surroundings I mean, and I suddenly realised that it's been three weeks now since my big move here and I'd really quite like my life back now thank you very much. But I remember having the same feeling back in Nice, and I also remember getting through it and making a life down there, so I will get through it again. Monday had a quiet start due to the fact that they only arrived at 4, so I went to see the Daniel Liebeskind’s newly-opened Jewish Museum of Berlin. The building is, without a doubt, fascinating and engaging but what it seems that Liebeskind has done is rather unfortunately put the art of the building before the actual contents inside. What I mean by this is quite simple ?the building’s pretty but hopelessly impractical, abysmally signposted and just not wonderful for the type of things it is meant to house. There are signs here and there telling us that ‘Here, Daniel Liebeskind asks us to imagine and reflect? which really isn’t fitting. Still, it was interesting, although I think that, if I want to really see what happened, I need to go to Sachenhausen, which is an old concentration camp not far from here. Friends of mine have and tell me that it’s very upsetting but worth it. So I shall go. Don’t get me wrong, the Jewish Museum is interesting, and it would be worth going just to see the building (it’s also huge ?I must go back and see the rest one time) but turning it into an art-project isn’t appropriate. Plus the loos were a bit grim, which never makes me warm to a building. So anyway, I dashed off to meet B and Gary, and took them to see the monolithic TV tower that dominates the skyline of Berlin. Roughly 2.5 times the size of the London Eye (so we’re talking seriously enormous) you can go up about two-thirds of the way and have a look over Berlin, which they did. I didn’t go because I’ve already seen it and it’s not cheap, but visitors beware ?anyone coming here will be shown it too. Monday night was interesting ?ended up in –yet another- very dodgy bar, which Berlin seems to have an endless abundance of, but it was good for a laugh. On Tuesday we did very little, but explored a bit, and had a vast coffee (which I have just tried to spell ‘Koffee??oh dear) in a lovely place called Kollwitzplatz, another must. I then managed to eat for supper the most garlicky (is that a word?) pizza that the western world can deliver and anyone within about 12 miles with my foul breath, but never mind. Yesterday was a wonderful brunch in the sun, followed by the inevitable trip to Potsdamer Platz and Warschauerstrasse (see last week’s entries for explanation) for yet more coffee and more cake. Must start eating healthily now. Yes. And this morning they left, so I am just going to clear a few bits up, and get on with some work. Joy. More when there is more to report, which there should be after this weekend. Friday 25.4.03 OH yeah, forgot to mention yesterday. I've dyed my hair blond. Monday 28.4.03 Surprisingly good weekend, Friday's tacit forecast about grimness ahead. Saturday was a welcome meeting for the LGB society here; not your usual English-style pissup involving pulling, hurling and all the other usual delights that a university education on England must entail by definition, but rather a civilised breakfast (I must just include this too: even if you're not a German speaker you will appreciate the brilliance of the word Semesteranfangsfrüstück, which such breakfasts are monikered) and very nice it was too. Before I realised it, it was 4pm and I had done, well, nothing. Another productive day, then, squarely rounded off with a very enjoyable evening... Sunday, then, was a boat trip through Berlin with the SOCRATES people. I had been dreading this since the day I dumbly paid £á8 for it, to be honest, mainly because it was 4 hours, I presumed I would be hungover, and, well, it just isn¡¦t my thing. Turned out to be startlingly agreeable, sitting, gassing with various people, pissing about on the boat, blah. Evening was another brush with culinary death ¡V had invited three of my SOCRATES girlies round for dinner (two Finns and a Dutch girl, if you must know) and attempted not to give them food-poisoning or otherwise put them off me for life, which I¡¦m pleased to report I think I managed to pull off. Rah. Note added later: Visitors to my newly-refined poetry section and other bits will have noticed that the boundaries of my vast re-jig on here haven't quite reached large parts of this site. This will happen when I summon up the energy to do it, so do check back occasionally... | |||||||||
