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in germany just life

fertig!

i started studying german a few months after arriving in berlin, in november 2011 – and last week, i finally finished school. it’s been an intensive year of learning, with classes 3 hours per day, every single day… but i’ve made it! my german isn’t that great yet, but i understand what people say, and i can make myself understood in most situations. it feels… fantastic! :D

last week i did the testdaf (the german toefl), for which i had been preparing for a month now. i didn’t “need” to do it, but i think deep inside (like with chinese) i wanted some sort of closure, a way of proving that i’d actually done it. the test is long but after all the intensive training we got at school, it felt almost… easy! the results will be out in six weeks, so i guess we’ll see then! :)

oh, by the way, if you’re thinking of coming to berlin and learning german, i can recommend my school, die deutSCHule.de! i found it rather by accident, but it turned out to be a great school, not too expensive and with friendly teachers. thumbs up!

so, that makes it 5 languages now – or more like 4.5, since my chinese isn’t doing so great these days. i wonder if i’ll be able to squeeze in a few more… i’d love to learn proper spanish! oh, and korean too! and arabic! hum… this might be a problem… how many languages can one aspire to properly learn, i wonder?

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analogue wednesdays photography

analogue wednesday #2




a couple of favourites from london. holga with rollei rpx 400.

Categories
in germany

walking on history, VII: escape tunnels


thirty nine tunnels were dug under the berlin wall, through which over 250 people escaped to the west – and almost as many were arrested by the stasi. many tunnels ended up never being used.

this one on bernauer straße was dug by hasso herschel, who helped smuggle over 1000 people to the west through tunnels, modified cars or airport exchanges.

more on this series.

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analogue wednesdays in germany photography

analogue wednesday #1


starting a new tradition, inspired by this lovely series on kanpai kanpai.

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foooood

banana ice-cream

for the longest time i had this dream of making ice-cream, but somehow the dream always got pushed aside… turns out, ice-cream making is a finicky business, requiring more patience, special equipment and room in the fridge than i currently possess… or so i thought, until the day i heard of the this fantastic one ingredient ice-cream recipe!


it goes like this:

– cut a banana in slices, spread it on a surface
– put it on the freezer for an hour or so
– once it’s frozen, blitz the pieces with an immersion blender or a standing mixer until smooth
et voilá! :D the banana takes on a custardy consistency which is just like ice-cream! it’s… magic!

seriously… who eats bananas in summer when they could be having ice-cream?! :D