Berlin

[lethargic_man]

I have realised I never explicitly said here that I have emigrated from London to Berlin (though I mentioned it was coming up soon). Here's a picture of me on the balcony of my new flat. I blend in perfectly, don't you think? They'll never guess I'm not German, what what.

I tried out my new cycle route to work for the first time today. The old one involved going past a blue plaque that said Paul Robeson had lived there, and a building called the Pirate Castle; the new one involves going past Paul-Robeson-Straße and a building labelled "Pirates Berlin".

Comments

[liv]

Well, congrats on getting the move sorted. And it's good to see you looking like yourself. Do you have an actual pocket watch to go with your waistcoats? I hope you have a wonderful time living there; I bet not having to travel as often seems relaxing in comparison.

[lethargic_man]

Yes, it's an actual pocket watch, that I bought in Stables Market in Camden a couple of weeks ago as a reward to myself for managing to get a job. As you can see, it's got a glass back so you can see the mechanism, and the gears going around. It's the first wind up watch I've had since I was a kid, and I've missed the delight of holding it to my ear and hearing it tick. (They also had smaller quartz pocket watches for £5; this one—one of a variety of styles—cost £10.)

Are you familiar with Stables Market? They have a lot of retro clothing, where retro means anything from (pseudo-)Victorian to 1950s to 1970s, plus subcultures such as goth. I personally find there's actually more of what I find attractive in women's clothing than men's there, but I did make use of the place recently to choose a couple of new waistcoats as Chanukah presents from my father. (Not the one in the photo, though: I found that in a charity shop in the last month or two.)

[lethargic_man]

I bet not having to travel as often seems relaxing in comparison.

I don't know about that; I've only been here a week and a bit! What's relaxing is not having to work (yet), though sorting out all the things I need to do after immigrating here and emigrating from the UK, and selling my flat, are taking up most of my time.

It's just as well I don't have to travel any more; my last employer was very laid-back about work arrangements when it came to my flying to Berlin and back. I can't expect anything similar from my new one, particularly during my probationary period.