Making friends

Kaufbar, in Friedrichshain, where everything is for sale. Their breakfasts are fairly priced and their waffles home-made and delicious.

Yesterday I made a new friend.

I had a coffee at Kaufbar on Gärtnerstraße with bubbly A. We keep meeting at our mutual friends' occasional parties and have always gotten on really well. When she sent me a message on Facebook and we said we'd go for coffee I was really scared that it would be awkward and that we would sit in silence for an hour before thinking of polite excuses to leave. To my surprise we could have chatted away the whole day: films, food, friends-with-babies, jobs, gossip... I hope we get around to meeting up more often! Sometimes it's worth getting out of your comfort zone to make strangers into friends.

And then last night we celebrated K's visa. (She has had to cry, beg, jump through hoops and wait forever to get it. In a year she'll have to go through the same process again. It's difficult to remember how easy things in Germany are for us EU-citizens!) She'd invited the most random mix of people to her flat in Wedding, and we had a great time. I ate a half a bowl of guacamole with carrot sticks, and was overjoyed that K had invited the woman who makes cinnamon rolls again! I also got a lesson in not judging people by their looks: K's new flatmate-to-be was invited – he looks like the biggest, most annoying nerd ever. You know the type of arrogant nerd who is insecure and is rude to make himself feel smart and good? J comes from the former Soviet Union and speaks with a Russian accent and has a lisp. He wears big but un-hip glasses. His dancing was so bad, it wasn't even funny. And he's really nice and interesting and got along with everyone at the party. I can't wait to get to know him better. Slap on the wrists to me for judging people by how they look! Shame on me!